Lallana's Left Peg Posted 19 November, 2014 Share Posted 19 November, 2014 Premier League Aston Villa V Southampton Mon 24 Nov 20:00 Premier League Southampton V Man City Sun 30 Nov 13:30 Premier League Arsenal V Southampton Wed 3 Dec 19:45 Premier League Southampton V Man Utd Mon 8 Dec 20:00 Premier League Burnley V Southampton Sat 13 Dec 15:00 League Cup - Quarter-Final Sheff Utd V Southampton Tue 16 Dec 19:45 Premier League Southampton V Everton Sat 20 Dec 15:00 Premier League Crystal Palace V Southampton Fri 26 Dec 15:00 Premier League Southampton V Chelsea Sun 28 Dec 14:05 Premier League Southampton V Arsenal Thu 1 Jan 15:00 It's that time of year where players start to accumulate knocks as the wear and tear of the season starts to kick in, and the games come thick and fast. We already have Davis, Schneiderlin, and Tadic managing knocks / minor injuries, and Pelle is one booking away from a suspension. How should we approach the next 6 weeks - risk players and go all out or pick our battles? What is the priority for you? What should the priority be for the club? I wouldn't be adverse to the club picking its battles here - maybe prioritising the more perceivable 'winnable' games if players are struggling and need a rest. The impact is that a weaker team against the better teams gives them a chance to catch us in the league, but personally I think that would happen anyway and as Arsenal have proved year after year you don't need to get results against other 'big' teams to finish in the Top 4 as long as you handle business against the 'lesser' teams. I am heartened by the reports that the players aren't as tired from training any more as that would suggest fatigue may not be such a factor, but then again there are elements of it you just can't escape at this time of year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jayrivers Posted 19 November, 2014 Share Posted 19 November, 2014 Personally go full out in every game. I would rather play a full strength team say against Villa and get 3 points, rather than risk not winning and then loosing to a bigger team anyway. We've seen it happen so many times to teams when they've rested players for an important fixture but then lose the so-called easy game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Batman Posted 19 November, 2014 Share Posted 19 November, 2014 I hope we beat united. Im going to that one Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fanimal Posted 19 November, 2014 Share Posted 19 November, 2014 Play Mane and Mayuka more as we will lose them probably later in January. We have more depth/quality in the squad than this time last year, just go for a win every game! He who dares wins... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The9 Posted 19 November, 2014 Share Posted 19 November, 2014 Play Mane and Mayuka more as we will lose them probably later in January. We have more depth/quality in the squad than this time last year, just go for a win every game! He who dares wins... You think we have more depth but are advocating playing Mayuka? Okay then. Though AFCON players are likely to be gone for the first half of January in preparation for the tournament too (also depending on where it is held). And "he who dares gets lots of injuries" might also be true. Thanks to the tv moves I personally think we can get away with playing full strength sides on Monday/Sunday/Wednesday/Monday - we've been pretty jammy on that front, players will get a little break after the internationals until Monday against Villa and the Wednesday/Monday (Arsenal/Man U) gap is much better than it would have been if it was Wednesday/Saturday. We then get a week before Burnley on the Sat and Sheff U on Tuesday, which is easier than it might have been, and both offer the opportunity to get away with resting tired players or give us games we might still win despite injuries. I can see us putting Gardos and Targett on the pitch again against Sheff U. The Christmas week is a sod though, hopefully half the team will be rested for Everton home, Palace away could be tricky, and then do we go for it against Chelsea or cut our losses and try and beat Arsenal instead. The top games in a row are a double-edged sword - they raise the expectation and tempo for players in preparation for the next game, but they are also much more demanding than going 2 up against a bottom side and shutting up shop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony F Posted 19 November, 2014 Share Posted 19 November, 2014 Looks like I chose the wrong six weeks to go away on holiday ......... which is, unfortunately from a Saints perspective, what I am just about to do (but I really didn't think we'd be up there with the big boys when I booked it last March!!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saint Pete Posted 19 November, 2014 Share Posted 19 November, 2014 I don't think we should make the team selections based on the perceived quality of opposition, but more by just assessing when each player needs a rest. Our improved depth in most positions means that we should be prepared to rest players if they look/feel jaded or are carrying knocks, and should be able to cope with that better than we did last year. This is where the expertise of the manager and the coaching staff is crucial in spotting which players really need a rest rather than flogging them until they eventually get injured or lose form. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doddisalegend Posted 19 November, 2014 Share Posted 19 November, 2014 Sat Nav............. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FloridaMarlin Posted 19 November, 2014 Share Posted 19 November, 2014 How do we navigate the next six weeks? Let Schipper Ron steer the ship. He's done all right so far. Unlike us, he sees the players every day in training, knows their physical fitness and mental alertness and is better suited to picking a team based on the sort of conjecture we indulge in on a message board. Of course, there may be selections which may surprise, bemuse and frustrate us, but I certainly trust that Ron will make them based on his best judgement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saint Charlie Posted 19 November, 2014 Share Posted 19 November, 2014 Harder might be navigating the period just after that when Mane (and Mayuka) are away for the ACON. Likely to need a loan signing IMO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david in sweden Posted 19 November, 2014 Share Posted 19 November, 2014 as always ......we take one game at a time. we can't predict results, or know who will be available, injured ..or even suspended. If we are without someone for a short, or longer period...someone might step out of the shadows, or come off the bench ....and become a game-changer hero. It's certainly more exciting to know.....that even if a bad result comes, we won't have to look to see who's under us .....at the bottom of the table. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saint_Abroad Posted 19 November, 2014 Share Posted 19 November, 2014 Sat Nav............. I was thinking ship based navigation, As long as we keep the red buoys to starboard and the green ones to larboard, we'll be fine. We're going out sea, right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scdean Posted 20 November, 2014 Share Posted 20 November, 2014 The Asian cup is on during Jan also. Not sugh a big deal as we would only lose Yoshida but other clubs may lose more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scdean Posted 20 November, 2014 Share Posted 20 November, 2014 In reply to those talking about depth n losing players to the African Cup Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stud mark of doom Posted 20 November, 2014 Share Posted 20 November, 2014 Surely our navigation needs were sorted in the summer http://www.saintsfc.co.uk/news/article/14082014-announcement-garmin-partnership-1827220.aspx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The9 Posted 20 November, 2014 Share Posted 20 November, 2014 Harder might be navigating the period just after that when Mane (and Mayuka) are away for the ACON. Likely to need a loan signing IMO. Not that many league games in January, the difficulty then will come from FA Cup 3rd/4th Rounds if we draw a top team. Mane can be replaced by Long, and Isgrove and co should be adequate for other Cup opponents if there are any problems there. Who knows whether Rodriguez will be available by then too. Midfield is the area where we have plenty of depth, Pelle's fitness and the impact on wide midfield changes if he's out without Mane around is the big problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VectisSaint Posted 20 November, 2014 Share Posted 20 November, 2014 Play Mane and Mayuka more as we will lose them probably later in January. We have more depth/quality in the squad than this time last year, just go for a win every game! He who dares wins... Actually we don't. 18? players out in the summer and 7? in. Where is Guly when we need him? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The9 Posted 20 November, 2014 Share Posted 20 November, 2014 as always ......we take one game at a time. we can't predict results, or know who will be available, injured ..or even suspended. If we are without someone for a short, or longer period...someone might step out of the shadows, or come off the bench ....and become a game-changer hero. It's certainly more exciting to know.....that even if a bad result comes, we won't have to look to see who's under us .....at the bottom of the table. Are you suggesting that the management shouldn't attempt to plan an approach in order to maximise our potential output from a difficult period where we're likely to need to rest players? Obviously there's the day-to-day with injuries and recovery and an element of unknown with the possible suspensions, but I'd expect the management team to have sat down and worked out exactly when and where we can afford to rest certain players with what's currently known about the schedule. It's extremely naive to think they won't have a "best case" and planned a lot of contingency in for worst case scenarios - for a start we know from the fans' tour of the training with Fonte that they were studying Man U a week or so ago, so they'd need to ensure that fringe players who may be needed are taking on that information as well as the core. I don't doubt for a second that with our attention to detail ALL of those things are considered. The club knows when players are ill before they do! As for exciting, what's exciting about NOT having to check who's potentially catching you up? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The9 Posted 20 November, 2014 Share Posted 20 November, 2014 Actually we don't. 18? players out in the summer and 7? in. Where is Guly when we need him? We have about the same amount of depth - of those who played in a reasonable number of games last season we've lost 7 and gained 7. No-one cares that the likes of Barnard (who can't even get in Southend's team in L2 this season and has gone out on loan) have left. Which is why the "stronger squad" thing people have been trotting out has been so strange, especially when Mayuka can get on the bench this season and wasn't close last. Our success in the next 2 months is going to be at least partially down to our luck in avoiding key injuries and suspensions at critical times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david in sweden Posted 20 November, 2014 Share Posted 20 November, 2014 Are you suggesting that the management shouldn't attempt to plan an approach in order to maximise our potential output from a difficult period where we're likely to need to rest players? Obviously there's the day-to-day with injuries and recovery and an element of unknown with the possible suspensions, but I'd expect the management team to have sat down and worked out exactly when and where we can afford to rest certain players with what's currently known about the schedule. It's extremely naive to think they won't have a "best case" and planned a lot of contingency in for worst case scenarios - for a start we know from the fans' tour of the training with Fonte that they were studying Man U a week or so ago, so they'd need to ensure that fringe players who may be needed are taking on that information as well as the core. I don't doubt for a second that with our attention to detail ALL of those things are considered. The club knows when players are ill before they do! As for exciting, what's exciting about NOT having to check who's potentially catching you up? WHAT ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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