adrian lord Posted 31 August, 2013 Share Posted 31 August, 2013 Not sure the morale in the team is quite what it was...there's a ponderous lethargy and lack of inspiration, no intensity anymore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trousers Posted 31 August, 2013 Share Posted 31 August, 2013 I watched it and Norwich deserved to win. I disagree. Yes, we weren't at our best but Norwich, as the home team, were equally benign most of the game. A draw wouldn't 'have been an unfair result for either side. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saintbob40 Posted 31 August, 2013 Share Posted 31 August, 2013 Really poor, and quite a poor start to the season overall. Don't especially blame the players though, team and tactics just look a mess now. No idea what to make of MP. Seems to completely rely on some great performances against big clubs, but the record against the rest is appalling. The best aspect of the team was the CM partnership and he's completely destroyed it. Why? Such a shame and just ridiculous if Cork goes. Not going to judge VW on 3 games but he has a long way to go to show he's as good as Cork, and even then can he bring the best out of Morgan too? Full backs were superb last year and currently both are missing. Lot to sort out and early pressure on MP. Can't see he'll last long if it carries on like that to be honest. No doubt the useful forum-dominating geniuses will demand 10 new signings, but I hope there aren't any. We've spent enough and so far taken a side backwards IMO. Not backwards in quality, but in performance because we haven't been able to find a decent line-up and tactics on the pitch. Credit to Norwich, decent win for them and deserved, these games can go either way, maybe a pen for us, shot hitting post etc., but you can't ignore zero goals from open play in 3 fixtures. 3, 2, 1....meltdown! I have been ploughing a lone furrow as our results have masked our performance but glad to posters with a similar view. We need to get Clyne, Shaw and Cork in. MP seems to have lost the plot. As the centre of our issues is Mr Wanyama. He does not fit our playing style. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ohio Saint Posted 31 August, 2013 Share Posted 31 August, 2013 We need to keep some perspective. There's a lot of luck in football. The play could have been 100% identical except Lallana's volley is 4 inches to the right and the handball penalty is called. Then we're all talking about a sometimes ugly but effective 2-1 win. Biggest single plus is that Adam Lallana is clearly back to his 100% best... He was our best player first half of last season, and he's showing it again. I'm shocked he was taken off. I don't think Gaston will play ahead of him again any time soon. What I would love to see happen is for MP to go back to the core of what made the team great last year. It was built around Lallana, Cork, Schneiderlin. Start with that engine and then figure out how to add to it. Anyway, I don't think it's likely there will be many afternoons ahead as frustrating as this one. Excellent post! I'm disappointed, sure....But we could have won that game just as easily as we lost it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suhari Posted 31 August, 2013 Share Posted 31 August, 2013 We looked lacklustre and seemed to have no shape, our passing was pedestrian and at times just plain bad. Just no fizz or energy. Personally I am putting this down as a bad day at the office - no more than that; I see no point in drawing wider conclusions on MP, players, tactics etc. However, I absolutely expect a better performance next time out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToreSF Posted 31 August, 2013 Share Posted 31 August, 2013 This is what we are. Mid to low table PL-team. The heavy spending should take us forward, but so far I'm yet to be convinced that the money has been well spent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bristol_Benji Posted 31 August, 2013 Share Posted 31 August, 2013 Boruc 6 - near post goal but solid other than that Chambers - 5 - really struggled with Redmond Lovren - 7 - solid I thought. Fonte - 5 - couple of wayward passes and got lucky at the end with the penalty decision Fox - 4 - not premiership. Defending aside he offered nothing going forward which is what our formation requires Schneiderlain - 6 - average Wanyama - 3 - woeful. Lots of mis placed passes and fouls ++ Lallana - 7 - Played alright. Should've stayed on but Gaston clearly has an agreement with Pinocchio that he'll have his 30min stroll Jwp - 6.5 - He's played better but did offer some intensity. Lambert - 5 - Not his game. But then it was with a new strike partner so probably expected Osvaldo - 6.5 - Put himself about and got into good positions. Again new strike partner so performance never going to be the best ----- Ramirez - 2 - if anyone can find a clip of a successful pass that he did today you'd have done well. Woeful. Really really frustrating. Kinda wanders like MLT. Except MLT had the final ball. Ramirez just wanders and eats grass. Davis - 5 - didn't really add much Jay Rod - not on long enough to rate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rasiak-9- Posted 31 August, 2013 Share Posted 31 August, 2013 I wouldn't blame this on the new signings at all. The thing that stuck out the most from our win against West Brom was how well they had fitted in. Lovren was fine against today. Wouldn't blame him. Wanyama had a shocker I'm afraid. First time I've