Saints 1 Swansea 0

[Manuel]

Looked again at Austin's goal, a really superb finish. Pelle-esque came to mind.

[OttawaSaint]

Haven't read everything on here so I wonder if (m)any felt the same as me during the game. I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was very entertaining and some of our movement and quick link up plays were superb. I know that it's points we want and that in the past a very entertaining Clough forest team finished bottom but I didn't feel much frustration at all at the misses. I just knew we'd bag one sooner or later. I actually like our style, think Redmond will become a very good player and like the thoughtful way Puel rotates and sets up the team. Enjoying this season and excited for the future.

[Appy]

Pretty much how Vardy won most of his penalties last year.

 

Vardy was much more subtle, Long's was blatant.

[John B]

Haven't read everything on here so I wonder if (m)any felt the same as me during the game. I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was very entertaining and some of our movement and quick link up plays were superb. I know that it's points we want and that in the past a very entertaining Clough forest team finished bottom but I didn't feel much frustration at all at the misses. I just knew we'd bag one sooner or later. I actually like our style, think Redmond will become a very good player and like the thoughtful way Puel rotates and sets up the team. Enjoying this season and excited for the future.

 

Yes I think we have done OK so far and drew against both Watford and Sunderland after going behind if I remember correctly

 

Never thought we would get a result at Man U unlucky against Arsenal we have Boufal to come into the side and the players will be more confident now they have had time to play a new system

[Mallagroth]

Haven't read everything on here so I wonder if (m)any felt the same as me during the game. I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was very entertaining and some of our movement and quick link up plays were superb. I know that it's points we want and that in the past a very entertaining Clough forest team finished bottom but I didn't feel much frustration at all at the misses. I just knew we'd bag one sooner or later. I actually like our style, think Redmond will become a very good player and like the thoughtful way Puel rotates and sets up the team. Enjoying this season and excited for the future.

 

Whatever you do don't it isn't pretty reading. Also agree with pretty much everything you say, I think we are off the mark and despite a slow start we are by no means as far behind getting going as many other teams seem to be. We've also had some tricky fixtures to test ourselves in and come out the others side with our dignity still in tact. We have the potential to seriously hurt and embarrass a decent team already. Bring on West Ham, stuffing them in their new gaff for the second week in the row would be very entertaining.

[charliemiller]

I went to both the Euro Game and the Match on Sunday , came over from Spain , was intrigued to watch this diamond formation live.........my view ....its rapidly morphing into 4 1 2 3 standard and i think the players are adapting it.

Even more so in second half on Sunday , when Austin came on clearly he was told to play left side with Redmond in the middle and Tadic /cuco right . Didnt last long and they swapped Redmond on left wing (much better) and Charlie in the middle .....even to the extent hold up balls were being played up to Austin in the middle on the edge of the box and he was laying off to redmond on the left .

Guy behind me said pennys dropping with Puel that your striker should play in the middle and your winger on the wing .

 

Positional interchanging by players is nothing new but maybe the Puel diamond is a Barcelona version with the front three rotating , I dont know how stubborn about this he is but clearly the players (including Redmond ) prefer Charlie playing down the middle and them feeding him as he is the by a million miles the best finisher at the club .

[Alanh]

Positional interchanging by players is nothing new but maybe the Puel diamond is a Barcelona version with the front three rotating , I dont know how stubborn about this he is but clearly the players (including Redmond ) prefer Charlie playing down the middle and them feeding him as he is the by a million miles the best finisher at the club .

 

We've been playing a front three which rotates all season. Tadic and Redmond have both played in the central attacking midfield position, and CA has played as a central striker. It changes during every match. Redmond seems to have more license to roam and the system asks the wider attacking players to track back when the opposition have the ball. When we have possession our front three are relatively narrow and the width comes from the full backs with crosses coming in from both sides, although more from the right it seems. Bertrand, Targett, Cedric and Cuco are the closest we've got to traditional, 'chalk on their boots' wingers. The guy behind you who commented about playing wingers on the wing was presumably referring to Redmond and if he's expecting the see NR hugging the touchline for the majority of matches any time soon he's going to be disappointed.

