Match Day Thread Sparta Prague v Southampton Thurs 24th Nov 6pm

I don't want to be too negative, as I have learned not to get too downbeat after a defeat, but that was really poor last night.
I have been posting less on here recently, as I just don't really know what to say. I think our tactics are all wrong, we look so bad. The problem is, I don't know if it's a 'blip' or Puel's tactics. Leaning towards Puel tbh.
Our championship promotion side would have beaten us comfortably last night.

I just don't understand why we aren't taking the Europa seriously, it's obviously what all the fans want.

 

I don't think it's the case that we aren't taking it seriously. The side Puel put out last night was more than good enough to beat S. Prague.

Woke up still gutted about last night, all day yesterday all I talked about was how much of an achievement it would be for us to win our Europa League group and to go down with a such a whimper is very disappointing. It reminded me of the performance away to FC Midtjylland last season but only this time we still have a chance of progression. The general reluctance in the side to try and beat the man is what is annoying me the most. Nobody seems to want to step up and we have become so easy to defend against. The overlapping runs made by our full backs are being extinguished by a covering defender, the ball is passed back into midfield usually and the move breaks down. It seems to be timid and without urgency.

One thing I would like to note is the respect I have for the travelling fans who endured trips to Israel, Italy and Czech Republic without seeing a single goal. I watched all three away games on TV and I didn't hear our fans stop singing once, so major respect and a safe journey home. You did us proud even if the team didn't.

 

Yeah I don't buy that there was no one available or who wanted to come to us.

Like you say the black box supposedly always has targets we're monitoring. Plus the clubs stock this Summer was the highest it's ever been so if we couldn't attract anyone would be very worrying.

More likely it came down to money (balancing books pre sale?) And gambling on Jay for the second Summer in a row. Which has massively backfired.

Our problems this season do all come back to the poor window really... there were many of us saying it at the time, but instead of discussing it were told we were having a meltdown.

I'm still interested to see the accouunts.

 

Understand where you are coming from; think its a combination of having too many journeyman players in the midfield and up front; playing in a formation that does not suit the squad that we have.

Up front; Jay seems finished and Redmond is not a striker. Long and Austin simply cannot take the chances proffered - neither is there a strong understanding between them and with Redmond. I frequently see the wrong final ball being played around the box - the lack of awareness is astounding.

Midfield is too static - pretty triangles played smartly among the midfielders and the back four along the half way line - left to right, then right to left and all the while the opposition have time to organise themselves while we play 'pass the parcel'. There is a lack of leadership and direction when we have the ball. Last season there was plenty of balls chipped over the opposition back four allowing Long and Mane to create havoc down the flanks with runners coming through middle; then running at defenders and interchanges. I am not seeing any of that type of play and CP, I presume, is dictating this.

I do think we need a formation change - 4-2-3-1 does, to me, suit the squad that we have - CP may not want this formation but driving square pegs into round holes does not work either. We cannot bring in players now but we can at least try to stop the rot that we currently have.

 

And then the moment fans see Sam not banging goals in, they'll be moaning about that. Sam isn't the answer either.

 

First half certainly there were a number of balls chipped over the defence that Long ran, or tried to run, on to.

It may not be the preferred tactic, and I expect it isn't when Charlie is playing, but it's still one we use.

 

Whilst I agree that he's not the answer and personally don't think he's good enough, would he offer more than Jay? Who really is little more than a body at the moment.

Though may not be best thing for Sams development.

Out of interest what do you think the answer is? Cos I really don't know how we improve our scoring rate with current personnell.

 

Yeah, fair enough, it wasn't the most brilliantly thought out comment. My main point was meant to be - it could be worse. We could have bought Zaha for £20m.

 

Players need to be careful with that attitude.

Well said NIS; my sentiments exactly & again the only positive has been our fans & McQueen. All 3x away performances have been very, very disappointing & in different ways. We could have very easily won all 3x but in reality, we just curled up & whimpered. So, so gutted. Yep, we can win at home & still go through but at this moment it feels a long way away. God forbid if & in all probability we do get that sloppy goal & try to hold on to a 1-0 win for 30mins or so.

Footnotes:
Puel should ban all players from shooting from outside of the box - absolute disgrace.
Martina & J-Rod are purely being used to provide rest time for Cedric & our forwards - so sad.
McQueen has been excellent & I'm afraid he will be gone very soon.

 

Anyone shed some light on apparrent booing and infighting post game from our fans? Also Long with a '**** you' gesture towards the away support....

Hope it's not true but interested to hear from anyone who's out there...

 

last night was pure dross, the second half performance was embarassing. I have no idea what the fix is but one thing is for sure we need to start scoring goals soon or we could be in all kinds of ****.

 

If that is true, then I think the players should fork out a bit of their wages to cover the away fans expenses as a good will gesture.

The morning after the night before, and that defeat has still left a bitter tasted in the mouth. The more I try and analyse what the root cause of the issues are of the team, the more I feel the need to run for some tequila. I'm a reasonable person and only criticise the club/players when it's genuinely warranted - having said that I'm also not the type to wrap people up in cotton wool either. On the plus side, it's only 1 month and 7 days until the window opens. Downside is our board are as frugal as I am on the weekend before payday. 2/3 good quality signings would go a long way to fix the current issues. The one thing I miss most from the promotion team days is the understanding between the trio of JRod, Lallana and Lambert. They seemed so on tune which is something that was lacking all over the park last night. There have been glimmers of hope (some of the play against West Ham for example was excellent) but last night our passes were no where near each other.

But I guess, #wemarchon (I'm gritting my teeth as I say that)

 

I don't think we can purely attribute the lack of goals from our strikers down to their abilities, the service they get from midfield and particularly wide areas is very poor as highlighted yesterday. Even the ever reliable JWP was struggling with some corners and free kicks and again VVD managed to miss a sitter again when he did get one right.
Not sure that this was any worse than the Hull defeat....both pub teams that in previous seasons generally speaking would have been brushed aside

 

And we are blaming the strikers, but not getting any goals from MF either. My great fear is not the Europa, but the demoralising effect on the team....once they start doubting we are doomed. Everton has to be a good result with Arsenal the next on the horizon.

 

Don't think it's fair to call them a pub team. Quarter finalists last year and a very experienced European outfit... espescially compared to us.

 

They were absolutely awful at St Mary's. I know it's different away, but they really are poor to be fair.

 

I tried it once and we lost to Norwich. Can't risk me doing it again

 

Can't judge on one game though.

 

I agree the midfield really doesn't fill me with my goal scoring hope. I don't understand how Clasie justifies his long range shots. If he'd scored a blinder last season I'd forgive him, but so far he's yet to get off the mark. Anyone know off the top of their head how many goals our midfield contributed last season? Apart from VW, our midfield is the same, just a different shape. I'm also giving Boufal a full season until I judge him (which I realise isn't ideal from a record signing).