seen him play very poorly, but I wouldn't put that down to him being a new signing or any case of not fitting in. He just had a ****ter fair and square. Osvaldo obviously has ability but the reason he and Lambert don't work as a strike pair is really only a symptom of our main problem; our lack of width and consequently, our inability to play 4-4-2. If you want to go 4-4-2 you need out-and-out wingers with pace to quickly distribute the ball to, otherwise you get bogged down having to overplay the ball in the middle of the park where you're very often outnumbered and lose possesion. With Osvaldo up front we don't have a 4-5-1, we have a badly organised 4-4-2 with neither wide man a proper winger. As such, I'd rather make the choice between Lambert and Osvaldo and play Ramirez in the hole, with Lallana and (Puncheon...oops) out wide. But obviously everyone all has different opinions on the actual selection It all comes down to one thing in the end, BALANCE. Which is something that is completely crucial to any successful side and our lack of it was the reason why our team were beaten by 11 players who I honestly don't believe can match our boys for talent or ability. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mallagroth Posted 31 August, 2013 Share Posted 31 August, 2013 didnt expect to win, would have been happy with a draw. Norwich have a very good side and I think that we did okay to nullify most of their attacking threat, I feared a big deficit. A lot of people on here were sucking Norwich off about how good their signings were, so i hope at least they expected a battle at their ground. Positive, our defending is much better under MP, Lallana really is beginning to look his old self. Negatives, the attacking bite we've had in the last 4 years seems to have disappeared, yet we've invested in the ability of our attack... bugger. Ref (for both pen decisions and a couple of bad offside calls). Most worrying thing for me about that game was that Norwich pressed us a hell of a lot better than we managed, which is supposed to be our major offensive tactic. Ramirez... **** son. Someone find a taxi number for Uruguay. I'm disappointed that he is getting the nod over other players now. Alternatively we could just blame the result on Fox. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glasgow_Saint Posted 31 August, 2013 Share Posted 31 August, 2013 Very poor today, where are the goals going to come from? We have some of the best attacking options in the prem. Very worrying that we create so little with the options we have same story last season Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barry Sanchez Posted 31 August, 2013 Share Posted 31 August, 2013 Not sure the morale in the team is quite what it was...there's a ponderous lethargy and lack of inspiration, no intensity anymore. And 24 hours ago we were amazing? I despair, the morale debate I dont know about and neither do you, the performance is something we can comment upon Poor, woeful and deeply lacking We have not scored in open play These are the facts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buctootim Posted 31 August, 2013 Share Posted 31 August, 2013 Not sure the morale in the team is quite what it was...there's a ponderous lethargy and lack of inspiration, no intensity anymore. Totally agree. Worse than squandering the money is squandering the hard built up team spirit. Saints got successful off the back of a team working hard for each other. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saints foreva Posted 31 August, 2013 Share Posted 31 August, 2013 Lacked creativity in the final third, just like we did in the Sunderland and West Brom game as well as the back end of last season. Another thing is corners, is there a side worse than us at corners in the league? Majority of ours seem to either struggle to beat the first man or go straight to the goalkeeper. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SNSUN Posted 31 August, 2013 Share Posted 31 August, 2013 I'm more bummed out that the wife's team won this, not that we lost. I won't be hearing the end of this for a very long time. Still, a few winnable games coming up, let's draw the proverbial blue line under this display and move on. Two days left of the window, and I still think we lack that one player that can unlock a defence and be creative when things aren't going our way. Sort of like Coutinho for Liverpool. Banega would be a great shout for this. We'll have better days this season and we'll have worse days, but a loss is never pleasant, even away from home. Well done Norwich (he says through gritted teeth). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger Posted 31 August, 2013 Share Posted 31 August, 2013 This. Feel really sorry for Cork, especially when Wanyama struggled as he did today. This is going to be another season where positions between 8th and 19th (Palace 20th) are going to be extremely tightly contested. Stoke beating WHU, our game could have gone either way today... it's unpredictable! Positives: Chambers, Lovren, JWP Negatives: Wanyama, Ramirez, Webb Can't believe Howard Webb failed to give 2 stonewall penalties today (Johnson Handball, Fonte on Johnson)! He's the best in the world! A very bad day in the office for him... Chambers and prowse were poor today Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Window Cleaner Posted 31 August, 2013 Share Posted 31 August, 2013 Seems to be a fair amount of confusion, MP has given Morgan's role to Wanyama and split Cork's role between Morgan and JWP. Should be all the other way round. Morgan should be in his usual role and Wanyama should just replace Cork (or not) post for post. I was always concerned about Wanyama being consistent week in week out and still am. You don't have to be faultless every week against Inverness and Ross County so you can save your best for Barca. MP just has to drop Lambert because we need to play JRod. