Where and who will the goals come from?

[OddRiverOakWizards]

It is a bit of a worry to see where the goals are going to come. We need runners from midfield to start scoring (Davis and especially Ward-Prowse make good runs but their finishing is tentative) from but fortunately it is rare for us not to find the target at all .

 

[saintlyhero]

Should be able to shoehorn two of them in; against Everton we had Pelle/Mane up front with JWP tucked behind them, and the return of our disruptive midfield should allow for sufficient solidity to play Tadic/Djuricic in that central attacking role.

Really, the only qualm I'd have is whether Fonte/Yoshida can replicate the work Alderweireld did in the sweeper role; Fonte's presumably the one we'd go with because of his situational awareness, but there are few players as perfect for that role as Toby.

We played three against Ipswich and Fonte was central with Bertrand and Gardos. I think 3-5-2 has to be our best option for Wednesday and Elia is a good candidate as Yoshida didn't look too comfortable at left back.

It then gives an abundance of different midfield three combinations for Koeman from Big Vic, Morgan, Reed, Davis, JWP, Tadic & Djuricic

 

[SouthamptonFCroatia]

Of all the games Yoshida played as a full back, I though this was his best one yet.

Obviously I agree he's not a full back or a wing back, but he did a decent job today.

 

[Jose Fonte baby]

Rodriguez?.....

If he's back, he can get a few in April/May.

 

[fran-MLs little camera]

Same; having three CBs also means a bit more size in the box, which is never a bad thing against Carroll.

Is Carroll fit again?

 

[SAINTDON13]

Is Carroll fit again?

Subject to a late fitness test according to the web site.

 

[fran-MLs little camera]

Subject to a late fitness test according to the web site.

But he could get jiggered again in today's game. [HASHTAG]#hopefulface[/HASHTAG]

 

[Schrodinger's Cat]

Of all the games Yoshida played as a full back, I though this was his best one yet.

Obviously I agree he's not a full back or a wing back, but he did a decent job today.

I agree there, its always tough for a right footer to play left back unless they have a bloody good left foot, and I thought Yoshida looked pretty decent most of the game. As a mostly right footed player myself (many, many years ago ) who nearly always played left back, I completely understand how tough it can be as there is always a tendency to take the ball on your better foot and drift infield leaving the opposition space to exploit and narrowing the play too much.
Although it was at a far lower standard of football, and many years ago now that I played, I remember it took me a couple of games each season before my body relearnt how to use my left foot properly, and to mentally get my head around playing as a Leftie. I certainly was never able to just switch from left to right side on a game to game basis, or mid game even after I had acclimatised to playing on the "wrong" side.
Obviously a pro footballer would be more adaptable, especially these days but Yoshida looked confident and reasonably good yesterday which just shows his good mental attitude and willingness to do his job for the team.

 

[fran-MLs little camera]

Amazing amount of space he was given enabling him to supply Mane with the ball. He had half the pitch to himself

 

[Onionman]

Amazing amount of space he was given enabling him to supply Mane with the ball. He had half the pitch to himself

You also have to love him for his desire to get the ball to feed it in - you could see him waving his arms and shouting for it. Very confident. I've rated him since he joined. People around me at St Mary's don't rate him, I suspect because the fact that he takes a couple of games to get up to speed leaves them thinking he's not solid.

Yoshida is samurai.

Vin

 

[Le Tissier's Laces]

Amazed at the people who don't think JWP will ever score. He wasn't far off with that FK yesterday, and it's screamingly obvious it's just a confidence thing. Once he gets one (and it won't be long) he'll get a handful.

 

[fran-MLs little camera]

You also have to love him for his desire to get the ball to feed it in - you could see him waving his arms and shouting for it. Very confident. I've rated him since he joined. People around me at St Mary's don't rate him, I suspect because the fact that he takes a couple of games to get up to speed leaves them thinking he's not solid.

Yoshida is samurai.

Vin

I was one who thought he was okay and could step in when needed, but seemed to be always under the shadow of others. I didn't think he would get another contract, but Koeman (and probably Les Reed) seem to value him. That belief must have increased his confidence. Not Mauricio knocking again, but I did hear that he had his favourites...perhaps Maya has a better relationship with RK.

 

[saintlyhero]

I was one who thought he was okay and could step in when needed, but seemed to be always under the shadow of others. I didn't think he would get another contract, but Koeman (and probably Les Reed) seem to value him. That belief must have increased his confidence. Not Mauricio knocking again, but I did hear that he had his favourites...perhaps Maya has a better relationship with RK.

One thing I like about Maya is he knows his own limitations as a footballer. It seems ludicrous given how relatively straight forward the pass for Mane was for the goal, but not every footballer would have made it, simply because of the space he had to run into. A more confident footballer might have taken a few more touches and missed the opportunity.
He is not a great crosser or long range passer, but if he sees a quick pass he will make it and that can be as equally effective

 

[fran-MLs little camera]

At the time when he signed his new contract, Koeman said he was real professional who always put the team first.

 

[Jose Fonte baby]

One thing I like about Maya is he knows his own limitations as a footballer. It seems ludicrous given how relatively straight forward the pass for Mane was for the goal, but not every footballer would have made it, simply because of the space he had to run into. A more confident footballer might have taken a few more touches and missed the opportunity.
He is not a great crosser or long range passer, but if he sees a quick pass he will make it and that can be as equally effective

A bit like Davis, he always does the simple thing and picks out the right pass.

 

[st_brendy]

Of all the games Yoshida played as a full back, I though this was his best one yet.

Obviously I agree he's not a full back or a wing back, but he did a decent job today.

Unfortunately home to West Ham is not away to QPR. Firstly QPR are a weaker team, less able to take advantage of an opposition CB playing FB. Secondly, there's more of a need for us to attack and be positive when playing at home. Particularly if West Ham come set up with men behind the ball. They only way we seemed to be able to break Swansea down was down the sides.

 

[Jose Fonte baby]

Bump. First goal in a while - will hopefully give us more confidence in front of goal. We looked more threatening at the end, but could be as Palace were less attacking and Long looked good. My target for Pelle won't be hit, but with Alderweireld back that should make our defence rock solid so one goal in a lot of games should be enough to win/draw.