Liverpool 3-0 Saints - Reaction

[Roo1976]

That was pretty atrocious. An exercise in how to set up with zero ambition yet roll over in the quickest time possible. That starting lineup by hughes was pretty poor even with the 3 missing players.

 

Liverpool were barely trying in the 2nd half & yet equally we didn't have any ambition other than to keep the score down.

 

No doubt he'll stumble on for a long time yet but eventually saints will hopefully get rid of the useless hughes.

 

Also so fed up of the useless shane long waltzing into the starting lineup.

 

seriously who would you like as the manager?...........Who is capable of turning this squad into a top half team? who?........the board need to ask questions about thier involvment in recruting the right candidate surley?......just who would do a decent job?

[Lord Duckhunter]

3 nil and we went into the game with a really defensive looking side , I'd rather play an attacking team and go down fighting !

 

Swansea had 5 put by them at Liverpool & City last season. At home City put 4 past them, as did Utd. That’s -18, compared to our -6 in the corresponding fixtures. It’s one of the reasons they needed a 10 goal swing on the last day.

 

 

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[Faz]

We were not that bad today. My fear was they would just play around and through us, and tbf that rarely happened. The three goals were not “typical” Liverpool goals.

 

We clearly did lack ambition, although some of our passing and 8nterplay was ok. Redmond should have a pen, and PEH should have done better with his chance. Again Redmond played pretty well.

 

Ultimately well beaten though.

[Saint Fan CaM]

Predicted 3-0, so not surprised in the slightest. Our squad is for the most part below Pools in terms of most attributes. We will be in danger of another relegation scrap unless Hughes finds a way of galvanising this team.

[kyle04]

Mediocre players + mediocre manager = mediocre club.

 

Such a shame! The loyal fans deserve better.

 

Would never have happened under Nicola Cortese.

 

Yes we return to the turd polishing analogy, although I think we're slightly better than under Mope. There are many sides in a similar position though, and not many can say they've had a satisfactory start to the season. The reality is that we are a bottom 10 club, emphasis on the word "club". We've been very fortunate to have recently unearthed some players that have moved on for huge sums of money (mainly to Liverhampton), and managed to spunk it away on second rate players. The rare find of a decent talented manager (Poch) is quickly gone when they move on to better things. We have Hughes because he was available at the time, ie, just been sacked. Is he doing the best that can be done with whats available ? Debatable but general opinion says not. So we either stick with him until the situation gets past the desperate stage (like last season with Mope), or start the merry-go-round again with a new face and hope for the best.

[stockportsaint]

 

Lemina was woeful today. 1/10 performance

 

Not sure what yoshida has to do to get a game

 

Should have started with 3/5 at the back IMO

Agree on Lemina. He had one of his shockers today.

 

We went to 3 at the back AFTER going 3 goals down. Bit late then.

 

Agree on Yoshida. Must be looking at Hoedt and thinking WTF.

 

 

 

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[oldsaint]

First the team does not look fit we have no energy and zonal marking is not for us . We pass backwards to often are very slow in moving the ball and play to deep. When we play with Long and Redmond up front we are no threat to anyone, every time Redmond receives the ball he has his back to goal which negates his speed he is no danger to any defender. There is no playmaker in the team or midfield general. The Manager can see this like you and i can so gods knows what they do in training as there is no improvement week on week we play in patches and look good but not for 90 minutes this is down to having half decent players but no directions. We will struggle against all the teams in this league as we have no organisation .Today Liverpool were 3 up without breaking a sweat having played a top european team on Tuesday and went into sleep mode in the second half, yet we did not create a chance against them . The manager must take the blame for the fitness and lack of organisation on the pitch there is clearly no motivation from MH or his team to the players. Unless we shake up MH we are sleep walking to the championship

[Faz]

First the team does not look fit we have no energy and zonal marking is not for us . We pass backwards to often are very slow in moving the ball and play to deep. When we play with Long and Redmond up front we are no threat to anyone, every time Redmond receives the ball he has his back to goal which negates his speed he is no danger to any defender. There is no playmaker in the team or midfield general. The Manager can see this like you and i can so gods knows what they do in training as there is no improvement week on week we play in patches and look good but not for 90 minutes this is down to having half decent players but no directions. We will struggle against all the teams in this league as we have no organisation .Today Liverpool were 3 up without breaking a sweat having played a top european team on Tuesday and went into sleep mode in the second half, yet we did not create a chance against them . The manager must take the blame for the fitness and lack of organisation on the pitch there is clearly no motivation from MH or his team to the players. Unless we shake up MH we are sleep walking to the championship

 

Your comments regarding Redmond demonstrate a misunderstanding of the game. He is clearly tasked to get in between the lines and try to cause trouble - he does it pretty well, and actually forced Klopp to take off Shaquiri and change formation, somewhat negating Redmond in the second half.

