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Saints 0 Udinese 4


Saint Garrett

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Oh if I had a grand....

 

So, what's your prediction for the first four games? I'm not a doom merchant btw, I'm a realist.

 

I have no idea.. and i am a realist too...not a speculator

 

But i would not base my assumptions on pre season friendlies...win or lose..

 

They are preparation matches for system trials,fitness etc...nothing more...

Edited by ALWAYS_SFC
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Pricing structure has been completely ridiculous, especially considering the number of friendliest we've had at St Mary's this year, why can't we just go back to having one like we used to. Sub 4000 attendances are an embarrassment.

 

I agree with this. As a stand alone fixture Udinese would be attractive opposition and with a pricing structure of £10 to £15, there would have been 4 or 5 times as many there.

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I have no idea.. and i am a realist too...not a speculator

 

But i would not possibly base my assumptions on pre season friendlies...win or lose..

 

They are preparation matches for system trials,fitness etc...nothing more...

Oh I agree, and I've not based it on tonights game, just the opposition in those first four games.

 

Mind you I did have dream we beat city 1-0 ;)

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We have to play them all sometime...is early in the season better or later....who knows?

 

It would be better to play them early on.....however if the players are playing a formation they are not comfortable with then it makes no difference, the outcome will be the same !

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Clyne was the only stand out performer tonight. Again. Lambert barely had a touch. Very easy to cut through us for them and they can't have got out of first gear. Their first 3 goals were class.

We'll get torn apart at City if we play like that.

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Becoming a little bit concerned now....on quite a few fronts, but no doubt the happy clappies will hurl the usual "bed-wetting" insults.

 

I have a lot of faith in NA but I think he should stick to formations that have up to now worked well.

 

Wish I shared your faith that sticking to formations would make much of a difference. Can understand the motivation behind the new formation, especially in terms of closing the opposition down. Fact is we don't have the quality.

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Becoming a little bit concerned now....on quite a few fronts, but no doubt the happy clappies will hurl the usual "bed-wetting" insults.

 

I have a lot of faith in NA but I think he should stick to formations that have up to now worked well.

 

Nail on head! Also sign two defenders and a wide player. Poor jay rod was playing deep on the left chasing full back and lambert had no one round him in 20 yards

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Wish I shared your faith that sticking to formations would make much of a difference. Can understand the motivation behind the new formation, especially in terms of closing the opposition down. Fact is we don't have the quality.

 

I can see why he is trying to change it; 4-4-2 is becoming a bit of an outdated system at the highest level, its all about having a stronger midfield. Also it should play to Lallana's strengths of having a more central and integral role.

 

That said, I don't think we have the right personnel for it. Lambert isn't the most mobile of players and is often most effective with players around him; as the sole striker he gets isolated. Guly just isn't the right man for me on the right side, and neither is Puncheon; on the other side J-Rod looks and sounds out of sorts as opposed to a central striking role. Sounds like JWP had a torrid evening, hopefully Davis can get fit soon. And we all know about our centre back problem, that needs resolving asap.

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I can see why he is trying to change it; 4-4-2 is becoming a bit of an outdated system at the highest level, its all about having a stronger midfield. Also it should play to Lallana's strengths of having a more central and integral role.

 

That said, I don't think we have the right personnel for it. Lambert isn't the most mobile of players and is often most effective with players around him; as the sole striker he gets isolated. Guly just isn't the right man for me on the right side, and neither is Puncheon; on the other side J-Rod looks and sounds out of sorts as opposed to a central striking role. Sounds like JWP had a torrid evening, hopefully Davis can get fit soon. And we all know about our centre back problem, that needs resolving asap.

 

So basically what you are saying, which is totally correct in my opinion, is that we need a couple of centre backs and a wide right midfield player. In other words exactly what we all said was needed the day after we beat Coventry 4-0 last April !!!!

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First time I have seen us this pre-season. Not very encouraging :(. Udinese were good, and Di Natale is a class act, but we cannot afford to give away shooting opportunities like that (first two goals) - great finishes though they were. Third goal was embarrassing and easily carved open for the fourth. It's a shame we couldn't test their keeper at least once. Harsh realities of the season ahead methinks.

