pingwing

Formation doesn't need wingers in the traditional sense and Punch's game is pretty limited when we can have Lambert dropping back as an attacking mid and play Rodriguez/Lallana/Gaston in that bursting through from the hole sort of role with Osvaldo up top....

Vagisil to attract more women to games. You sound like the spinster exwife who lives with a hoard of cats all named Nigel.... He's gone, that's how football works, it's overall been a better move.

Good for him! Always liked him as a player (seemed well liked by team mates as well) and he should have a really positive impact for them (especially as they are struggling at the moment).

My point is our direct width that tends to come from wingers is being provided by Clyne/Shaw now because buying effective wingers is really expensive/difficult when we have a lot of good attacking midfielders who are better in the middle and sometimes drifting out wide to pull defenders away, which in turn creates and eases pressure in similar ways to classic wingers. The tactics and formations we now employ are to make better use of the players we have instead of trying to bring in/press players into being wingers which is unproductive and quite often the undoing of us.

Width comes from two attacking full backs with 3 attacking midfielders occupying the hole behind our lone striker. Means there is usually 5/6 people pressing forward from different angles, just not traditional wide players starting out there/sitting out there... Slow response when Smirking_Saint has a more detailed explanation.

#wont see it when the ground is full so why care

I thought he was a kid like Vydra, google says he's 30, supporting your he's gash theory entirely then (instead of not ready now but game like should improve him like Vydra).

Pretty sad for him, just retiring is a pretty extreme action. Does this leave Long as WBA's only established forward then seeing as Odemwengie is still on the naughty step and the other two are still on the step up programme.

Urm there's only one option, Chambers at RB and Clyne at LB... If it comes it Fox can go at LB and we start Cork in the midfield with Morg and Wanyama to provide more cover that side (as Fox will be a target). No point in buying a player to be back up and no point in rushing Targett.

Hmm probably indicating we are moving away from playing traditional wingers and having 3 attacking midfielders instead with width coming from our full backs more. Shame for punch with us as he got better last year but at the same time it'll be good to get him out and playing more if his place In the squad has quietly been filled

Wanyama was a cb for them?! Celtic have been defending like school kids... That said Wanyama probably would help them today

Delighted with yesterday, felt Wanyama was quality and just got MOTM ahead of Lovern and Fonte. As a game of football it wasn't action packed but it was a good advert for how to drill two teams properly, play their own styles of football and try and stick it out over 90 mins. No one descended aimless hoof or some sort horrible mistake to give the game away (I felt the pen was a pen, despite Shaw's lowly scoring record he was clean through and taken out in the box). Only complaint was the shockingly confusing standard to refereeing, no idea why they needed 4 yellows and we just gave away free kick after free kick for being in the game. It seemed the ref wanted a non contact game but didn't seem capable of applying it. Either way delighted to start the season how we mean to go on!

Great work! Many a smile and a good way to kick off the season. Only thing I whole heartedly disagree with is Zaha being the one to watch, unless its to point and laugh, he'll be the donkey of united's season...

Average champ striker with an underdog hero status, just like Chaplow, Wotton and countless other fan favourites that may have had one or two stand out moments but was consistently deeply average at best 80% of the time. Sharp carried the team once, at home to Donny, exactly the same way he carried the team when we went to Donny and lost. That alone cannot be enough for a chance in the premier league and everyone bar a few deluded fans can see it.

I can't believe that happened! Greatest moment watching England in a very very long time!

Get the **** in!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

God I hate andy townsend, one of the main reasons I don't watch int football....

Decent in the sense he will be good in le champ next year but a bit average this year in the prem.

Ask Danny Graham why he went to Sunderland last year? To take them down...

Olsson will be their first choice this season Marginal expense is only the money aspect of transfers, there's the team building aspect that we can't do in a week (takes years) and getting someone in who will play second fiddle when our first choice is properly fit is stupid, the wrong type of personality at the club to have and a waste of any money (especially as there will be a financial hit moving on the players you have listed).

Isn't posting non saints related threads in the saints related bit the reason they are being locked... All the ones that have been locked in the last few days have been because they are about other teams acquisitions and if hypothetically we could have done with them, when this area of saints web is just for actual saints stuff. Probably more useful if the moderating team put a closing post at the end of locked threads to make this clear instead of just locking them repeatedly.

Monstrously overrated, going to be awkward this season watching people defend him not being good enough...

Also become a media personality and spoon Roy this evening...

That's really cool!

*awaits MLG to find out if this is true* Exciting either way as it is demonstrating the calibre of the squad!