Convict Colony Posted 27 August, 2015 Share Posted 27 August, 2015 Over 1600 people online at the moment on here, result has ****ed off a lot of people Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperSAINT Posted 27 August, 2015 Share Posted 27 August, 2015 Ugh. Just ugh. Was at a birthday dinner tonight and listened to last 30mins & the post-match stuff on Solent. Not scoring, giving away goals cheaply & not playing well : The worst footballing mix you can have. Just sounded so disappointing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bananaman Posted 27 August, 2015 Share Posted 27 August, 2015 Have always been a positive supporter, and am well aware that key players are out, but would it be all that surprising to see us in a relegation scrap this season?? Knee jerk reaction, maybe but we look very very very poor and player brought in this season are way under par (so far) with the possible exception of Romeu Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S-Clarke Posted 27 August, 2015 Share Posted 27 August, 2015 Ugh. Just ugh. Was at a birthday dinner tonight and listened to last 30mins & the post-match stuff on Solent. Not scoring, giving away goals cheaply & not playing well : The worst footballing mix you can have. Just sounded so disappointing. It looked a hell of a lot worse mate! The comments from Koeman were the most concerning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melmacian_saint Posted 27 August, 2015 Share Posted 27 August, 2015 All I wanted was a EL campaign like Swansea's, hell like Wigan's or Birmingham's I wouldn't mind if we weren't good enough to make it through the group stage. Not reaching the competition proper after such a generous draw in both rounds is just extremely disappointing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saint-Armstrong Posted 27 August, 2015 Share Posted 27 August, 2015 Koeman on Mane: “Sadio wasn’t 100% and I didn’t take the risk because it’s the start of the season. It’s not everything today.” Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ceres Posted 27 August, 2015 Share Posted 27 August, 2015 I made no remark about their footballing style of play - you work with what you have. I'm commenting of their cynical tactics/game management. Danish top football is all about cynical tactics ... so the style of play always depend on the opponent ... FCM is actually a good short passing team, if they believe it's to be to their advantage tactically, but they knew in advance that they would lack the speed and the physical advantage of an English PL side, so first and foremost they were going to drag down the pace at any cost, which they did to perfection ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ART Posted 27 August, 2015 Share Posted 27 August, 2015 Could Jan Poortvliet or Marc Wotte have done any worse in the way of team selection, tactics and overall game plan than Ronald Koeman did tonight or has done over the past few months? He lost it months ago, has reduced the standard of players that play for the club, by allowing the likes of Reed to go for cheap options and not giving players like Harrison Reed the games he needs to improve his game. Not once did Reed ever let the side down like those on the pitch tonight did. Doubt even Ramirez brought on for 20 minutes would have done any worse than Long and others did. Sadly Koeman will never turn things around. He's lost the belief in his infallibility where the players are concerned. His after match interview makes LVG appear sane. He can no longer see or face the reality of how things are and this is only going to bring ruin to the club s it stands. His success last year was based on Pochettino's game. Once he began to influence things more and more, the more and more we could no longer get results. Now he's lost at sea without a rudder or a sail. Wanyama, for me, can bu gger of to Spurs. He's a shadow of the player he can be and has had no heart in playing for Southampton Football Club. If they want to go, then let them. By forcing them to stay one bad apple will rot the entire crop. Interestingly, the Mirror saw a different game from the majority of us on here. Martina and JWP were our best players. Southampton (5-3-2): Stekelenburg 6; Martina 7, Fonte 5, Caulker 6 (Tadic 56, 5), Yoshida 5, Targett 6; Romeu 5, S Davis 5 (Juanmi 83, 6), Ward-Prowse 7; Pelle 5, Rodriguez 6 (Long 76, 6) Subs: K Davis, Cedric, Reed, Mane *** When has a Saints goalie ever played in Pompey colors? It's a disgrace to see a Saints keeper wearing blue every game. A true insult to us all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musesaint Posted 27 August, 2015 Share Posted 27 August, 2015 Is this a blessing in disguise ? I wonder Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lallana's Left Peg Posted 27 August, 2015 Share Posted 27 August, 2015 Koeman on Mane: “Sadio wasn’t 100% and I didn’t take the risk because it’s the start of the season. It’s not everything today.” Why was he on the bench then? