I thought Clyne had a great game, Fox not so much. Although we need 2 more CB's Fonte and Jos played well today other than the penalty. KD looked a bit off but he has not played a game at this pace in a while. It does seem like Lallana is better outside. Guly did well today but I don't think he is much as a centre forward. With the same starting lineup I would have like to have seen us with Lallana outside, Rodriguez as centre forward and Guly in Lallana's place. That would seem to have the players in the places they played best last year.
Davis 6 Clyne 7 Hooiveld 7.5 Fonte 8 Fox 6.5 Lallana 6 Schneiderlin 7.5 JWP 8 Punch 5.5 Guly 6 Rodriguez 6.5 Davis 7 Lambert 8 Sharp 6.5 Nigel Adkins 9
Considering it was out first outing in the EPL and away to the Champions - it was a very creditable performance. Overall, 6's and 7's all round. The introduction of Lambert lifted the team; it was as if suddenly the players knew what to do, because previous to this; we were never looking likely to score after their opener. Is was great for Lambert to get onto the scoresheet (8) - will have done his confidence alot of good. The downside was the third goal - Fox (5) would have had nightmares last night, but am sure he will never do something so stupid again. As the season progresses and the players 'find their feet' in this league, I would not want to see us loose a 2-1 lead with 20 mins to go - whoever the opposition are... they certainly did not 'throw-away' the lead; City have an amazing home record are have a deserved reputation for come-backs but they must learn to hang in there and get something from the game because the margins in this league are so tight.
I was there: So my ratings are: Davis- 6 Couple of good saves, saved the pen, but his distribution is going to cost us if it doesn't improve. Clyne- 7/8 Excellent debut for the boy, looked good defensively and pretty good going forward. Hooiveld and Fonte- 6/7 Considering like most thought they would struggle, put in a great shift and didn't get flustered when City piled the pressure on Fox- 5 Not his best game, caught out by the pin-point passing of City and gave the 3rd goal straight to them. Puncheon- 6- Pretty good game, didn't really do much wrong but I feel he lacks pace to get past people, but he is very good in and around the box, very hard to defend against. Lallana- 7 Floated in and out of the game, but at times showed his real class, when Lambert joined he was excellent. JWP- 6 for his first game against one of the best midfieders in the world, he didn't look out of touch, good link up play. Got tired and a bit sloppy and was substituted, but great effort from him. Schneiderlin- 8/9 Probably one of the best games I've seen him in, he broke up play very well, got in the faces of Toure, Nasri and Silva. Passing was very good, tried some clever passes as his confidence grew. But, he is going to get a lot of yellows this year. Rodriguez- 6 Was the best player on the pitch in that first 15mins of the match, lively, showed some great pace, wasn't afraid to take the defenders on and one a lot of headers, shame he drifted out of the game, but a promising start from him. (p.s his shooting in the warm-up was unbelievable, every shot outside the box went in the top corner) Guly- 7 Mr Guly, worked hard, chased the defence down, at times really caused problems for Kompany which was nice to see. Got the assist for Lambert, almost made a mockery of Ballotelli just a shame it didn't come off. Lambert- 7/8 Adkins was spot on for not starting him, he would've been knackered by half-time, he looked a completely different player from pre-season. Rarely gave the ball away, got himself in dangerous positions. But best of all he knew where the goal was, great finish. Davis- 7 Another great finish, broke play up well and looked a threat coming forward. Great debut. Adkins- 9 Tactical genius, know one can doubt this guy, as much as I was shocked with the starting eleven, he got it right. Substitute decisions were spot on and obviously led to both goals. Also I watched the warm-up closely, Gazzaniga.... omg he made some incredible saves in the shooting they do, if he can transfer that into the game we have a very talented keeper on are hands. Well Done to all who travelled, it was a fantastic experience, great atmosphere. With a few more additions we look a dangerous team, do not underestimate the Saints!! COYR!!
Sorry Fran, you could hear the Markus tribute? I was watching it in a bar in Ireland and couldn't hear the crowd.
Lol these threads....Schneiderlin was the worst player in midfield, Schneiderlin played as well as you've ever seen him, Fonte was terrible, Fonte was solid, were we not all watching the same match?! You could tell when Lambert was on the touchline that he meant business. He looked menacing and angry and we picked up so much in the minute or two after he came on. He was screaming for the ball, yelled at JWP for shooting instead of passing to him, then took his chance when it came. I would say our best player for that alone as it sparked us into life and before he came on I was wondering how many to nil it would end up. Davis: 5- Hard to take a lot from the terrible penalty but a save is a save, he went the right way. Beaten at the near post by Tevez for the first goal, parried a shot back into play instead of out for touch. Had expected a big performance from him but I don't think we got it. Clyne: 7- Our best defender yesterday, tracked back well after supporting runs forward, never seemed to be out of position, inch-perfect tackle on Aguero. Seemed very assured and solid and a great addition. Fonte: 6- I was very happy with him, a few crunching blocks and last ditch headers and tackles, seemed to really put the effort in and he won't have it as tough all season arguably. More of this. Hooiveld: 6- Cumbersome with the penalty, did ok apart from that. Fox: 6- At fault for the 3rd goal in a big way but he had been top drawer until that I thought. Big shame and hope he learns from it without losing confidence because he seemed to play with plenty of that. Ward-Prowse: 6- Solid debut, coped with the pressure fine and was impressive on the ball. Only going to get better. Schneiderlin: 7- Like Makelele, he's doing his job when you don't know he's there. Broke up the midfield and his short passing was excellent all day. Lallana: 6- Not at his best but great to see him leading the team out. Looking forward to him playing with more freedom and he wasn't afforded that at all. Puncheon: 6- Seemed to put the effort in but didn't offer a lot but for some back-tracking. Do Prado: 6- His biggest criticism is his work rate and I couldn't fault him for that. Never looked like scoring but the way we set up seemed to expect very little possession anyway. Rodriguez: 5- Disappointing for me. Lambert: 7- Sparked the team into life, scored a great goal past one of the best keepers in the league, he will be so important against Wigan so I hope he is as hungry starting as he was off the bench. Davis: 7- Great goal and like Lambert seemed to be playing for a starting place. Sharp: ?- No time to make an impact. Adkins: 9- Very bold move to leave out Lambert, I don't think I really understood why until he came on. Astute tactically and gave good interviews. We'll be really gunning for a win on Saturday now, seems to be a good spirit about the team and that was key in the last two seasons so hopefully that's the start of it. 14th in the league boys! Onto the next one...
One important thing I noted. As City took their penalty, I said that if Davis saved it I hoped we would be alert and clear it. So often the attacking side run in and get a tap in. We were more alert and cleared the ball. A small detail but I think a promising one.
I think that is a bit harsh. He let runners go a bit too often, however he was a constant outlet and has a good first touch and great vision. Against lesser teams I can see him and Lallana linking up really well. I would definitely like to see him up front though, I think he is wasted on the wing. Although Adkins could be "doing a Wenger" and keeping him out wide, with a view to moving him more central in a year or two?
Rodriguez is having to learn a new style of play...but he's young enough to learn. Under Adkins, Saints players have to be adaptable.
Don't get me wrong here, I think he's a quality player but I wasn't impressed yesterday at all. Against lesser teams yes he may link up well with Lallana but he was wasted out wide and offered very little.