[Greedyfly]

Your comments regarding Redmond demonstrate a misunderstanding of the game. He is clearly tasked to get in between the lines and try to cause trouble - he does it pretty well, and actually forced Klopp to take off Shaquiri and change formation, somewhat negating Redmond in the second half.

 

Yes, literally basking in the glow of his zero goals, zero PL assists. He's as ineffective as Long and those impressed by him are those that believe effort is all you need as a premier league footballer.

[Ade]

Feel sorry for those who traveled up to watch that rubbish. Manager set up to park the bus, 3 nil down at half time, so that went well. 2nd half damage limitation - Hughes thinking of the GD. 1st shot on target in 91st minute. In for another crap season. Hope there are 3 worse teams. Possibly not this year. Don't rate Hughes. He's had 17 games now, almost half a season. Not sure of the stats but can't be good, has to be relegation form though and can't see it getting any better, certainly defensively, where we are woeful, and that includes the goalkeeper at the moment. Way I feel these days I'm losing interest, so don't really care if we stay up or go down.

[hypochondriac]

We were always going to lose and 3-0 isn't as bad as it could have been. I'm sad that we no longer go into these games thinking we could give it a good go and get a result but these aren't the games where I think we will be looking for one.

[Lallana's Left Peg]

We were always going to lose and 3-0 isn't as bad as it could have been. I'm sad that we no longer go into these games thinking we could give it a good go and get a result but these aren't the games where I think we will be looking for one.

 

I agree with this its just the inevitability of how teams will score against us now. We're not making them work hard for it. As well as we can play when you know just a simple percentage cross into the box, or a set piece, causes havoc then its a massive issue.

 

The Brighton game set this game up perfectly - the team are clearly back to square one confidence wise - on the ball as individuals and in each other - and so we go away to a team and give away the sort of goals that relegation fighters do.

[saint michael]

More cross with second half v Brighton

 

Think we have losing mentality rife in club now and cycle will be difficult to break

 

Poor tactics and structure

 

Poor performances

 

Shame cant have clear out from top to bottom and start again. We will go route down league and clear up again before coming back.

 

Also feeling less bothered as really hate prem league more and more. Never really expected winning at Liverpool over the years but always felt like we would give it a go.

[ladysaint]

Agree on Lemina. He had one of his shockers today.

 

what do you expect when he wears ballet pumps

[Faz]

Yes, literally basking in the glow of his zero goals, zero PL assists. He's as ineffective as Long and those impressed by him are those that believe effort is all you need as a premier league footballer.

 

Ah, sarcasm. Very good. What was your tactical assessment, beyond the rather obvious “zero goals, and zero PL assists”

[jamesfp1]

Was expecting at least 5 or 6 -0. 3-0 feels like a draw.

[Cabrone]

Fully expected loss and didn't really learn anything other that we are now an also ran in the prem, along with 75% of the rest. How very boring.

 

Don't like the defensive mentality, pretty much hands the points to Pool on a plate. At least have a go and get in their faces, give the supporters something to get excited about and who knows you might just get lucky.

[OttawaSaint]

Missed this one. Power was out, a tornado ripped through my town last night. Got lucky, no damage but neighbourhoods near me look like a war zone.

[Mosin]

Yes, literally basking in the glow of his zero goals, zero PL assists. He's as ineffective as Long and those impressed by him are those that believe effort is all you need as a premier league footballer.

 

I was told a story once at how assists and goals mean nothing for an offensive player, only thing that matters is how fast they can run and dribble.

 

 

 

True story that, learnt it here at the home of football.

[Fatboy40]

I'm just glad that Klopp decided to slow things down for the second half and protect his players for the EFL Cup game, otherwise that would have gone from a poor result to an absolutely terrible one.

 

# Lemina was horrendous.

 

# Matt Targett is shee ite at taking corners.

[Yorkshire Saint]

Just back from the game. Nervous first 20 minutes trying to keep them at bay and then it was all over. Generally though there were some small glimpses of good play down the wings but in hindsight I'd have started Austin ahead of Long, what's the point in going down the wings if you have no one to hit on the middle. What worried me was some of the body language, Lemina was woeful and just kept shaking his head. Cedric's team work especially with Redmond was woeful and led to first goal. Hoedt looked petulant at times just booting the ball but tbh some of his balls out to the wing were class. Hojberg tries hard and wears his heart on his sleeve but I really thought that some of the players looked broken.

