NewYorkSaint

Moi has had some good moments... His overhead kick just now made the goal...

OK... it's a game of three thirds??? Please????!

Remember France in first half against Argentina? We're like that. Except a bit worse. LOL.

Yeah, but it's a game of two halves, innit?

One cool thing. It seems to me NJ has insisted on much more rapid decision making on throw-ins. There's evidence that the longer you wait, the more likely it is for turnover. It's been torture in the past watching our fullbacks take forever to throw the ball, only to give it away. I've noticed a big change this match. Sometimes whoever's closest to the ball just takes the throw right away. This is new. And I think this is a really big deal over the course of a game. If you can retain possession 20% more after throw-ins, that's worth a lot.

Can you say any more about your enticing info pipeline?!

I hope Lavia's OK. That possible injury apart, there was enough there to show a pretty dynamic team. One or more of two things has to happen, though. 1) get a lethal striker 2) NJ to find a way of unblocking whatever it is that is blocking Che and Adam A. There are brilliant strikers in there somewhere (certainly in Che's case, and maybe AA too). But their % of chances take just has to rise. One other big positive today. If there was a concern that our premier league talent would look down its nose at lowly NJ, that seems already disproven. There was a lot of fire evident today. Personally, I think we'll begin moving up the table after the break, and we'll all get a chance to be genuinely excited about the team.

Mara or Edozie on for Adam. I can only imagine how intense this must be for NJ...

Has everyone watched Ted Lasso? I think it might be the right analogy here! Hilarious opening episode in which everyone is rolling their eyes at his crazy appointment, and not without reason. And then, and then, somehow, miraculously the guy charms everyone, including the players and miracles start to happen. So I vote yes on Nathan. I understand the SR guys have known him well for a long time. They're really smart. They see what isn't obvious. This is our Ted Lasso moment!!!!

I think we're underestimating the smarts of SR. Finding some one who respects the use of data the way they do to shape recruitment, training and strategy... that's probably key. I also suspect NJ is a much better man manager than Ralph, who often seemed willing to publicly knock his own players. I saw the below as a comment on the Athletic story saying it's almost a done deal. Food for thought. Personally, I'll keep an open mind and be ready to give NJ my full support. From a Luton perspective.He transformed the playing fortunes of the club over his time with us from League Two outfit to an fairly well established Championship side. All on small budgets. The team he put together to get us promoted from League One was one of the best I've seen in nearly 50 years of watching Luton.The one big caveat is we are a small club and at Luton he is at one with the club. When he went to Stoke he was plunged into a much bigger (and possibly dysfunctional) organisation. From the outside he appeared to struggle with this, although that may be more Stoke's fault than his. How he can handle established players and big budgets would be my concern. There is a big step up between the EFL and the Premier League, possibly even bigger when you're making that step up from Luton.I hope he does well for you.

I heard stories that Walcott has been sensational in training the past couple weeks. It's just possible the manager has more information for this decisions than we do.... But I agree about the dive. A fantastic, battling second half performance. The weird downside of the injuries is that we discover we actually have a lot of quality in depth in the squad. Edozie! Lyanco! To me, the only truly weak link in that side was Diallo. With Maitland-Niles back next week and Lavia close, it's could get really promising!

To be in this position against the league leaders with five and a half of our best players missing... that's something. (the half is Che).

I'm happy to see Stu Armstrong start. He's due a barnstormer.

People say our problem is no striker. But I think it's the midfield. We REALLY miss Romeu. And Romeo. With Stu Armstrong and JWP just a tad below their best, our traditional strength of winning back the ball relentlessly and blocking most attacks has ebbed. Still, it wasn't really a humiliation today, and I still think we'll end up fine for the season. We'll get a much better sense next Sunday......

Next goal is crucial. If they score early, we could get hurt bad. If we can hold on and score around half way through the half, wd be amazing.

Can't argue much with that team. Diallo seems like potential weak spot, but otherwise, it's about as good as we can offer. It's a team, on its day, capable of both fire and magic. Here's hoping.

For what it's worth the betting markets think it's less than a 90% chance that City win. Roll a pair of dice. If they add up to five, then Man City won't win. 😉 There is a lot of luck in football. You never know. I for one will be watching with excitement - for at least the first 10 minutes.

Here's another way to think about the first half. Ralph took the risk many have been calling for, and played a full suite of young, exciting players. Is it really realistic to think they'd instantly gel? We've seen lots of quick glimpses of potential. And we're still level. The more this goes on, their confidence will grow. A goal could be transformative. We came close. It's just way too early to start slamming this effort. We're going for it. There's still every chance of a second half with fewer nervous errors and a Saints goal or two. Stop whinging and give these kids that chance!!!

I'm guessing Sports Republic showed the club the stats on how many times Redmond lost possession. There were many games where he was the worst player in that regard. I'm happy at this move.

I'm getting more and more confident that we'll compete for Europe this year. It's not just the phenomenal new talent we have. It's the evident improvement in some of our existing players. Che. Adam A. Djenepo. Even Moi, who prob still isn't quite enough for a first team regular, is still a lot better than last time. When you can count material improvement in at least seven positions on the pitch, you have to think it's going to be a better year... even though other teams are improving too. That belief is bolstered by seeing that we're clearly competitive against top 8 teams. Of course, still early days. But right now, I'm really excited for the season ahead.

Aribo or Stu on for Moi. We can win this!

That. Was. Wonderful.

Pull the camera back, and you can see a ton to be excited about for the season. We have some truly awesome new players. Plus Djenepo revived. Seems clear the team work better w 4 at the back. Apart from anything else, we just have much better players avail midfield. Are Romeu and Aribo better than Bednarek? Well yes they are. Hopefully, the clarity of the difference in our two phases today will allow us to press on w the formation we're better at and make full use of the impressive squad we now have. I really wish we cd have found that final goal. But in the circumstances 2-2 will do, and I'll be looking forward to the next few games. I think we'll surprise one of the big teams we're up against.

For a quick break from our scheduled moaning, I'm pretty excited at the potential of ABK. That was a heartstopping moment when he did his forward surge. If that had gone in, the whole commentary here wd be pretty different. Lavia is also pretty special. And Djenepo had a great half. That's three big pluses compared to last year. Plus Bazunu. Wd love to see Ariba on second half. C'mon Saints. You've got this!