Well, as I mentioned at the time of news of his signing, I was aware that he wasn't leaving at least a couple of months previous. This was from his own mouth, for goodness sake. The problem is, the weight of pseudo-news was such that nobody took any notice at the time. And I must admit, one can never be 100% sure of such things because players could say anything to appease enquirers. But I hope this becomes a caution for people, in the light of rumour, however strong. Nothing is certain until it actually happens.
Fitter, stronger, faster... http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/32834063 Plus other news and comments from José
http://www.express.co.uk/sport/foot...-Liverpool-Arsenal-Tottenham-stay-Southampton JRod says he signed for Saints to repay loyalty and because we'd had such a good season.
I wonder if he has considered how difficult it is going to be to break into the team with competition from Pelle, Mane, Long + Austin/Ings/another. Will be really interesting to see how it all pans out
If Jayrod's knee is fixed properly and its Jayrod of old, there will be know doubt he'll be in. The others will have their work cut out to get in. Old Jayrod > Long and I have always said that I believed Jayrod would be down the middle eventually, so Pelle may have to be on his toes.
It can only be good. There will be times when Graziano will play and times when Jay will play, simply because they are completely different players, and better suited for the opposition. Both will be better for it too.
Absolutely. We only changed our attack option once last season (Chelsea) so this will make us less predictable.
I think a good side needs four strikers, so it depends how we catagorise the players. We usually play with one down the middle and then wide players and a CAM. Where we have done well is a lot of our players can be used in those differing roles and become interchangeable. I wouldn't want us to be doubling counting players , ie call Mane a wide player and count him as a striker. In short, yes, I'd buy another striker.
Mane looks best playing just behind Pelle which gives him the freedom to rome and find space Rod looked at his best down the left side, linking up with the centre forward/attacking midfield and coming into the box late Long is a utility forward player who works best on the shoulder of the last defender but has worked reasonably well lately on the right too Pelle - pure target man If we are to buy another forward I would go for another target man i.e. Austin
I've got quite excited about Sadio Mane. When we signed him there was very little known about him, save for a bit of stuff that the EA Games fanatics had, the words from development coaches, and some incredible footage from Youtube for RB Saltzburg. Then again, Steve De Ridder had some pretty incredible footage on Youtube too, so there had to be a measure of caution. But right from his first touches, in his first game, there was something about him. It maybe wasn't anything that special back then, but he was finding his feet in the PL. In the last few months the thing about him has become special. He's now beginning to play like the footage on Youtube. His pace, and change of pace, is absolutely electric. For pete's sake is he quick..! He's strong too. His size belies his strength. He occasionally looks like he could be blown away by a good breeze, but then he beats a couple of players easily and visibly grows with a renewed confidence. And those feet he's finally found are very skilful indeed. And he does it all for 90 minutes too, which I actually find quite breathtaking, not forgetting that he doesn't neglect his defensive duties either. Last weekend, Villa doubled up on him when they could. It barely mattered. He either beat both players or found space with his awareness and pace. He was eager to have the ball and when he got it he scored 3 goals in less than 3 minutes, and had a hand in 2 of the others. He frightened Villa silly. Next season I think he could be phenomenal.
I wouldn't disagree. I would say that I believe Jayrod will eventually be the man down the middle. I've said that for a while.
Indeed, the black box strikes again. As soon as I saw his first game I said we were going to make a nice profit on him, as TSS says I can see him being brilliant next year and I'm expecting 10+ league goals. He'll be worth £25m minimum next Summer imo.
I freely admit to having doubts about Sadio. Not due to a lack of skill or ability but his attitude. RB Salzburg fans were glad to be rid of him because he apparently acted like a spoilt child (see: Lovren) So far i've been wrong and long may it continue.
So am I, am enjoying every game he plays for us as he really is one of those edge-of-seat players, just saying if he carries on the way he is we're not going to be able to keep hold of him too long and making big profit on players then buying cheap and repeating said cycle is vital to us punching above our weight.
My only real doubt about Sadio, which I fear will come true, is his attitude. Not that he won't put in a shift, he already works hard, skilfully and very effectively. No, it's the feeling that with his increasing confidence will come a realisation of how good he is and can become. And his history and manner is such that I think he'll be off at an early opportunity. I'm already slightly fearful that some glamour club might come in with £20-25M to charm him away before next season, because I've absolutely no doubt that he'll be a success elsewhere, unlike other ex-Saints players, and he'll only get better. Yes, it's probable he'll be a Saints player next season, especially with Koeman as manager, but Ronald will perform a miracle if he can get Sadio to realise that staying and growing with Saints could be his long term future. I apologise for being unusually negative. I'd be overjoyed to be proved wrong.
Mmm, there is still time for that unfortunately, but let's not worry about that until the pound notes are saved in front of him...
