Lack of a true Centre Forward

[Wiggles31]

When we had Lambert and then Pelle we had a player who could allow the ball to stick in the final third. Not just by winning headers but dropping deep, linking play for others to get into advanced attacking areas. Not to mention an ability to score a header. Gabbiadini is naturally not able to do this. Austin and Long, well let’s be frank they are pony at this level.

 

Any manager (and for the record Pellegrino should go) will struggle with a lack of our striking options.

 

It’s criminal that the club let two strikers leave and didn’t spend some money on a true number 9. We had the same issue last season.

 

January we absolutely must bring in a centre forward. Not Theo Walcott but a number 9. For now we should be playing someone alongside Gabbiadini.

[Batman]

12 months ago, it was all the rage to say the club brought austin in as pelle's replacement

[Heisenberg]

12 months ago, it was all the rage to say the club brought austin in as pelle's replacement

 

And Redmond as Mane replacement.

 

Its not hard to see where its all gone wrong

[shurlock]

12 months ago, it was all the rage to say the club brought austin in as pelle's replacement

 

Charlie Austin's red and white, he hates Pompey, though.

[Lighthouse]

12 months ago, it was all the rage to say the club brought austin in as pelle's replacement

 

We did, he just hasn't turned out to be as good.

 

I said before the summer transfer window I wouldn't have been upset to sell all three of Austin, Long and J Rod. I'd still stand by that as none of them do anywhere near enough at this level. Long runs and does f**k all else. Austin is just a chavy Rasiak.

 

We just need someone with some physicality up front. Even Kenwyne Jones would have improved this squad.

[danjosaint]

Someone like Vincent Aboubekar poss Cedric bakumbo

[davefizzy14]

Vincent aboubakar is class!! Yes please

[doddisalegend]

I know I miss some big bastard in a saints shirt drilling bullet heads at the far post like lambert did. I never understand why we insist on banging in so many high crosses these days when we lack any aerial threat in the squad.

[VectisSaint]

Any manager (and for the record Pellegrino should go) will struggle with a lack of our striking options.

Also, any striker will struggle with a lack of our attacking midfield options. Even Lambert would struggle with the service provided by the current three (on their current form and the way they are being played).

[ladysaint]

Giroud with Gabbadini would work not sure why we didn’t get him.

[Saint_clark]

Said it all season but Gabbiadini is completely ineffective when playing up front on his own. No idea why he escapes criticism, with the crowd even booing the decision to take him off yesterday after he did nothing all game except put an easy header way off target.

[Whitey Grandad]

Giroud with Gabbadini would work not sure why we didn’t get him.

 

Because we wouldn't play two up front?

[Pamplemousse]

And Redmond as Mane replacement.

 

Its not hard to see where its all gone wrong

 

The intention was a good one, but Mané improved significantly whilst here. Redmond has gone backwards IMO. He did play better than he has done yesterday. Suggests the coaching is the issue.

[doddisalegend]

Also, any striker will struggle with a lack of our attacking midfield options. Even Lambert would struggle with the service provided by the current three (on their current form and the way they are being played).

 

I'm not so sure about that. Our main attacking play at the moment is to get the ball out wide and cross. In fact we are the top team in the PL for crosses this season (granted a lot of those crosses are poor quality) that would work better if we had a proper, old school, big CF than it does with our current striking options he need a totally different type of service.

[derry]

For me we lack a cutting edge. Our own half possession obsession leads to a packed defence hence most shots or crosses get blocked. I'd like to see us stop playing the non scoring lightweights, give Long, Austin and Gabbiadini a go together with maybe Boufal behind in possibly a 4-3-3. The back four plus Romeu and Lamina make us pretty solid at the back. It's not even a gamble with the number of games we don't score in, but the manager will stick with the negative selections and own half possession crap until he is inevitably sacked.

