One eye on the final ?

[simo]

Could the players be holding back a bit so as to not get an injury or suspension which rules them out of the final ? I know we were a bit pants before the semi but the same could have been said for that ! Also didn't the release of that awful song coincide with this bad run ?

[Saint_Ash]

If I was Puel I'd be telling them that they are now playing for their place in the final and to put the effort in.

[Window Cleaner]

Could the players be holding back a bit so as to not get an injury or suspension which rules them out of the final ? I know we were a bit pants before the semi but the same could have been said for that ! Also didn't the release of that awful song coincide with this bad run ?

 

Wouldn't be the first time it's happened in football.

[SKD]

Could the players be holding back a bit so as to not get an injury or suspension which rules them out of the final ? I know we were a bit pants before the semi but the same could have been said for that ! Also didn't the release of that awful song coincide with this bad run ?

 

Possibly... but we've been sh!te all season so probably not.

[Saint_Ash]

Possibly... but we've been sh!te all season so probably not.

Apart from we haven't.

[SKD]

Apart from we haven't.

 

Yes we have.

 

We failed to get out of or register an away win in a very average EL group. This seems to just be forgotten.

 

We generally seem to put in 1 good performance every 5 or so games. On the whole, we have been very poor this season.

[BARCELONASAINT]

I had this discussion with mates at work this morning after telling them after the Liverpool semi final win that we would not win another game before Wembley. I was convinced then and i've seen nothing since to convince me that the players care nothing for the club but only care about their own glory.....I'm realistic to know a Cup final rarely comes round for most players and there is not a single player that wants to risk not seeing their chance to play on the day.

I hate all this kissing the badge stuff, there are not many players in the modern game where the club is what matters most to them. From our current crop the only one that comes even close to being a club man is Ward Prowse (now that Fonte has gone).

 

I get more and more disillusioned with football by the day, they are all just mercenaries.

With Wembley just around the corner i look back and compare our 76 F A Cup side to our current crop.....maybe it's just nostalgia but i don't feel as excited about this final as i remember being in 76....i just don't feel the same connection with this current team!

 

Don't get me wrong, come the 26th i will be roaring our boys on!!

[adrian lord]

Could the players be holding back a bit so as to not get an injury or suspension which rules them out of the final ? I know we were a bit pants before the semi but the same could have been said for that ! Also didn't the release of that awful song coincide with this bad run ?

 

No way. There's no point, as the so-called rotation policy means that the lineup in the final is pretty much a lottery.

[Heisenberg]

Bradford did ok few seasons back. Got to EFL final and then stormed up the league 2 table

[Saint_Ash]

Yes we have.

 

We failed to get out of or register an away win in a very average EL group. This seems to just be forgotten.

 

We generally seem to put in 1 good performance every 5 or so games. On the whole, we have been very poor this season.

Yet we're in the final of a cup beating some very good teams along the way. I wouldn't say that was sh1te ALL season. We have palyed poorly in some games and well in others but people don't seem to see that.

[SKD]

Yet we're in the final of a cup beating some very good teams along the way. I wouldn't say that was sh1te ALL season. We have palyed poorly in some games and well in others but people don't seem to see that.

 

Some very good teams? We played 3 reserve teams and 1 that currently can't buy a win.

 

This cup run has just papered over what has been a poor season. Let's say Arsenal had put out full strength team and knocked us out, would you be happy with this season? I suspect not.

 

Of course we've had some good games (I'd say about 5 or 6), however we've had more that we haven't. Hence our position in the league.

 

I guess it comes down to what you perceive as playing well. For me, it's an attacking high tempo style which I have seen very rarely this year.

[a1ex2001]

Yet we're in the final of a cup beating some very good teams along the way. I wouldn't say that was sh1te ALL season. We have palyed poorly in some games and well in others but people don't seem to see that.

 

Would you say we have had more bad performances than good?

