Saintbaggs he was goalside. He's either lazy, or bloody slow. The first is the answer. He didnt get back and defend. He strolled back and when the danger was apparent to him it was too late.
I'd put our trust in the kid. Just got to be careful with him. But Fox was poor, he just does not seem to be able to step up.
Looks a good prospect for the future but the manager needs to nurture him in slowly. Important time for him as a young player
He was goalside but not ball side. But I do agree he didn't seem to be breaking his kneck to get back. The whole team don't seem to show the willingness and passion to make tackles or win back the ball. We seem to base to our defence simply on intercepting the ball rather than making actual tackles. When we have the ball we seem to come alive and commit large numbers forward but without the ball not so much. What a difference a full blooded tackle would have made in the first half against Spurs. It's something that gets the supporters going and can give you a bit of momentum to get a foothold in a game. I'm not saying we should go around fouling left right and centre but we need show a bit more passion in the tackling. Stop giving the oppostion such an easy ride. I think I'm right in saying that we had no booking against WBA (I may be wrong), in the modern game that is virtually impossible. We have become a soft touch.
Fox is not up to standard and is even more unfortunate that he's part of a defence that can't cover up his frailty's. Anybody classed as a LB who cant Tackle , Head or cut out crosses is NOT a very good LB. Too many players are given a free reign to whip crosses in as he gives them so much space to utilize. It wouldn't be half as bad if he was out of position by bombing down the wings and overlapping Lallana to get crosses in , but he doesn't do that either. This is not a prem gripe, he was the same last year, but in a poorer league so got away with it more.
I'll give Fox a break with regard to the hoofing. When we play 442, the opposition close down the options in midfield and he doesn't have the pace to go past people - fairenough, not his fault. He did it less in the second half when we changed formation. It's his poor positional play and reluctance to close down the wide man tjhat let the side down. Time for Shaw I think. He's young, but he's got ability and LB is a position where we need more of it.
The problem is sometimes Fox is able to deal with two men long enough for Lallana to get back. Then Lallana is left for dead on the inside and the opposition get an easy pass to open up the defence, cross or shot off
I worry that Fox's defense isn't good enough. He's been pretty poor this year, whether that is due to injury I don't know. But if he is injured that would be a reason to try Shaw and give Fox time to heal. If he is just bad, that is also a reason to try Shaw. The only justification for continuing to play Fox would be if he was injured but is now healthy which might be the case. People need to stop complaining about Fox hoofing it. Saints have given up bucketloads of goals from bad passes in our own zone. From a defensive perspective, they should probably hoof it a little more often. He also gives the attack a little balance. It can't be balls played into feet all the time, especially when Lambert is good in the air.