 

History says we will probably dither about that and leave it until it is too late. If we really wanted a big player up front we could do worse than give Yoshida a try. Doing nothing different is stupidity, doing the same thing and hoping the result will be different is insane.

[Saint_clark]

The intention was a good one, but Mané improved significantly whilst here. Redmond has gone backwards IMO. He did play better than he has done yesterday. Suggests the coaching is the issue.

 

This season on a whole he's stopped taking players on which is when he looked at his best. I wish we'd stick him and Tadic on their natural sides for a run of games rather than just a 10 minute period every now and then. Redmond got a great cross in from the right yesterday whereas out on the left he's constantly cutting back and inside where he either runs into traffic or just passes the ball backwards.

[doddisalegend]

Said it all season but Gabbiadini is completely ineffective when playing up front on his own. No idea why he escapes criticism, with the crowd even booing the decision to take him off yesterday after he did nothing all game except put an easy header way off target.

 

He wouldn't be if he got the right service. He needs the ball early into space behind the CBs facing the opposition goal. Instead we move the ball at snails pace and when it final does get to him its normally at his chest or head with his back to goal. I don't ****ing understand why we don't hit more balls like this to him

 

[nta786]

The right manager (this is the absolutely key bit) can get goals from this squad. It shouldn't be that difficult, Gabbaidini is a good finisher.

 

For me it needs:

 

Cedric VVD Hoedt Bertrand

JWP Romeu Lemina Tadic

Boufal

Gabbiadini

 

Tadic is a left winger. Nothing else, however much he wants to play no 10. You can't do it if you're one footed and have no ability to shoot. He and Bertrand linking up on the left was one of the best things about the team's attack. Why has this been ignored since Puel arrived?

 

JWP gets stick but if we're struggling for goals we need his delivery IMO. Crossing from wide, linking with Cedric, as he did very well in the cup final, and set pieces. With Hoedt and VVD, we should be a threat.

 

Boufal central. So painfully obvious it hurts. Stop banging on about what he can't do, stop shoving him wide and getting him defending. He has quick feet, balance and can worry defenders. He'll create space for Gabbiadini and we'll have a threat coming left, right and centre for once.

 

 

Alternative ignore all that and just keep repeating the same rubbish every week and saying how unlucky we are/get Austin up there/sign a new striker/8th and a cup final/the people have spoken.

 

as much as jwp is decent at crossing- we never get bloody numbers in the box and gabbiadini himself is also not a hold up player, and all these 6ft+ defenders find it easy to defend against our crosses, in particular cedrics shi*ty ones...

 

however, the reason we get no numbers in the box again is what i believe to be a coaching issue.

but also, our players need to do more one touch passing, our best bit of play came from that yesterday and a lot of good goals come from either first time passes/crosses- potentially our players arent good enough for it, particularly Redmond.

[doddisalegend]

as much as jwp is decent at crossing- we never get bloody numbers in the box and gabbiadini himself is also not a hold up player, and all these 6ft+ defenders find it easy to defend against our crosses, in particular cedrics shi*ty ones...

 

however, the reason we get no numbers in the box again is what i believe to be a coaching issue.

but also, our players need to do more one touch passing, our best bit of play came from that yesterday and a lot of good goals come from either first time passes/crosses- potentially our players arent good enough for it, particularly Redmond.

 

I noticed Redmond and Tadic swapped sides briefly yesterday during that brief time Redmond delivered the best saints cross of the whole game but yeah we need to move the ball much quicker all our players seem to want to take several touches before passing.

[striker]

I'm not sure MoPe would even want a central striker. IMO he seems to want 10 midfielders running around really fast passing the ball back and forth.

[mrfahaji]

I'm not so sure about that. Our main attacking play at the moment is to get the ball out wide and cross. In fact we are the top team in the PL for crosses this season (granted a lot of those crosses are poor quality) that would work better if we had a proper, old school, big CF than it does with our current striking options he need a totally different type of service.