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DuncanRG Posted 27 August, 2015 Share Posted 27 August, 2015 Sitting in a bar just back from the game. Yes, very disappointed like everyone but trying to analyse what's wrong. In a word it's fear. RK picked an excessively defensive lineup for fear of conceding. He announced a direct approach through fear of losing the ball in a passing game. Our central midfield rarely turned on the ball - not brave enough. So it was nearly always the safe, but unthreatening ball. Another factor in this is the lack of movement restricting positive, attacking passes. Our so- called wing backs weren't. In promising positions, particularly Targett was too frightened to attack his man and the byline and floated in harmless diagonal crosses. When Tadic came on, Targett was no support. A key to winning matches, cited by many good managers including WGS and Adkins, is being brave on the ball, trying the unexpected but working hard as a team to get the ball back if it's lost. From the manager down, we're simply not confident or brave enough at the moment to win anything. Just as well we're out of Europe. Sent from my D6503 using Tapatalk Glad I'm not the only one seeing this! Confidence is the problem, and there are a million and one possible explanations for why it's dropped. It could be fatigue, it could be the new lads not settling in on a personal level, it could be coaching, or tactics, or Stekelenburg not inspiring stability, or personal problems in the squad - anything. One thing we can probably agree has had an impact is the unsettled lineup though, especially at the back. After Stekelenburg, Fonte and Pelle are on the team sheet, our starting XI is a guessing game. Injuries haven't helped there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adrian lord Posted 27 August, 2015 Share Posted 27 August, 2015 Koeman on Mane: “Sadio wasn’t 100% and I didn’t take the risk because it’s the start of the season. It’s not everything today.” wtf? it's Europe, what was all the effort for last season? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saints foreva Posted 27 August, 2015 Share Posted 27 August, 2015 Why was he on the bench then? And why did he travel? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CanadaSaint Posted 27 August, 2015 Share Posted 27 August, 2015 Is this a blessing in disguise ? Well, as Churchill said, right now it's very effectively disguised. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CB Fry Posted 27 August, 2015 Share Posted 27 August, 2015 All I wanted was a EL campaign like Swansea's, hell like Wigan's or Birmingham's I wouldn't mind if we weren't good enough to make it through the group stage. Not reaching the competition proper after such a generous draw in both rounds is just extremely disappointing. Pardew took Newcastle to the Quarter finals and I think Everton did last season. I said in my hopes for the season we would emulate that, but I expected at least to have the group stages to enjoy. It feels like we built the squad expecting this too, Koeman probably instrumental in that. I'd say the realisation that he ballsed this up pretty bad tonight was written all over his face in that post match, and I think he has probably got a couple of players he might not need now, or he's worried that he might not be able to sign the one or two additional players he wanted. Back down to earth, anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pamplemousse Posted 27 August, 2015 Share Posted 27 August, 2015 Could Jan Poortvliet or Marc Wotte have done any worse in the way of team selection, tactics and overall game plan than Ronald Koeman did tonight or has done over the past few months? He lost it months ago, has reduced the standard of players that play for the club, by allowing the likes of Reed to go for cheap options and not giving players like Harrison Reed the games he needs to improve his game. Not once did Reed ever let the side down like those on the pitch tonight did. Doubt even Ramirez brought on for 20 minutes would have done any worse than Long and others did. Sadly Koeman will never turn things around. He's lost the belief in his infallibility where the players are concerned. His after match interview makes LVG appear sane. He can no longer see or face the reality of how things are and this is only going to bring ruin to the club s it stands. His success last year was based on Pochettino's game. Once he began to influence things more and more, the more and more we could no longer get results. Now he's lost at sea without a rudder or a sail. Wanyama, for me, can bu gger of to Spurs. He's a shadow of the player he can be and has had no heart in playing for Southampton Football Club. If they want to go, then let them. By forcing them to stay one bad apple will rot