Jump to content

Ajax Build Up, Match & Reactions Thread


trousers

Recommended Posts

a pretty positive afternoon all-round......think we deserved the draw and Fonte gave it away for their goal, two chances we should've taken.....like the look of Clyne and JWP....thought Gazzaniga did okay, still getting used to his defence....Guly still too inconsistent, Lambert a bit off the pace, worry whether Rodriguez has the physicality for this division??? but overall, not unhappy with the performance.....decent shape and good movement....can't get used to watching us in that kit though......:/

Link to comment
Share on other sites

a pretty positive afternoon all-round......think we deserved the draw and Fonte gave it away for their goal, two chances we should've taken.....like the look of Clyne and JWP....thought Gazzaniga did okay, still getting used to his defence....Guly still too inconsistent, Lambert a bit off the pace, worry whether Rodriguez has the physicality for this division??? but overall, not unhappy with the performance.....decent shape and good movement....can't get used to watching us in that kit though......:/

 

 

Guly still too inconsistent?

 

I thought he was consistently good today, and one of our best players.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A good performance, although I'm a little concerned that our 451/433 means we lack a bit of incisiveness in the final third.

 

Lambert looks a little overweight still and Fonte needs to cut these pointless errors out of his game.

 

Clyne, JWP, Guly and Hooiveld stood out, Lallana also good second half.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

what ever adkins said around the 20 min marked..it worked..we were bossing the game with ease until they scored...again, just missed that final ball...got in the positions though

 

clyne

lallana

JWP

Guly

 

very good

 

we certainly need a CB...fonte gave his usual 1 howler for the game

also, when he miss judges the ball, he and joe are very slow to get back into position. definitely need a touch of pace in the CB area

 

Have to agree with this, exactly as I saw it.

 

Clyne looked very good and would have made a difference second half , but LL bossed the show and looked real class at times.

 

CB now a priority, sorry Jose but the PL may just pass you by. Might have to shell out for the tough tackling CB from Rennes after this.

 

Promising display today though against quality opposition. Get a few more players in and we can give this PL malarkey a decent go ...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A good performance, although I'm a little concerned that our 451/433 means we lack a bit of incisiveness in the final third.

 

This is true, however as the pre-season games go on I would hope the team will improve in this respect as they become more accustomed to the formation.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guly still too inconsistent?

 

I thought he was consistently good today, and one of our best players.

 

did you see that grossly over-hit last pass? and it wasn't the only one.....I like the guy and am not one of those on here who have a permanent downer on him but can't convince myself that he's PL standard.....would love to be proven wrong though......

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Have to agree with this, exactly as I saw it.

 

Clyne looked very good and would have made a difference second half , but LL bossed the show and looked real class at times.

 

CB now a priority, sorry Jose but the PL may just pass you by. Might have to shell out for the tough tackling CB from Rennes after this.

 

Promising display today though against quality opposition. Get a few more players in and we can give this PL malarkey a decent go ...

 

 

Fonte's lack of pace was exposed cruelly as he tried to get back to atone for his mistake....who did he think he was passing it to???

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This is true, however as the pre-season games go on I would hope the team will improve in this respect as they become more accustomed to the formation.

 

looked a bit like England for the first 20, very deep and organised but no outlet once we won back possession and consistently gave it away......huge improvement throughout the game though and feel good about the way we're shaping up.....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Early days, but I really enjoyed the game, Only read his page but would agree with all the positives fans have highlighted. One problem I felt was that we were very pedestrian in front of goal, something that would cause us problems in the Premier. Guly looked very sharp and it was his involvement which seemed to turn the tide on Ajax walking over us in the first half. Billy looked sharper when he came on but we still have to finish off the pre-season to see where we really are. Ajax will not be your typical Premier side we come up against and I feel a lot more will be required, but at last after seeing this game I know we have a chance. I still feel we need a 15 goal a season Premier striker without opening up the midfield to provide the chances.

 

A good game and the players who were not so great today could easily prove me wrong, here's hoping.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guly still too inconsistent?

 

I thought he was consistently good today, and one of our best players.

 

Agree totally, felt he was in tune with the football level being played all through

 

Also feel encouraged by the overall performance...yes we'd have been punished in those first 20 mins in a competitive match but there's quality all over the pitch, very encouraged by the youngsters too.

 

Looking forward to next week now enormously, Wolves aren't Champions League but their recent PL experience will make it interesting...don't think they've lost many players yet?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

After a very shaky 20 minutes we settled and i thought we played some decent football. Guly and Clyne had a decent partnership going the longer the first half went on. JWP looked very composed on the ball and the more the game went on the better Lallana and Morgan got.

