Lazlo78

I wasn't happy about Kane's diving in the semi, where he went to the ground too easily (tbf, nothing out of the ordinary, but in terms of refereeing this EC has been superb, so it felt like a step in the wrong direction), BUT...even though you say he is played wrong, I think he has been outstanding as a deeper lying playmaker this tournament, and it seems to me that the players around him trust his vision and technique and make the runs that he needs to set up the attack - a bit like Lambert when he had Lallana, Tadic etc. darting around him. I see some laugh at him and compare him to Rooney but come on, seriously, Kane has shown himself to be a class striker in this tournament. Yeah sure, he would probably love to have Lewandowski's job, but as it is, the English team needs Kane to help orchestrate the attack and not just stick the ball in the back of the net... and he is bloody good at it! Oh and now you all know how the Danes felt after the semi: better team won, but we felt sooooo close, and I guess most Saints fans would agree that it's the hope that kills you 😫

Did the trail go cold on Thomas Delaney? Has put in a great shift this EC...

Incidentally the time where Mathias Jensen left the field injured, so Denmark played the last 15 minutes 10 vs 11... earlier in the tournament the impact subs have paid off, but last night the gamble backfired. Tough luck. Ref was so annoying last night. They have had a great line this tournament, where e.g. the Ayling Flop is not rewarded with a free kick. Ref last night was back to the usual line of players falling over when they feel any type of contact and getting a free kick. Kane was by far the worst - I never realised how much of a diver he is 🤮 Penalty was... yeah, disappointing with the above in mind - it seemed like UEFA had managed to get the perfect setup with refs, VAR and guidelines for this tournament, but yesterday was back to the old ways (for both teams)... England deserved winners on the basis of the last 10-15 minutes of normal time and the 1st half of extra time - they completely dominated those 30 minutes of football and got the rewards 👏

He has been increasingly marginalised at Dortmund over the last few seasons, so a move away would make sense. His stats for the season from https://www.transfermarkt.com/thomas-delaney/leistungsdatendetails/spieler/91849/wettbewerb/L1/saison/2020: 33 league games: "Squad: 25, Starting eleven: 13, Substituted in: 6, On the bench: 6, Suspended: 1, Injured: 7," He is listed as a defensive midfielder but I see him more as a box-to-box midfielder with a decent shot... Just for fun:

I take it you didn't actually click the link 🤭

Looking closer you can see that was never a pen!

Speaking to a Danish newspaper, JV reveals that RH was the one who blocked a £25M January move to Leicester: https://ekstrabladet.dk/sport/fodbold/udenlandsk_fodbold/engelsk_fodbold/PremierLeague/southampton/dansker-drama-manager-blokerede-droemmeskifte/8016846

Why has it become a Saintsweb truth that Ralph wanted to strengthen the FB positions? He said so earlier this month but he did downgrade the statement again in his press conference on the 16th: On transfers… “It’s not long ago that I said it’s important to bring somebody in, but the way the team has played in the last weeks, I wouldn’t say it’s changed my mind, but we have to be very careful with what we do. “We have to think about how we do it because I think the team deserves credit for the very good job they are doing. “Also, the young guys who we gave a chance to in the FA Cup showed that their development has gone quicker than we thought. “If we bring somebody in, then we must be sure it won’t block their development because this is the main way we want to go in Southampton. We want to develop the young players. “We don’t do anything just because we have to do something. When we want to bring a player in then it really has to make sense."

Vestergaard has told a Danish newspaper that he will stay and fight for his place in the team and not be loaned out this season: https://ekstrabladet.dk/sport/fodbold/udenlandsk_fodbold/engelsk_fodbold/PremierLeague/dansk-stjerne-i-problemer-ikke-optimalt/7944989

Spot on. Someone needed to put pressure on Cantwell, so Cedric probably did as he was expected to. Maybe PEH should have spotted the runner behind him, maybe Stephens should have been closer to Pukki, maybe Bednarek shouldn't have been positioned so deep that there was no offside. It's a team game so we shouldn't always look for a single culprit for every goal against...

Watch it again and this time look for what Cedric is doing. Twice he pushes up to press Cantwell and at the time of the screenshot he is following Cantwell's run after releasing the ball. Stephens and whoever in CB/CM should back him up didn't deal with the 2 on 1 situation Stephens was put in, but I fail to see how this is Cedric's fault as he was doing another job at the time.

