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Arsenal vs Saints - Build Up


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will be interesting to see how we bounce back from Saturdays poor result and tepid performance. I have enjoyed the ride so far this season but like many i have not got carried away and fully expected us to lose Saturday if the real Man City turned up. It is unrealistic to expect a squad our size compete with the likes of City and Chelsea. Arsenal are an enigma, i love the way they attempt to play and on their day they will beat anyone....hopefully not tomorrow. Man Utd are finding their feet at the wrong time for Saints fans. If we are still in the top 6 come Jan 1st i will be very happy. A Cup final and Europe to boot over top 6 finnish....mmmm difficult....think if pressed i will settle for Cup final and hopefully Europe from that.

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I would give Long a run down the middle as I reckon he could worry them with his movement. After watching chambers get the run around at Swansea I would persist with Mane

 

Agreed. Pelle's movement against city was awful. We were predictable and the same against Arsenal will produce a similar outcome IMO.

 

Long hanging on the shoulder of the last man would give the arsenal defence something to think about and will peg them back.

 

Mane wasn't as bad against city as people make out. Bertrand offered no overlap beyond him and he never once got the ball in space to have a free run at zabaleta. He took up good positions and used the ball well. I'd give him another go. His pace will frighten chambers.

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Pelle has never really made the ball stick up front when required.

He does not win more than his fair share of 50/50's in the air up top and on saturday, his touch (which is usually good for passes) was all over the place. He tried a few back/side heels as passes and they found no one (in a saints shirt)

 

im sure he will get better but he needs to be against the better defenders in the league

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How old are you?!

 

Not that young! Just don't get to see many games a season (usually 3 or 4) and I stopped going during the Lowe era.

 

Recent standout games: Arsenal earlier this season. Fulham last season. Millwall a couple of season ago in Championship. Games we could have lost, but I brought the luck.

 

Now I've probably just jinxed it for tomorrow...

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Pelle has never really made the ball stick up front when required.

He does not win more than his fair share of 50/50's in the air up top and on saturday, his touch (which is usually good for passes) was all over the place. He tried a few back/side heels as passes and they found no one (in a saints shirt)

 

im sure he will get better but he needs to be against the better defenders in the league

 

I felt we did not use him effectively enough and that he was winning most of his 50/50s. At ten men I felt we should have gone a tad more direct. At times his support is rather poor. Think Long should start with Pelle tomorrow night.

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This has got loss all over it...probably 3-0 again and I say that after witnessing our teams heads drop substantially at 0-1 and the white towel came in at 0-2 against 10 men (or was it 9 by then?). Fact is that we looked very tired and pedestrian in possession, with the finishing accuracy of a bottom 3 team. Tadic needs to be banned from taking corners and free-kicks on goal...he has never looked as good as JWP or even Davis and Toby IMO has a better shot on him. Bring on Utd and another thrashing. LOL.

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Not that young! Just don't get to see many games a season (usually 3 or 4) and I stopped going during the Lowe era.

 

Recent standout games: Arsenal earlier this season. Fulham last season. Millwall a couple of season ago in Championship. Games we could have lost, but I brought the luck.

 

Now I've probably just jinxed it for tomorrow...

 

Doubt you jinxed it Coxford_lou. Rather whelk hell bent to kill your enthusiasm and run of luck. Who needs opponents and Skates with fellow supporters like we have.:(

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This has got loss all over it...probably 3-0 again and I say that after witnessing our teams heads drop substantially at 0-1 and the white towel came in at 0-2 against 10 men (or was it 9 by then?). Fact is that we looked very tired and pedestrian in possession, with the finishing accuracy of a bottom 3 team. Tadic needs to be banned from taking corners and free-kicks on goal...he has never looked as good as JWP or even Davis and Toby IMO has a better shot on him. Bring on Utd and another thrashing. LOL.

 

LOL.

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Doubt you jinxed it Coxford_lou. Rather whelk hell bent to kill your enthusiasm and run of luck. Who needs opponents and Skates with fellow supporters like we have.:(

 

You figure that out how? To have never seen Saints lose suggest can't have seen many games.

Are you mentally ill btw?

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You figure that out how? To have never seen Saints lose suggest can't have seen many games.

Are you mentally ill btw?

 

To be fair, we have won or drawn a lot of games over the past 5 seasons.... So it's probably not that miraculous a stat.

 

Although every game I choose to view in the pub (which is also probably about 3 or 4 a season) we always lose.

 

No reported patterns when I watch at home.

 

If I were a betting man, I'd be rich by now. More than happy to report my whereabouts ahead of the next games if that helps.

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To be fair, we have won or drawn a lot of games over the past 5 seasons.... So it's probably not that miraculous a stat.

 

Although every game I choose to view in the pub (which is also probably about 3 or 4 a season) we always lose.

 

No reported patterns when I watch at home.

 

If I were a betting man, I'd be rich by now. More than happy to report my whereabouts ahead of the next games if that helps.

 

You're a man?!?

All my fantasies ruined CL.:(

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I Think we're in a difficult spell. Every team has one in a season. The question is how long and how damaging. If we lose the next two games we will be out of the top 4 and the cream will have risen to the top. When we were promoted we averaged 2 points a game. We need to try and maintain that. Big test tonight and I'm not sure a side without Schneiderlin is strong enough.

 

How good a trainer is Koeman? We will soon find out.

 

I would love to see Koeman pull a rabbit from the Hat. If he does I will be there to see it.

Edited by Andy Durman
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Interesting quotes from Koeman in the Mirror...

 

Koeman’s men will be given another chance to show that they can compete with the big-guns when they visit Arsenal on Wednesday, but the Barcelona and Holland legend said: “I think it’s the hardest league to play in because you can lose against everybody.

