Pre-Season (2016/17)

[Patrick Bateman]

And Gallagher assaults the goalie and gets given a goal ...

[doddisalegend]

Whoa!!!!!, sorry for expressing my POV, I was under the impression that this was a forum for open debate?.......obviously a millenial snowflake.

 

LOL I to was expressing a POV

[SuperSAINT]

*Assist*

 

#ZiyechWatch

[doddisalegend]

oh poor defending that Twente player had all week to pick that shot..

[harvey]

LOL I to was expressing a POV

 

LOL, you weren't expressing a POV, it was your very poor attempt at sarcasm.

[doddisalegend]

LOL, you weren't expressing a POV, it was your very poor attempt at sarcasm.

 

No I was shocked you weren't enjoying it..... truly

[doddisalegend]

Redmond looks good running with ball.

[saint lard]

Nothing changes......final third impotent.....and finishing atrocious.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Slugger]

Nothing changes......final third impotent.....and finishing atrocious.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Rubbish. Barely any opportunities for the forwards to finish.

[Batman]

only seen the 2nd half

 

gash

[Slugger]

Bar Reed and Targett none of the young players look PL ready at this stage. A few never will be. Valery and Jones quite possibly given time.

[Give it to Ron]

only seen the 2nd half

 

gash

 

It's a pre season fitness game with mainly u23s what do you expect Barca ?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[doddisalegend]

only seen the 2nd half

 

gash

 

TBF its mostly the under 21s with Redmond and Romeu this half

[Slugger]

only seen the 2nd half

 

gash

First half was much better.

[Sour Mash]

It's a pre season fitness game with mainly u23s what do you expect Barca ?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

The first half clearly showed it was much more than just a fitness exercise. Clear style and structure to our play.

[Batman]

First half was much better.

 

yeah, read further up.

to be expected I guess given the changes etc

[Slugger]

The first half clearly showed it was much more than just a fitness exercise. Clear style and structure to our play.

Yep. Noticeable things worked on and a totally different shape to Koeman played. Will be good to watch our strongest XI in that setup.

[ALWAYS_SFC]

Usual subjects whining about the game

 

It's a pre season game for preparations and fitness

 

Melts

[Lallana's Left Peg]

Early says yet but Jay Rod looks a shadow of the player and this new formation does not suit Austin at all (he picks up the ball far too deep and is knackering himself covering the full-back). Doesn't bode well, lets see how it progresses.

[Give it to Ron]

The first half clearly showed it was much more than just a fitness exercise. Clear style and structure to our play.

 

Yep thought Sjoberg looked decent, full backs push higher up. Press higher , Tadic looks creative, JRod looks fitter, Virgil looks on different planet.

 

One small negative was last 3rd gave away cheaply in good positions but early days

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Sour Mash]

Early says yet but Jay Rod looks a shadow of the player and this new formation does not suit Austin at all (he picks up the ball far too deep and is knackering himself covering the full-back). Doesn't bode well' date=' lets see how it progresses.[/quote']

 

I'd agree with both those points unfortunately. Austin is a finisher but not much else. I'd love to be proven wrong, but I can't see Rodriguez ever making it back to his previous level.

[ally_uk]

Bunch of wet tarts on here give lads time to adjust.....

[mcbendy]

Feeling confident about the defensive side to our game after watching the pre-season friendlies so far. Less confident about where the goals are coming from. Not so much as not being confident in the strikers ability to score, but in the team/formation/tactics ability to set up goal-scoring chances. Redmond did well in this regard, and also young Hesketh has something about him. I much preferred 4-2-3-1...

[striker]

I'd agree with both those points unfortunately. Austin is a finisher but not much else. I'd love to be proven wrong, but I can't see Rodriguez ever making it back to his previous level.

 

I agree 100%. This scheme is not suited to an Austin (or Pelle, Carroll, etc.). It's much more spread and quickness than traditional finishing capability. I expect a lot of running around but fewer goals. It seems to put more of a premium on attacking midfielders. Maybe Puel is tweaking things to see what works and what doesn't?

[Give it to Ron]

Feeling confident about the defensive side to our game after watching the pre-season friendlies so far. Less confident about where the goals are coming from. Not so much as not being confident in the strikers ability to score, but in the team/formation/tactics ability to set up goal-scoring chances. Redmond did well in this regard, and also young Hesketh has something about him. I much preferred 4-2-3-1...

 

Be interesting to see Long Tadic Redmond front 3.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Slugger]

Feeling confident about the defensive side to our game after watching the pre-season friendlies so far. Less confident about where the goals are coming from. Not so much as not being confident in the strikers ability to score, but in the team/formation/tactics ability to set up goal-scoring chances. Redmond did well in this regard, and also young Hesketh has something about him. I much preferred 4-2-3-1...

