Roger Posted 15 September, 2013 Share Posted 15 September, 2013 Yes it's probably too early and players have to gel but not a great stat is it? Defence looks better though and hopefully we will improve! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turkish Posted 15 September, 2013 Share Posted 15 September, 2013 Aside from his purple patch when we beat Chelsea, Liverpool and Reading I have to say I'm less than impressed with MP. Take those out and its 2 wins in 17 which is awful. the same thing that was happening at the end of last season, a lack of guille and craft to break down teams that come to defend, despite having some very creative players in the side. MP is not getting the best out of the players he has available, we are boring to watch and seem totally incapable of unlocking teams which come for a point. He seems like a good guy and I hope he can sort things out but IMO we are starting to go backwards under him after a promising start. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beatlesaint Posted 15 September, 2013 Share Posted 15 September, 2013 Aside from his purple patch when we beat Chelsea, Liverpool and Reading I have to say I'm less than impressed with MP. Take those out and its 2 wins in 17 which is awful. the same thing that was happening at the end of last season, a lack of guille and craft to break down teams that come to defend, despite having some very creative players in the side. MP is not getting the best out of the players he has available, we are boring to watch and seem totally incapable of unlocking teams which come for a point. He seems like a good guy and I hope he can sort things out but IMO we are starting to go backwards under him after a promising start. Unfortunately i have to agree. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saint Garrett Posted 15 September, 2013 Share Posted 15 September, 2013 I didn't see Sunderland game, but was at both Norwich and WBA and then today too. We're not clicking at the money. Goals worry me, and before today chances were too, But we did have 15 attempts on goal today so hopefully it'll come. However you've got to question some of the sub decisions made by Pochettino. I think we are a good side under MP, but I'm not sure we've moved on as much as we should have under him. Big test next week, as it's against the first top side. Hopefully we see some higher tempo an lot more obvious pressing from us. His pressing tactic he's oh so renowned for seems to have gone missing this season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badger Posted 15 September, 2013 Share Posted 15 September, 2013 As I've written on the post match thread: In my view MP will have to chalk up a fews wins, points by the end of October or Nic Nasty will be showing his ruthless streak again. Just a hunch, but for all the nice talk, and plaudits for our play, and those coming through the academy we are probably going to be in limbo rather than pressing up to the next level as was the goal. Aside from his purple patch when we beat Chelsea, Liverpool and Reading I have to say I'm less than impressed with MP. Take those out and its 2 wins in 17 which is awful. the same thing that was happening at the end of last season, a lack of guille and craft to break down teams that come to defend, despite having some very creative players in the side. MP is not getting the best out of the players he has available, we are boring to watch and seem totally incapable of unlocking teams which come for a point. He seems like a good guy and I hope he can sort things out but IMO we are starting to go backwards under him after a promising start. Agree with all of that Turkish. The fact the wins you mention in your post were against high profile opposition has papered over the cracks as far as many have been concerned. Last season of course he had the fact they were not "his" players or squad card to play, this season that is no longer an excuse. Lets be honest, our only win follows a last minute penalty, had that not been given - and we've all seen appeals for things like that, and better turned down - the table would not look so comfortable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CB Fry Posted 15 September, 2013 Share Posted 15 September, 2013 It's not looking like the gigantic leap forward some were expecting. We are very solid these days but quite dull/predictable for a side with so many potentially exciting players. MP is doing okay, we won't be anywhere near relegation with him, but not sure he is much more than a, say, Steve McClaren with a more exciting name. A functional, technocrat, cautious "coach's coach". We will click over a few games this season: For example, Liverpool away I think is a perfect fixture for us - footballing side/away/no expectation/they're due a loss. So winnable. Overall, we will be fine. Just not amazing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badger Posted 15 September, 2013 Share Posted 15 September, 2013 It's not looking like the gigantic leap forward some were expecting. We are very solid these days but quite dull/predictable for a side with so many potentially exciting players. MP is doing okay, we won't be anywhere near relegation with him, but not sure he is much more than a, say, Steve McClaren with a more exciting name. A functional, technocrat, cautious "coach's coach". We will click over a few games this season: For example, Liverpool away I think is a perfect fixture for us - footballing side/away/no expectation/they're due a loss. So winnable. Overall, we will be fine. Just not amazing. If you go back to the posts made on here on 19th