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So basically what you are saying, which is totally correct in my opinion, is that we need a couple of centre backs and a wide right midfield player. In other words exactly what we all said was needed the day after we beat Coventry 4-0 last April !!!!

I didn't say it was ground-breaking!! We all know what we need to do, just that with 8 days to go its all getting a bit critical.

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I didn't say it was ground-breaking!! We all know what we need to do, just that with 8 days to go its all getting a bit critical.

 

No it isnt ground breaking, it didnt need to be, the fact there is only a week to go until kick off is my point exactly. We have had over 3 months to address these issues, actually we have had since last January's transfer window.

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After the Ajax game I was optimistic for the coming season, after this result I am a little worried for City game. Against Ajax the link between defence and midfield was good but we were poor in the final third, from what I have read it seems like we had the same problem today.

 

City will be very tough but since Adkins has been here he always has had us well prepared so I am confident we will have a decent start.

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I can see why he is trying to change it; 4-4-2 is becoming a bit of an outdated system at the highest level, its all about having a stronger midfield. Also it should play to Lallana's strengths of having a more central and integral role.

 

That said, I don't think we have the right personnel for it. Lambert isn't the most mobile of players and is often most effective with players around him; as the sole striker he gets isolated. Guly just isn't the right man for me on the right side, and neither is Puncheon; on the other side J-Rod looks and sounds out of sorts as opposed to a central striking role. Sounds like JWP had a torrid evening, hopefully Davis can get fit soon. And we all know about our centre back problem, that needs resolving asap.

 

Agree. Possibly a risk-reward thing, that NA wants to make us difficult to beat before anything else esp as our midfield got overrun at times last season. If the philosophy is about being solid, then it makes it doubly important to tighten the central defence.

 

We seem to be taking a leaf out of Swansea’s book yet while they have Sinclair and Dyer to make the system work, we have nothing like that kind of pace in our team.

 

The likes of JWP who shouldn’t near the starting line-up looked OK against Ajax because they sat back and made the game a stroll but any other team is going to push up against us, knowing that we have neither the mobility nor the pace to break on them.

 

Always thought that Jrod and Lambert might struggle together –both like to come deep (why Jrod thrived with a player like Austin). As such, don’t see how they would be better suited to 4-4-2 unless we decide to go much more direct which, of course, is what we did a lot last season – despite the myth that we somehow played like Barcelona.

Edited by shurlock
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Clyne and Puncheon were useful and caused Udinese problems. Davis no chance with three goals all from a distance. The back four were ok with Fonte having his best game so far. Lambert looks a bit fitter but isolated. Where we do have real problems is the middle of the team. First of all the centre, Lallana, Schneiderlin and JWP in the first half. Schneiderlin unusually gave the ball away at times, Lallana was peripheral and the game tended to pass him by, JWP had a decent game and is nippier than the other two. We failed to close down the scorers and they had all the time in the world to line up their shots. We lacked the ability to break at pace. Rodriguez was tidy but didn't really do anything. Puncheon had one of his best games to date.

 

We brought on Gazzaniga, Shaw, Davis and Sharp. Gazzaniga settling in nicely. Shaw looks useful but we were weaker with him at left back. Davis is a decent passer but lacks pace and wasn't an improvement on JWP. Sharp put himself about but lacked support. We were very pedestrian and whilst retaining the ball reasonably well didn't threaten. I can't remember the Udinese goalkeeper having to make a save.

 

Lallana went to the left for the last ten minutes and looked much more at home. Guly was ok but by that time Udinese's second string were on the field. We have to find some pace from at least two midfielders or we will struggle to score. We had as much of the game as Udinese but they were like lightning on the break where all four goals came from.

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We're missing a bit of pace in the final third to take us away from the oppo. It sounds simple, but that's pretty much it.

 

Good build up, keep the ball nice enough and then we get to the final third where it stops. No penetration, no pace and it breaks down. If we had pace in behind we could be much more threatening, it's crucial we have that.

 

What happened today will happen alot next season, we'll get games where we have a decent amount of the ball, but if we don't have the quality in and around the final third we will get picked off.

