mrfahaji

Reed seems to be in denial about how poor our team/squad is. When he comes out with positive things about the club, the fans have tended to buy into it, partly because they want to feel good about their club, but also because of the continued success we've had on the pitch in recent years. However, even the happiest of clappiest of fans would struggle to buy into the fact that we have the best midfield options in the land and that Rodriguez and Long are in excellent form. Either Reed is himself delusional or takes the fans for a bunch of mugs. I've generally been on the 'positive' side of the fence with a few specific concerns, but each new development seems to push me (and everyone else?!) a step closer to the dark side.

For all the good work we can point to over the past few years, there have been a few monumental f**k ups as well. I think what the fans get sick of is the constant stream of propaganda of what a brilliantly well run club we are, that everything is meticulously planned, and then we have episodes like Alderweireld (ok, so it worked out with VVD but we still messed up), not signing a striker or a central attacking midfielder in the summer, and now this. It hardly smacks of an organised backroom staff with everything under control.

Yeah because we don't need a centre back.

We were decent second half, and it was much better than the first. But much of that was down to Boufal having the ability to run at defenders and beat them in tight spaces. None of our other players can do that. There was a period, ironically just before they scored the second where we were on top and looking the more likely to win. However, to say we 'bossed' the second half and that it was a 'great performance'... really?! Shock that a team near the bottom sat back to defend their lead and we had chance to build attacks, but how many clear cut chances did we create? Were we camped on the edge of their box? No. We had a few decent spells and a couple of moments where we should have tested the keeper. Clearly in the first half the tactics weren't right and I wish we would get away from this sideways football, but I can't help feel like we are restrained by the quality of our players. Boufal comes on and we're like a different side. Tadic has been poor but I still think he'd be effective opposite Boufal when we're playing at a higher tempo. To play slow build up we really need a striker who holds up the ball and brings others into play, and central midfielders who 'bomb on' and get past the centre forward. We have neither of those, so there's little wonder our slow style doesn't work.

Two hours to sort our clusterf*ck of a team out.

It was hardly daylight robbery though, was it? Swansea didn't look very good but we were also found wanting. Partly due to tactics, partly because our team just isn't very good. But obviously we won't be strengthening the team because apparently we don't need to.

It was a decent header as he had to put pace on the ball as well as direction, but "great header" is overreaching, it wasn't on target and wasn't far enough back for another player to reach.

It took an age to reach the goal. Forster takes so long to get down it makes the shot look better than it really is.

Just as we were starting to look like we might push for the lead. Thought Bertrand had covered off the danger. Decent placement by Sigurdsson, but Forster seems to have a habit of making average shots look unsaveable.

Not especially. But Tadic is always likely to struggle with these sorts of tactics. He does best when the opposition are on the back foot, picking out passes and crosses in behind teams. When he's on song he also beats players one on one and gets to the byline for crosses. Our slow build up, especially when we're 1-0 down means the opposition have chance to get plenty of men behind the ball and we have to play in front of them. Because he's not blessed with pace, all Tadic seems to do is pass infield. When he does try and take someone on it's not easy as the defenders are all set, and he invariably loses it and looks like a waste of space, which he perhaps is. Just seen 2 shots from Redmond and 1 from Davis. I think Redmond is much better when he doesn't have to think... took a long time to release Boufal and the shot was appalling, yet a few minutes later tonks one on target from 25 yards. Why oh why is Davis so bad at shooting...?!

Gabbiadini will be an encouraging signing, and no doubt one that we need. However, the Centre Back situation is surely our most pressing need and if we fail to get one knowing since the summer that Fonte was probably leaving it is an embarrassing state of affairs.

Agreed, I remember when they first got Shearer and a couple of others in I wondered if we'd ever see a decent pundit again, but those three you mention have all been pretty good for MOTD standards.

I work with a Bayern fan, he said Tasci was only cover there and was pretty poor in the one or two games he did have. However, apparently during his time at Stuttgart he was always seen as one of their best, if not their best, player. Said the decision to go to Russia was a bit of an odd one but that he could prove to be a good signing if he's anything like his Stuttgart days.

Maybe Saints fans in the upper tier should create a "rain of prawns" on any United supporting Club Wembley seats below them.

Ha, well put.

A friend from an old workplace messaged a few of our old work group asking if anyone knew how she could get Man United tickets for her dad (they're from South Wales). I said I'd be doing my best to get tickets, but not for her. Somewhat annoyingly one of the guys did seem to have a possible way of getting United tickets, might need to see if he has similar access to the Saints end!

Newsflash! Due to their poor performance against Arsenal in the FA Cup, Southampton have been stripped of their place in the League Cup Final.

Pochettino hadn't got us to a cup final three days prior to that Sunderland game (even though his selection wasn't that bad). I didn't even get to see the game so can't comment on performance, but I really don't understand why people have such trouble getting their heads around the team. Yes it's annoying for people who went to the game, but given our place in one cup final, our somewhat unconvincing league position/performances and injury status of the first team squad at the moment, the FA Cup is a reasonable sacrifice. Not every season, in fact not many seasons at all, but this one it is.

When you buy an away ticket, doesn't the money ultimately go to the home team? I could be completely wrong about that, but in years gone by on Championship (and Football) manager I'm sure the gate receipts row of the P&L was 0 when you played away! If so, perhaps that's why the club doesn't reward it - cynical I know - but they only want to reward fans who put money directly into the club's coffers!

We have a 100% record at the new Wembley playing in red & white stripes.

"The 21-year-old Danish midfielder was signed from Bayern Munich in the summer and was influential after replacing the injured James Ward-Prowse at Anfield. Also impressive on Wednesday were other notable recruits of recent years, Dusan Tadic and Oriol Romeu." The overall message of the article might be fine, but this sentence makes me wonder if he actually saw the game. Hojbjerg was average when he came on and Tadic was pretty atrocious. Strange when he could have picked out any number of others!

Edit. Wrong thread...

Can't blame you for that, and also presumably if you didn't take it they'd just give it to someone else - presumably a non-Saint. The problem is how many tickets go to companies instead of supporters. Yes it might be because the FA need ways to pay off the stadium, but it also feels like a bit of a gravy train.

Funny how we were playing like a typical away side (i.e. with a defensive set up) in the first half yesterday but were still an absolute joy to watch. Felt like the players knew exactly what they were meant to be doing both defensively and when we had chance to move the ball and attack. Credit to the players who stayed calm in possession and worked the ball neatly in small spaces. Second half we lost it a bit in terms of going forward - we found it harder to pick up the right running lanes (not sure how to describe this, but the runs/angles weren't right, compared to the first half when it all clicked superbly), and as tiredness crept in we got a bit sloppy and desperate. Fortunately we remained excellent defensively. I wonder if we could be a bit fitter. And we clearly struggle when teams sit back against us, but then doesn't every team? Even the likes of Arsenal and Man City can be frustrated. Those are the times you need your most creative players to pull something out the bag, but in when it comes to matches requiring organisation and structure, we look very good.

His passing accuracy that night must've been about 20% Funnily enough when he first played for us, I think it was the Watford game, his passing and the fact that he NEVER gave it away was what stood out for me and the reason I thought we had an absolutely class player on our hands. Hopefully he will rediscover a bit of form soon, and as others have said, he is still very young.