I saw no trouble at St Marys. Shame if there was, the boys I met down town seemed such nice chaps. Nice to have that win feeling again.
Thought he was solid tonight, though there were people near me who still felt the need to slate him (and Targett) for most of the second half
Who needs...Pelle when you've got Charlie Austin...Big Vic when you've got Romeu...Mane when you've got Nathan Redmond...any CB in the game when you've got VvD? Virgil's my motm, & nearly crowned it with a goal at the end - not sure how far over the bar it was, but didn't look a half bad attempt from where I was sat. We're all going on a European tour!
Nice to see Yoshi play to the crowd and give us one of his one-a-game patented short backpasses too (and get away with it).
Thoroughly enjoyed this performance, for many reasons. It wasn't perfect, and there were errors along the way, but we were in control from the first kick. I don't agree with those that think our midfield was being swamped, but they did gave us a few problems down our left, (first half), simply because their RB, the number 4, frequently became the spare man running unchecked between Targett and JWP, into space. In the end I think VVD spotted that and started coming wider to cut out the space which in itself created more space more central, that a better side may have exploited. I also wasn't bothered by the back passing and ball retention. At 2-0, we wanted them to come forward, so we could exploit the space they left. As the second half wore on, the spaces grew and grew. It was just our inability to find the correct final ball that stopped it being an even better night. And I really like Redmond in the No10 position. As soon as he came on he started running at the Prague defence, creating more openings. I would like him to be given a start there, to see if he can create the problems for 90 minutes, not just the few he gets, when he replaces Tadic there.
He had a good long look , and measured to the millimetre that the Sparta player couldnt quite intercept his pass , yoshi new what he was doing !
Were we really good or were Sparta really toothless? Where did the balance lie on that, I can't work it out! You can only beat what's in front of you, I know, but I won't get carried away until Sunday! Great foresight by Claude to rest our first choice defence, and in actual fact generate some heroic performances in the process.
I would say Austin has to start on Sunday, but he looked absolutely shattered from about 30mins onward.
That's bold. Perhaps a 24 hour later comment.? Agreed that he is maturing, and some. He also has to go just a little way better to be consistently better than Jose has been.
Nope I've thought it for some time. For me the only players close are: Schneiderlin and I only ever saw Le Tiss once. Virgil seems to be able to dominate games from CB.
Yes, I forget that you're a relative youngster, what with that avatar. Believe me, there are better players who have worn a Saints shirt. But VVD is on an upward curve, there's no doubt.