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mancsaint Posted 31 August, 2013 Share Posted 31 August, 2013 VW was the difference, he gave Norwich the ball when he could. The Manager of Falkirk was totally correct, he gives the ball away so often. Mancsaint Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minsk Posted 31 August, 2013 Share Posted 31 August, 2013 I still remain to be convinced about Pochettino. Strange team selection and starting formation - even stranger subs! Lallana was by far our best player, and he was the first to be brought off. Madness!!! Toothless in front of goal; wayward passes from midfield; hoofball, to nowhere. We were poor. Yes, we should have had a clear penalty in the first half, but so should Norwich have had one at the end. At least that cancelled each other out. I hear the vodka calling.............................. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hasper57saint Posted 31 August, 2013 Share Posted 31 August, 2013 From the 'Norwich Buildup' - "Osvaldis is our 'best goalscorer". Really? You could have fooled me.We seem totally disjointed. MP had better take a very long look at our display today or he could soon be 'on the move'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
verlaine1979 Posted 31 August, 2013 Share Posted 31 August, 2013 Well said. The "we don't play wingers" brigade are quite persistent, though. To be honest I'd quite like to have a "winger" plus our attacking full backs back in the side, I don't think the two things are mutually exclusive. Absolutely, it's much easier to teach someone with natural pace when they should cut in than it is to teach someone who is slow how to run faster. Don't get me wrong, I think we look a decent, solid side (reminiscent of Everton during Moyes' early days) but solidity + slow build up rarely equals goals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adrian lord Posted 31 August, 2013 Share Posted 31 August, 2013 I wouldn't blame this on the new signings at all. The thing that stuck out the most from our win against West Brom was how well they had fitted in. Lovren was fine against today. Wouldn't blame him. Wanyama had a shocker I'm afraid. First time I've seen him play very poorly, but I wouldn't put that down to him being a new signing or any case of not fitting in. He just had a ****ter fair and square. Osvaldo obviously has ability but the reason he and Lambert don't work as a strike pair is really only a symptom of our main problem; our lack of width and consequently, our inability to play 4-4-2. If you want to go 4-4-2 you need out-and-out wingers with pace to quickly distribute the ball to, otherwise you get bogged down having to overplay the ball in the middle of the park where you're very often outnumbered and lose possesion. With Osvaldo up front we don't have a 4-5-1, we have a badly organised 4-4-2 with neither wide man a proper winger. As such, I'd rather make the choice between Lambert and Osvaldo and play Ramirez in the hole, with Lallana and (Puncheon...oops) out wide. But obviously everyone all has different opinions on the actual selection It all comes down to one thing in the end, BALANCE. Which is something that is completely crucial to any successful side and our lack of it was the reason why our team were beaten by 11 players who I honestly don't believe can match our boys for talent or ability. The rest of this goes on to describe in detail how the new signings have unsettled the way we play! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrunkenSaint Posted 31 August, 2013 Share Posted 31 August, 2013 Lambert and Osvaldo shouldn't of both started imo, i knew it wouldn't work and it hasn't, it has messed up our pressing style. We also missed Cork and someone who can run at the defence. I think we should play Cork in away games and let Jwp play home games. How can we get the best out of Osvaldo? get pacey wingers to open the defence and put good balls into the box....and that's what we don't have, not our style? then we have just wasted all that money on someone who thrives with that style. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B Rabbit Posted 31 August, 2013 Share Posted 31 August, 2013 Frustrating start to the season... We have 4... Could quite easily have nothing.. On another day could have 9. We've scored nothing from open play yet and don't really look like it. We've played 3 average teams...granted 2 are away. i suppose you could say 4 point from a home game and 2 aways is a decent return at face value but really we aren't looking great at all. Must start being incisive and taking those few f*cking chances or we're in for a very disappointing season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Window Cleaner Posted 31 August, 2013 Share Posted 31 August, 2013 Chambers and prowse were poor today Chambers does not get forward all that well, not like Clyne anyway and Fox doesn't get forward at all so if Lallana is playing behind the strikers what do you do, oh yes stick a CM out there Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barry Sanchez Posted 31 August, 2013 Share Posted 31 August, 2013 Excellent post! I'm disappointed, sure....But we could have won that game just as easily as we lost it. No there is not a lot of luck in football, if it was luck on a consistant basis United would struggle to win the League so consistantly. Its not luck it players, skill, formation, fitness, drive, passion and desire. