Pass the Dutchie

I've been thinking about this a lot. Why do I support the team I do? What does it represent? Is it the city? Does that mean that most/some players should be from the city? Is it the country, which means I'd want most/some players from that country? Or is it the club, which can be represented by whatever best business the club can do? I think for me it's grown into the last thing, because it has to. And then, for me, it doesn't make much of a difference anymore whether 3, 2, 1 or none of the players are from the country or city the club is in. The biggest part of the team is going to be a bunch of bought employees. As long as the team plays nicely and at least pretend to have heart for the club, I'm still fine.

I think Ajax' Davy Klaassen could be a good fit for Southampton. He's a worker, a teamplayer, and he manages to score important goals (like the two goals he scored against Schalke 04 in the UEFA Cup last week). We could do with an unselfish, scoring, attacking midfielder like him.

Yes, but to be fair to him he's only scored one less than Shane Long this season.

We could dare a little more. City have everything to lose. We're not going down, we're not getting into Europe. Overall a pretty solid but somewhat boring performance so far.

Indeed, in my opinion the main difference between our 'great' games and our 'shocking' games has been that our 'shocking' games were extremely frustrating because we didn't manage to score.

https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2017/apr/14/premier-league-10-things-to-look-out-for-this-weekend Gabbiadini returns and Guardiola could learn from Puel Manchester City would be higher up the table this season if they were managed by Claude Puel rather than Pep Guardiola. They might not have enjoyed such spectacular peaks and, in the long run, Puel might not be able to deliver as much glory as Guardiola may yet do, but they would have played with a fair amount of style, all the same, while being a darn sight more sensible than Guardiola’s quixotic capering. If City fail to achieve their minimum target – reaching next season’s Champions League – it will be because, despite the Catalan’s best coaching efforts, some City players remain unable to do what the manager persists in asking them to do. Southampton gave City a scare at the Etihad last October and can be expected to do so again this weekend, especially as Manolo Gabbiadini is fit to lead City’s defence on a merry dance while Maya Yoshida makes light(ish) of Virgil van Dijk’s absence for Saints.

https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2017/apr/13/golden-goal-dani-osvaldo-for-southampton-v-manchester-city-2013

8th could not mean Europe, as far as I understand it.

To be fair those few times he did play he didn't impress at all.

Transfer free professional back-up, allround good guy who's happy to get some game time. People like to laugh at him (and he's had some bad games indeed) and make fun of his name, but he had some decent games at a a time when Cedric was struggling for form.

It's essential we have (someone like) Cácares. We're just one injury or suspension away from really needing him.

Goals conceded after 30 games:

Goals scored after 30 games:

Position after 30 games:

Points after 30 games: It seems match day 30 is a good one for us; we've won every single time in the past 5 years.

The substitutes didn't improve our game, but with the result in you can say it's good the boys got their game time. A well-deserved win. The commentators were bigging up Yoshida, and he's also my MotM. Great goal by Clasie as well.

Good game from us, even a bit boring to watch somehow. Good midfield passing, and not really missing Davis or Romeu at the moment, thankfully.

Are they? I thought they were singing Maya Yoshida.

Here in English: http://cricfree.sc/watch/live/west-bromwich-albion-vs-southampton-live-streaming

At this point we've scored exactly the same amount of goals after 29 games as we did last season (36), but this year we scored 17 of those at home vs. last year's 25.

They're supposed to sponsor the club, not its fans. I doubt that there's such a thought behind it, but by making away tickets for visiting fans cheaper, it may result in a fuller stadium?

It could be anyone, couldn't it? Last year Mané wasn't doing well until then. Redmond is definitely improving, and Gabba before injury was incredible.

As I noted in another thread, by now we've caught up with the amount of goals scored in our record-breaking 2015/2016 season: the exact same amount of goals scored after 29 games: We do seem to miss a lot of chances, but it's time to change the story of this season.

Goals conceded after 29 games: [ATTACH=CONFIG]2418[/ATTACH] Eight more conceded than last season this time, which would largely explain the 4 point gap.

Goals scored after 29 games: [ATTACH=CONFIG]2417[/ATTACH] Same amount as last year this time, which is interesting seeing that it feels as if we have so much more trouble scoring this season.