In this system the full backs play very high and have an onus to create. So far we havent seen Bertrand or Cedric but that should make a positive difference.

 

Likewise Long and Davis were both excellent last season and haven't yet featured.

 

I agree the chance creation is a bit of an issue, and the forwards splitting wide doesn't suit Austin, whilst Jay still looks short but Tadic and Redmond have looked bright, Hojbjerg excellent and VVD looks superb.

 

I think we need another attacker with the ability to beat a man, but otherwise are fairly well set once the players adapt and we have our best team out.

[doddisalegend]

I agree 100%. This scheme is not suited to an Austin (or Pelle, Carroll, etc.). It's much more spread and quickness than traditional finishing capability. I expect a lot of running around but fewer goals. It seems to put more of a premium on attacking midfielders. Maybe Puel is tweaking things to see what works and what doesn't?

 

Well if he is any sort of manager he will tweak his favoured style to fit the players he has Austin has the ability to score plenty if we play to his strengths.

[Lallana's Left Peg]

Be interesting to see Long Tadic Redmond front 3.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

I agree - that is the most natural fitting three for the way we appear to be playing thus far. Redmond and Long have the pace, movement and energy to break as we need to and also cover the full backs while Tadic is our most creative player.

 

I can't stress enough how counter productive it is to see Austin play wide, deep, and covering full backs when out of possession. As others have said, it wouldn't work for Pelle either. He's a very square peg in a round hole at the moment.

[Give it to Ron]

I agree - that is the most natural fitting three for the way we appear to be playing thus far. Redmond and Long have the pace, movement and energy to break as we need to and also cover the full backs while Tadic is our most creative player.

 

I can't stress enough how counter productive it is to see Austin play wide, deep, and covering full backs when out of possession. As others have said, it wouldn't work for Pelle either. He's a very square peg in a round hole at the moment.

 

Yep agreed about Austin maybe with Bertrand and Cedric supplying better service we will get more out of him.

At moment it's all about Puel experimenting and learning what he has. Tie a 18 yard chain round his ankle to post :-)

Defensive shape looked good and Sjoberg read it well good feet.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Sour Mash]

I think the "new Direction" mooted by one of the ITKs a month or so ago is getting a bit clearer; Clear change in playing style, more emphasis on youth, particularly it would seem on youth recruitment, buying potential to develop rather than fully established players.

[Saint_Ash]

I think the "new Direction" mooted by one of the ITKs a month or so ago is getting a bit clearer; Clear change in playing style, more emphasis on youth, particularly it would seem on youth recruitment, buying potential to develop rather than fully established players.

 

Decent youths by the looks of it, mixed in with experience. Which is why I thought we might go in for Berahino. His price is getting ridiculous now though.

[shurlock]

I agree - that is the most natural fitting three for the way we appear to be playing thus far. Redmond and Long have the pace, movement and energy to break as we need to and also cover the full backs while Tadic is our most creative player.

 

I can't stress enough how counter productive it is to see Austin play wide, deep, and covering full backs when out of possession. As others have said, it wouldn't work for Pelle either. He's a very square peg in a round hole at the moment.

 

Replacing him with Long would appear an improvement but its still a square peg in a round hole solution. Long was OK out wide but was much better when he was played centrally.

[washsaint]

Certainly very early days but somewhat concerned. My daughter plays youth soccer and they seem to play in a very similar style to Puel. Play it short out of the back, high press and move the ball quickly. All fine and dandy, but as I've seen in the last 2 friendlies, Saints have the same issue as her (very good) team do.....solid defensively, some of the build up play is a joy to watch but chances are at an absolute premium and without a predatory goal scorer games will be very low scoring.

 

Certainly in todays game there were virtually zero opportunities created.

[Slugger]

Certainly very early days but somewhat concerned. My daughter plays youth soccer and they seem to play in a very similar style to Puel. Play it short out of the back, high press and move the ball quickly. All fine and dandy, but as I've seen in the last 2 friendlies, Saints have the same issue as her (very good) team do.....solid defensively, some of the build up play is a joy to watch but chances are at an absolute premium and without a predatory goal scorer games will be very low scoring.

 

Certainly in todays game there were virtually zero opportunities created.

We have a predatory goal scorer. Its flair to create the chances that is currently lacking.

 

Redmond has looked promising but he isn't of Mane's level (not many are) and Jay Rod and Austin aren't really going to carve out opportunities for themselves so another attacker would benefit.

