During the tough 1-0 defeat to Sunderland on Saturday it was evident that Saints missed Adam Lallana's mazy runs, drifting inside and driving at the Black Cats defence. Whilst it has to be said that The Black Cats defended well and John O'Shea dominated in the air leaving Lambert a frustrated and isolated figure, the lack of link up play was worrying and Saints boss Nigel Adkins may have to rethink his formation before the short away trip to play Fulham at Craven Cottage on Wednesday. On the left Saints really had no outlet and this meant that most of the attacking play had to come down the right hand side where Jason Puncheon and Nathaniel Clyne have been combining well in recent weeks. However, once Sunderland nullified this outlet, the lack of midfielder runs into the box, getting beyond Lambert, and the lack of a man playing wide on the left accentuated the problem. Puncheon who is left footed but has been preferred on the right may have to be switched if Adkins cannot find a suitable substitute to fill Lallana's void, this could in turn allow Frazer Richardon to return on the right-hand side. The role was given to Saints record buy Gaston Ramirez, who struggled to impose himself on the game, however as the match progressed it was clear that his effectiveness was diminishing and he was shuffled inside to his more favoured position with pacey-winger Steve de Ridder entering the fray. De Ridder, who has been peripheral all season did manage to get to the by-line, however his final ball often let him down. Saints final substitution against Sunderland saw Guly do Prado come on in an advanced position just behind Lambert, and their knowledge of each others game, plus Guly's ability to link up with the Saints talisman could mean that he features more regularly in a 4-4-1-1 formation with Southampton unlikely to play two out-and-out strikers away from St. Mary's. Adkins therefore may consider reverting to a 4-3-3 for the away match at Fulham with Rodriguez playing left of the front three like he did against Everton; left-footed striker Tadanari Lee could be another option.
Personally, I think that we will have to play a second striker out here. As we saw against Fulham earlier this season they struggled and gave the ball away when we pressed them high up the pitch.
Jay or guly, but i will go for jay Rodriguez, we can just focus our attacks down the right and just have J playing like a striker when we attack.
Ben Reeves would be a natural option, but very inexperienced Problem is, whoever we play there will be out of position (Lee, Rodriguez, De Ridder, Guly, Puncheon) and so whatever we do, it'll be a square peg in a round hole
Why do so many people want to see a right footed centre forward play out in LM? JRod has already shown he can't, earlier this season. The lack of balance in the team yesterday said it all and we had no one who could take a corner, wide free kick or wip in a cross from the left. Fox would be my first choice
I really don't think Reeves is anywhere near Premier League standard (or potentially ever will be) I know it's easy to assume that eve graduate of our academy will be the next big thing but Reeves is unfortunately not one of them IMO. I'd play Guly or Jay Rod but I wouldn't be disappointed to see Mayuka given another go. He may have had a poor game yesterday but give a chance to redeem himself and you never know what might happen.
Wouldn't mind Mayuka...so long as we actually played him on the left. Yesterday we essentially played with Mayuka up top, Rickie in the hole, and Gaston in a free role, with absolutely no width on the left hand side.
We want wingers who can get in behind and can score goals. Fox doesn't really do either. Shaw is solid and doesn't really need a defensive winger in front of him. The only left-footed winger in our squad has found his niche on the right, so it seems fair to play him there. Someone has to play left and a forward is a better bet than a defender. Good forwards tend to be able to use both feet, but with the role of the modern winger, it's increasingly irrelevant anyway. Who exactly decided that Rodriguez can't play wide? Seems to me that it's the people who think a winger should be a simple sort who goes round the outside and lobs the ball into the box. Maybe in the 1990s...
True! I'd loved to be proved wrong, trust me, I just can't quite see it in the few outings he's had for the first team and his loan spell at Dagenham and Redbridge. Still, I'd get right behind him and the rest of the team if he is selected on Wednesday.
Does nobody else rate fox going forward? I seem to recall the fox bashing was mainly re his defensive frailties. Failing fox I think lee should be given a chance, although I don't like the continual rotation of players and it may well be best to stick with mayuka and gaston wandering. Mayuka was poor in the air (obviously) but he has pace and did make some good runs.
