Watford 0-1 Saints - Match Thread

[Dark Munster]

2 hours ago, Matthew Le God said:

I doubt that'll happen. I'd guess he wants to return to Chelsea and the deal doesn't allow them to sign him until at least summer 2023.

If a team like Newcastle come in with a huge offer next summer can we sell him before Chelsea have a chance to buy him back at the lower price in 2023?

[OttawaSaint]

Yeah I've been very critical of Redmond in the past but I am liking his play in the last month or so. He does work hard and when he keeps it simple he's worth his place in the team.  

[Billy the Kidd]

Just now, VictiAbNonem said:

VVD 24 in July the year he joined

Salisu 22 since April, so just turned 21 when he joined

Ok, thanks for that. 

Interesting he still has a couple of years more experience, he really could be going to the top. 

[VictiAbNonem]

11 minutes ago, St Steve said:

Todays vlog 

https://youtu.be/UjxykyMBJJc

Good work Steve!

You've got some really good footage of the game and I think you talk well about the game and how it's changing. 

I think you should drop the hand gestures like the finger pointing. The odd fist pump when we score or win is good, but they're a bit distracting otherwise.

I'll definitely watch again!

[St Steve]

4 minutes ago, VictiAbNonem said:

Good work Steve!

You've got some really good footage of the game and I think you talk well about the game and how it's changing. 

I think you should drop the hand gestures like the finger pointing. The odd fist pump when we score or win is good, but they're a bit distracting otherwise.

I'll definitely watch again!

I can’t take credit, it’s my sons he is on his way home now.

[saint1977]

Important 3 points, 7 from 9 and Burnley a decent point now with them smashing Brentford today who are only a point ahead of us now. Bit of luck first half with the post/McCarthy part block but good awareness from KWP. Che quality goal, misses some of the easier ones but building a collection of worldies in an SFC shirt. AA plenty of endeavour and good link play, needs another goal soon but remember JRod took until Nov first season to score. KWP nullified Sarr well on his wrong side.

Spirit and resilience seems better this term, only 2 wins from a very tricky start but only 3 defeats too. More clean sheets welcomed, perhaps just trying to get a bit more threat from the midfield. This won’t be a free scoring side but need to progress to getting the second goal when in control. 

[Saint Matty 76]

Not sure how it looked on stream but second half was worst I’ve seen us play all season.

How we only beat these and Leeds 1-0 is beyond me, but encouraging to watch us create a few clear cut chances this week as opposed to Wolves.

[VictiAbNonem]

2 minutes ago, St Steve said:

I can’t take credit, it’s my sons he is on his way home now.

Well I think you should take a lot of credit for your part in raising such an eloquent and talented lad.

 

[St Steve]

4 minutes ago, VictiAbNonem said:

Well I think you should take a lot of credit for your part in raising such an eloquent and talented lad.

 

Cheers

[VictiAbNonem]

10 minutes ago, St Steve said:

Cheers

Oh and, obviously more importantly, such a good Saints' fan too!

Edited 30 October, 2021 by VictiAbNonem

[VictiAbNonem]

I'm rather dismayed at the absence of festival after our triumphant arrival into mid-table, especially after the terribly doom-laden predictions when we didn't beat the best teams in the league.

How can any true Saints fan be disappointed with our performance today?

The effort was immense. The technique was good. The result was the least we deserved.

[qwertyell]

34 minutes ago, Saint Matty 76 said:

Not sure how it looked on stream but second half was worst I’ve seen us play all season.

Everton away in the second half was worse.

But, yes, the longer we couldn't get the second goal, the more anxiety crept into our game and our decision making became increasingly poor and panicky. Composed, we were not.

Would have been a travesty if we'd let Watford steal an equaliser. mind - they were garbage. But we've got to put these teams to bed early.

[Teddeer]

Very impressed and pleased to note the fact that only 6 teams in the Premier League have let in less goals than us. That is some improvement on last season so hope we can maintain that. If we could just improve the conversion rate for chances we'd be climbing the table very quickly

[Chewy]

26 minutes ago, VictiAbNonem said:

I'm rather dismayed at the absence of festival after our triumphant arrival into mid-table, especially after the terribly doom-laden predictions when we didn't beat the best teams in the league.

How can any true Saints fan be disappointed with our performance today?

The effort was immense. The technique was good. The result was the least we deserved.

I am happy, just disappointed that Redmond is the worst footballer in the world ever and no one except Ed Rooney can see it.

 

[CB Fry]

12 minutes ago, Teddeer said:

Very impressed and pleased to note the fact that only 6 teams in the Premier League have let in less goals than us. That is some improvement on last season so hope we can maintain that. If we could just improve the conversion rate for chances we'd be climbing the table very quickly

A really important metric and very encouraging to see how we have improved in that area. Its frustrating we haven't scored enough or taken enough chances but when you're fighting relegation clean sheets are so much more valuable than goals. So right now we have it the right way round.

If we can get A Armstrong to come good then we've got a decent season ahead of us.

Locking Villa out next week would be a huge leap forward.

[VictiAbNonem]

Today we didn't lose three points from a winning position.

I think that's enough to applaud!

[Saint Since '51]

I was there. Enjoyed the game a lot.