 

Alex 5 - did nothing wrong

Cedric 4 - not a team player

Targett 4 - Still not premier league standard (yet) and looked a bit shaw like and over weight.

Hoedt 5 - Petulant

Big V 5 - Slow but made some good blocks. Badly exposed for 2nd goal. That's bad.

Bertrand 6 - he's a good player, no doubt but a captain I'm not sure

Romeu 5 - Tried his best but he's a shadow of the player he was.

Hojberg 6 - Spirited!

Lemina 4 - Just poor

Redmond 6 - Better than last season but still light weight

Long 5 - Just never going to out foil VVD and Liverpool's defence.

 

Subs:

 

Austin 6 - should have started to have someone to hit

Bednerak 5 - Fine, did nothing wrong

Armstrong 5 - Fine, did nothing wrong

 

Final point, I thought we were bloody quiet as fans today and most of our songs were more interested in why Liverpool weren't singing. My question is, why encourage them.

 

Roll on Wolves

[Greedyfly]

Ah, sarcasm. Very good. What was your tactical assessment, beyond the rather obvious “zero goals, and zero PL assists”

 

Might have been sarcastic in my delivery but the facts are he contributes the sum of **** all.

 

Team wise, shambolic performance but expected when you only have shambolic players at your disposal. Single digits for goals and assists combined last season, going the same way for Redmond again this. Long, well he's always been a ****ing disaster outside of the Championship but he runs a lot so people like him. So anyone who's happy that we're still stuck with them both as first team players has a better drug dealer than I do. Relegation battle again with drab, boring, pedestrian football.

Edited 22 September, 2018 by Greedyfly

[Greedyfly]

I was told a story once at how assists and goals mean nothing for an offensive player, only thing that matters is how fast they can run and dribble.

 

 

 

True story that, learnt it here at the home of football.

 

Yeah sounds about right for this place. Effort and work rate is a counter for a lack of any other attribute.

Edited 22 September, 2018 by Greedyfly

[Dark Munster]

Call me an optimist, but I'd rather watch a team that contained at least one or two players with the ability to create or take a chance.

 

As it is, we're not just mediocre, we're incredibly dull.

 

Still, listening to the fan base on here, this is pretty close to the team most people seem to want: a bunch of strapping cart horses they can (for the most part) identify with.

I'd rather a strapping cart horse than a donkey.

[Dark Munster]

seriously who would you like as the manager?...........Who is capable of turning this squad into a top half team? who?........the board need to ask questions about thier involvment in recruting the right candidate surley?......just who would do a decent job?

Puel. But he's currently not available.

[cloggy saint]

I can't be bothered to read the whole thread but I can guess the general idea. Did anyone really expect Saints to get something from the home of last season's CL finalists, the team that had already won 5 on the trot in the league and the team who just beat PSG? 3-0 is a relatively respectable scoreline, many teams will leave Anfield having suffered a heavier defeat this season.

[Dark Munster]

Swansea had 5 put by them at Liverpool & City last season. At home City put 4 past them, as did Utd. That’s -18, compared to our -6 in the corresponding fixtures. It’s one of the reasons they needed a 10 goal swing on the last day.

Exactly this. "Failing while going for it" would be asking for a jolly good rogering, even more so with our only semi-decent striker not available.

[Mosin]

I can't be bothered to read the whole thread but I can guess the general idea. Did anyone really expect Saints to get something from the home of last season's CL finalists, the team that had already won 5 on the trot in the league and the team who just beat PSG? 3-0 is a relatively respectable scoreline, many teams will leave Anfield having suffered a heavier defeat this season.

 

No, defo not, I fully expected a lose. just glad Liverpool decided to conserve energy instead of humiliating us.

[Ivan Katalinic's 'tache]

Beaten by a superior team. Move on.

[LGTL]

Completely and utterly pointless day all round. It was like a Cup game where the superior opposition feel a bit sorry for us. 9 hour round trip too. Worthwhile as always.

[Lighthouse]

Swansea had 5 put by them at Liverpool & City last season. At home City put 4 past them, as did Utd. That’s -18, compared to our -6 in the corresponding fixtures. It’s one of the reasons they needed a 10 goal swing on the last day.

