You say that we have had a blip. That has been our away form all season. We were shocking today. We need a new striker. The comments on fox playing on the left of midfield, I cant see happening. When Holmes came on he was put on the right of midfield and lallana stayed on the left which was wrong IMO. He should have put lallana on the right as he has a right foot and put Holmes on the left. Guly was appalling today. He should have been bought off instead of de rudder going off as at least sdr runs and chases. This just increases the need that we had of bringing in a player on loan, even if it was a youngster from another club. We have been poor in 4 recent games. Hull, Bristol city, Doncaster and Peterborough. People saying that we are still top and don't panic, we have shown how good we are when we beat forest, Birmingham and boro. We just war the tea, to perform consistently. Say we aren't good when the at,osphere is against us is utter garbage. There was very little atmosphere today until they scored all the noise was from us. Donny were missing two of there 'big names' in chimbonda and diouf today so it is not am excuse that they have been starting to do well. After these two away games it is only a matter of time b4 someone beats us at home. And I can see us losing to the skates. Lallana, guly, fox, Hammond, Richardson, to name a few were awful today and have not been that good in recent games. We need to sort it out. I can't wait for you all the say I'm wrong. I look forward to the argument.
How can you say that. Him and guly have been rubbish. To many little flicks and trying to be all fancy, IT'S NOT WORKING PASS IT PROPERLY. it's ok if we are 3-0 up not at 0-0
Lallana and Guly are players with flair and technique so these flicks and tricks are part of their game...without them we would be a very rigid team and we wouldn't be able to open defences up. It's like telling Cristiano Ronaldo to stop doing flicks it's the way he plays.
You don't do tricks if there is a ball on. You only try to trick past a player if you have to beat him or the attack will break down. No offence but comparing them to Ronaldo is a joke. Ronaldo's pace means sometimes it's a better option to beat one player and race away from the defence rather than play an easy pass. As for flicks, sometimes it's the only chance to get the ball to a team mate. Otherwise its unneccessary
Too much doom mongering on here for me tonight. Have a pint, watch Match of the Day, and be happy that we're not Ipswich, Forest or Pompey.
If you always play the simple ball then you will lack penetration. It is very often that a flick or a piece of unexpected skill that unlocks a defence and creates a chance or a goal. All the stats back this up, as Lallana and Guly have among the highest goals and assists in the Championship and the team have scored the most goals too. The rest of the team can always play the simple ball, but let the flair players 'express' themselves.
Have to say, it has crossed my mind more than once in the last 3-4 weeks or so. Haven't posted as such because I've not wanted to be so picky, but I think you do have a point. The performances have lost a bit of their edge, just a bit, both Home and Away [and yes, I'm aware of the Brighton result]. Inevitably, the Away results get worse quicker, as the opposition are generally more confident in front of their own crowds, just as Saints are, at Home. Although, with decent opposition, giving it a real go, the Home games are no cakewalk either. I suppose it's inevitable that other clubs will take us a tad more seriously from now on, and hence we'll get some of them making real games of it, instead of underestimating us and caving in, when we pour over them. Yes we need to improve, just like every side. I have confidence that we will, as well.
I cannot believe people are saying Guly was awful today and that Lallana has not been good recently. I think Guly is far better for us away from home, he holds the ball up well and it is not his fault if people do not link up with him (he also cleared a shot off the line which shows desire to defend - something De Ridder struggles to do). Likewise if Lallana does not get enough of the ball then we will struggle to create chances. I would argue that the reason we have not seen the best of him in recent away games is because of the tactics and where he has been played; no width. Too much of a knee jerk reaction as Qwerty rightly says.
Yes but have you seen what Ronaldo does sometimes?He does those step overs and passes it side ways instead of passing it ahead to a team mate. So you don't want Lallana or Guly to play for us?
How do you think West Ham fans feel? Right behind us and we lose, but then they go and lose as well. We are still top.
"Win your home games, draw your away games". It's something we've been saying since the start, and it's something which, if carried through the whole, will almost certainly result in automatic promotion (92 points is a superb total). Well correct me if I'm wrong, but have we not just taken 9 points from our last 3 home games and 3 points from our last 3 away games?
Nice way of looking at it. However our last three away games have been against the bottom clubs (although Bristol City look set to continue to climb). Your logic is fine at face value, but when you consider that we will have much tougher (on paper) away games to come I would have liked us to have picked up at least another couple of points. Maybe i'm being greedy and maybe we will keep up a long standing saints tradition. Loose against the lower teams and win against the top teams. Which, i guess is better then the reverse as winning against the top teams is worth more if we are looking to finish higher than them. There is also the point that by that logic 'win home and draw away' winning at home is a given for the entire season, chances are we won't win them all and so as a result our away form needs to pick up a little.
i give up with some of you. july clearing balls of the line? thats only because adkins drags him back by the collar for corners. de ridder actually chases opponents and pressurises them!!! i never said july and lallana shouldn't be in the team they need to improve and get the basics right!!!
when we lose it is easy to blame guly, but he is vital the team no matter how much some people refuse to recognise it