Sounds like its very doubtful our new signing Davis will be fit for the start of the season so its imperative we are solid in midfield from the start and dont get over ran.

It really ****es me off how even when Guly plays really well some people still have to criticise the player for one misplaced pass!....using that logic every single Saints player should be criticised!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Decent performance against a very good team who are a lot further ahead than us in Pre Season.

 

JWP, Lallana, Clyne and Guly looked good.

 

The next few games will help us gel quite a bit more, promising signs.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Alarm bells ringing loudly. Sort out the defence and attack by buying in some quality or we are heading for the yo yo league.

 

This is one of the most encouraging signs from today. If you think we're going to be in trouble, our chances of success just went up fivefold.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Decent performance from us I thought. Ward- Prowse was super and Schneiders grew into the game as did lallana. Could have scored a couple today but we moved the ball about pretty well and you can sense we are improving as the new season is getting closer. Fonte was poor today though, giving the ball away and being sloppy, emphasising the need for a CB/CBs, but Nigel knows that anyway. Another mention to Fox, who I thought played very well, looked good in possession and put a few good balls in. Clyne also looked lively, a bright season ahead I hope.

 

Finally, how great is it to have Nigel our manager. I just feel he says all the right things and I feel we are in great hands with him in charge. Always positive but realistic aswell.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Alarm bells ringing loudly. Sort out the defence and attack by buying in some quality or we are heading for the yo yo league.

 

How predictable. Overlook the fact that we bossed the game for over 30-40 minutes with our strongest side out there and focus on the negatives.

 

The attack created plenty of opportunities against a top quality defence, the sharpness will return was just slightly lacking.

 

Defence was generally good, especially Clyne and we were undone by one mistake from Fonte.

 

Sure we need a bit more quality in defence but we'd done a good job with what we have. The alarm bells are most certainly not ringing 'loudly' for anyone else...indeed they probably aren't ringing at all.

 

But, typical WUM post we've come to expect really.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thought Guly was very poor again.

 

Really? I thought for the most part he was one of our best players, bar a few passes which went astray. Strange how people see things differently. But accept that a few on here are never going to accept that Guly can do anything well!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Although I'm still very nervous about the pairing, I actually thought that Jos and Fonte played reasonably well today (one big mistake and a few hoofs aside).

 

We lost a lot - a hell of a lot - when Clyne went off, and I'm hoping that Richardson won't be needed too much this year.

 

Lallana can clearly play - and even shine - at this level, and JWP was incredibly mature and effective for a 17 year old.

 

We've clearly been working on tight triangles and ball retention.

 

Adkins made an excellent adjustment but I'm still not sure exactly what it was.

 

I think Rickie needs some tough love at training, or else he's going to start the season very, very slowly and could even be out of the starting line up before the end of September.

 

I hope I'm imagining it but Schneiderlin seemed to be having trouble with his lower right shin, which I think was his problem at the end of last year.

Edited by CanadaSaint
Forgot to mention Adkins
Link to comment
Share on other sites

How predictable. Overlook the fact that we bossed the game for over 30-40 minutes with our strongest side out there and focus on the negatives.

 

The attack created plenty of opportunities against a top quality defence, the sharpness will return was just slightly lacking.

 

Defence was generally good, especially Clyne and we were undone by one mistake from Fonte.

 

Sure we need a bit more quality in defence but we'd done a good job with what we have. The alarm bells are most certainly not ringing 'loudly' for anyone else...indeed they probably aren't ringing at all.

 

But, typical WUM post we've come to expect really.

 

Agree with most of that. Thought Clyne and Guly linked well and were on the same wavelength already.

 

JWP and Morgan seemed to work well together after the formation change. JWP is showing he's not just there as a makeweight. Thought Luke Shaw did well when he came on. Rodriguezshowed some good vision, but not his position out on the left.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Really? I thought for the most part he was one of our best players, bar a few passes which went astray. Strange how people see things differently. But accept that a few on here are never going to accept that Guly can do anything well!

 

Expectations also affect peoples opinions (scientific fact) I wont bore you with the details but basically because Guly was so poor last season the expected level has dropped V low, if he plays above this (very low) level people (some) will say "oh Guly was good today" others (like me) will not

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I went to the game. The first 30 mins looked like us absorbing pressure. Next 15 mins made some chances. In the first half Clyne was impressive and teamed up well with Guly. Centre backs coped and Fox was decent. Rodriguez worked hard but wouldn't be my choice as a midfielder. Lambert better for final 15 mins. Schneiderlin and W-P linked well in the centre whilst Lallana was more effective in the final 15 mins.