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimmy_D Posted 31 August, 2013 Share Posted 31 August, 2013 Could have gone either way, just didn't take our chances. If Webb gives that first penalty, or Osvaldos shot sneaks past the keeper, or Lallana's shot goes just a bit to the right and goes in off the post, we'd probably be sat here 2nd in the league. We'll have better days. How ****ing difficult is it to train some decent officials? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bewildered Posted 31 August, 2013 Share Posted 31 August, 2013 A winger with pace, who actually wants to get behind the defence is desperately needed. Not just as a squad player, but as a starter. At this level, most defences will have absolutely no problems stopping a side who always wants to knock it about in front of them like we do, our approach play is so one dimensional it's unbelievable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monk Posted 31 August, 2013 Share Posted 31 August, 2013 Cork needs to come back in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itchen_dan Posted 31 August, 2013 Share Posted 31 August, 2013 I still maintain, Lambert is the root of all our problems. Poch is having a problem accomodating him. No doubting, he is a brilliant goalscorer, brilliant lad etc but if he wasnt in the England squad, would he really be in the team? His link up play is slow, his passes are often wayward, and by having to accomodate him, it is pushing him and others out of their natural position. He is causing square pegs in round holes e.g JWP having to play wide right, Ramirez having to play wide, Osvaldo having to drop deep rather than play on the shoulder. I am sure Pochettino's preferred XI is something like this That to me is alot stronger than the team we have played today and so far this season. We need to sort our attacking play out and I think that will only happen when Lambert is taken out of the team. Surely it isn't coincidence that Jay Rod started scoring regular goals when MP came in and Gaston was playing No. 10 and Lambert started to dry up. Jay and Osvaldo are the sort of players MP likes, Rickie unfortunately isn't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melmacian_saint Posted 31 August, 2013 Share Posted 31 August, 2013 It was not a penalty on Snodgrass!! He was chasing the ball and Fonte clearly gets himself just in front of him. If anything it was a great piece of defending. Jose has by far been the most unfairly treated player in this forum in the last few years. Let's hope the different manages can carry on proving all of you wrong. That's 3 managers so far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LGTL Posted 31 August, 2013 Share Posted 31 August, 2013 You cannot have Chambers and Fox as your full backs when playing this system. It relies on them getting forward, Shaw and Clyne have to start the next game. We had no width at all, it was so narrow it was painful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidthesquid Posted 31 August, 2013 Share Posted 31 August, 2013 We look like a very expensive mid/lower half team, beaten by an average Norwich team. Questions - is Wanyama better than Cork? Ramirez over Lallana, Osvaldo over Rodriguez? The answer for me is NO, never mind replacing Morgan with Davis. Cork & Schneiderlin were as good a pairing as I've ever seen us have - why break it up? Lallana playing well, why take him off? Reputation and fee winning over reality at the moment imo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger Posted 31 August, 2013 Share Posted 31 August, 2013 I still maintain, Lambert is the root of all our problems. Poch is having a problem accomodating him. No doubting, he is a brilliant goalscorer, brilliant lad etc but if he wasnt in the England squad, would he really be in the team? His link up play is slow, his passes are often wayward, and by having to accomodate him, it is pushing him and others out of their natural position. He is causing square pegs in round holes e.g JWP having to play wide right, Ramirez having to play wide, Osvaldo having to drop deep rather than play on the shoulder. I am sure Pochettino's preferred XI is something like this That to me is alot stronger than the team we have played today and so far this season. We need to sort our attacking play out and I think that will only happen when Lambert is taken out of the team. Surely it isn't coincidence that Jay Rod started scoring regular goals when MP came in and Gaston was playing No. 10 and Lambert started to dry up. Jay and Osvaldo are the sort of players MP likes, Rickie unfortunately isn't. Jesus, hes the main reason why we are in prem. Who else scores any goals? J rod isnt strong enough to play upfront, did you see lambert made more goals than anyone by far last season too? Lambert was pants today and not convinced he will be v good for much longer but the problems are: Clyne should be in as no one else has pace. Wanyama doesnt look like he fits in aswell as cork and makes morgan tick. Puncheon had a little bit of pace and could carry the ball. Our build up play is far too slow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