January, I don't think you'll find many people expecting a giant leap forward. Although of course the wins vMan City, Liverpool and Chelsea did raise it to perhaps unrealistic levels. Interesting that you draw a comparison with an average manager like McLaren, as after MP was appointed someone posted a text from a Spanish mate with knowledge of both English & Spanish football, his comparison was that MP's time at Espanyol led him to the conclusion he was another Steve Bruce. Would we have been happy with that appointment then ? Doubt it. Results, which are average at best seem to support the comparison. No idea who the poster was, or his Spanish mate - think he said it was not Javi before one of the humourists ask, although I suspect he might too offer an interesting view on the topic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turkish Posted 15 September, 2013 Share Posted 15 September, 2013 If you go back to the posts made on here on 19th January, I don't think you'll find many people expecting a giant leap forward. Although of course the wins vMan City, Liverpool and Chelsea did raise it to perhaps unrealistic levels. Interesting that you draw a comparison with an average manager like McLaren, as after MP was appointed someone posted a text from a Spanish mate with knowledge of both English & Spanish football, his comparison was that MP's time at Espanyol led him to the conclusion he was another Steve Bruce. Would we have been happy with that appointment then ? Doubt it. Results, which are average at best seem to support the comparison. No idea who the poster was, or his Spanish mate - think he said it was not Javi before one of the humourists ask, although I suspect he might too offer an interesting view on the topic. It was claimed last season before we spent £35m on 3 players to improve our side, that that current squad was good enough to finish 6th. Its fair to say some people will have been expecting a lot more than they are going to get. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bearsy Posted 15 September, 2013 Share Posted 15 September, 2013 yeah i agree with the people on this thread! If you exclude the games he won, Pochettino's record looks v.poor indeed! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saint Garrett Posted 15 September, 2013 Share Posted 15 September, 2013 It was claimed last season before we spent £35m on 3 players to improve our side, that that current squad was good enough to finish 6th. Its fair to say some people will have been expecting a lot more than they are going to get. I don't expect us to be top 6, but I'd expect us to not be involved in a relegation scrap this year. We shouldn't be really, we've spent near on £70m in 2 years! We sacrificed a decent young manager and brought in a promising foreign coach. Chelsea, City and Liverpool wins were absolutely brilliant, but there has also been some results which weren't great last season under MP, and we don't seem to be a much better side this year so far. Yes it's only a couple of games, but with the team we have I'd expect us to get more than 4 points out of WBA, Sunderland, Norwich and West Ham. Lose at Liverpool and suddenly the Palace is becoming a must win game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bearsy Posted 15 September, 2013 Share Posted 15 September, 2013 We look like we're setting up to be hard to beat + a bit dull, physical and low-scoring. I reckon we're the new Everton. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bpsaint Posted 15 September, 2013 Share Posted 15 September, 2013 (edited) Aside from his purple patch when we beat Chelsea, Liverpool and Reading I have to say I'm less than impressed with MP. Take those out and its 2 wins in 17 which is awful. the same thing that was happening at the end of last season, a lack of guille and craft to break down teams that come to defend, despite having some very creative players in the side. MP is not getting the best out of the players he has available, we are boring to watch and seem totally incapable of unlocking teams which come for a point. He seems like a good guy and I hope he can sort things out but IMO we are starting to go backwards under him after a promising start. Difficult to argue with this really. Despite the wealth of talent MP has to choose from we played much more attractive football under Adkins, just didn't get the results. Now we're just playing crap and not getting the results. Edited 15 September, 2013 by bpsaint Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dig Dig Posted 15 September, 2013 Share Posted 15 September, 2013 Fans get carried away at both ends of the spectrum. If we win a couple of our next 3-4 games, talk of Europe will re-surface again I'm sure. At the same time, we are 4 games in with 5 points on the board. We could expect a couple more points on that total but it's still stupidly early in the season and a few players have had a slightly disrupted start to the season so I am not really that concerned at the lack of goals at the moment. Keep creating chances and they will come. We are solid and hard to beat, always a good platform, and we will most likely not be looking over our shoulder too much. Still more to positive about than negative IMO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suhari Posted 15 September, 2013 Share Posted 15 September, 2013 I have been a big MP fan; but now I am quickly going off him. If he gets back to his basic philosophy, with Ossies extra class upfront I can see progress, if not the yes: he's looking like the Spainish Steve Bruce. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buctootim Posted 15 September, 2013 Share Posted 15 September, 2013 (edited) Adkins would be getting more out of these players than MP is imo Edited 16 September, 2013 by buctootim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger Posted 15 September, 2013 Author Share Posted 15 September, 2013 Adkins would be getting more of these players than MP is imo Looking that way. Think Adkins would have had puncheon and gaston in and Lallana and j rod out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CWD Posted 15 September, 2013 Share Posted 15 September, 2013 Adkins would be getting more of these players than MP is imo Moot point in my opinion as I don't think we'd have attracted the players we have if he was still in charge. Agree with the general gist of the thread though. We're quite boring and frustrating to watch the majority of the time and only 4 goals in 9 or something is pretty poor. However, it would be like us to go and beat Liverpool next week, and tbf we did seem to create some more opportunities today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger Posted 15 September, 2013 Author Share Posted 15 September, 2013 5 goals in ten games! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
St.JonB Posted 15 September, 2013 Share Posted 15 September, 2013 The atmosphere seems to have gone a bit flat as well. I did find myself thinking at half-time if the money for my season ticket was well spent this year. Have not had that doubt for a few seasons. It's early days and if we had managed to score one today I'm sure we would all be a lot happier with life tonight! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doggface Posted 15 September, 2013 Share Posted 15 September, 2013 yeah i agree with the people on this thread! If you exclude the games he won, Pochettino's record looks v.poor indeed! Exactly, what a load of horse**** from turkish Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rasiak-9- Posted 16 September, 2013 Share Posted 16 September, 2013 Aside from his purple patch when we beat Chelsea, Liverpool and Reading I have to say I'm less than impressed with MP. Take those out and its 2 wins in 17 which is awful. the same thing that was happening at the end of last season, a lack of guille and craft to break down teams that come to defend, despite having some very creative players in the side. MP is not getting the best out of the players he has available, we are boring to watch and seem totally incapable of unlocking teams which come for a point. He seems like a good guy and I hope he can sort things out but IMO we are starting to go backwards under him after a promising start. Its been well put although its not like we can just write off the wins against Liverpool and Chelsea I guess. Time will tell of course, but put it this way. I genuinely do believe that in terms of the talent of individual players, we have a squad that is easily in the top 10 ability-wise and the only reason I'm currently letting things slide is because the players will need time to gel. Once again I'll let things go away against Liverpool but anything less than 4 points from Palace and Swansea at home and the manager will be under very serious (and justified) pressure. The fixture list gets much, much tougher starting with Arsenal at the end of November, throughout December and up to Chelsea on NY's day. It would be chronic underachievement for a squad of this ability to be looking over their shoulder at the relegation zone at any point this season and I can confidently say that should that happen, it won't be because our players aren't good enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rasiak-9- Posted 16 September, 2013 Share Posted 16 September, 2013 I just don't see any excuses for him, with what looks a very impressive squad (on paper). Turning that into results is the manager's job, and it's not happening, and he's struggled in nearly every match where we'd be expected to win. They can't do it when teams come for a draw or sit back. It's not quality, you can see the body language isn't right, no-one is taking charge, taking responsibility, too many shaking heads, looking down, not really expecting to score. Bored of saying it but the breaking up of Cork/Morgan was utterly ridiculous IMO. One of the strangest decisions I've seen. Don't understand constantly taking Lallana off when he's the most creative, or never using Ramirez, even for 10 minutes in a game needing to break down the opposition. I'm sure it might come good, and the defence looks good, but there's a lot of work to be done. Agree with this also. But I think there are problems in the set-up further forward as well... The manager seems desperate to shoehorn in certain attacking players but without much of a plan about where they're supposed to play and what precisely their role is in whatever the system is supposed to be (Rodriguez/JWP) Lallana is another player who seems to be misused, and Pochettino has obviously annoyed many of our fans by taking off one of our best performing (but least effective) players in the past two games. For Lallana to be effective, he HAS to receive the ball in the opponent's final third as unfortunately, for all his talents, the lad cannot beat a player one-on-one and run into the space behind him as he is simply too slow/weak. I've lost count of the number of times Lallana has pulled off a wonderful piece of skill and got a big 'oooh!' from the crowd, only for the defender to simply catch him up and get shoulder-to-shoulder, forcing Adam to quickly release a poor pass under pressure or turn and lay it off to the full-back. Achieving