 

Second half, Richardson was hopeless, positioning and timing was woeful. Davis was better in the first half and made some poor decisions in the second. Fonte messing up opened us up for the goal. Guly was anonymous for most of the second half which I put down to losing Clyne. His two careless back passes were rediculous. Lallana, W-P, Lallana, Lambert, and Rodriguez caused Ajax problems and overall we should have scored several goals. Gazzaniga looked the part apart from a poor clearance. Shaw looks a good prospect, Chambers was lively, Chaplow anonymous. Sharp looks lively and strong, God only knows what he was trying to do with the open goal. Chambers was lively whilst DeRidder did everything right playing a wall pass to Puncheon but although trying hard his touch was atrocious and instead of playing DeRidder in he belted the ball behind.

 

 

Early days but Richardson isn't good enough. I think we need another CB to play with Jos who really didn't put a foot wrong. A dominant goalkeeper would be a great asset. We definitely lacked pace out of midfield and up front. Lambert still looks a good player against a top team. We are going to have to come to terms quickly with the scenario that chances have to be put away. Ajax one chance one goal. We are going to face that every week in the Premier.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

All you're looking for in pre-season is progress from game to game, and we've clearly got that. We're still a few weeks away from complete sharpness as you'd expect, but we were light years ahead from the Anderlecht game - so very encouraging in that aspect.

 

Our defensive shape looks impressive, we seem to go to 4-5-1 without the ball and close down very quickly, get tight very quickly and limit the options for the opposition, but when we get hold of the ball we almost instantly shift into a 4-3-3. We need a little more pace to make it more dynamic, but I think you saw from the involvement of Clyne what we expect of our full backs in this formation when we attack.

 

Ward-Prowse, as i keep saying, is a star int he making. I love the way he times his runs into the box, always looking to score goals from CM. Very agile and technical as well. Looking forward to seeing more of him as the season goes on.

 

Jay Rodriguez is technically brilliant and will be a star for us, bit isolated on the left at times but when he came inside he was very dangerous.

 

Overall an encouraging display, only let slip because of 1 little lack of concentration and bang. That's what happens against champions league standard teams.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Alarm bells ringing loudly. Sort out the defence and attack by buying in some quality or we are heading for the yo yo league.

 

If you insist on trolling this forum at least put some effort in to your pointless posts.

 

I was delighted with our performance today. I thought AL, JWP, GDP and NC played very well, this sides really coming together.

 

New centre half and an additional winger and we're good to go. Exciting time to be a Saints fan!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Tits!! Forget to set TiVo box to record the game :( just got home to watch it and realised I never actually set it.

U

Did I miss much? Available online anywhere to watch again? Worth it even?

 

Channel 5 have an OD service online. Would expect it to be on there.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

All you're looking for in pre-season is progress from game to game, and we've clearly got that. We're still a few weeks away from complete sharpness as you'd expect, but we were light years ahead from the Anderlecht game - so very encouraging in that aspect.

 

Our defensive shape looks impressive, we seem to go to 4-5-1 without the ball and close down very quickly, get tight very quickly and limit the options for the opposition, but when we get hold of the ball we almost instantly shift into a 4-3-3. We need a little more pace to make it more dynamic, but I think you saw from the involvement of Clyne what we expect of our full backs in this formation when we attack.

 

Ward-Prowse, as i keep saying, is a star int he making. I love the way he times his runs into the box, always looking to score goals from CM. Very agile and technical as well. Looking forward to seeing more of him as the season goes on.

 

Jay Rodriguez is technically brilliant and will be a star for us, bit isolated on the left at times but when he came inside he was very dangerous.

 

Overall an encouraging display, only let slip because of 1 little lack of concentration and bang. That's what happens against champions league standard teams.

 

Good observation about JRod, his control and touch were very good but left wing is most definitely NOT his position. I began to think it would be more and more of a problem fitting him and Rickie into the same team as the game went on. Nice problem to have though as thought both did well today.

 

Shame Jay couldn't have tucked that chance away, but came at him very quickly and didn't really expect it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Don't think our initial setup was a true 4-5-1, more a 4-1-4-1. In the first twenty minutes when we were under pressure, NA kept hollering 'SHAPE' and every time Morgan would drop back in front of the back four. When there was a break whilst Ajax's keeper was having his make-up done, NA was re-briefing the players and after that JWP paired up with Morgan in the middle - more of a 4-2-3-1.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't usually post, but watching the first 20 mins. I was horrified at how bad saints were. Completely defensive and crap. Lallana admitted that the shape was changed after 20 mins, so how did Na get it so wrong from the start.

Clyne was vg and wp got better and better. Saints need at least 5 players who are better than what we have.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Was expecting there to be a bigger attendance for this one in all honesty! Decent atmosphere though and fair play to the Ajax fans to come all that way, even though they were silent for the large part of the game.