max_saints Posted 31 August, 2013 Share Posted 31 August, 2013 frustrating afternoon, team just didnt seem to get going and looked lethargic for some reason. chambers had an absolute torrid time against redmond today, we need clyne coming back soon. central midfield was rubbish when it seemed to be a position we were so settled with the cork-morgan partnership. definitely need to think twice about that fulham bid. gaston was ineffective again and just never really proved his price tag after a year. lambert seems to have lost that sparkle from his magical week. overall just poor from the team and uninspiring. only positives were boruc (solid goalkeeping other than the redmond goal) and lallana (shocked that he was the player to come off for gaston having been the only player who looked like getting a goal for us) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S-Clarke Posted 31 August, 2013 Share Posted 31 August, 2013 You cannot have Chambers and Fox as your full backs when playing this system. It relies on them getting forward, Shaw and Clyne have to start the next game. We had no width at all, it was so narrow it was painful. If they're injured or not fit, there's not much we can do. Which is why today you'd deploy someone like Puncheon to offer us the width, if we don't replace him we've made a huge, huge error. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WealdSaint Posted 31 August, 2013 Share Posted 31 August, 2013 Close game but Norwich shaded it. Thought Lovren looked real class. The turning point was when MP took Lallana off and replaced him with Gaston. I have to say, sadly, I am running out of patience with Gaston :-( Not too much need for doom and gloom, but it's a shame we won't have the option of bringing Punchon on it games like this Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alpine_saint Posted 31 August, 2013 Share Posted 31 August, 2013 Umittigated cr*p. Over 30m spent, and still cant defend for toffee or hit a cows arse with a banjo. Far too many players underperforming, and Ramirez is just a joke. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cabrone Posted 31 August, 2013 Share Posted 31 August, 2013 Terrible display, as bad as our 3-0 loss to WBA although at least this result is not critical. Should have had a penalty, unbeleivable decision by the ref and I suspect the fact that he let Fonte off right at the end was him 'balancing the books' so to speak. We lacked any kind of intensity and were ponderous, predictable and devoid of ideas in the last 3rd of the pitch. Far too slow getting forward, far too little bite in midfield and far too little cutting edge up front, seriously dissappointing from a team with the players we have. I know we are better than this and I know we will improve. Just as well as today's performance would have seen us beaten by a decent league 1 team let alone prem opposition. The only outfield player that looked like he cared was Lallana. Boruc was OK (albeit the goal was a bit dodgy) and so was JWP but the rest were anonymous TBH. Norwich weren't much better either and I don't think a 0-0 would have been unkind to either team. A performance like this with the team we have is unnaceptable. It's not the losing, it's the manner of the defeat. I fully expect a drastically improved performance against West Ham in 2 weeks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S-Clarke Posted 31 August, 2013 Share Posted 31 August, 2013 Umittigated cr*p. Over 30m spent, and still cant defend for toffee or hit a cows arse with a banjo. Far too many players underperforming, and Ramirez is just a joke. We defended ok, pretty solid for 90 mins. 2 centre backs look like setting up a decent understanding. Our problem is a lack of attacking threat. and I'm not sure Gaston is ever going to achieve anything with us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger Posted 31 August, 2013 Share Posted 31 August, 2013 Boruc 6 - near post goal but solid other than that Chambers - 5 - really struggled with Redmond Lovren - 7 - solid I thought. Fonte - 5 - couple of wayward passes and got lucky at the end with the penalty decision Fox - 4 - not premiership. Defending aside he offered nothing going forward which is what our formation requires Schneiderlain - 6 - average Wanyama - 3 - woeful. Lots of mis placed passes and fouls ++ Lallana - 7 - Played alright. Should've stayed on but Gaston clearly has an agreement with Pinocchio that he'll have his 30min stroll Jwp - 6.5 - He's played better but did offer some intensity. Lambert - 5 - Not his game. But then it was with a new strike partner so probably expected Osvaldo - 6.5 - Put himself about and got into good positions. Again new strike partner so performance never going to be the best ----- Ramirez - 2 - if anyone can find a clip of a successful pass that he did today you'd have done well. Woeful. Really really frustrating. Kinda wanders like MLT. Except MLT had the final ball. Ramirez just wanders and eats grass. Davis - 5 - didn't really add much Jay Rod - not on long enough to rate fox was loads better than chambers ffs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dubai_phil Posted 31 August, 2013 Share Posted 31 August, 2013 Right. That showed our system needs at LEAST one of Shaw or Clyne to provide the movement and create the space for our attacking 3. Chambers is no threat in the final 3rd & Fox seemed to be on a bungee rope when he got 5 yards past the Half Way