 

I think this is the crux of the issue, we don't have a "big number 9", but we play as if we do! Surely it makes more sense to adapt the way we play than to give up on our current strikers (including Gabbiadini, who is clearly a good player and goalscorer) and look for someone new.

[mrfahaji]

I'd also note that people are critical of Austin for 'not being fit', but when he's come on for the last few minutes recently I've thought he's lacked sharpness rather than pure fitness. Sloppy control, misplaced passes are a result of not playing regularly. I can understand that people don't rate him, but not sure that his struggles of late have been down to fitness.

[HKsaint]

Auatin is a proven goalscorer who has been proved to be able to score more than dozen in a season. MePo did rate him or give sufficient chance to him to improve his sharpness after injury. Instead, he gave to Redmond and Long which proved to be a disaster. The problem with only one striker is that the opponent would find it easy to defend as no one can score except the striker. The solution now before January is to sack the manager as soon as possible and find a manager who can find a better formation to utilise Austin and Gabb.

[cambsaint]

I had a thought last night that Yoshida looks as likely to score as well as our strikers.

I then wondered if we used his height and strength playing as a target man to get the ball to Gabbiadiani might actually work.

We have enough cover at centre-back at the moment to try it.

Obviously a training ground tryout first, it's a bit bizarre but he couldn't do any worse anyway.

[Turkish]

12 months ago, it was all the rage to say the club brought austin in as pelle's replacement

 

It was also all the rage for you to bang on about how sh*t Pelle was. So surely him not being here is a good thing, right Jamie?

[saintwbu]

Said it all season but Gabbiadini is completely ineffective when playing up front on his own. No idea why he escapes criticism, with the crowd even booing the decision to take him off yesterday after he did nothing all game except put an easy header way off target.

 

Anyone who watches Gabbiadini in the flesh would know that he makes great runs all game, only for whoever has the ball to take another touch and mean he's offside, or not give it to him at all. Austin has the same problem. Strikers of this ilk need quick thinking midfielders who can spot the pass straight away, not once it's too late. I also don't think Pelle, on top of Lambert's shoulder's, would get to most of Cedric's dreadful crosses.

 

I've said to a fair few people that I think Gabbiadini would get 20+ goals with Kevin De Bruyne behind him. Unfortunately at the moment I think current Kevin Keegan would provide more pace and creativity than we have had this season.

[ally_uk]

The problem is we do not have anyone in midfield who is intelligent enough to play to Gabbaiadinis strengths... You need somebody behind him to feed him through with through balls. Stick Boufal as a number 10....... Get Austin up top alongside Gabba.

 

Tadic as a left winger and get Redmond on the right wing..

 

Not rocket science is it? Why are we playing players out of postion? Any old numpty can see the team is setup wrong...

[HKsaint]

The problem. With our midfielders are instead of passing the ball to the strker, they all want to score, believing that they are the true striker.

[sammysaint]

Austin is that guy, but he has hardly started any games.

 

Austin and Gabba upfront next game, we have no decent wingers and thats the problem with creating chances for any of the strikers.

 

Personally would go 352, Austin having the balls whipped in by Cedric and Bertrand rather then Tadic and Redmond.

 

Also lets not forget Forster was at fault again and that creates extra pressure at home as teams like Burnley then sit on that 1-0.

[doddisalegend]

The problem is we do not have anyone in midfield who is intelligent enough to play to Gabbaiadinis strengths... You need somebody behind him to feed him through with through balls. Stick Boufal as a number 10....... Get Austin up top alongside Gabba.

 

Tadic as a left winger and get Redmond on the right wing..

 

Not rocket science is it? Why are we playing players out of postion? Any old numpty can see the team is setup wrong...

 

Why do you think Boufal is that player? Boufal first instinct is to take people on not to play an early through ball. Tadic should be the player capable of doing it, he used to pick out Mane and Pelle with some great through balls, but his game has gone to ****. We could do with a 10 with good vision to pass early and move the ball quickly I don't think we really have one right now.