 

Davis 6 - Not too much to do, good communication. Got a little casual with his passing to Fonte at times which could've been punished.

 

Clyne 7 - Looked good going forward, maybe a little uneasy to run at his marker and needs to work on guarding the ball better under pressure but he's still settling into the squad so cut him some slack.

Fox 8 - Assured and confident, not afraid to switch the ball to the other flank when things became too tight on the left and was pushing up a lot more as well, which is good to see.

Fonte 6 - Got caught out once or twice and his short passing wasn't great, but understandably it's pre-season and it was his first 90, so again we'll cut him a bit of slack.

Hooiveld 8 - Bossed the defence and provided a great presence, very solid and good communication with Fox and the midfield. Think he'll be one of our best players this year again.

 

Ward-Prowse 8 - Very impressed with him today, he doesn't play like a 17 year old. Wasn't afraid to get stuck in despite his size and great movement. My Dad said to me on the way out of the ground that he reminded him of a young Paul Scholes, I wouldn't say his style of play is entirely dissimilar!

Schneiderlin 7 - Good passing, made a few good challenges and good positioning to drop slightly deeper while the other 2 in midfield pushed up. Assured and should be in our starting XI this year.

Lallana 7 - Felt he was wasted a bit in the midfield 3 as he didn't get to demonstate his ability on the ball too much as Ajax pressed well. Worked hard and showed some good touches.

 

Guly 8 - Thought he was our best player today. Passed the ball well, put in a few wicked crosses which were difficult to deal with and tucked in well to allow the overlap from Richardson. Very promising this pre-season!

Lambert 6 - Looked off the pace really. Fitness still an issue with him, needs to put in a lot more work to get up to where he was towards the end of last season. Showed some good touches but passing a bit sloppy at times.

Rodriguez 6 - Didn't get a lot of time on the ball but showed some good movement getting into good positions. Pressed their full-back well but I think he'd be better suited playing in the middle or on the right.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Expectations also affect peoples opinions (scientific fact) I wont bore you with the details but basically because Guly was so poor last season the expected level has dropped V low, if he plays above this (very low) level people (some) will say "oh Guly was good today" others (like me) will not

 

I think you forget sometimes that there are still a few people on here who assume you're being serious.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thought Guly was very poor again.

 

How predictable...

 

I would have put money on you saying something stupid like that...

 

Despite him having a decent game..

 

You have set out your stall to say Guly is crap,poor,useless etc but sadly your opinion is utterly clueless

just like large parts of last season...

 

Sadly for you you cannot alter your opinion of him now because you are not man enough,maybe because you could

not stand to be wrong...who knows???

 

This might prove difficult for you but try to base an opinion of Guly Do Prado on what actually happens

and not your agenda view..

 

To admit you are are wrong about someone is really not that bad..it doesn't hurt and no one will think less of you...

perhaps some will even think better of you..go on try it

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Expectations also affect peoples opinions (scientific fact) I wont bore you with the details but basically because Guly was so poor last season the expected level has dropped V low, if he plays above this (very low) level people (some) will say "oh Guly was good today" others (like me) will not

 

stop being a pompous idiot, your opinion is your own and fortunately is not the same as most on here

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Kit is ****.

 

Guly looks to be building nicely on his excellent form last season, will blossom at Prem level even further.

Partnership with Clyne looked promising as well, they seem to have a good understanding already. Guly works hard to cover for Clyne when he gets forward. Things were not so good when Richardson came on. Guly looked class today probably because he had more of a free role, the rotation in midfield was excellent at times. There were times last season when Guly was clearly asked to do a specific job by NA and those were often the times when he looked poor, he relishes the opportunity that a bit more freedom gives him. Adkins could have a tough job this season picking his midfield. Hope Morgan's injury is not too bad, he did look to be struggling at times.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Good game today,once we switched to playing a high defensive line we controlled long spells.

Guly and JWP class today, plenty of other encouraging performances but as mentioned earlier, we need to keep the ball longer around the opposition box.

 

I think we work it up to the box pretty well, but lack that ''spark'' and injection of pace to get in behind sometimes. That will be our undoing if we don't sort that out with a transfer or 2.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't usually post, but watching the first 20 mins. I was horrified at how bad saints were. Completely defensive and crap. Lallana admitted that the shape was changed after 20 mins, so how did Na get it so wrong from the start.

Clyne was vg and wp got better and better. Saints need at least 5 players who are better than what we have.

 

m or f?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ajax made us look better than we were. We would have struggled against a team that pressed higher up the pitch. Too many people dropping deep to collect the ball and not enough play through them. And when pressed, we looked shaky in possession. We still need some quality pace to keep oppositions honest.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...