absolutely nothing in the process. Lallana needs the chance to twist and turn and get a cross in or execute a quick one-two 20-30 yards from goal. Facing a full-back on the half way line with 30 yards of space behind him he simply doesn't have the pace and power to be a winger in the traditional sense. Lambert as well looks more and more isolated and for some reason, we haven't managed to get him knocking the ball down to players in the channels the way we used to under Adkins with Lallana/Puncheon. When Lambert does drop back, Osvaldo seems reluctant to occupy the target-man position (possibly under instruction from the manager or simply out of (understandable) impatience with lack of service. The worrying thing is that neither Lambert nor Osvaldo look like scoring despite neither actually playing particularly badly, which is actually more concerning than if their lack of goals could be put down to simply either player simply playing badly or having an off-day. The absence of Ramirez befuddles me. For me, so much of our success this season will be down to building the team around our most creative midfielder and the only one of our players who can control the game, move the ball quickly, pick a pass, make the right decision and do all of the above with a bit of directness. However, incorporating him properly will probably require us to drop one of Lambert/Osvaldo, something I don't think Pochettino is ever going to be willing to do. Ramirez only works in the number 10 role and time and again he's played out of position for short stints, doesn't play to the best of his ability, becomes a scapegoat for criticism and as such doesn't get the game time he needs to prove himself. We get the ball wide, yet can't get to the byeline and cross it with any pace. We kick it up to Lambert, but there's no-one around to receive a knock-down. Final passes are delayed or poorly selected, no-one tries to beat a man, none of our strikers attempt so much as a simple three touch shift-'n'-shoot. Our full-backs don't know whether they have the license to overlap as they have no idea who's covering them and aren't having the chance to receive the ball higher up the pitch. The whole thing is a mess going forward when you break it down. Long story short? There are going to be some tough choices coming up for Pochettino regarding our attacking players and general set-up. Choices that involve dropping certain players, giving the ones that are selected a more defined role and finally deciding on a more definitive game plan, because at the moment its very clearly getting nought but the bare minimum out of some very talented attacking players Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adrian lord Posted 16 September, 2013 Share Posted 16 September, 2013 Last season we were cavalier and exciting to watch, reminiscent of Keegan era Newcastle. Mopo has made us defensively solid but at the expense of flair and attacking verve. Its not the traditional Southampton, that's for sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turkish Posted 16 September, 2013 Share Posted 16 September, 2013 Exactly, what a load of horse**** from turkish So you think everything is great then and been happy with our form and the performance of the man who was hailed as the man to take us to the next level? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turkish Posted 16 September, 2013 Share Posted 16 September, 2013 Its been well put although its not like we can just write off the wins against Liverpool and Chelsea I guess. Time will tell of course, but put it this way. I genuinely do believe that in terms of the talent of individual players, we have a squad that is easily in the top 10 ability-wise and the only reason I'm currently letting things slide is because the players will need time to gel. Once again I'll let things go away against Liverpool but anything less than 4 points from Palace and Swansea at home and the manager will be under very serious (and justified) pressure. The fixture list gets much, much tougher starting with Arsenal at the end of November, throughout December and up to Chelsea on NY's day. It would be chronic underachievement for a squad of this ability to be looking over their shoulder at the relegation zone at any point this season and I can confidently say that should that happen, it won't be because our players aren't good enough. If we are relying on beating the likes of Man city, Chelsea and Liverpool then We are going to be in big trouble. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david in sweden Posted 16 September, 2013 Share Posted 16 September, 2013 (edited) Aside from his purple patch when we beat Chelsea, Liverpool and Reading I have to say I'm less than impressed with MP. Take those out and its 2 wins in 17 which is awful. the same thing that was happening at the end of last season, a lack of guille and craft to break down teams that come to defend, despite having some very creative players in the side. MP is not getting the best out of the players he has available, we are boring to watch and seem totally incapable of unlocking teams which come for a point. He seems like a good guy and I hope he can sort things out but IMO we are starting to go backwards under him after a promising start. I think we also beat Man.City somewhere around then - didn't we Turkish ? A lot of teams blow hot and cold but I was generally quite impressed with the attacking style - even if we didn't always get the points we deserved. We all want the team to succeed, but putting a new team together does take time. Lovren looked the best of the bunch from Day 1, Wanyama