Bit harsh to totally write off Gardos but he has a lot to prove. Sims very bright but no real end product when he started taking players on. Martina poor. McQueen made a couple of unusual mistakes. Reed and Clasie got bullied. Came away from the ground wondering who to give motm to for Saints, nobody deserving for me. On to Swansea with Gabbiadini hopefully signed!
Positives from today: -Sims looks a real talent, we need to not get too carried away but can see him pushing on next season. -Atmosphere was pretty good despite the score. -Prince of Wales before the game was a good laugh, with Arsenal and Saints fans singing anti Spurs songs together - Watched a live game with my old man for the first time in over decade which was nice. Despite him being a freak who loves football but doesn't really support a team... he likes Arsenal though - 5 nil for £15, that's 3 quid a goal... bargain Probably about it, done well to get 5 out of that though
Yeah he had some great touches but also gave the ball away often. Very inconsistent match for him but agreed he didn't give up even when forced to play RW. Almost got in from Tadic's through ball.
I wonder if you you missed my last point. Maybe he rested players, but not rested for Tuesday - there is a subtle difference. That performance Wednesday was mentally and physically draining, so maybe Claude decided to give most of those players a rest, full stop, whether there is a game on Tuesday or not. Forget Swansea just for a second and ask yourself if you can understand why he rested lots of players after that game. This may take some a little thinking about for some people, but it is a real possibility and I totally understand it.
See, I sat in the chapel, and all you could hear were Arsenal fans. Not only were itchen/Kingsland silent, Having only a quarter of the northam really didn't help. Arsenal fans didn't stop all game so fair play to them. Atmosphere from Saints fans was ****. Obviously a given that the chapel was silent as well. Funny how the acoustics are so bad at St Mary's.
Tonight we gave Arsenal the one thing we denied Liverpool - space between our midfield and back four, which had us being dragged all out of shape as we tried following the ball. Like some others, PEH's form is giving me cause for concern. And as someone else has said, why does he keep hugging the touchline? Shouldn't he be leaving that to the full backs and getting himself more central? In all honesty, I should have followed my instincts, tonight. When seeing the team sheet, before leaving home, I should have just sat down and put my feet up. Reference their youngsters compared to ours. Isn't it time we became more selective and started looking for taller and more athletic youngsters? I get that we like to give the smaller kids, with talent, a chance, in the hope they will grow, but that doesn't seem to happen. If only our academy produced players like Theo Walcott...........
Must've been difficult for Stephens ... from playing with Forster, Yoshi, Bertrand and Cedric, to an inexperienced back 5 with a 19 yo keeper, a right back who isn't good enough, a centre back who hasn't played in nearly 2 years and a converted left-back. Tough ask for him today, in my opinion!
Yeah I thought the atmosphere was poor, then I always sit in chapel. I left at the 5th goal, VERY rare for me. Only real complaint was Lewis in goal, poor lad. Why not Taylor? For me reed and classie are too easily bullied. Main problem was lack of a midfield general.
Ok so we got slaughtered........ we are lucky as we have a good victory during the week to help get us over this loss. Just imagine how the Liverpool fans feel. Out of both cups and a league loss at home......I'll bet the fans are after someone's blood........
Were we in breach of Rule 15. PROVISIONS CONCERNING PLAYERS (a) Each team participating in a match shall represent the full available strength of each competing Club.
No, I got your point and totally agree. My point was simply this; if the changes were made because the club believe the Swansea game is more important than this game then I think they've got that wrong. If the changes were made for any other reason then, fair enough.
Simple thoughts for me in terms of team selection... We've played 32 games in the last 135 days, 36 games total. As far as I can tell there are 10 players from PL teams who've played 30 games this season - 6 of those are Saints players (And another two on 29), not sure any other leagues in Europe have teams that have played over 30 games (Thanks, Premier League), except maybe Real Madrid if you include the Club World Cup or whatever it is. We've got 9 players injured and are pending inbound transfers. We have been faced with 4 games in 9 days - One of undisputed huge importance, two very winnable games of debatable individual importance and one game that's tough but is essentially a bonus game. Playing the first team against Leicester and then Liverpool gave us the best chance to win the important game. Leaving us with a game on the Saturday and one on the Tuesday. Given all that, it was a no-brainer to rest players on the Saturday game, regardless of which game it was. The only real non-fitness related decision was Yoshida/Stephens/Gardos, the dilemma there being we both want to develop a solid partnership between Yoshida and Stephens, but that we also at some point need to have a look at Gardos, especially whilst the window is open, and the more game time Stephens gets the better. That ones a judgement call and you can argue Puel got it wrong, but so be it. Every other player we could've pushed in to tip the balance of the team in terms of quality and experience would've played both the last two games and been one of those 30 game players, or has had injury problems. So effectively, would've been a risk. We don't do reckless, and why should we? I think the cup romance exuding from our upcoming trip to Wembley has got people a bit love-drunk to be honest. Yes it would be great to make a FA cup run too, but life isn't that kind to us.
I don't think Claude had many choices. Quite a few injured and the players on the bench probably needed a rest. He may have taken a risk if this was the last game of the season, but it wasn't even the last game in January. And there are good chances of points with Swansea, WHU and Sunderland coming up.
ah ok, I thought you were focusing on "resting for Swansea" Anyway, looking forward to seeing Corkie on Tuesday?
I think Puel would have rotated just the same if we had Swansea today and the FA Cup match on Tuesday. His problem was having a game today....though he may have played a slightly stronger team today for a PL match.
Not a pleasant evening but I agree that Sims was the bright spot. He could be very good indeed, but only time will tell. Walcott didn't rip up the league his first few seasons at Arsenal so he has time. I wonder if Puel thought that Wenger might play a weaker side but I agree with his choices. If not in this game, when would some of the youth get a game? Second half was so much better than the first, where we got caught by the ball over the top whilst pressing so many times. Surprised at the criticism of Reed. Quick feet and some crisp passing but today was a bit men vs boys. Reminded me of some of the games in the championship the year we went down in that respect. But at least we aren't Liverpool supporters!
