striker

With this formation crossing the ball is almost useless.

Is Redmond on the field? So far its what we have talked about, Watford playing good defense, letting us mess around with the ball and then countering.

Wow, I love Consortium11's post and agree with most of it. I do think though that Puel has made it clear Redmond is his pick for starting striker over Austin, likely because of the style of "the diamond".

This pretty much sums it up for me too. Right now its pace over scoring (so to speak), we'll see if that changes over the next set of PL games.

Can Redmond play the #10 instead of Tadic?

I knew as soon as a wrote that he would do something and make me sound dumb.

Going just by the feeds, Long seems very quiet. Is this true or just the way the feeds work? Same thing from last match too.

I agree with this. It will be very hard to score if our possession control means giving any PL team a chance to get organized defensively. These teams can all defend well if given the time.

This short article really hits on my concerns for our offensive side. First Puel values possession over all. I fear this will be like the National team, passing around controlling possession for 65% of the time, but never getting a goal. We need attacking/finishing ability too. Second he seems set on his system and expects the players to adapt. I would have hoped he'd looked at the players we have, and adapt his system to get the best result. I wonder what happens if we start slowly? Will he adapt the system or not? https://www.clubcall.com/southampton/puel-makes-possession-priority-1816698.html

Much of this was the same nagging injury. He came back to quick because they needed him, and then when he came here he still wasn't over it. Last year was a situation of a nagging injury that just didn't get time to heal. Look at his previous years, he played all the time.

I'd say around 10th is fair, so lets say 9-11th. I think it will take us a month or two to figure out how to score enough goals in this system, so the key is to have the defense play well right from the start.

Romeu with the header, 1-0.

Thats very optimistic. I can also see Redmond dribbling around a lot and never scoring much. This would be a disaster for us as we need to find goals. I'm not sold on the position change, unless there is some hybrid role (or something I am missing).

I really hope this isn't a new coach trying to make a mark by creating something that isn't there. It seems like he just isn't a fan of the "traditional Type guys" like Austin, Pelle, Carrol, etc. However I worry because we have 2 strikers on this team who have proven they can score PL goals. Austin two years ago (last year he was dinged up) and Long. To put one on the bench due to an experiment seems like a big risk. If he is talking about 3 upfront, or about bringing in Redmond as a change of pace, that may be ok. However I fear that the first 2 months will be this experiment where we end up dribbling around a lot but not scoring. Say what you want about the PL, but the defenses are very stout.

I would add: Long Davis Tadic so thats 10 using your list, plus Romeu, Clasie, and Soares are close too. Plus guys like JWP, Targett, and Bertrand would certainly be on the squad for anyone.

Agreed. We have 2 guys (JRod aside for now because I'm not sure how far back he really is) who are proven PL scorers. However in this scheme 70% they are wide with midfielders and wingers coming through. This scheme seems to favor midfielders like Tadic, Redmon, etc. who are good players, but I don't believe will be consistent scorers. Puel needs to find a way to get Long and Austin more in the game, more in the center near the goal, than he has with this current form of the diamond.

exactly my thought. Play a little better D and see what happens.

Maybe I don't get it, which is likely, but I don't see where the scoring opportunities come from in this setup. It seems good for controlling the ball in the middle third, a little shaky in the back (depends if the wingers can get back), and offers very little up front. It seems to demand a very open field and I'm not sure we ever get that with the very good defensive teams in the PL.

Pretty much the way I see this too. I just wonder if this is the best system for our current players though. I am concerned about the midfield, and concerned about where the goals are going to come from. I'm not sure our two best scorers (Long and Austin) fit that well, although I do want to see how Long looks as a wing before making that decision.

I agree 100%. This scheme is not suited to an Austin (or Pelle, Carroll, etc.). It's much more spread and quickness than traditional finishing capability. I expect a lot of running around but fewer goals. It seems to put more of a premium on attacking midfielders. Maybe Puel is tweaking things to see what works and what doesn't?

Wanted to see Long get time.

I agree we can use another striker, 3 isn't likely enough for all the games we will have. However the mantra that Austin is injury prone is wrong. He was dinged up 4.5the 2nd half of last year, but the previous 4.5 seasons he played almost all the matches. He also played well last year before he got hurt, I think it was something like 10 goals in 12 matches for QPR. JRod is a little different story, his injury was more serious. Another striker would give us the depth we need, unless of course Puel considers Redmond to be a guy who can also play up front (like Mane). This may be the case, which would explain why he may not feel we need another upfront player.

There certainly seems to be a lot of clamor linking us to strikers. Recently we've been linked to one from Monaco and one Dutch one who plays in Germany. However who knows if any of it is true. I guess its all down to how you view Redmond. Is he primarily a striker, or is he a midfielder, or does it matter? Then again in the setup run so far, I could suggest that the two positions have a lot of overlap anyway. If you view Redmond as an attacker/striker, then we do have 4, and they are arguably better than what we started with last year.

For me, if we play a formation with a central striker then Austin needs to be in, like the 3-5-2 everyone is talking about. Long is great, but his strength is getting into open space and using his quickness and pace. Austin is the only "in the box" guy we have, who is a threat in the air, can get the dirty goals in the box, and hold the ball up (like he did on his assist for Redmond's first goal Saturday). I've always though him and Long would be a good complement to each other.

Ha, yes but only 1 month out of the year.