Another positive.....IT'S ONLY SEPTEMBER AND ONLY FOUR GAMES BEEN PLAYED I shall wear my gloves to dampen the 'supposed' happy clapping.
The new boys will get a full week of training for the villa game which is where we really need to kick on and start picking up points. We should just forget today, arsenal are a far more superior side than us and I think they will be challenging for second spot this year.
Fonte looked better in second half Ramirez looks quality We have JWP and he is looking better and better I actually thought Jayrod looked very strong in the 10 minutes he and on and gave Mertezacker a harder time than Rickie. Clyne did well when it was one v one defensively.
We are in a better position against the top three sides in the same matches now than in 2003 when we finished 8th. 2003 Away Liverpool (in top three and not city that year) Lost 3 nil Home to UTD Lost 2 nil Away to Arsenal Lost 6-1 Conceeded 11 scored 1 = -10 g/d 0 points 2012 Away City Lost 2-3 Home UTD Lost 2-3 Away Arsenal Lost 6-1 Conceeded 12 scored 5 g/d -7 0 points. Soooo we are 3 goals better of against the top 3 sides in mirroring fixtures this year compared to our best ever Premier league finish. IF these matches had been spread over 4-5 months it wouldn't look half as bad so lets not give up all hope just yet.
Nabil Hassan of BBC: In short, N Adkins says season starts next week, was "delighted" with the impact Ramirez made & called Ward Prowse "outstanding" #saintsfc
VIDEO: Nigel Adkins post-match interview with BBC Sport - http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/19611706#asset
Im not sure we will beat Villa - not negative as I still think we are an amazing side...but Villa have hit some mini form and I think it may be one or two games after the Villa game to get going. All our signings will be together a little longer then too...
That's the first time I have seen Adkins look genuinely gutted. I'm pleased it wasn't Garth Crooks doing the interview because he may have made Nigel suicidal. Good on the interviewer for pressing on the positives rather than negatives.
One big positive I can think of: Our big four are out the way, and we can look ahead with more belief!
Positives: 1) We're capable of better. The side that competed strongly against United and City didn't turn up for whatever reason. We've got good performances in us and we can start getting points when we draw our blue line under this one. 2) We have a squad with plenty of fine young talent, which will get better as time goes on. 3) Ramirez sounds like a class act. He sounds like he could be the missing link between midfield and attack, which will let us play the ball into final third rather than just whacking it into Lambert. Will make it easier to play without Lambert if we want to, which will be a huge advantage if the game calls for a striker who gets behind defences more freely. 4) Yoshida looks tidy. 5) There will probably be at least 3 teams worse than us over the course of the season. Flying up the table would be nice, but anything better than 17th is a bonus. We're capable of that. 6) If it does go tits up, the club will still be there and up for giving it another go!
Positives: * Arsenal, Man U and Man City out of the way, three games I wasn't expecting us to get anything from. Now it's time to start the season. * Rival teams will underestimate us because of our league position. One win will renew our confidence. * We all knew our defence was shaky and that it needs bolstering. Hopefully this'll be the kick up the backside they've needed. * Pretty much every season we were in the Premiership last time we had at least one drubbing. We've got it out the way. * A strong youth academy.
Regardless of how we get there, it starts next Saturday against Villa - let's all get behind the team on Saturday and show that we are still behind them 100%! COYR
Got to say, I only saw the second half, and I know it sounds like that was our better half but things to take away: 1) JWP & Schneiderlin are tidy passers. There were two occasions where I was astonished at Ward-Prowse's passing ability. If we can get them hurting defences with those sorts of passes, we know we have the quality up front to finish some off. 2) Rodriguez and Ramirez both looked brilliant. The former's hold up play and the latter's tactical awareness were fantastic. Ramirez looks very exciting indeed. 3) Yoshida improved, his distribution from the back wasn't bad and he had drive and passion already. 4) The rough patch is over. Let's start showing the Premier League we mean business.