 

The rest of our play, especially first half, was good.

[The Cat]

So far we've played every match without our first choice full backs. Puel's system seems set up to create lots of space for them and with both Bertrand and Cedric being so good at going forward I can't help but think we will see a huge increase in performance.

[SuperSAINT]

So far we've played every match without our first choice full backs. Puel's system seems set up to create lots of space for them and with both Bertrand and Cedric being so good at going forward I can't help but think we will see a huge increase in performance.

 

Jay / Long / Austin all good in the air too...

[Saint-Fred]

Can't read too much into pre season friendlies either way win or lose..Watford then Man U ( which was 6 points for us last year) will be the guide...and even then we over achieved in those games last year so no panic even if we don't win them both!

[PeteCampbell]

I thought the same thing watching him. I have confidence he will do good things for us this season.

[whelk]

Can't read too much into pre season friendlies either way win or lose..Watford then Man U ( which was 6 points for us last year) will be the guide...and even then we over achieved in those games last year so no panic even if we don't win them both!

 

Over achieved in beating Watford at home? Most dominant one sided game of the season. Could have been 8.

[Convict Colony]

Ziyech confirmed after the game that there are 5 clubs in for him and it is likely that was his last game for Twente.

 

2 of the clubs being talked about are Valencia as a replacement for Gomes who moved to Barca and Ajax.

 

#Ziyechwatch

[SuperSAINT]

Ziyech confirmed after the game that there are 5 clubs in for him and it is likely that was his last game for Twente.

 

2 of the clubs being talked about are Valencia as a replacement for Gomes who moved to Barca and Ajax.

 

#Ziyechwatch

 

Roma were linked yesterday too

[Slugger]

Not sure why Ziyech gets mentioned so much on here. We have never been strongly linked with him and no longer play with wingers plus already have Tadic and Redmond competing for the role behind the strikers.

[SuperSAINT]

Not sure why Ziyech gets mentioned so much on here. We have never been strongly linked with him and no longer play with wingers plus already have Tadic and Redmond competing for the role behind the strikers.

 

Saint Charlie would have liked him.

[niceandfriendly]

Watching JRod is so sad these days.

 

Poor lad obviously still is desperate to play but he has lost everything he once had. Unfortunately he is done as Prem player. So in the striker department we're going into the new season with Shane Long and Austin who will be lucky to play 10 games. 1 striker. Plus we've got Europa League to think about.

 

Hopefully I'm being too hasty and we are still looking to replace Pelle and Mane, but if we don't replace either then we've an arduous season ahead.

[shurlock]

Saint Charlie would have liked him.

 

Yuki would have been a fan.

[Slugger]

Saint Charlie would have liked him.

Shame that despite all the posts we aren't signing him, so you and Saint Charlie and Yuki (and others?) will be disappointed!

[Saint86]

Can't read too much into pre season friendlies either way win or lose..Watford then Man U ( which was 6 points for us last year) will be the guide...and even then we over achieved in those games last year so no panic even if we don't win them both!

 

Don't think that is much of a guide to be honest. Watford should be tipped for relegation, United should be tipped for the title (or top 2 at least). Only indication you can take from those two games is that if we don't get 3 points we're in for a disappointing season. We won't get 6 points.

[Window Cleaner]

Not sure why Ziyech gets mentioned so much on here. We have never been strongly linked with him and no longer play with wingers plus already have Tadic and Redmond competing for the role behind the strikers.

 

He's probably a big coefficient player on fantasy football.

[austsaint]

Watching JRod is so sad these days.

 

Poor lad obviously still is desperate to play but he has lost everything he once had. Unfortunately he is done as Prem player. So in the striker department we're going into the new season with Shane Long and Austin who will be lucky to play 10 games. 1 striker. Plus we've got Europa League to think about.

 

Hopefully I'm being too hasty and we are still looking to replace Pelle and Mane, but if we don't replace either then we've an arduous season ahead.

 

I agree with you; but plenty do not. I haven't seen J-Rod play in this pre-season but, sadly, the chances of him becoming an effective attacking force in the Prem again seem slim. We are playing a high risk strategy if the speed and creativity of Mane is not replaced.

[mrfahaji]

Don't think that is much of a guide to be honest. Watford should be tipped for relegation, United should be tipped for the title (or top 2 at least). Only indication you can take from those two games is that if we don't get 3 points we're in for a disappointing season. We won't get 6 points.

 

Or maybe we shouldn't conclude how our season is going to go based on the first two matches? Football regularly throws up unexpected results, probably even more so at the start of the season.