[Lord Duckhunter]

Some very good teams? We played 3 reserve teams and 1 that currently can't buy a win.

 

This cup run has just papered over what has been a poor season. Let's say Arsenal had put out full strength team and knocked us out, would you be happy with this season? I suspect not.

 

Of course we've had some good games (I'd say about 5 or 6), however we've had more that we haven't. Hence our position in the league.

 

I guess it comes down to what you perceive as playing well. For me, it's an attacking high tempo style which I have seen very rarely this year.

 

If it's that easy to reach a cup final it's funny how we never did so under Poch or Koeman when we were playing your uptempo style. I guess Sunderland & Sheff Utd were so much better than Arsenal & Liverpool .

 

 

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[saintwbu]

Bradford did ok few seasons back. Got to EFL final and then stormed up the league 2 table

 

You've clearly changed your source because a couple of weeks ago you said how the cup hindered Bradford and they came 18th! They got promoted that season, winning 4-1 in the play-offs I think. I was at their cup final game funnily enough.

 

It wouldn't surprise me if we are holding back, we were exceptional in both leagues of the semi-final, which shows what we are capable of.

[Hamilton Saint]

No way. There's no point, as the so-called rotation policy means that the lineup in the final is pretty much a lottery.

 

Don't be daft.

 

If everyone is fit, the following are bound to be starting: Forster, Cedric, Yoshida, Bertrand, Romeu, Boufal and Gabbiadini.

[SKD]

If it's that easy to reach a cup final it's funny how we never did so under Poch or Koeman when we were playing your uptempo style. I guess Sunderland & Sheff Utd were so much better than Arsenal & Liverpool .

 

 

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On paper Sunderland and Sheff Utd are easier fixtures than Arsenal & Liverpool however Poch never took the cups seriously (and we put out our reserves like teams have against us this year) and that night in Sheffield was just as bad as anything I've seen this year, credit to them though, they played well and are a tough side to beat at their place.

 

I'm not trying to take any credit away from Puel for getting us here, but IMO it has just papered over the cracks of a poor season.

 

In reality unless we win the thing getting there is irrelevant, so until we win it, personally I think we've had a poor season so far.

[Heisenberg]

You've clearly changed your source because a couple of weeks ago you said how the cup hindered Bradford and they came 18th! They got promoted that season, winning 4-1 in the play-offs I think. I was at their cup final game funnily enough.

 

It wouldn't surprise me if we are holding back, we were exceptional in both leagues of the semi-final, which shows what we are capable of.

 

No youre right, i had a looked at form for a few sides that had made the EFL final recently and i was looking at the wrong year for Bradford initially.

 

It seems most sides had a good run after making the final.

 

We appear to be an exception rather than the rule.

[Dangermouth]

If it's that easy to reach a cup final it's funny how we never did so under Poch or Koeman when we were playing your uptempo style. I guess Sunderland & Sheff Utd were so much better than Arsenal & Liverpool .

 

 

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As I recollect we did against Sunderland what we did against Arsenal and chose a really **** team. Sheffield United did against us what we did against Liverpool to some degree in that they wanted it more and outfought the superior opposition. This season we played a Crystal Palace team full of players who had come back from injury or were on the fringes of the first team and being given a try-out and we had the good fortune that their first-choice centre-back got injured and replaced by someone who gave us a penalty and so the chance to get ahead, a Sunderland team that were crap that we scraped past by virtue of one bit of individual good play, a definitely under-strength Arsenal team against our team that was stronger than in previous rounds and a Liverpool team that had an atrocious record last month and including last week but which definitely could have beaten us at Anfield had they had their shooting boots on.

 

The proof of how good or otherwise we will have done in this competition will be if we play well in the final, if we play well enough to give a good account of ourselves and if we win the bloody thing. Next season no one will remember a performance in a final if we lose unless they are either a Saints fan or we get hammered and it becomes like the FA cup game against Arsenal as it will be televised and for one day we will have more fans than Man Utd.