[ally_uk]

Because Tadic as a number 10 I a waste of time....

[Give it to Ron]

Because Tadic at present is a waste of time....

 

Edited it for you. 5 touches and lose it.

He thrived with Pelle he now has no outlet.

Burnley put 2 on Gabbi knowing no-one else was a threat.

 

 

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

[Rebel]

Tadic is a left winger and Redmond is a right winger - if we are going to play them then we should play them there.

 

Although Redmond seems to prefer shooting than crossing or passing the ball forwards to set someone up which is why I think we play him on the left as an inverted winger. But maybe he would cross the ball more and offer us some width if we did play him on the fight.

 

I'm not sure Boufal is a No. 10 though either - he doesn't really have any end products - he wants to shoot and score goals not pass them ball to set someone else up - and so more often than not he runs in to a dead end. We might as well play him as striker or an inverted winger/wide forward if we are going to play him at all.

 

Gabbiadini is really a second striker - and is probably best used on the left or behind centre forward.

 

Long is best as a wide forward where his lack of finishing doesn't matter so much and his pace and work rate are an asset.

 

Which leaves Austin as a only real centre forward.

 

I'd try playing Austin up front with Gabbiadini on the left, Lemina in the middle and Ward-Prowse on the right in the three behind him - and get Bertrand and Cedric to start crossing the balls in for Austin. You've also got JWPs delivery from the right, Lemina as the extra player in the box who looks like he can actually score from midfield - and Gabbiadini on the left to find the space, make the intelligent runs and play-off Austin.

 

And then you've got Tadic, Redmond and Long who can come on as impact subs to add some pace or trickery if we need to change things.

 

In January I'd look to sell Tadic, Austin, Long and Boufal and bring in some different forwards to change the front line around and freshen it up - it really needs it and is probably well overdue.

 

Bringing Gallagher back from Birmingham is an obvious first step for me.

 

And maybe if we sell Van Dijk to Chelsea in January we should insist on Michy Batshuayi as part of the deal or juts go and sign him. He seems to be out of favour and at 24 he's worth a try. His pace and power is exactly what we are missing up front.

 

Luciano Vietto would give us another option up front - would add some trickery and can play as a wide forward on the left or right and as a second striker as well.

 

And if City want Bertand we should push for Patrick Roberts as part of the deal - another wide forward come winger (and now that Celtic are out of the Champions League he might be more willing to try the Premier League than we was in the summer) who can score goals.

 

I would love us to sign a proper number 10 like Ziyech as well - but I can't see that one happening so maybe we should go from Tom Cairney from Fulham instead. Supposedly the best player in the Championship last season.

 

Now I know its not that easy when it comes to transfers but I would really like to see Reed and Co do something major in the January transfer window. Show some ambition and some intent.

 

Personally I think they need to back MOPE in January rather than sack him.

[Mutt Le Tiss]

For me we lack a cutting edge. Our own half possession obsession leads to a packed defence hence most shots or crosses get blocked. I'd like to see us stop playing the non scoring lightweights, give Long, Austin and Gabbiadini a go together with maybe Boufal behind in possibly a 4-3-3. The back four plus Romeu and Lamina make us pretty solid at the back. It's not even a gamble with the number of games we don't score in, but the manager will stick with the negative selections and own half possession crap until he is inevitably sacked.

 

History says we will probably dither about that and leave it until it is too late. If we really wanted a big player up front we could do worse than give Yoshida a try. Doing nothing different is stupidity, doing the same thing and hoping the result will be different is insane.

 

Agreed - Yoshi is one of few players who can actually hit the target at the moment similar to VVD in the first half of last season.

[Dusic]

For me we lack a cutting edge. I'd like to see us stop playing the non scoring lightweights, give Long (Austin & Gabbiadini a go.

 

I've spotted a flaw, Dave.

[doddisalegend]

I've spotted a flaw, Dave.