looks good but is still seems to be trying to find " a role " and Osvaldo (and 30,000 Saints fans)..... will breathe a sigh of relief when he scores his first goal and whilst the rest of the squad " know each other "...even bringing in JWP and Chambers is new experience. Nice to even hear talk about " possible Euro football" (in a year or two) - and even Europa League would be a major achievement, but its very early to be showing a lot of concern . Liverpool are unbeaten because one player (Sturridge) scored one goal in three successive games, but what sort of a team are they if he doens't score every week ? Maybe we'll get some answers to both questions next weekend....As for only 5 wins in 20.?...well.......only one defeat in 4 ...also sounds like a good statistic - for any team outside the top four. Edited 16 September, 2013 by david in sweden Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turkish Posted 16 September, 2013 Share Posted 16 September, 2013 (edited) I think we also beat Man.City somewhere around then - didn't we Turkish ? A lot of tema blow hot and cold but I was generally quite impressed with the attacking style - even if we didn't always get the points we deserved. We all want the team to succeed, but putting a new team together does take time. Lovren looked the best of the bunch from Day 1, Wanyama looks good but is still seems to be trying to find " a role " and Osvaldo (and 30,000 Saints fans..... will breathe a sigh of relief when he scores his first goal. Whilst the rest of the squad " know each other "...even bringing in JWP and Chambers is new experience. Nice to even hear talk about " possible Euro football" (in a year or two) - and even Europa League would be a major achievement, but its very early to be showing a lot of concern . Liverpool are unbeaten because one player (Sturridge) scored one goal in three successive games, but what sort of a team are they if he doens't score every week ? Maybe we'll get some answers to both questions next weekend....As for only 5 wins in 20.?...well.......only one defeat in 3 also sounds like a good statistic - for any team outside the top four. You're impressed with the attacking style of a team that's scored 5 goals in 9 games? Wow, easily impressed. And your comment about a new team is laughable. 3 signings all of which seen meant to improve the side. 3 players, it Ain't a new team. Edited 16 September, 2013 by Turkish Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldNick Posted 16 September, 2013 Share Posted 16 September, 2013 Last season we were cavalier and exciting to watch, reminiscent of Keegan era Newcastle. Mopo has made us defensively solid but at the expense of flair and attacking verve. Its not the traditional Southampton, that's for sure.like the Keegan era? I think your mind is playing tricks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Boy Saint Posted 16 September, 2013 Share Posted 16 September, 2013 No idea who the poster was, or his Spanish mate - think he said it was not Javi before one of the humourists ask, although I suspect he might too offer an interesting view on the topic. Strangely Javi had very little to say about Pochettino when I last spoke to him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whitey Grandad Posted 16 September, 2013 Share Posted 16 September, 2013 5 goals in ten games! How many have we let in? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david in sweden Posted 16 September, 2013 Share Posted 16 September, 2013 You're impressed with the attacking style of a team that's scored 5 goals in 9 games? Wow, easily impressed. And your comment about a new team is laughable. 3 signings all of which seen meant to improve the side. 3 players, it Ain't a new team. OK did you prefer the previous Adkins style ..or ? I said I was impressed with MPs attacking style ...although sadly not a lot of success in the final third. yes only 5 goals in 9 games, yet we've conceded only 6 in those 9 games (and 3 of those in one match), and 5 of the 9 quoted were away games. How does that compare with last years start? Of course they will improve, but it's early days. Bringing in new players is like starting a new job, it takes time to acclimatise, and looking good on the practice ground isn't the same as do-or-die games on match days, and the opposition don't always play the way you want them to - just so that we can score goals. I think that (you or I) would be hard put to it to name three (past) players who came into a side (of their era) and made an immediate impact. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turkish Posted 16 September, 2013 Share Posted 16 September, 2013 OK did you prefer the previous Adkins style ..or ? I said I was impressed with MPs attacking style ...although sadly not a lot of success in the final third. yes only 5 goals in 9 games, yet we've conceded only 6 in those 9 games (and 3 of those in one match), and 5 of the 9 quoted were away games. How does that compare with last years start? Of course they will improve, but it's early days. Bringing in new players is like starting a new job, it takes time to acclimatise, and looking good on the practice ground isn't the same as do-or-die games on match days, and the opposition don't always play the way you want them to - just so that we can score goals. I think that (you or I) would be hard put to it to name three (past) players who came into a side (of their era) and made an immediate impact. I thought he made a good start and in the first 5 or 6 games he was here we looked good. High energy, creative. We seem to have regressed though, since the Reading game our play seems to be getting slower and slower in our ball movement and decison making, we cant break teams down and it's all very well saying the new players havent settled in yet, but he simply isn't getting the best out of the likes of Lallana, lambert and Ramirez that were already here either. OUr away form isn't too bad, probably due to us being tighter at the back, but are you seriously telling me you are happy with 4 points and 3 goals from home games against West Ham x 2, Sunderland, Stoke and WBA? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BadgerBadger Posted 16 September, 2013 Share Posted 16 September, 2013 I'm happy we're moving along in the right direction and see no immediate problems Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