[Sour Mash]

Just got round to watching the highlights back, good reminder of how good we were.

 

Very good shout for a penalty for Long in the first half, f**k knows how he can be booked for that, ridiculous.

[striker]

I went to both the Euro Game and the Match on Sunday , came over from Spain , was intrigued to watch this diamond formation live.........my view ....its rapidly morphing into 4 1 2 3 standard and i think the players are adapting it.

Even more so in second half on Sunday , when Austin came on clearly he was told to play left side with Redmond in the middle and Tadic /cuco right . Didnt last long and they swapped Redmond on left wing (much better) and Charlie in the middle .....even to the extent hold up balls were being played up to Austin in the middle on the edge of the box and he was laying off to redmond on the left .

Guy behind me said pennys dropping with Puel that your striker should play in the middle and your winger on the wing .

 

Positional interchanging by players is nothing new but maybe the Puel diamond is a Barcelona version with the front three rotating , I dont know how stubborn about this he is but clearly the players (including Redmond ) prefer Charlie playing down the middle and them feeding him as he is the by a million miles the best finisher at the club .

 

Good observations. I get that feeling too about Austin. I think the players want him out there because he is their legitimate threat. If you notice they are always looking for him with crosses and passes when he's in. I also agree that the Redmond likes the outside and Austin the middle, and I think they adjust while on the field.

[benjii]

From my view in the Northam, it looked as though Long's only thought was to wait for the challenge then go down.

 

That said, the challenge was rash, nowhere near the ball and across the line of Long's run. And he didn't have to dangle a leg out unnaturally to make contact with the defender or really break stride. On that basis, it was probably a pen. Unfortunately, Long has a reputation for going to ground easily and it counted against him.

[Sour Mash]

From my view in the Northam, it looked as though Long's only thought was to wait for the challenge then go down.

 

That said, the challenge was rash, nowhere near the ball and across the line of Long's run. And he didn't have to dangle a leg out unnaturally to make contact with the defender or really break stride. On that basis, it was probably a pen. Unfortunately, Long has a reputation for going to ground easily and it counted against him.

The defender slid across Long's path, impeding him getting the ball, didn't touch the ball. It should have been a pen.

[The9]

Vardy was much more subtle, Long's was blatant.

 

Vardy does the most comical dives I've ever seen. Having seen the Long incident back since it was a penalty and he didn't even dive.

[eddie]

That papers over the cracks of Puels formation and selection.

Redmond in the centre of the three up top is laughable, long and austin tracking back on the left is ridiculous.

Cedric is absolutely garbage his crossing is woeful.

And Why drop austin in the first place as well as Martina

 

One of the commentators explained it well. Puel most likely wanted Austin as the poacher, with the attacks coming down the right hand side. If Austin was in the centre, he would have the two centre halves marking him.

 

As it was, on the left he only has their right back to deal with. That's exactly where the goal came from. Free at the back post.

[SFKA South Woodford]

Interesting to see the opinions of Clasie on Sunday, I thought he started a bit shaky but grew into the game and played well. When the team had gone flat after the usual break neck first 10 mins, he took it upon himself to be more advanced & started to press their defence when they had the ball, it was then quite noticeable that Davis & Tadic followed his lead & did the same, limiting their ability to break effectively. Something that the team haven't done this season up until then, which has allowed opposition teams more time to setup their attacks & be more dangerous against us. Hopefully this will be an evolution of Puels system, as up until now we've allowed the opposition much too much time & space on the ball.

 

As for Redmond, he played well on Sunday but all of the things he did well were when he was wider out and not central, he needs to beef up and not allow himself to be nudged off the ball so easily & to look for the through ball and have the confidence to take on the defenders more. He's still looking to pass the ball when he is central & should be able to go inside or outside his man to put some doubt in the defenders mind. Too many times on Sunday he attempted to go outside & the defenders just took the ball off of him.