 

“You have to prepare every game to be your best because you can’t play in this division at 70%. Every game you need to be have to be 100% and that is difficult for us because you need everybody fit.

 

“We don’t have the numbers and players what the big teams have, and that’s difficult. It can be the same for other clubs fighting for the positions. But the top four clubs have more possibilities to bring players in. Often they can field a [whole] team of international players, we do not have that choice.

 

“The club also does not have the experience of top four football like the other clubs – that is the difference at the moment, we don’t have that mentality. We want to have that though. The club wants to stay in the position where we are now – everybody wants that.

 

“But it is so difficult because we have different kinds of squads. We have younger players with good ability but not as much experience.

 

“One day we will have our foot on the pedal and will always be challenging them, but it is a long way to go. If we need to I will speak to the board of the club, what we need, what we like to do.”

 

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/southampton-wont-fall-apart-over-4734166

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Pelle has never really made the ball stick up front when required.

He does not win more than his fair share of 50/50's in the air up top and on saturday, his touch (which is usually good for passes) was all over the place. He tried a few back/side heels as passes and they found no one (in a saints shirt)

 

im sure he will get better but he needs to be against the better defenders in the league

 

He has won the most number of aerial duals this season though, so he must be doing something right compared to all other front men ;)

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To be fair, we have won or drawn a lot of games over the past 5 seasons.... So it's probably not that miraculous a stat.

 

Although every game I choose to view in the pub (which is also probably about 3 or 4 a season) we always lose.

 

No reported patterns when I watch at home.

 

If I were a betting man, I'd be rich by now. More than happy to report my whereabouts ahead of the next games if that helps.

 

When we first got promoted I went 15 league games without seeing us win not just big teams either QPR, Cardiff,Wigan, Sunderland etc. I finally broke the curse with Newcastle game this season which then turned into a run of 5 wins in a row....City on Sunday though broke the streak though so fully expecting another long run without a victory.

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When we first got promoted I went 15 league games without seeing us win not just big teams either QPR, Cardiff,Wigan, Sunderland etc. I finally broke the curse with Newcastle game this season which then turned into a run of 5 wins in a row....City on Sunday though broke the streak though so fully expecting another long run without a victory.

 

Oh no, you're not coming tonight are you?!

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If we avoid defeat tonight, I fancy us to beat United, and then Burnley. If that happens we will probably have a little cushion over fifth again.

 

I think first goal will be key tonight. We need to get Pelle into the game more. I've got no problem with us knocking it around to take the sting out of the game strategically but when we attack we need to find him a bit sooner IMO. We also need Tadic, if he plays, to up his game a bit. He seems to have lost some precision since the international break. I presume he is tired so I would consider resting him tonight - in an away game the pace of Long and Mane could be pretty handy.

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If we avoid defeat tonight, I fancy us to beat United, and then Burnley. If that happens we will probably have a little cushion over fifth again.

 

I think first goal will be key tonight. We need to get Pelle into the game more. I've got no problem with us knocking it around to take the sting out of the game strategically but when we attack we need to find him a bit sooner IMO. We also need Tadic, if he plays, to up his game a bit. He seems to have lost some precision since the international break. I presume he is tired so I would consider resting him tonight - in an away game the pace of Long and Mane could be pretty handy.

 

That's what I feel as well, take a point tonight, get a win on Monday and go into Burnley on 30 odd points. Pretty impressive tally for mid-December, it has to be said!

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Any talk of the Champions League will be laughed at if we lose the next 2. We could easily slip down to 7-8th by Christmas and people will wonder what all the fuss was about. This is why we must get at least a point tonight if we are in any way serious about finishing in the top 6. Pelle and Tadic have gone off the boil so tonight would be a good night to get going again.

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Any talk of the Champions League will be laughed at if we lose the next 2. We could easily slip down to 7-8th by Christmas and people will wonder what all the fuss was about. This is why we must get at least a point tonight if we are in any way serious about finishing in the top 6. Pelle and Tadic have gone off the boil so tonight would be a good night to get going again.

Do they decide who qualifies for the CL at Christmas now? That must be a new rule. What happens when we get a run of "easier" games again, you know, all the teams that we have beaten so far this season already, I understand that we have to play them again this season.

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Any talk of the Champions League will be laughed at if we lose the next 2. We could easily slip down to 7-8th by Christmas and people will wonder what all the fuss was about. This is why we must get at least a point tonight if we are in any way serious about finishing in the top 6. Pelle and Tadic have gone off the boil so tonight would be a good night to get going again.

 

It's 3 games. As long as we then go and pick up the points against Everton, Burnley and the likes, then we'll still be on target. I don't really get the idea of basing all our chances on 3 games before christmas. The teams in and around the top 4 will all drop 9 points between now and the end of the season, so as long as we win the games against the teams we should - especially the likes of Everton, Liverpool at home, Newcastle, WHU etc who are in and around...then we'd be at the head of the pack for a European place.

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I hope we don't fanny about with it too long at the back like we did against City. Their second goal was so obviously going to happen the way it did, it was almost embarrassing. Bit more steel and determination to move the ball quickly through the midfield and I think we will be OK.

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Do they decide who qualifies for the CL at Christmas now? That must be a new rule. What happens when we get a run of "easier" games again, you know, all the teams that we have beaten so far this season already, I understand that we have to play them again this season.

 

I just feel like we are riding on a wave of positivity and if we start falling behind it will become very hard to catch up again. We've built ourselves up but if morale and belief drops the "easier" games become tricky ties again.

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Right I've just made the changes to my prem fantasy team and removed pelle and tadic. Sorry everyone I knew putting them in a couple of weeks ago was a bad move. Hope normal service is resumed asap.

 

Won't take effect until the weekend, deadline for changes was 7.30 last night...

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