Has this been our biggest issue this season

[doddisalegend]

https://www.whoscored.com/Teams/18

 

looking at The whoscored website at saints stats this struck me as being particularly pertinent

 

+ Strengths

 

Attacking down the wings Very Strong

 

 

Aerial duels Very Strong

 

 

Creating scoring chances Strong

 

- Weaknesses

 

Finishing scoring chances Weak

 

Avoiding offside Weak

 

 

Defending counter attacks Weak

 

seems to me this has been our biggest issue this season one I had hoped signing Austin would change

[SaintVanderbilt]

I think our biggest issue is the transition to defense after losing the ball, something the 3-5-2 sort of addressed but one could still see the fundamental weakness. A lot of our midfielders are aggressors instead of pure holding midfielders and they are not especially great at proetecting the horizontal space in front of the defense this,coupled with teams targeting the space behind our enthusiastic full backs when they regain the ball, I think this, our behavior when the ball is lost is the real concern. The solution really is to adopt a more defensive oriented mentality and I think Koeman recognizes (he can be very pragmatic during big games) this but his proclivities are much more disposed towards attacking football.

[Leicestersaint]

Biggest problem - taking enough of our chances.

[Roger]

Davis, ward prowse, clasie all small and don't contribute much at all. Davis has been awful last 3 games. Just poor.

[ART]

For myself the constant back passing when we should be trying to break thru. It sickens me time after time. Not even a Fernandes crop circle, a tactic we should take a look at re-introducing. Losing Puncheon was a huge loss in that he knew how to break thru and create goals and chances.

[mrfahaji]

Davis, ward prowse, clasie all small and don't contribute much at all. Davis has been awful last 3 games. Just poor.

 

I thought Davis started quite well against Sunderland but faded. The problem we have is that Davis is the only player who can play the position which links the midfield and the attack, so when he isn't playing well there are no obvious alternatives. Whereas JWP & Clasie are pretty similar in my eyes (in terms of role/style), plus Romeu can slot in for either of the 2 more defensive midfielders.

[GarrettIvo]

I thought Davis started quite well against Sunderland but faded. The problem we have is that Davis is the only player who can play the position which links the midfield and the attack, so when he isn't playing well there are no obvious alternatives. Whereas JWP & Clasie are pretty similar in my eyes (in terms of role/style), plus Romeu can slot in for either of the 2 more defensive midfielders.

 

I thought Romeu was pretty good at driving forward against Sunderland. He certainly didn't lack aggression in doing so IMO. It did leave us light handed going back though. Will he keep his spot when Vic returns? Probably deserves too.

[doddisalegend]

Biggest problem - taking enough of our chances.

 

Which is my point really according to that site we are, and have been, creating plenty of scoring opportunities all season we just need to take more of them. It also puts to bed, for me, the idea we are not getting the ball forward quickly enough or creating chances for our forwards it is more about our forwards not scoring the chances created for them.

[shurlock]

Anyone who puts weight on the whoscored aggregate team and player descriptions is a bit dim.