FriendlySaint

I believe we need to revert to a system wth Austin up top and just feed him chances. For me that's a 4-2-3-1. I also prefer this system defensively to the current one. He's a proper and proven goal scorer unlike the rest of them. He would bag more on his own in a system like that than Redmond and long will combined in the current one. For me the first thing is Tadic on the left. He can create all sorts from there for Austin. Boufal comes in asap in the number 10 position and probably Redmond plays wide right.

Terrible excuse.

Should be dropped

Pochettino played a different system for sure because it was a double pivot (two holding players in midfield). With Puel it's one holding midfielder. That plus what's already been mentioned.

If we keep the system the same then having Tadic left striker, Redmond right striker with long or Rodriguez at 10 (if it's a diamond) is our best bet .As this way if the strikers (Tadic and Redmond in the example) end up wide and having to defend it doesn't matter as they are more suited to being wingers in a 4-3-3 anyway (and for me Tadic is best on the left). And the 10 will push up to support and make good runs forward as either one is a natural striker... If Puel wants to defend like a 4-3-3 (with the front two defending as if they were wingers in a 4-3-3) but attack in a diamond-ish set up where the 10 sometimes becomes a striker/false 9 anyway then setting up with two wingers up top and a striker behind (ideally a back to his best Rodriguez) is probably the best bet.

It's a 4-3-3 that city play, Not a diamond. Guardiola lets the striker roam more, sometimes as a false 9. But the striker/false 9 doesn't have an defensive duties. It's certainly not the same to how we are setting up as we end up with the two strikers on the wing and tracking back against the other team's full backs...they are playing an actual 4-3-3. We are playing a diamond , but making the strikers defend as if they are wide men in 4-3-3.

We shoot from distance too often. Some of the players are in dream land when they have a crack from 30 yards. Most of our players have never scored a real long distance strike in their careers. Against Watford against ten men we had players shooting on sight. We need to get the ball into better positions before shooting. Shooting from distance against ten men was pointless and embarrassingly bad game management

You don't need a target man to play out from the back. I suggest you look at the teams that are a lot better than us that play possession game like Barca, Bayern. I will point out though that Austin is 6'2 and decent in the air anyway (although not as good in the air as Pelle). A huge problem is obviously the diamond system. 442 diamond isn't as suited to possession football as formations like 433, 4231, 4141.. Another problem is that our midfield in particularly is very weak in possession. They can't beat a man and they are scared to pass the ball forward to feet (I will point out though that at times they aren't given enough options). Romeu in particular looks out of his depth this season as the anchor man at the base of the diamond. He's weak, gets shrugged off the ball too easily, barely ever passes the ball forward, can't dribble out of trouble. Romeu would be much better suited to playing as one of the wide central mids and Hojbjerg could do a much better job as the anchor midfielder. If Puel is adamant he will play 442 diamond then I hope he realises Hojbjerg should play at the base instead of Romeu. And I'd have Ward-Prowse and Davis playing as the wide CM's if I simply had to play 442 diamond.

Puel needs to wake up and smell the coffee. 442 diamond is utter garbage

Reed is better than Romeu for me hands down. He isn't as small as people claim either. I find it very frustrating that he hasn't had more game time considering he's young, English and an academy player and clearly is a decent player. He's a great ball winner and has a lot of potential to improve if only he had been given more game time...

442 diamond is garbage. 4231 would be a success with the players we have. We will go down playing 442 diamond. Having the strikers chasing back to defend against the opposition full backs is pathetic. We have to revert to 4231 immediately

Puel 442 diamond is a pathetic joke Austin had to chase the opposition full backs half the time he was on. Tadic isn't helping. Tadic basically does what Rooney did for England when they tried the diamond with Vardy and Kane in front