the entire crop. Interestingly, the Mirror saw a different game from the majority of us on here. Martina and JWP were our best players. Southampton (5-3-2): Stekelenburg 6; Martina 7, Fonte 5, Caulker 6 (Tadic 56, 5), Yoshida 5, Targett 6; Romeu 5, S Davis 5 (Juanmi 83, 6), Ward-Prowse 7; Pelle 5, Rodriguez 6 (Long 76, 6) Subs: K Davis, Cedric, Reed, Mane *** When has a Saints goalie ever played in Pompey colors? It's a disgrace to see a Saints keeper wearing blue every game. A true insult to us all. Step away from the keyboard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperSAINT Posted 27 August, 2015 Share Posted 27 August, 2015 It looked a hell of a lot worse mate! The comments from Koeman were the most concerning. Yeah, I heard those. Yikes. If I'm being *really* pessimistic, this reminds me of Laudrup @ Swansea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S-Clarke Posted 27 August, 2015 Share Posted 27 August, 2015 Yeah, I heard those. Yikes. If I'm being *really* pessimistic, this reminds me of Laudrup @ Swansea. At least they got to the group stage and did Valencia 3-0 on their own turf. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donatello Posted 27 August, 2015 Share Posted 27 August, 2015 (edited) Danish top football is all about cynical tactics ... so the style of play always depend on the opponent ... FCM is actually a good short passing team, if they believe it's to be to their advantage tactically, but they knew in advance that they would lack the speed and the physical advantage of an English PL side, so first and foremost they were going to drag down the pace at any cost, which they did to perfection ... Time wasting and an obsession with the ground (which I found more grating - if only because the ref tacitly endorsed it). Sounds like a great spectacle It's always interesting to receive a different perspective though (presumably from someone who follows the league in question). Edited 27 August, 2015 by Donatello Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CB Fry Posted 27 August, 2015 Share Posted 27 August, 2015 Yeah, I heard those. Yikes. If I'm being *really* pessimistic, this reminds me of Laudrup @ Swansea. I think that is really pessimistic at this stage. But he wouldn't be the first one season wonder in the Premier League. Steve Clarke unraveled pretty quickly after WBA finished eighth, too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrunkenSaint Posted 27 August, 2015 Share Posted 27 August, 2015 The 352 is a very good, attacking formation but we don't have the players to do it right. Two of the 3 midfielders are suppose to be attacking midfielders, JWP and Davis are average at best, they don't support the attackers and they don't offer any attacking abilities at all. The full backs are suppose to be up there when attacking also, look at the Brazilian team when they had Carlos and Cafu down the wings, they were always up there in the attack. The whole idea of the 352 formation is you attack in numbers knowing you have 3 CB's covering so why pick this formation if we don't have the right players? Even in the 433 formation, it's all wrong in the middle, you are still meant to play a more attacking midfielder to support the striker, we always play Davis, he aint attacking enough! we need someone in there who can attack, who can run at the defence and create stuff in the middle of the park. We got away with it last season as we had a very tight defence and a midfield general in Morgan, but its all gone and we aint replaced the ones who have gone with equal quality players. In all honesty all we have is a bunch of average squad type players now with no backbone and no spirit but its ok the board are sitting on a huge pile of cash and will think everything will be fine and it will turn out good in the the end.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saint Pete Posted 27 August, 2015 Share Posted 27 August, 2015 Baffling game plan from Koeman tonight. Why play an excessive long ball game against a side known for being strong in the air? Why play 3 centre backs against 1 pretty limited and immobile centre forward? And his comments afterwards are even more baffling - we can only hope what he said to the team was somewhat different or it's going to be a hard season to watch! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