northam soul Posted 16 September, 2013 Share Posted 16 September, 2013 It may be me but i dont see this high energy pressing any longer that we did so well last season. We dont seem to have the same drive/enthusiasm/will call it what you like that i saw on several occasions last term. We were all over opposition players when they had the ball even in their own last third but we are not doing that to the same degree any longer. He has obviously changed the system / formation or style and at the moment it is not working. Yes we have picked up more points than from the corresponding fixtures last season but nobody can truly expect us to beat most of the top sides at home again so that stat will soon dissapear. Its early days and we do look a lot more solid but football is about scoring goals and at the moment we are not doing it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beatlesaint Posted 16 September, 2013 Share Posted 16 September, 2013 It may be me but i dont see this high energy pressing any longer that we did so well last season. We dont seem to have the same drive/enthusiasm/will call it what you like that i saw on several occasions last term. We were all over opposition players when they had the ball even in their own last third but we are not doing that to the same degree any longer. He has obviously changed the system / formation or style and at the moment it is not working. Yes we have picked up more points than from the corresponding fixtures last season but nobody can truly expect us to beat most of the top sides at home again so that stat will soon dissapear. Its early days and we do look a lot more solid but football is about scoring goals and at the moment we are not doing it. No its not you, I said that to the old man yesterday. Truth of the matter is that high energy pressing game died a death after a while last season too. We only seemed to play it against the top sides like Chelsea. Man City and Liverpool. When we were told that it was a fitness issue and that MP was doing a quick fix because there were certain things he couldnt introduce until pre-season I'm afraid I totally bought that. I dont know why its vanished, I thought and hoped it was the way forward. Perhaps it will make a return at Anfield on Saturday as its the first top team we have faced this season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saint Garrett Posted 16 September, 2013 Share Posted 16 September, 2013 The pressing game is a tough one. If we had played the high intensity pressing game yesterday, I think we would have conceded. It simply doesn't work when a team is either switching the ball a lot, or pumping long balls over the press. I fully expect to see it when we play the top 6 and the other passing teams in the division. Cork and Puncheon were also a big part of this last season, and they're no longer in the side. Wanyama doesn't look like he's got it in him to play like that - I'm very unconvinced by him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich102 Posted 16 September, 2013 Share Posted 16 September, 2013 We look like a solid mid-table Premier League side that's (currently) failing to score goals. I'd take that over any of the Saints teams I've watched for the last 20 years or so. If we're still under-performing at the end of the season that's another matter - but there's no indication that'll be the case. We've got (on paper) the best strike force we've had in years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken Tone Posted 16 September, 2013 Share Posted 16 September, 2013 It is far too early to make a proper judgement, but I share the slight anxiety expressed by others on this thread. MP may yet give us an exciting season of excellent results, but at the moment I found myself thinking at the end of yesterday's game: --- Are we really any better now than we were under Adkins? If MP's presence means we can sign players that wouldn't have come under Adkins, that only matters if those incoming players are top quality, but for example, is Wanyama actually any better than Cork? Does Osvaldo look like our record signing, a star player, or just another 'ok' forward? Why did we buy Ramirez for so much money and on such high wages if he's not good enough to play? (not to mention the Forren farce) How long will Nicola wait before he wields his axe again? As I say, far too soon to give fair answers to questions like that, but ....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Batman Posted 16 September, 2013 Share Posted 16 September, 2013 Playing two up top is turning is into stoke Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beatlesaint Posted 16 September, 2013 Share Posted 16 September, 2013 Wanyama doesn't look like he's got it in him to play like that - I'm very unconvinced by him. Having had to miss the Sunderland game but having seen the Real Sociedad friendly I was looking forward to seeing Wanyama yesterday. After about 30 mins I found myself asking in what way he was worth 12 million or better than Cork. Looked to me like at half time someone told him to start passing the bloody ball forward and he was much improved. I will be very interested to see how he develops over the next few months. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pastor Patrón Posted 16 September, 2013 Share Posted 16 September, 2013 We'd have no less points had we kept Adkins tbh, maybe a few more, and now we're bloody boring to watch as well Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saint Garrett Posted 16 September, 2013 Share Posted 16 September, 2013 Having had to miss the Sunderland game but having seen the Real Sociedad friendly I was looking forward to seeing Wanyama yesterday. After about 30 mins I found myself asking in what way he was worth 12 million or better than Cork. Looked to me like at half time someone told him to start passing the bloody ball forward and he was much improved. I will be very interested to see how he develops over the next few months. Yeah, I also missed the Sunderland game as I was on holiday. He was brilliant vs West Brom, but was awful at Norwich and wasn't great yesterday. At £5/6m he is a good signing, but £12.5m.....seems that we've been ripped off a bit. Hopefully he can improve though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brett24 Posted 16 September, 2013 Share Posted 16 September, 2013 I thought given the conditions and the way West Ham play we didn't look that bad and on another day we would have won. Think the same team again against Liverpool but Ward-Prowse or Cork in for Jay-Rod. Ward-Prowse set-plays are quality best we have had for a long time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scummer Posted 16 September, 2013 Share Posted 16 September, 2013 Our last 20 games is pretty much bang on mid-table form. 1.2 points per game, Swansea and West Ham came 9th and 10th with 46 points last season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whitey Grandad Posted 16 September, 2013 Share Posted 16 September, 2013 I thought given the conditions and the way West Ham play we didn't look that bad and on another day we would have won. Think the same team again against Liverpool but Ward-Prowse or Cork in for Jay-Rod. Ward-Prowse set-plays are quality best we have had for a long time. Both his free kicks yesterday were overhit, as was his first corner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chez Posted 16 September, 2013 Share Posted 16 September, 2013 Both his free kicks yesterday were overhit, as was his first corner. Spot on. The lad is a decent prospect, but I have no idea how he gets in the side at this moment in time ahead of Cork, Davis, Lallana or Ramirez (depending on the formation). The one thing for sure is the more games he gets, the better he will get and the less I will feel the way I do right now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lighthouse Posted 16 September, 2013 Share Posted 16 September, 2013 I think we're very close to being a decent top half team, we just need to be patient and a bit less hypocritical. For example a lot of people were predicting a midtable or bottom half finish before the season but are now moaning when we draw against West Ham and Sunderland. It seems some people are expecting to be the better team and win most of our games this season and yet somehow finish 12th. That's a bit odd. We haven't won the last 3 games because we've been struggling to score, however we've been by far the better team in 2 of them and against West Brom. At Norwich we were crap but if Webb had given a penalty for that rugby style charge down we would have won that too. The early goal at Sunderland killed that game off as they could just park the bus and try and hang on for the point. If Webb had given that pen, if we'd defended that corner properly against Sunderland, if Jussi hadn't pulled off just one of his excellent saves, we could have 4 wins and be top of the table. They are all ifs but they aren't big ifs. This isn't like last season where we were outplayed by Wigan in our own back yard, we're a good team who aren't quite there yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unbelievable Jeff Posted 16 September, 2013 Share Posted 16 September, 2013 We don't look great at the moment, I have to agree. It's surprising how we have gone away from the free flowing, attacking football we saw last season. It's frustrating because we know we can play better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dig Dig Posted 16 September, 2013 Share Posted 16 September, 2013 Yeah, I also missed the Sunderland game as I was on holiday. He was brilliant vs West Brom, but was awful at Norwich and wasn't great yesterday. At £5/6m he is a good signing, but £12.5m.....seems that we've been ripped off a bit. Hopefully he can improve though. Bit early for talk like this don't you think? He wasn't bad yesterday, missed a few passes but we were able to deal with the physical aspect of the game better with him in the middle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saint Garrett Posted 16 September, 2013 Share Posted 16 September, 2013 Bit early for talk like this don't you think? He wasn't bad yesterday, missed a few passes but we were able to deal with the physical aspect of the game better with him in the middle. Do agree with you, but I'm just not sure he's £12.5m worth of talent! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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