TWar

Does this signify us focusing the cup? Benching our more important injury prone lads? Surprised Minimino doesn't start if thats the case as he can't play Cup.

Personally I cannot see us playing Bednarek and Salisu long term together. We play with one passing CB and one "firefighter". Without the passing CB we cannot transition quickly into attack and rebuild from deep when attacks break down. Our passing CB is essential so I think we will always have one of Stephens or Vestergaard in our side who can pick out long balls. I also don't see us moving to a back 3. Our team has a massive issue with creativity with our xG being 15th in the league below Fulham and Sheffield United, sacrificing one of our creative 10's to bring in an extra CB when we already are joint 7th for clean sheets seems very unwise. Adding in to that I think KWP's main strengths are defensively and playing the ball out from deep and not as an attacking outlet I don't think he would make a good wingback, same with Bertrand who is also not prolific going forward. Long term imo Salisu Vestergaard will be our pairing. I like Bednarek and think he is a great option to have from the bench but Salisu has a much higher ceiling for me.

I think we fluctuated between a 4222 and 343 similarly to how Pep fluctuates between a back 3 and back 4 with an asymmetric deeper fullback and advanced fullback. In defense we were mainly a back three with wingbacks, going forward Djenepo was a lot lot more advanced than Bertrand and Bednarek pushed high about level to Bertrand making us look a lot more like a back four. This is why formations are pretty useless in modern football, most modern teams fluctuate between multiple formations depending on game state. As for Bednarek's performance, he did great defensively and no one did well in attack as we had <30% possession. More than happy to see Bednarek at RB and Ings to keep playing as we were fine defensively and the lack of offense wasn't either of their faults, it was because we couldn't keep the ball in the middle which is mainly on JWP, Romeu and Minimino who were very sloppy with their passing.

I think we have a chance at signing Minimino and we need to take it. Should be able to get him for about £15-20m but this team needs a player who can finish, everything else can be coached in by Ralph. Aside from that, Elyounoussi has done well at Celtic so I would give him a go over Walcott who I think started brightly but came off the boil massively even before his injury. Armstrong, Minimino, Djenepo, Elyounoussi competing for those two "10" roles with Tella coming through. Then Ings, Adams, Redmond, N'lundulu competing for the two spots up top I think that attack is fine. Do absolutely everything to get Ings to sign a contract. At the back we need a new keeper desperately, maybe try and get Darlow or Dubravka if Newcastle go down. Obviously we need a bit of cover at RB/LB I'd get a young lad to compete with Bertrand who can learn from him and eventually take over and an experienced player who can play both sides to back up RB.

Got to be the same team for me. Could maybe have Adams instead of Redmond. Salisu Vestergaard should be our starting CB pairing at the moment. If Armstrong is fit we should start him over Djenepo and keep him for an impact sub.

I reckon thats a 343 with Djenepo at right wingback.

You could get 500/1 odds from William Hill earlier this evening, I think they are offering 50/1 now. Someone is still offering 100/1. So to answer your question, no I think it is wildly unlikely. I did still put £30 on at 500/1 though, might see if I can make a couple of hundred paying out after we lose to Chelsea, wouldn't recommend holding those bets forever, we looked better than Villa and Wolves without a reffing nightmare so we will bounce back soon when we get competent officials.

I guess the feeling is that if this guy had enough spending power to purchase and sustain a premier league side when the deal fell through he would go looking for another side of similar stature to buy. Instead investing money in south american football academies, a much less ambitious project, shows some people he is a little bit small time and didn't have what it took to take us to the next level after all and would have potentially only bought us using the same underhanded tactics currently being used on Burnley.

I think for the stadium to be sold ect. we would have to go into full administration and would probably be a drawn out process over 5-10 years atleast judging by other clubs. They would be waiting for their money for ages, and there would be a risk they would only get part of it if we owed money to multiple parties and didn't have enough to pay everyone off. Also there would be extensive legal fees involved. When most clubs go fully under they have massive debt in all directions and all their debtors miss out to some degree usually. I think it is just risk mitigation at the end of the day.

I think I read an article that said we had to pay a higher rate on the loan as we are less secure and debtors were more worried we might get relegated and therefore not be able to pay them back and needed to mitigate that risk.

Adams rested or dropped?

I think a major issue with Obafemi is that he is always injured and out the team. Maybe Ralph thinks this is because he doesn't take care of his body well enough, he has before compared it to an F1 car and also said he lacks professionalism. Either way I think you way underrate Nlundulu, he has looked pretty good to me, he is very raw but I am excited about him as a prospect as well as Tella.