van Hanegem Posted 27 August, 2015 Share Posted 27 August, 2015 Usually the influence of a coach on his team is highly overrated but in this case Koeman deserves the full blame for this defeat against some very mediocre hard working Danes. His selection, his tactics, his failing to change the team at half time, he got it all wrong. He used this tactics with Feyenoord a few times against better opponents when there were problems with the defence. To play this system when you know you have to score to a mediocre opponent is sheer cowardice. The only good thing to come out of it is that he will think twice before he does it again... The thing that worries me most is the lack of intelligence and creativity. JWP, Davis, JRod, Wanyama, and so on work hard but lack the brains that every team need. Clasie is not the midfielder who's going to change that, he's able to deliver some great passing but he's not the playmaker the Saints desperately need. So much millions to spend and no brains in the team, that is really shamefull for a Dutch coach... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saint Charlie Posted 27 August, 2015 Share Posted 27 August, 2015 (edited) The team selection was wrong. The system was baffling. The performance was terrible. The spirit/positivity is evapourating. Summer recruitment, on the basis of replacing sold players and improving other positions has so far been poor. Caveat: key injuries haven't helped. Positive: Better chance to do well in other competitions, our squad players evidently aren't good enough to win games, we need our best XI playing as much as possible. Edited 27 August, 2015 by Saint Charlie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shroppie Posted 27 August, 2015 Share Posted 27 August, 2015 The team selection was wrong. The system was baffling. The performance was terrible. The spirit/positivity is evapourating. Summer recruitment, on the basis of replacing sold players and improving other positions has so far been poor. Caveat: key injuries haven't helped. Yep. Sent from my D6503 using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dangermouth Posted 27 August, 2015 Share Posted 27 August, 2015 Usually the influence of a coach on his team is highly overrated but in this case Koeman deserves the full blame for this defeat against some very mediocre hard working Danes. His selection, his tactics, his failing to change the team at half time, he got it all wrong. He used this tactics with Feyenoord a few times against better opponents when there were problems with the defence. To play this system when you know you have to score to a mediocre opponent is sheer cowardice. The only good thing to come out of it is that he will think twice before he does it again... The thing that worries me most is the lack of intelligence and creativity. JWP, Davis, JRod, Wanyama, and so on work hard but lack the brains that every team need. Clasie is not the midfielder who's going to change that, he's able to deliver some great passing but he's not the playmaker the Saints desperately need. So much millions to spend and no brains in the team, that is really shamefull for a Dutch coach... I agree. Only thing I'd say is that when he gets back to normal, J-Rod does possess a lot of football intelligence, but not usually as a playmaker-type. I agree about the others and I find it surprising that any professional footballer doesn't have that. Mind you, I'm surprised how many don't play with their heads up and can't use both feet despite all those years of coaching. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CWD Posted 27 August, 2015 Share Posted 27 August, 2015 Not much more to add to what's already been said really. Bitterly disappointed. I'm not enjoying watching the team at the moment, the football is poor, mistake level high and passion level very low. Koeman just seems like a different person - tactics are so wrong and sorry, but last season he NEVER would have compromised playing good football in our style to try to win a game ugly. As for the post match comments, just bizarre. We were **** and that was obvious to anyone. A lot of work is needed. 4 strikers on the pitch at the end and they were complete strangers. A win on Sunday is so important now. The feeling in the squad and amongst fans will be so low over the international break if we go into it yet to win. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shroppie Posted 27 August, 2015 Share Posted 27 August, 2015 Not much more to add to what's already been said really. Bitterly disappointed. I'm not enjoying watching the team at the moment, the football is poor, mistake level high and passion level very low. Koeman just seems like a different person - tactics are so wrong and sorry, but last season he NEVER would have compromised playing good football in our style to try to win a game ugly. As for the post match comments, just bizarre. We were **** and that was obvious to anyone. A lot of work is needed. 