Lazlo78

PEH came on and clear MoM Xhaka went off for Switzerland. Both substitutions affected the result. PEH certainly brought on some fight and urgency but without trying to do everything himself (which used to be his largest problem)... Vestergaard is 4th choice CB and the NT coach wanted to bring in some CB alternatives. He directly said that Vestergaard had done nothing wrong and hadn't played himself out of the team, and that he could be justified in feeling a little unlucky.

I should probably have added that he was one of the few players who got a decent rating on a night where half the team were given the rating "not passed". On the scale of 0, 2, 4, 7, 10 and 12 he was given a 10 as the only player. Christian Eriksen got a 7. three players got a 4, six players got a 2 and a single player got a 0 rating. Remember he has been completely left out of the National team for years as he had a falling out with the national coach. So games like these will only help him claw his way back into the team

Bagged an equaliser for Denmark in the 92. minute tonight...

Tomas Pekhart good?

Well, to underline my poor scouting skills, Poulsen seems to have improved immensely in front of goal... I'm no expert at German, but it seems that Poulsen was in the team of the week in the Bundesliga for the 4th time after an impressive display against Düsseldorf where he scored a brace. He impressed so much that he was also chosen as player of the week in the entire Bundesliga: http://www.kicker.de/news/fussball/bundesliga/spieltag/1-bundesliga/2018-19/19/spieler-des-tages.html. In terms of ratings, he is 44th out of 204 rated players in the league - 10th in the strikers table. On the combined goals/assists table he is joint 7th with 10 goals and 4 assists in 19 games. Under Hasenhüttl, Augustin was preferred to Poulsen, but under Rangnick it seems Poulsen is ahead of Augustin. He is really improving a lot this season. Did the trail go cold on this one?

Suddenly this makes sense: Guardiola saying "get rid of that boring, negative manager and start playing with a smile on your face again"...

Quite possible, yes! I'm terrible at assessing players but I wanted to add a bit to the description of Poulsen. He might develop a lot more as you say, and I would love to see him at the club. But for now he is not a real goal-getter...

Poulsen is a mix of Andy Carroll and Shane Long. Plenty of energy and power and clearly enjoys a good tussle. However, as the comparison may imply, he does not score many goals. The last three seasons in total he has amassed 17 goals in 105 matches... So, I would love to see him play for Saints and he would be perfectly ready for the physical challenge, but he will not solve our goalscoring problems.

Due to Rangers' restructuring, we got him for next to nothing. His value compared to the price has been immense! Fair enough for him that we do not get in the way of a reconciliation move over pennies...

Mark Paul?

And at long last, PEH was reintroduced in the DK team and he played a good match. Pressure was on him as everyone knew this was his exam. Vestergaard also played full time and did a good job.

Højbjerg not included in the latest Denmark squad. NT Coach Åge Hareide directly admits that it is solely down to him not playing in the first two games of the season: "I had hoped that Pierre-Emile could have played for his club, but unfortunately is hasn't been the case. He was very much involved before the WC and I spoke to him, and I would like to see him back in the National team. He is a player I have had faith in from the beginning. But it is difficult to include him if he doesn't play for his club, so we are forced to look at other types of players". Hareide still have two open spots due to injuries, so PEH may still get his call-up. Vestergaard is included after his illness in the weekend.

We were rumoured to be interested in him some years ago much to the delight of the wittiest of posters on this board... "we're signing bellend"...

Kjær is the pivotal figure in the Danish defence. A John Terry without the ****ty personality and the scandals. He is 1st choice CB for the foreseeable future. His partner in the WC qual was Bjelland from Brentford. Unspectacular but formed a good partnership with Kjær. Only just before the WC he lost his place to the up and coming Christensen and in the end, Bjelland was left out of the squad entirely leaving room for Huddersfield's Zanka and Vestergaard. So it must have been close between the four. Christensen was preferred as partner to Kjær, and when he was moved into a holding midfielder role, Zanka was brought in. He was a star in the Danish league but a fluke in the Netherlands. Last season he improved greatly with Huddersfield where he did not look entirely out of place in the PL. Zanka is quicker than Vestergaard which might explain why he was seen as 3rd choice CB. So Vestergaard is 4th choice CB right now but it's a very close call. He is tall and extremely good in the air, but not surprisingly he struggles with pace and has the turning radius of an oil tanker. He might follow the path of PEH who needed time to adjust to the pace and pressure of English football but I wouldn't rule out that he could become a big hit for us if we're a bit patient. He is young and has the potential to improve his game considerably if he is put in the right training and match environment.

Højbjerg was in the preliminary squad of 35, but was in the group of 8 players that were left out of the squad this morning - not unexpected as he made himself unpopular with the national team coach for being too wilful and not enough a team player. He will be part of the team after the WC if he continues his fine form. He is by far the most controversial omission in the Danish squad and most fans see him play a part in the future.

Lady Gaga already wrote a song about Josh Sims....

Can you check if it went through from your side - I didn't receive anything on the e-mail I used for ordering. Thanks :-)

Ta muchly

PDF copy purchased. Stupid question: how/when do I receive it? I assumed it would be attached to the confirmation mail...

I see a lot of similarities between Redmond and Sterling - pacy, technically gifted, willing to take on defenders, not natural strikers when it comes to finishing etc. But as we have seen with Sterling it's all too easy to conclude that a player is amazing or crap. It has to do with context. Last season Sterling did not perform to his standards but this season under a new manager, he seems to thrive. The same could happen with Redmond, depending on how he fits in with his team mates and with Puels tactics... The potential is obvious!

Highly unlikely that there is any truth to these rumours, given he worked so intensely with Angers management in his youth...

Mick Wadsworth...

What was the name of that first team coach during our dark days that everyone was convinced was to blame for our downfall? Short haircut, round glasses...

Højbjerg was allowed by Bayern to represent Denmark at the Summer Olympics in Rio. However, today the squad was revealed and Højbjerg was not included. Saints must have prevented him from going. Viktor Fischer from Boro is another player who was originally cleared to go but has now been left out of the squad since his transfer. Letting Højbjerg go to Rio would have sent a signal that he is not an important player right now, so I fully applaud that he is not leaving (regardless of how that choice was made)...

*sigh* so we sign this coveted young star and so many on here wants to either have a go at deliberately misinterpreting Les Reed or wheeling out the already ancient joke about Liverpool rejoicing Højbjerg joining them in 2018. Way to go Saintsweb... (yes I know, in reality most on here are not so bad, but the noisy minority is extremely loud and visible)... Meanwhile the young man has wheeled out one of the more interesting first interviews on the OS in some time - go on, give it a read: http://www.saintsfc.co.uk/news/article/2016-17/20160711-pierre-emile-hojbjerg-on-signing-for-southampton-3180194.aspx. From what I know of Højbjerg, these are not just platitudes...