 

Swansea also beat Liverpool in the reverse fixture, whereas we played for a nice safe 2-0 defeat at home. Without that win, they'd have been relegated when we played them at the Liberty.

 

Even a point in one game and a minus infinity goal difference is better than a couple of 3-0 defeats. That's three games in a row now against them where we've not even tried to compete. Keeping the GD down seems to be seen as an achievement by some, it's pathetic.

[Kingsbridge Saint]

Par. Move on.

[Dark Munster]

Swansea also beat Liverpool in the reverse fixture, whereas we played for a nice safe 2-0 defeat at home. Without that win, they'd have been relegated when we played them at the Liberty.

 

Even a point in one game and a minus infinity goal difference is better than a couple of 3-0 defeats. That's three games in a row now against them where we've not even tried to compete. Keeping the GD down seems to be seen as an achievement by some, it's pathetic.

1-0 I think, and they parked the bus and nicked it on the break. Our only chance of a similar result was to do the same. If we'd "gone for it" we would've almost certainly got slaughtered, which is the point most are trying to make.

[lordswoodsaints]

We are an average magnolia team, we have gone backwards since promotion but we are where we deserve to be, mid to low half of the table is where I expect us to be at the end of the season, unfortunately Liverpool is where we could’ve been.

If we finish mid table then that’ll be a good season.....expect nothing else from a Mark Hughes team, backed by a boring but financially stable club.

YAWN.

[larry12]

Might have been sarcastic in my delivery but the facts are he contributes the sum of **** all.

 

Team wise, shambolic performance but expected when you only have shambolic players at your disposal. Single digits for goals and assists combined last season, going the same way for Redmond again this. Long, well he's always been a ****ing disaster outside of the Championship but he runs a lot so people like him. So anyone who's happy that we're still stuck with them both as first team players has a better drug dealer than I do. Relegation battle again with drab, boring, pedestrian football.

 

You forgot to mention that Les Reed assembled the present squad and is STILL able to demonstrate his appalling lack of expertise. Definitely "Les Reed out"

Davis and Prowse on the bench is an absolute joke.

[OldNick]

There is little or no optimism when you look at our squad. Ross Wilson must be the worst judge of a player when he has all the information put in front of him.

It baffles me that it seems we buy players who are pedestrian , not athletic or have any pace. I know that the other clubs have been handed our best players on a plate , but the whole Southampton way is now forgotten, where we had a conveyor belt of players to take the place of talent that leaves. It must be down to a terrible back room staff who I assume have been hand picked by Reed, and they are not capable of seeing talent around the world.

[oldsaint]

Your comments regarding Redmond demonstrate a misunderstanding of the game. He is clearly tasked to get in between the lines and try to cause trouble - he does it pretty well, and actually forced Klopp to take off Shaquiri and change formation, somewhat negating Redmond in the second half.

 

I understand the principal but he does the same thing every game wheter on the wing or playing up front he was our second striker today the lack of us having attacking midfield players negates any influence he has on the game by receiving the ball with his back to the goal . Liverpool 3 nil up and he forced Klopp to take off Shaquiri what game where you watching one shot from saints 1 minute from the end no shot in the first half what trouble he caused.Your understanding of the game is woeful the idea is to get a win or at least a draw by using your players to the best of their abilities . How much trouble did he cause today or in any match and I watched them all , 1 lucky win and 2 draws gosh your saints rosy tinted glasses are on today. I like Redmond but his strenght is not passing or playing with his back to goal its his speed and running at defenders thats where he causes trouble I think the telling word in your reply was TRY he would not get in any other PL team as he not a good passer of the ball or creates that many chances but we are led to believe he the best we got so lets play on

[Faz]

I understand the principal but he does the same thing every game wheter on the wing or playing up front he was our second striker today the lack of us having attacking midfield players negates any influence he has on the game by receiving the ball with his back to the goal . Liverpool 3 nil up and he forced Klopp to take off Shaquiri what game where you watching one shot from saints 1 minute from the end no shot in the first half what trouble he caused.Your understanding of the game is woeful the idea is to get a win or at least a draw by using your players to the best of their abilities . How much trouble did he cause today or in any match and I watched them all , 1 lucky win and 2 draws gosh your saints rosy tinted glasses are on today. I like Redmond but his strenght is not passing or playing with his back to goal its his speed and running at defenders thats where he causes trouble I think the telling word in your reply was TRY he would not get in any other PL team as he not a good passer of the ball or creates that many chances but we are led to believe he the best we got so lets play on

 

Do take a breath. Ive no idea if you watched the game, but I'm guessing not. Nor maybe did you see Klopp's post match interview.