4 strikers on the pitch at the end and they were complete strangers. A win on Sunday is so important now. The feeling in the squad and amongst fans will be so low over the international break if we go into it yet to win. Agreed. It's worrying that the message is that he doesn't have confidence in his players to play a passing game, and what us that doing, in turn, to their confidence? Sent from my D6503 using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saint-Armstrong Posted 27 August, 2015 Share Posted 27 August, 2015 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doggface Posted 27 August, 2015 Share Posted 27 August, 2015 Did not see the game tonight, but going on the 3 league games I have watched on TV this year I'm not very surprised. Koeman stated the tactics before hand and said we would be going direct, a tactic we seem to be adopting a lot more this season. I hate watching long ball and totally bypassing the midfield. Our passing and ball retention when we have tried to play has been appalling too. Replacements have been poor up to now when we really needed them to hit the ground running. Still think we need a striker who can rotate with Pele. Have been worried by Koeman's comments after defeats even last season but surely he is not that blind? I thought he was protecting the players, but perhaps he is blinkered after all? Europa League massive anti-climax. Thought we were ready for a run/to compete but from the way we have played this year obviously I was wrong. We are not ready, therefore an exit at this stage may not be the worst thing in the world so we can get back to what made us successful. Norwich massive game and strong reaction required. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrfahaji Posted 27 August, 2015 Share Posted 27 August, 2015 That was an atrocious performance. Key things from my viewpoint (I did post this in another thread because the post match thread took a while to show up, surprisingly!): 1) Two full backs who can't go past people limits our gameplan. Targett seems to try and get past opponents by kicking the ball into them and hoping for a nutmeg or richochet... 2) Possession football under Pochettino did get a bit boring, so when Koeman injected a bit more directness to our play it was exciting and meant we had a variety of attacking options. It's now looking like we've taken it a step further and abandoned passing altogether. 3) I am worried that our pre-season did not focus enough on fitness. The players looked unfit against Vitesse and I thought it was due to it still being pre-season. Since then we have deteriorated. Even the commentators referred to us as looking jaded. Strachan and Pochettino both gave the side a gruelling preseason and it paid dividends. 4) We actually a couple of moments in the last five minutes where I thought "this is better", once we had a few passes on the edge of the box before Long (I think) misplaced a pass to Targett, then Tadic whipped in a nice cross which they did well to clear. Unfortunately when these two pieces of play came to nothing it was frustrating because it HAD to come to something else we were going out - really this sort of play should have been happening earlier, when "nearly" moments are ok and help build confidence and momentum, rather than being an unsuccessful last roll of the dice. 5) It's gutting to be out, but the way we are playing at the moment, it really might be for the best. We don't look anywhere capable of winning games in Europe or in the Premier League, without having to cope with them both. 6) Hope Wanyama doesn't now use "I want to play in the Europa League" as an excuse to join Tottenham... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shurlock Posted 27 August, 2015 Share Posted 27 August, 2015 (edited) Not much more to add to what's already been said really. Bitterly disappointed. I'm not enjoying watching the team at the moment, the football is poor, mistake level high and passion level very low. Koeman just seems like a different person - tactics are so wrong and sorry, but last season he NEVER would have compromised playing good football in our style to try to win a game ugly. As for the post match comments, just bizarre. We were **** and that was obvious to anyone. A lot of work is needed. 4 strikers on the pitch at the end and they were complete strangers. A win on Sunday is so important now. The feeling in the squad and amongst fans will be so low over the international break if we go into it yet to win. Nonsense. We played plenty of ugly football last season; just with our defense, it was effective and few complained. And RK has made us more direct than we were under either MP or Adkins. Bad luck and some poor decisions have accentuated there tendencies; but let's not kid ourselves and pretend they've emerged only this season. Edited 27 August, 2015 by shurlock Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CanadaSaint Posted 27 August, 2015 Share Posted 27 August, 2015 Usually the influence of a coach on his team is highly overrated but in this case Koeman deserves the full blame for this defeat against some very mediocre hard working Danes. His selection, his tactics, his failing to change the team at half time, he got it all wrong. He used this tactics with Feyenoord a few times against better opponents when there were problems with the defence. To play this system when you know you