The team run out of steam the last few games, which will change when we add more depth to our squad. We also need to work on our chances, we have so many yet only manage to take a few. Our players seem to never want to shoot from outside the box which need to be changed as well.
I can see at least 5 players being sold, we need to get rid of the players that aren't up to the Prem. Why keep them when they add nothing to our team? All they would do is take up wages we can use for players we actually want.
Encouraged by performances since Mauricio Pochettino's appointment. I feel, watching us play, that we look harder to beat. The build-up and pressing off the ball has also improved. However, I do feel that we ran out of steam and were visibly tired for the last few games of the season. Mauricio has also mentioned players struggling with niggling injuries and illnesses. All in all, we must remember that this still entirely Nigel Adkins' squad. After a pre-season, and the summer and January windows - we will have a much better idea of where we are at. I think he is a good young manager, but he, like any player, requires time and patience to develop and adapt with the squad.
A bit of problem in recent season's, less noticeable when Saints are on form. Rodriguez was always trying to work the keeper and shoot early around the time prior to his illness; other than that it's only Lambert and Puncheon who carry a threat outside the area. Stat says our shots at goal are invariably higher than our oppositions, but they are usually well wider as well.
There are so many areas that we could improve upon, particularly our threat at corners is non existent, there don't seem to be any training ground routines. Our threat from dead ball situations from the flanks, just seems to be hoof it, suck and see. We are very strong on closing down and our off the ball movement is excellent and has obviously been worked upon. The counter attacks can be very impressive when the red wall all move as one, sadly it always seems to peter out in the last phase. The Puncheon/Clyne combination is a good one and can be improved upon. JRod had a lot of success with his head down and charge at the opposition, didn't seem too keen on trying it against a couple of decent but hard centre backs. We certainly haven't given Mayuka enough chance to reveal his pace, he went very close yesterday when hitting the side netting late on. As I say lots to debate and a couple of decent signings might well change the equation.
Under MP, we're more solid defensively but lack that effective attack. I believe we've scored 6 goals from the bench this season? Le Fondre got 8 from the bench on his own, we need to find some impact subs who can get late goals; we have only scored one stoppage time goal all season - to put us 4-1 up against Villa. I don't think that Lambert will be a regular start next season; his fitness isn't as good as it used to be, plus he's been getting some niggles. This will allow Rodriguez to flourish in his favoured position. We could do with another striker and winger in the summer. For the record, I heard that we're after a big forward & winger, to be sponsored by a F1 team & have an Adidas kit.
Agreed about what's needed, and I think we all agree on that. The key difference for me with Poche is that the weaknesses we have displayed haven't been tactical or managerial weaknesses, they've been personnel ones. Added to which Poche's substitutions have been, more often than not, effective and timely.
The other issue with Rickie is that, even more than Le Tiss, he really is Aircraft Carrier slow.....his all round game makes up for it at the moment, but I don't think that's going to be the case much longer.
Hmm, interesting. I'd be happy with McLaren and Ferrari. Mind you, I'd prefer to have something that wasn't vaguely to do with cars. Not that I'm picky, of course. Also, that might explain our move to more red than white. We all know how Cortese makes plans.
This is an interesting and enjoyable debate and is what Not606 is all about! The obvious aim for this season was primarily survival, but the managerial change in January showed that NC was looking for more than that, and in that particular respect I feel we have come up a bit short, especially over the last 6 games of our supposedly easier run-in which have yielded just 4 points. An additional 4 or 5 points from those 6 games would have left us with a healthy 45/46 points and a final position in the top half of the table. Without doubt Saints performances improved after Poche's arrival, and there were the big wins against Man City, Chelsea and Liverpool, but other results have not matched that improvement, and our points per game ratio since he took over are no better than that achieved in NAs last 12 games. As others have said, we need a more clinical cutting edge to our attacks or all the good possession becomes futile.
We couldn't hit a barn door at times towards the end of the season and that isn't something Pochettino can control. Yesterday yet again we blew several golden chances to score. Picking Puncheon however is something he can control and he should have been in the side. There is no excuse for him not starting yesterday and several other games recently.
It was a text from my Dad who knows a few "in the know" people. He also said we will have a "deep red kit".
A pressing attack is less effective when the other team is willing to concede space in your half and keep more players behind the ball. You're trying to force mistakes and jump on the ball in good positions and hit them before they recover. Stoke and other teams are now aware of this and they make sure they have outlets for the defenders to find and if not they lump it forward. When you play that sort of style, players will get tired. I thought one of NA's strengths was the way he handled minor injuries and kept everyone on the squad in good shape. He took a lot of criticism for resting Lambert, but at the end of the season Lambert looked a little sluggish and so did the rest of the team. It was entirely too easy for Stoke to carry out their game plan against us, which is a game plan everyone knew they would use and we should have found a way to counter. I think that had they not inserted Owens (for obvious non-tactical reasons), they would have put all their big guys in and playing high crosses just like they did last time. And I think they would have beaten us as this time it was 1-1 and not 3-1. You can't blame it all on the players. There are weaknesses in every tactic and some of what we saw is a result of those tactical issues and not just because of the squad. Sure if Saints had eleven of the best footballers in the world those flaws wouldn't show, but that's not going to happen. I'm not ignoring the fact that MP inherited this squad and it was not a particularly strong one. So he'll have the chance to bring in some better players who are more suited for his game and the players we have should improve and also get better at playing MP's style. But he's still not going to be able to play the game his way every time. So is MP the man to make the dream come true? Maybe. He's done as well or better than expected so far, but he's got to improve to take us to the next level (as does everyone). It's not just a matter of simply finding a few players for him.
Wasn`t it the same last season, and the season before ? - playing well, having more posession and attempts, yet often losing when we should have drawn, and drawing when we should have won. It seems rare for us (Villa away this season, Leeds away last season), when we get more that we deserve.
Lallana likes to drift into the middle and receive the ball outside the box; Puncheon is almost entirely left-footed, and thus wants to cut on and receive the ball in a position where he can work for a shot rather than bursting behind defenders; Davis prefers to make passes into feet rather than more speculative efforts (though he'll surprise from time to time). I think that the low-tempo play in the opposition half is less tactical and more personnel-driven...Jay certainly makes the effort, but we're going to need another player or two who want to make those runs.
We need to wait til christmas to see really. Certainly until the transfer window closes. We need some real quality options for a plan B and I think finishing 8-11th is very obtainable next season.
Reading some posts I wonder that if we were top of the Premier next year and won against Manure 2 1, there would be critics on here saying should have been 3 0!