A good thing from our perspective. No way Hasenhuttl leaves midseason so this to me indicates they have someone lined up already to take over, almost certainly Tuchel.

Dunno what came across as passive aggressive in my message. I never addressed you at all, I explained why what you said was wrong and didn't say anything insulting?

There would be a bidding war to see who could offer Ings the most money on his salery. Every bid at £20m is accepted and beyond that it is up to ings himself as to where he goes. Why would anyone offer us more money when they know we have to accept 20m when they could, instead, offer him more money as he is the only one with power at that point?

It's because we have a finite amount of resources and Bednarek/Vestergaard/Stephens/Salisu is probably the best depth outside of the top four at CB whereas (for example) Walcott/Redmond/Djenepo/Armstrong is looking decidedly average this season and more somewhere we should spend cash. Also our back up fullbacks are out of position CB's or Volkins/Valery. Lets look to spend money there first, attacking mid second, and back up striker maybe third rather than spend in an area where our most hyped summer signing isn't even 3rd choice. Without two CB's most teams look short there, four senior CBs is plenty for a team who plays four at the back.

May come across as controversial as he is such a loyal servant to the club but I think Romeu benefits from the system. Hojbjerg was near the top on a number of metrics last season and is no longer up there and now Romeu is instead. Romeu looks very tidy but I think playing next to Ward-Prowse has that effect on a player. Diallo for me adds something new in his ability to drive with the ball and his ability to pass so I would like to see him integrated more heavily now. He is also only 21 so is likely a way off his peak. He is the one we need to develop. Romeu is excellent back up however. I absolutely don't agree on playing three midfielders. Playing two forwards and two creative forces behind them is key to how we play. Also we are not creating enough this season. Our xG is really low and we have been lucky that our finishing has been exceptional (especially JWP). We have seen a revert to sorts recently with one goal in our last four games. Getting rid of an attacker to play three center mids seems very counter intuitive.

Salisu is being kept out the team as our CB's are performing at an elite level. We have 4th best goals conceded in the league and 2nd most clean sheets in the league. Salisu clearly came in injured but has been fit for a good while now and will get a run out in the cup. It is not a failure by any means that he hasn't played yet, it is more a success at how well Vestergaard has kicked on this season. The same, I would say, is true of Romeu keeping out Diallo.

You'd think we were in the relegation zone reading this and not sat in 7th, 2pts off the champions league spots. We have been great this season, Bertrand has been very good too. Our weakness is clearly the attacking mid position with Theo being arguably our only consistent performer. Djenepo and Redmond both being poor on the left is why Bertrand isn't looking as threatening there. Also KWP has been very very good so a lot goes through him now, that's fine, Robertson got a lower attacking output when Trent starting getting used more too.

If Ings said he wasn't signing a new contract I'd sell for 50m in Jan, we aren't getting more than that in the summer with one year on his contract and we are probably bound for mid-table with or without him. I don't see the issue with cashing in early and using Che + Walcott, finishing 11th and banking 50m in the summer which we can reinvest in two quality players (a forward and a good attacking mid) rather than holding him, finishing 8th or 9th, and having to sell him in the summer for 30m as his contract will be run down. If someone offered £75m even if he had signed a new contract I think that would be hard to decline, without a new contract I'd rip their arm off.

Great effort. Excellent from Vestergaard, my man of the match. Also brilliant from KWP, JWP, and Bertrand. I think Romeu has had a couple of off days the last two games and am hoping he gets back to his best as he misplaced a few passes and got caught in possession and put us in a bit of trouble. Also I think Djenepo was pretty ineffective as was Redmond when he came on, I think we should be playing Walcott and Armstrong behind Ings and Adams for now and bring on Djenepo and Redmond when the opposition have tired legs.

Adams is the out and out winner. N'lundulu vs Obafemi vs Long becomes the question now to see who gets to be our option off the bench.

https://saintsmarching.com/2020/11/17/southampton-ings-return-action-saints-ahead-schedule/ Semmens said on TSP that he will be back in December and "10 days ahead of schedule". Wouldn't be surprised to see him on the bench against Brighton, maybe even united.

This really shows the importance of Vestergaard to how we play. A ball playing centerback is essential given that McCarthy has such poor distribution. Hoping Salisu comes good and takes Bednarek's role as he has a good left foot apparently.

Anecdotes over evidence, gotcha.