 

I don't claim Redmond to be a world beater, but he is a decent player when in the right position and his confidence is not shot to pieces.

[East Kent Saint]

MotD seemed to be a series of mismatches in descending order , the Prem requires serious reviewing . Dodgy investors trying to polish their image by buying and over investing in teams such as City makes Utd look like a better option , at least they are honest ie we bought it to make loads of money for our family NOT to make our corrupt regime look acceptable to the world in general.

I am starting to agree with the "What's the point of SFC " thread now !

[East Kent Saint]

MotD seemed to be a series of mismatches in descending order , the Prem requires serious reviewing . Dodgy investors trying to polish their image by buying and over investing in teams such as City makes Utd look like a better option , at least they are honest ie we bought it to make loads of money for our family NOT to make our corrupt regime look acceptable to the world in general.

I am starting to agree with the "What's the point of SFC " thread now !

[John Boy Saint]

The whole demeanour surrounding this game made me think of an interview with Chris Marsden when Hoddle was our manager. CMFG said that until Hoddle came in the team went into games with no belief that they were going win, when they did it was a pleasant surprise. He said Hoddle made the team believe they were going to win every game.

The whole approach to this game was “we are not likely win” “so let’s go play and come home”.

Bizarre

[Micky]

Glenn Hoddle, interesting, is he available?

 

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[miserableoldgit]

We are an average magnolia team, we have gone backwards since promotion but we are where we deserve to be, mid to low half of the table is where I expect us to be at the end of the season, unfortunately Liverpool is where we could’ve been.

If we finish mid table then that’ll be a good season.....expect nothing else from a Mark Hughes team, backed by a boring but financially stable club.

YAWN.

We haven't gone backwards since promotion....we have gone backwards since Koeman left...

 

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[Dell68]

Par. Move on.

 

Just home from an enjoyable weekend on Merseyside with the wife. Even managed a 'ferry across the mersey' and a wander round the museum yesterday morning to ease the pre-match nerves.

 

The reality is that we were beaten quite comfortably by a very good Liverpool team, and their front three really are a handful.

 

I really hope that I am proved wrong, but I remain to be convinced by Vestergaard (what on earth was he doing at the second goal), I don't think that Targett added anything, and Lemina had an absolute stinker (I felt that he played with the intensity of a training match).

 

More positively I thought that Shane Long worked hard (if isolated), Armstrong showed some nice touches, and the defence looked more solid after Bednarek came on.

 

As a footnote I would like to pay tribute to the Saints support, who I thought were brilliant. Living in Scotland I only see maybe half a dozen games a season, mainly in the north but occasionally at St Mary's (or Wembley !). I was proud to be a Saint yesterday. The healthy reaction to Shane Long's substitution and the rousing reception given to the team at the end was heart-warming. Despite the game being dead and buried at half-time the fans stayed with the team throughout. My man of the match goes to the chap with the hat and yellow shirt near the front of section 123 who kept the singing going throughout. His support, humour and wit were infectious. Very well played !

[the saint in winchester]

Spot on. Does anyone know why he is overlooked? He is experienced, saw us through the crisis last season, had a great world cup, and hasn't been seen since

 

We have discussed this to death on the Yoshida thread. To save you reading it all, we don't know. Could be anything from Hughes thinks Hoedt is the messiah through to Chinaman Gao has blackballed Japanese Yoshida. No-one knows the real reason, but we would like to know!

[bazza]

We haven't gone backwards since promotion....we have gone backwards since Koeman left...

 

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Yep, significantly.

[The9]

From the Guardian match report:

"...Matip towered above Jannik Vestergaard to head his first Anfield goal"

...we have a tall CB who can't jump.

 

Clearly you didn't watch the match if you think Vestergaard had any chance at all of winning a header against a player 15 yards away from him when the corner was taken. The issue was the lack of marking of Matip, not Vestergaard seeing the threat unlike everyone else and very nearly stopping it.

[The9]

The whole demeanour surrounding this game made me think of an interview with Chris Marsden when Hoddle was our manager. CMFG said that until Hoddle came in the team went into games with no belief that they were going win, when they did it was a pleasant surprise. He said Hoddle made the team believe they were going to win every game.

The whole approach to this game was “we are not likely win” “so let’s go play and come home”.

Bizarre

 

Of course this attitude wasn't hurt by the fact that we hadn't played any of the top 6 twice when Hoddle decided to leave for Spurs.