 

I absolutely hate Jay Rodriguez on the left, a complete waste of his talents. Please sort that out NA.

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Mate of mine who went said Punch and JWP our best players, .Lambert and JRod hopeless up front and team has no pace

 

All looks good for next sun then!

 

Jay rod didn't play anywhere near upfront, played chasing the full back and was hardly in box. Lambert had no one round him in twenty yards So when he did win ball no one to knock to. Sharp had same problem.

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I absolutely hate Jay Rodriguez on the left, a complete waste of his talents. Please sort that out NA.

 

Well he is a centre forward isn't he ?

And we have got one of those who has scored 88 goals in 3 years.

So if we dont play them as a partnership what happens ? We play one out of position, or not at all.

Either way the system does NOT suit the players we have or have bought, as yet.

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bigadamsport: Nigel Adkins int, with some insight into why he's playing 4-3-3, going up on @solentsport shortly. Be interested in views of #saintsfc fans

 

bigadamsport: For those #saintsfc fans asking about transfers : "The chairman is working very hard" . Have a listen to NA @solentsport in a mo

 

Interesting. Will post link when its available

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If we're going to play that system we should put Lallana back on the wing, move Rodriguez or Lee to the middle and drop Lambert.

 

Poor rickie best player we've had in years, play him in stupid position to make him look awful and u turn on him. Adkins needs to sort out formation.

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I am concerned. We have shown very little in pre-season that shows me we are ready for the premier league.

 

We need more depth in defence and pace going forward. I am truly worred that next sunday will be embarassing. We have had it good now for three years, a reality check here may have done us good but I am praying it's not a recurring theme.

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Jay rod didn't play anywhere near upfront, played chasing the full back and was hardly in box. Lambert had no one round him in twenty yards So when he did win ball no one to knock to. Sharp had same problem.

 

That will happen with the current formation - its expected to double up as a 4-5-1 when we're not in possession -sensible enough as we can't go gung-ho in the prem. But its very hard not leave the striker isolated unless the wide men can get up quickly and support him. In theory, Lallana should be able to support Lambert but I think he's confused by his mix of responsibilities in the current set-up.

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I absolutely hate Jay Rodriguez on the left, a complete waste of his talents. Please sort that out NA.

 

I get the impression that he's playing out there because we don't have any other options right now, bar maybe Puncheon. I'd imagine that that will change by the end of the window.

 

Similarly, I predict that Rodriguez will end up playing as the central man in the 4-3-3 formation by the end of the season.

 

When the opportunity arises to play 4-4-2, we have plenty of options with Lambert, Sharp, Rodriguez and Lee all capable of playing in different combinations.

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I am concerned. We have shown very little in pre-season that shows me we are ready for the premier league.

 

We need more depth in defence and pace going forward. I am truly worred that next sunday will be embarassing. We have had it good now for three years, a reality check here may have done us good but I am praying it's not a recurring theme.

 

Me too but then Nigel did say at the start of pre-season what whilst they'd signed some of their core targets pre-season would tell them who could make the step up, what extra buys we'd need before the opener and who would be leaving. Looks like there might be more new blood coming in over the next few days than planned. There have been billions of posts about this for months but we need at least of couple of wide or offensive players with express pace, Holloway clearly has little justification for his whining about our legitimate discussions over Phillips but I'm not too upset as Zaha's raw pace is more what we need anyway. Hope we can get one of them in asap. Feel for Rickie a bit, the system leaves him isolated and neutralises J Rod and Lallana seems uncertain on what his remit is. The big winners seem to be Clyne and Puncheon, plus Sharp, who have probably booked at starting spot for Eastlands.

 

Nicola is in for a busy few days from the sounds of it! I thought we'd only need 2 CBs and a RM but I think that went out of the window. Might be looking at the OS a bit more up to the transfer deadline.

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price and opposition make it bad value for me, so I didn't bother

 

I prefer the model alot of French clubs use, and play a handful of friendlies in non league grounds against other top/famous/foreign teams, it's done in the basis if breeding new fans in rural areas. I once saw psg play hibs in a sleepy French village for a few euros. I was *this* far away from jay jay okocha... and the local club kept the gate receipts, everyone wins imo.

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