 

In fairness Austin doesn't look to lightweight these days...

[Kingsland Red]

Stevan Jovetic ?

 

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/goal-shy-southampton-eye-stevan-11484110

[SNSUN]

 

Bringing Gallagher back from Birmingham is an obvious first step for Me.

 

According to recent comments by Brum manager Cotterill, he doesn't fancy Gallagher up top, preferring to play him out wide.

 

Quote at the bottom of this article: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/41821683. Get him back in January if there's a break clause I say.

[SuperSAINT]

http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/sport/saints/news/15652090.Austin_bags_hat_trick_in_friendly_win/?ref=rss

[doddisalegend]

http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/sport/saints/news/15652090.Austin_bags_hat_trick_in_friendly_win/?ref=rss

 

Romeu and Hoj also scored . Maybe saints should ask to play all their games behind closed doors or play Fulham every week...

[eelpie]

12 months ago, it was all the rage to say the club brought austin in as pelle's replacement

 

You exaggerate. It was not all the rage to bring in Austin to replace Pele.

[SaintStinger]

http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/sport/saints/news/15652090.Austin_bags_hat_trick_in_friendly_win/?ref=rss

 

Not the first time he's scored in a friendly this season but he will still only get his 10 min cameo to try and score when the rest of the starters fail to find the net yet again in the 80 mins previous. Just like pretty much every game this season.

[Dusic]

Not the first time he's scored in a friendly this season but he will still only get his 10 min cameo to try and score when the rest of the starters fail to find the net yet again in the 80 mins previous. Just like pretty much every game this season.

Pellegrino has said Austin is useful when the game is "chaotic" but I don'!t think he sees him as a viable starting option due to his poor movement.

 

Lets be honest, away at Anfield with probably 30% of the ball he would just be a passenger.

[simo]

Pellegrino has said Austin is useful when the game is "chaotic" but I don'!t think he sees him as a viable starting option due to his poor movement.

 

Lets be honest, away at Anfield with probably 30% of the ball he would just be a passenger.

 

Unlike all our other strikers in every other game this season?

[Dusic]

Unlike all our other strikers in every other game this season?

Just relaying what the Gaffer said Simo. I would also add a personal belief that when used as a sub this season Austin has usually looked very much off the pace at PL level.

[SaintStinger]

Just relaying what the Gaffer said Simo. I would also add a personal belief that when used as a sub this season Austin has usually looked very much off the pace at PL level.

 

How many minutes has he been on the pitch this season though? About 90 mins total? Of course he's looked off the pace.

[Batman]

Unlike all our other strikers in every other game this season?

 

MP is a chuffing moron

[eelpie]

How many minutes has he been on the pitch this season though? About 90 mins total? Of course he's looked off the pace.

 

Perhaps we should build the team around Austin. Go back to the old goal-poaching centre forward style of olden days. At least Austin is able to poke the goal between the posts, compared to everyone else other than Davis and Yoshida.

 

Oh dear, whatever happened to the exciting free-scoring free-conceding style of the Southampton way?.

[doddisalegend]

Perhaps we should build the team around Austin. Go back to the old goal-poaching centre forward style of olden days. At least Austin is able to poke the goal between the posts, compared to everyone else other than Davis and Yoshida.

 

 

 

Oh dear, whatever happened to the exciting free-scoring free-conceding style of the Southampton way?.

 

 

Make Austin the classic fox in the box of a old school big man, little man centre forward partnership with Crouch or Andy Carroll bought in in January....

[simo]

Perhaps we should build the team around Austin. Go back to the old goal-poaching centre forward style of olden days. At least Austin is able to poke the goal between the posts, compared to everyone else other than Davis and Yoshida.

 

Oh dear, whatever happened to the exciting free-scoring free-conceding style of the Southampton way?.

 

The style where we played with a main centre forward like Pelle or Lambert and played off of them ? Yeh great idea see my other thread !