have to score to a mediocre opponent is sheer cowardice. The only good thing to come out of it is that he will think twice before he does it again... The thing that worries me most is the lack of intelligence and creativity. JWP, Davis, JRod, Wanyama, and so on work hard but lack the brains that every team need. Clasie is not the midfielder who's going to change that, he's able to deliver some great passing but he's not the playmaker the Saints desperately need. So much millions to spend and no brains in the team, that is really shamefull for a Dutch coach... Agree 100% with the first paragraph and the first part of the second. I have more faith than you, though, in the ability of Clasie to play in front of Romeu and Wanyama, assuming that Wanyama stays. He doesn't need to be an out-and-out creator so much as to ensure that our full backs receive the ball - and receive it early - in the danger areas they're so quick and so good at finding. That's crisp, accurate out-passes after an opposition attack breaks down, which is very much in his ballpark - though not so much in Wanyama's or Romeu's. We DO have playmakers (not Davis or - on current form - Ward-Prowse), but we need to have our (fullback-involved) team game rolling if they are to be effective. I can see Clasie fitting well into that role and I think that's why we bought him - he doesn't have the physical stature to play a DM role in the PL. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lighthouse Posted 27 August, 2015 Share Posted 27 August, 2015 Dreadful. But then the team that started cost less than we've just sold Morgan for so should we really be that surprised. I was astonished by the team. It's basically 6 defenders hoofing it at 2 strikers with the complete non-entity of JWP and Davis in no man's watching stuff fly over their heads. Not one creative player on the pitch. Mane? Tadic? Juanmi? Soares? I'd have started all 4 of them and at least gone for a badly defended 3-3 instead of that garbage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DuncanRG Posted 27 August, 2015 Share Posted 27 August, 2015 Hurt to watch that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Biscuits Posted 27 August, 2015 Share Posted 27 August, 2015 Looking thoroughly ******ed off is Fonte. Wtf is going on? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
St Marco Posted 27 August, 2015 Share Posted 27 August, 2015 Was at the game and like everyone else just gutted about it. Its not that we lost, I can handle that. It is the way we played, the attitude of everything. We set up so negative that it is no surprise that the performance was negative too. The players we have brought in so far have been mostly terrible. Culkar, Martina, Romeu add nothing to the team. They are just bodies. The board have gone very quiet the past few months and need to make a statement of intent. By this I mean bring in some quality players who are going to go straight into the first team. We have been here before where we had too many average players rather than star quality and that didn't end well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shurlock Posted 27 August, 2015 Share Posted 27 August, 2015 Tonight was like an out of body experience. Been so used to watching overhyped, one-dimensional English sides get their noses bloodied and crash out of Europe. Never thought it would be us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
van Hanegem Posted 27 August, 2015 Share Posted 27 August, 2015 I agree. Only thing I'd say is that when he gets back to normal, J-Rod does possess a lot of football intelligence, but not usually as a playmaker-type. I agree about the others and I find it surprising that any professional footballer doesn't have that. Mind you, I'm surprised how many don't play with their heads up and can't use both feet despite all those years of coaching. I know J-Rod needs time after his injury but I wonder if a long time off does influence your football intelligence. I don't mean his mistake which led to the goal (he shouldn't even have been in that position) but his positioning up front and all his wrong choices (taking a shot when there are two defenders in front of him so he should have hold the ball and look for a different solution). Anyway, in this form he's no support for Pelle and should not play. You're right, there are so many players who run around like a blind horse these days... Many fans like players with speed and who can run all day long getting nowhere. I don't. If it was up to me Koeman should sell Mane for all those millions he's supposedly worth and get some brains in the team in return. I don't care about 9th or 16th placed in the end, I just want to see the Saints playing attractive football. But too late for that now as Koeman has got a sh*tload of defensive midfielders and hardly any competitive attacking midfielders. He could try Juanmi behind Pelle, as far as I can see he's the only intelligent player with the skills to play in that position. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaintTex Posted 27 August, 2015 Share Posted 27 August, 2015 this whole 3 CB business has a lot to do with our FB situation right now. We are missing the considerable skills that Bertrand and Clyne bring to the pitch and what Southampton usually expects from a FB. A lot more than I thought we would. Give me a second to defend Koeman a bit here. He is in quite a bind - personnel wise. I think he really would like to play a 4 DB/2DM formation, but is limited. It's become obvious Soares, Targett, and Martina are all defensive liabilities, which puts extreme pressure on your two CBs. We have one very good CB and two very average CBs. It all falls apart. See Newcastle/Everton. So what do you do? Ironically, the 3 CBs at our disposal are all better defensively than the FBs we have available, so you get them on the pitch. So, you got 3 at the back and you take Cedric and Targett and put them on the wings. Now Cedric I think is up to the task, the problem is Targett is not. (I really thought Cedric should have started today.) That formation also lends itself to having 1 DM, which just so happens is all we really had available to us today. So, I get why Koeman went with this formation. Yes, one could argue that 4-2-3-1 is what is comfortable, but Targett and Soares are left exposed, Fonte and a Yoshida/Caulker pairing doesn't exactly fill you with confidence and then you most likely be forced to start Reed with Romeu. I know there are a lot of Reed supporters who think he would be up to the task. For whatever reason, Koeman does not. that leaves 4 players "attacking". JRod is not up to form, Tadic is an enigma, Mane is injured, These 3 items combined are the theme of the season so far. 01) Injuries - come on, we have been so unlucky 02) the usual summer defections have hurt 03) having important games (Europa) before the transfer window closes. Don't have the squad you want, players you do have are distracted. Koeman would love to play the 4-2-3-1. He just hasn't had the players to do effectively do it this season. -------------------Stek------------------------- --Cedric-----Fonte-----VvD-------Bertrand-- -----(Wanyama/Romeu)--- Clasie------------ (Mane/Juanmi) - (Davis/JWP) - (Jrod/Tadic) ----------------(Pelle/Long)-------------------- would love to find an AM to replace (Davis/JWP). I felt we gave up on Djuricic too quickly. I think Cedric can be an effective starting LB, but only if we have the rest of our defense and MF shored up, ie:(Wanyama, Clasie, and Bertrand healthy and VvD in the fold) So, I don't necessarily take a major issue with the formation today (though with a full squad I would advocate a 4-2-3-1), but would have preferred Cedric for Martina and Juanmi for Davis and Davis for Targett. -----------Stek--------- Yoshida-Fonte-Caulker Cedric - Romeu - Davis --Juanmi--JWP--JRod-- ----------Pelle---------- tldr: We miss Clyne and Bertrand tremendously. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supersonic Posted 27 August, 2015 Share Posted 27 August, 2015 Nothing short of ****ing embarrassing. RK, the board and several of the players have some serious questions to answer. Over £110m generated from player sales in past 2 seasons and we can't score a goal in open play against a Danish side over 2 games (4 straight games). Koeman is being found out, the board are being found out as are some of our players. Targett is embarrassingly ****, Long too. Jrod is a shadow of the player he is. Pelle, 6 foot ****ing 4 and built like a **** house and £40k a week, can't head a ****ing football! If one of Wanyama/mane get sold we are ****ed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
van Hanegem Posted 27 August, 2015 Share Posted 27 August, 2015 Agree 100% with the first paragraph and the first part of the second. I have more faith than you, though, in the ability of Clasie to play in front of Romeu and Wanyama, assuming that Wanyama stays. He doesn't need to be an out-and-out creator so much as to ensure that our full backs receive the ball - and receive it early - in the danger areas they're so quick and so good at finding. That's crisp, accurate out-passes after an opposition attack breaks down, which is very much in his ballpark - though not so much in Wanyama's or Romeu's. We DO have playmakers (not Davis or - on current form - Ward-Prowse), but we need to have our (fullback-involved) team game rolling if they are to be effective. I can see Clasie fitting well into that role and I think that's why we bought him - he doesn't have the physical stature to play a DM role in the PL. I can understand why you believe Clasie can play in front of Romeu and Wanyama but as a Feyenoord fan I've seen his games for a couple of years and I can't see him play more upfront. He can pass allright but he lacks the power and handling skills needed for that position in the fast paced PL. That's why many Feyenoord fans believed he would have been better off in the Italian Serie A where you still can see Totti walking around with a stick... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pimpin4rizeal Posted 27 August, 2015 Share Posted 27 August, 2015 Crazy team selection we need a goal and the team is packed out with players that never score or create like ward Prouse and Davis. No pace no width would have preferred to see long and Juanmi get played at least long offers energy and can score. Instead all we have is long balls launched to pelle for him to try and lay off to a bunch of players who will never score, And jay rod is nowhere near being the answer atm. This is the first time I feel really disappointed in koeman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whitey Grandad Posted 27 August, 2015 Share Posted 27 August, 2015 Just got back into the hotel. This is what I feared after last week's result so I'm not disappointed with the outcome but some sort of fight and spirit would have been welcome. It was very clear which team wanted it more. Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saint Paul C Posted 27 August, 2015 Share Posted 27 August, 2015 Well that didn't go to plan did it. I think that somehow we've manged to end up with a significantly unbalanced and consequently weaker squad by adding, as was much needed, to the squad. What a f'ing mess. Have to go back to basic's, again, and get some confidence into the squad. Shades of 2003? I f'kin hope not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
van Hanegem Posted 27 August, 2015 Share Posted 27 August, 2015 this whole 3 CB business has a lot to do with our FB situation right now. We are missing the considerable skills that Bertrand and Clyne bring to the pitch and what Southampton usually expects from a FB. A lot more than I thought we would. Give me a second to defend Koeman a bit here. He is in quite a bind - personnel wise. I think he really would like to play a 4 DB/2DM formation, but is limited. Nice try but even with all the better defenders missing, Koeman should have played a more offensive game against a very mediocre opponent with very poor attackers. There is no excuse for him. Koeman was a coward this time, he should have been the typical Dutch coach who would have handled this situation as follows: "when you're defence is the weak point you focus on your attack in order to prevent you're opponent to hurt your defence..." You won't do this against the big teams off course but against FC Midtjylland? Come on... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Batman Posted 27 August, 2015 Share Posted 27 August, 2015 (edited) well, Maybe ron thinks this is for the best that we are out. A few times he has made comments about little/no preparation times and recovery times for games compared to last year. why would he mention it if it was of no issue.? the team are playing horrific football and just look incredibly slow. maybe, after this weekend and the international break, we will look a great deal fresher and better (hoping) Edited 27 August, 2015 by Batman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whitey Grandad Posted 27 August, 2015 Share Posted 27 August, 2015 well, Maybe ron thinks this is for the best that we are out. A few times he has made comments about little/no preparation times and recovery times for games compared to last year. why would he mention it if it was of no issue.? the team are playing horrific football and just look incredibly slow. maybe, after this weekend and the international break, we will look a great deal fresher and better (hoping) After tonight's performance this has to be a strong suspicion. Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bpsaint Posted 27 August, 2015 Share Posted 27 August, 2015 Did Koeman even have any interest in progressing to the group stages? Such a negative team selection, and poor setup when we needed to score. Can't see what he hoped to achieved by playing Martina on the right wing, couldn't beat a man nor deliver a decent cross, should have gone for pace and played Long or Juanmi there. really wanted us to reach the group stages, even if our league position suffered. We're never going to break into the top 4, and we might flirt with the odd domestic cup run here or there, but what else are we going to achieve? Would have loved to see us playing at some of Europe's most famous stadia. All that hard work last season was ultimately worth **** all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SB Posted 27 August, 2015 Share Posted 27 August, 2015 Starting with yoshida, targett, martina, and having Shane long as your plan b the result was never going to end well. Truly gutted, all the sweat of last season for what? Pathetic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now