I'm inclined to agree with the last sentence. I think those that don't understand these sort of terms (number 10 etc) haven't done much research about the game in terms of tactics, formations and so on. When I started watching Saints as a young kid decades ago I'd just follow the ball. As a result you only notice great dribbles, great strikers, big tackles, goal scorers or killer passes. You miss the tactical battle between the two sides. You also don't see the solid, quiet, sound tactical performance that might have been put in by a defensive player that was very important. Nor do you understand the role of the holding mid for example if you just follow the football. Or defending and attacking as a team and so on. I think if you're following the game properly you understand the two systems and how each teams and player wants to play within the first few minutes of the game. You are assessing everyones roles and their positioning. You can see if a player should have put the ball into the box early, or waited (e.g. against Watford we kept putting the ball into the box too early against 10 men, and shooting on sight unnecessarily) I could go on, but you should get the point. Basically some of us understand and assess the tactical side of the game and how each player is performing in the system, we can assess things like decision making etc. Whereas others follow the game much like a child would and just follow the ball about the park (and imo these types are the types that don't understand technical terms and may mock them) and these types of people see and notice a lot less of the game.

I saw Tadic in the false 9 against Watford at times and other times more of an attacking midfielder behind 2 strikers in a 442 diamond. When Long and Redmond split wide early in the first half against Watford for a while and Tadic was central that was a 433 with Tadic in the false nine for me, but it was ditched fairly quickly in favour of the diamond 442.

False 9 is basically the creative player playing in the striker position, but deeper in a 4-3-3 with wide wingers. The false 9 tends to drop deep more and looks to play the wingers in. An example would be Tadic being there in a 4-3-3 as he would play the position very differently to someone like Austin. As for number 10. It's an attacking midfielder or support/second striker that's central. It doesn't have to be the most creative player, number 10 is a position behind the centre forward. They tend to have more defensive duties these days. In the past they usually had no defensive duties at all. Imo number 10 can also be in the diamond system, ie Tadic for us. Basically the central attacking mid, or if you have a central support striker behind a centre forward. This is my take on it anyway

That's not a diamond.. That's 4-3-3... If you wanted to play a diamond with those players then Mane would be upfront next to Lambert with Lallana behind them on the top of the diamond...

Everyone called him that before we got to the prem. ....It's why the fans sing Jose Fontay baby... Maybe you stopped following us when we got relegated? And only started watching us again when we went back up... I call him Font now but I took a season of us being back in the pl to adjust as we all called him fontay before that

He's lucky to escape without a longer ban.

Difficult to dominate the midfield with 442 diamond compared to better formations like 433, 4231, 4141 that give you one extra midfielder for that. We don't even have the players for 442 diamond , they are far better suited to the systems we had been playing under Koeman and Pochettino.

We have good players, but they are being forced to play a garbage system that doesn't suit them

442 diamond is a horrible system. We would be at least 4-0 down without Van Dijk. Our whole side has been out classed apart from him

I have a few comments to make about this match. I thought the team played well , but made some schoolboy errors. I also have a few comments to make about Romeu. Quite clearly our players are far better individuals and much more talented on the ball than Watford's. But in terms of tactical nous we were beyond poor. Against 10 men we kept shooting from 30 yards and kept trying to get the ball into the box too early when we only had one body in there (or two max). This really highlights how the team needs to be taught how to play against one less man. I remember us playing West Ham with 9+ an injured Carroll and not managing to score due to lack of patience. We have to be more patience and raise the temperature and probe more against one less. As for 11 vs 11 I thought Romeu in particularly was dreadful. I went with a group of people and the only real complaint was that Romeu was shockingly bad. He was completely off the pace. A couple of times dived in high up the park and was left for dead. Fell asleep on the goal. I find it perplexing that the likes of Clasie and Reed don't play over him. They are far better players and no one is going to convince me otherwise. The fact Puel didn't take him off at all worries me. He should have been hauled off at half time as he was by far and away the worst player on the park. As for the formation.. To say I'm not convinced is an understatement. We don't have enough bodies in the box in front of goal. For example Ward-Prowse got hauled off, but came up with a moment of magic first half down the right and cut the ball back into a real danger area....99 times out of 100 that should be a goal. That was a brilliant bit of play by him.

Tadic is best wide left imo. He's much better there than on the right or central

Who is this nailed on success you have in mind to replace Mane? Who would you sign and for what fee?

You have to be sensible and look at Redmond's age and fee. He has pace and he's still raw. He can do a good job for us. Not sure who else we sign to hope replace Mane? No one is really comparable in world football. He's a one Of a kind player. Looking at Redmond's career and age it's possible he might shine big time for us ..but we will have to wait and see