[ericofarabia]

Just home from an enjoyable weekend on Merseyside with the wife. Even managed a 'ferry across the mersey' and a wander round the museum yesterday morning to ease the pre-match nerves.

 

The reality is that we were beaten quite comfortably by a very good Liverpool team, and their front three really are a handful.

 

I really hope that I am proved wrong, but I remain to be convinced by Vestergaard (what on earth was he doing at the second goal), I don't think that Targett added anything, and Lemina had an absolute stinker (I felt that he played with the intensity of a training match).

 

More positively I thought that Shane Long worked hard (if isolated), Armstrong showed some nice touches, and the defence looked more solid after Bednarek came on.

 

As a footnote I would like to pay tribute to the Saints support, who I thought were brilliant. Living in Scotland I only see maybe half a dozen games a season, mainly in the north but occasionally at St Mary's (or Wembley !). I was proud to be a Saint yesterday. The healthy reaction to Shane Long's substitution and the rousing reception given to the team at the end was heart-warming. Despite the game being dead and buried at half-time the fans stayed with the team throughout. My man of the match goes to the chap with the hat and yellow shirt near the front of section 123 who kept the singing going throughout. His support, humour and wit were infectious. Very well played !

 

Just about agree with everything in this post .... barring paying money to boost their economy as a tourist

 

I was amazed Lemina wasn't subbed at HT (and I'm a big fan of his). really thought this might his chance for a "come and get me" type worldie performance, but completely the opposite, nobody in their right mind

would touch him with a bargepole based on this match. Losing possession way too easily on halfway line and making no attempt to chase back tomake up for it a few times, using his energy instead to shake his head as if it

was everybody else's fault. Can we please have the Lemina who turned up when he 1st arrived please.

What exactly was the purpose of Targett in the team - did he touch the ball in the 1st half? Armstrong would have, (and did eventually) offer more.

I think it's been touched on elsewhere, but Vestergaard doesn't seem to like the Zonal Marking system ... and neither do I. Let the biggest man on the pitch go where the ball goes (or where his man goes).

Certainly came of 2nd best against Saleh in ground and pace duels that's for sure .... as did everybody else. Surely Yoshida's pace and reading of the game (most of the time!!) would have been a good asset,

maybe instead of the extra in midfiled a back five.

 

The away support was in comparison to many games was pretty quiet, lets face it they had abasolute zilch to enthuse over but boy oh boy .... who did near on 50000 home fans maintain an unstilting wall of silence for so much of the game?

Absolute shocking atmosphere. Sponsored silence for whatever victim cause they are party to this week? It was good to see the away support not turn on the team and give completely isolated Long an appreciation of his efforts when subbed,

and nobody venting their spleen when some of the players came over at the end (led by Long) to show their appreciation, and present a few fans with their shirts.

 

End of the day we were beaten, as expected by a very good team, albeit never needing to get out of first gear. However I pine for the days, when we'd at least give the big boys a bloody nose

rather than lie down and have our tummy's tickled and not conceding in the 2nd half being something of an acheivement. I thought Hughsie would have had them stoked up for this one, but sadly not.

[jarhead5]

For some time now, (most) everyone describes our style of play as sideways or backwards. I agree. We used to be able to play in that manner and still upend good teams. We are no longer that team, but we still play slow side to side (and backwards) and we don't have the team/skill to play in that manner. The team needs a new outlook. A fresh look at style and directness. Maybe that's the reason for a preseason with 5 at the back. Hughes saw Burnley play very defensive and take an odd goal for a win. Burnley never held the ball, passed it around. They kept there shape and used quick counters and good set pieces. Leister did the same a few years back and overachieved.

 

I'm not suggesting that we try to play like those teams, but we should stop trying to play like Saints of 15-16. It's starting to look like we won't use 5/4/1 (how we were built in the summer), so Vestergaard (who should be a sweeper) will not be as effective as Yoshida/Stephens/Bednarek in a 4 man back line. If we continue in a 4/4/2, Cedric will continue his poor to fair games as he needs to be higher up the pitch (unless JWP plays right mid and will tuck in and allow Cedric to overlap). Cedric is poor in defending, so he is a waste in this formation.....but we have no one else. That leaves left mid for MoEly/Redmond/Armstrong (not his best position). I guess Long is supposed to be our version of Vardy.....? We don't have the players to be 15-16 Leister either..

 

 

I wish we had an identity. We always hope that new coaches will bring one....The last two coaches have not. Puel brought an identity, but it was boring and everyone ran him off.