line. Take those two with their Pace out of our side and we look pedestrian and average. What's up with Morgan at the moment? VW I noted copped some stick in the match thread - at HT he'd attempted 17 passes & had an 80% success rate - not good enough but seemed to improve 2nd. JWP at fault for their goal, was sold the Dunny and fell for it so badly he was still getting his credit card out. Howard Webb - again what an awful Refereeing Display. Should have been one nailed on Penalty in 1st half to us and Fonte's comedy dive should have got him a Red but luckily Wolf'swillie made a meal of it too early. Oh and when did an Elbow in the face become allowed? Deserved to draw just but only just and their goal was the one bit of real skill shown all day Thank fook I didn't travel back for THAT one Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SNSUN Posted 31 August, 2013 Share Posted 31 August, 2013 It's a loss, all teams lose games in a season, and we'll have a few more losses this season yet. No need to get all slitty-wristed about this defeat. If anything, it could be a blessing in disguise, if Pochettino and Cortese go out and sign some attackingly creative midfielder that we're lacking as a result of this.....result. What we have is OK, in that we'll probably achieve a similar placed finish to last season, but a new creative spark could see us achieve that top half finish we crave. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaneNero Posted 31 August, 2013 Share Posted 31 August, 2013 Early days. Would like to see 1 more biggish signing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trousers Posted 31 August, 2013 Share Posted 31 August, 2013 SWF logic: A narrow win and we're brilliant; a narrow defeat and we're sh1te The fickle world of internet football forums. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thorpie the sinner Posted 31 August, 2013 Share Posted 31 August, 2013 SWF logic: A narrow win and we're brilliant; a narrow defeat and we're sh1te The fickle world of internet football forums. Truest thing said thus far Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bewildered Posted 31 August, 2013 Share Posted 31 August, 2013 I still maintain, Lambert is the root of all our problems. Poch is having a problem accomodating him. No doubting, he is a brilliant goalscorer, brilliant lad etc but if he wasnt in the England squad, would he really be in the team? His link up play is slow, his passes are often wayward, and by having to accomodate him, it is pushing him and others out of their natural position. He is causing square pegs in round holes e.g JWP having to play wide right, Ramirez having to play wide, Osvaldo having to drop deep rather than play on the shoulder. I am sure Pochettino's preferred XI is something like this That to me is alot stronger than the team we have played today and so far this season. We need to sort our attacking play out and I think that will only happen when Lambert is taken out of the team. Surely it isn't coincidence that Jay Rod started scoring regular goals when MP came in and Gaston was playing No. 10 and Lambert started to dry up. Jay and Osvaldo are the sort of players MP likes, Rickie unfortunately isn't. Have to agree with most of this, but I think we would be better served not starting Rodriguez and playing three midfielders behind Osvaldo. J-Rod has pace and can some decent runs, but his general play is not that good and his final ball is really bad. Personally, I would opt for Lallana left, JWP or Davis centre and a new winger out on the right behind Osvaldo. Can't just play all the strikers and expect goals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Georgie Posted 31 August, 2013 Share Posted 31 August, 2013 Utter rubbish today. That's what happens when you don't/can't play your first choice full backs. There was nothing going forward down the wings and we looked so weak, especially at left back when they attacked us down the wings. Fox is not a Premier League player. As well as Chambers has played so far I would start Clyne next game. I would also be tempted to bring Cork back in, unless obviously we sell him. (Which would be an absolutely stupid decision) Osvaldo looks too light weight to me at the moment. Lallana was one of our best players today then we bloody went and took him off! After that we created nothing. At the moment it's really not looking good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger Posted 31 August, 2013 Share Posted 31 August, 2013 MP just said we performed well. wtf? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaneNero Posted 31 August, 2013 Share Posted 31 August, 2013 And we were quite unlucky. Wouldn't mind letting Ramirez go now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebel Posted 31 August, 2013 Share Posted 31 August, 2013 I think we're really missing the Schneiderlin and Cork platform which we built our game on for the second half of last season Wanyama so far is simply not as good as Cork at keeping the ball or playing it forward. Together Morgan and Jack were our best players - our double pivot and our fulcrum. Splitting them up makes no sense. I was worried when we bought Wanyama but convinced myself we bought him so that we could play 3 in the middle - Big Vic and Morgan ahead of a Cork. I will be really p*ssed if we end up selling Cork. And I think we overpaid for Wanyama at the moment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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