Stats can be deceptive, but they paint a very different picture to PEH's contribution than the section quoted above: "Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg: Won possession in the midfield third 18 times in Southampton's 2-1 win over Norwich, a record in a Premier League match since we started collecting data from 2009/10". 4 aerial duels won (out of 6), 8 successful ackles (of 10 attempted), 70% pass succes rate (42/60), 3 key passes etc. They list him as a clear MoM. Not a perfect performance, but far from what you describe. I am not sure why we even have "forum bullets" (sadly we do), but I don't think PEH dodges many - my overall impression is that there is consensus that PEH, Romeu and JWP are all sub-standard for Premier League. So he gets a lot of harsh comments too, yours included...

37/37 with 2½ minutes to go...

Finland qualified for their first WC/EC ever tonight, with Tim Sparv as a key figure in the lineup...

Yeah, forgot - emotions overcame him, because his father had died and did not witness the national team victory against Serbia...

Sorry for interrupting the slating of our captain. PEH was interviewed recently (Danish interview: https://www.bold.dk/video/?id=593553), and he told about his time at Bayern. His father fell ill with cancer and underwent treatment in Munich. To be able to pay for the treatments, PEH had to get the substantial bonus for playing for the first team, so he went into a work frenzy to force his way into the side. He managed 4 games, which was enough to pay for the chemo therapy. Shortly before the father died, he joked that PEH only needed to play for the national team to have done a "decent job". So when he played for DK against Serbia in 2015, he broke down and cried in the post match interview, because emotions overcame him (video from 2015 in Danish here: https://www.bold.dk/video/?id=593550). He really is a very, very intense character. Quite un-Danish actually... Right. Back on topic. How crap did you say he is?

My MotM was Bednarek. Best CB in the club even though Maya did a really good job tonight. Bednareks awareness is phenomenal and it was no coincidence that he was the one to make a goal line clearance when it really mattered. Lots of nerves the first 15 minutes where we couldn't quite cope with the expected onslaught from the home team. it really was their only chance; to come out at full speed, get a goal and get the stadium rocking. And it so very nearly went their way, but as soon as the game settled, there was only going to be one winner. Moments of brilliance and madness from both CMs and a frustrating evening for Adams. Looking at this game isolated he had zero impact, but as other said, he needs time. No guarantee that he will come good, but it is way too early to draw any conclusions. Marquis lucky that VAR couldn't pick up his deliberate elbow on Maya. Really nasty stuff. Apart from that, I think Saints gave as good as they received... Nice nice nice and thank you Ralph for taking this competition - or at least this match - seriously enough to field a strong team.

Yup the sizes are definitely smaller this season

Lee Trundle... he could have been our Lambert even before we had Lambert!

The away shirt arrived in Denmark today from the Saints store. Wohoo, only a few months late... Looks quite good though!

https://www.voetbalkrant.com/nieuws/2019-08-07/lokeren-heeft-steve-de-ridder-en-mickael-tirpan-naar-de-b-kern-gestuurd Google translate: "Lokeren lost on the opening match day with the smallest difference from Beerschot. Two boys who were there at the time have since been sent to the B-team. According to Het Laatste Nieuws, Lokeren has removed Steve De Ridder and Mickaël Tirpan from the first team. In that B-core they can gradually set up a complete team: Van Moerzeke, De Mey, Monsecour, Reznicek, Julian Michel, Terki and Slagveer were already there. Steve De Ridder was told a while ago that he must leave, but has not yet found a new club. At Tirpan there are other reasons. Tirpan went red last Friday and was sent to the B-team for disciplinary reasons. His story at Lokeren seems completely over."

It is the black/yellow away kit I have ordered too. My son has the green away kit with blue sash (15/16) and the black away kit (16/17), so it seems we always favour the away kits

No news about the kits? My son is waiting for his away shirt that we preordered in June and frankly there hasn't been much info about the delay

One positive from losing so many points from winning positions is that we are apparently better at getting into winning positions than the other bottom teams: https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/premier-league/punktenachfuehrung/wettbewerb/GB1/saison_id/2018/spiele/alle/plus/1 That's got to be worth something!.... No?... Ok...