Contested for the ball really well, dominated the opposition for most of the match, 60+% possession. We looked really well coached and created lots of pressure on their goal. All good. Well done and thank you to Ralph and the whole team.

But one shot on target. One. In a game we bossed. That has to be a worry.

[Saint Matty 76]

1 hour ago, qwertyell said:

Everton away in the second half was worse.

But, yes, the longer we couldn't get the second goal, the more anxiety crept into our game and our decision making became increasingly poor and panicky. Composed, we were not.

Would have been a travesty if we'd let Watford steal an equaliser. mind - they were garbage. But we've got to put these teams to bed early.

Without wanting to single anybody out because I did think he was okay again - but when Redmond just hoofed the ball to their corner flag with 10 minutes left when he had room to run into. 😆

[The Kraken]

BBC run a system where everyone can vote on players performance and it averages it out. Redmond was the lowest ranked Saints player. But then Lyanco scored 7.8 for a cameo appearance, so pinch of salt recommended.

[aintforever]

Superb performance, just need to be more clinical in front of goal now, that should have been 3 or 4. Think the goals will come for Armstrong.

[AlexLaw76]

 

[UpweySaint]

A few reflections. After the Burnley result I thought the draw may look better if we picked up a win today - three games without defeat feels positive. Small margins for sure and if we were clinical we would probably have 9 points and another 3/4 goals ... lots of good play on show and we need to keep this momentum going. A really good finish for Adams and it's great to have genuine competition up top. I think we'll give Villa a game on Friday ...

 

Macca - 8. Didn't have too much to do but did it well. I understand some of the clamour for Fraser particularly after mid week however McCarthy hasn't done much wrong this season and I much prefer having a consistent no1.

Livramento - 7. His driving runs are something else. He does seem to tire later on in matches but this is some 18 year old!

Bednarek. - 6. Did nothing much wrong but the King half-chance he fell asleep for.  Okay but next to Salisu (absolute ball magnet!) the difference is stark.

Salisu -8. New contract. Now! He played with a maturity and intelligence that you associate with experienced, top class cbs. Sensible to take a yellow when Sarr threatened to get away - Sarr is some player. Watford will do well to keep him in the summer.

KWP - 8. Good call from Ralph. Him and Redmond had some great interplay - he had the Watford full back on toast. 

Romeu - 7. Decent. Did Romeu things reasonably well. He has his limits but if he had a passing range and more mobility he wouldn't be at saints.

JWP - 7 (just). Some good passes but the game passed him by a little. He'll have better days.

Elyounoussi - 7. It's a strange compliment but I didn't really notice him today. In his last spell with us he often stood out as out of his depth. He belongs at this level and has proven me, and plenty of others, wrong. 

Redmond - 7.5. Decent performance. Worked hard in both directions and carried the ball relatively well. A few pot shots that could have been closer. His best play came in linking up with KWP to give him space to push in to.

Armstrong (A) - 7. I liked his movement. He created some chances of his own and one of those sighters where he cuts in from the left and lets fly will find the net soon enough - I'm hopeful he'll come good.

Adams - 8. The finish was top class and is the reason for the 8. He should have had another but he worked hard, linked play and got in good positions. He tired a bit towards the end and it would have been good to bring Broja on.

 

Armstrong (S) - 6. Tried a bit too hard but flashes of what he was about and added energy.

Diallo - 6. Not too much time to make an impact but drew a foul well and positions his body really well to hold possession. Great to have competition in the middle and genuine options.

Lyanco - hard to fairly score him. One header that was more up than away but came on and helped us get to the end with points in tact. Loved him midweek and looking forward to seeing more of him.

 

Ralph - 8. A good week for him. I doubted KWP at left back but it worked a treat. Our game plan really worked and we should have won comfortably. Sarr aside Watford were limited to offering nothing - they should worry this season, no Deeney to drag them through by sheer force of will. Subs were effective and again Ralph is showing better flexibility/game management this season.

[manji]

I’m very positive about the rest of the season. We have quite a few players that are only going to get better. As a result so will the team.

[woodsaint1]

1 hour ago, UpweySaint said:

A few reflections. After the Burnley result I thought the draw may look better if we picked up a win today - three games without defeat feels positive. Small margins for sure and if we were clinical we would probably have 9 points and another 3/4 goals ... lots of good play on show and we need to keep this momentum going. A really good finish for Adams and it's great to have genuine competition up top. I think we'll give Villa a game on Friday ...

 

Macca - 8. Didn't have too much to do but did it well. I understand some of the clamour for Fraser particularly after mid week however McCarthy hasn't done much wrong this season and I much prefer having a consistent no1.

Livramento - 7. His driving runs are something else. He does seem to tire later on in matches but this is some 18 year old!

Bednarek. - 6. Did nothing much wrong but the King half-chance he fell asleep for.  Okay but next to Salisu (absolute ball magnet!) the difference is stark.

Salisu -8. New contract. Now! He played with a maturity and intelligence that you associate with experienced, top class cbs. Sensible to take a yellow when Sarr threatened to get away - Sarr is some player. Watford will do well to keep him in the summer.

KWP - 8. Good call from Ralph. Him and Redmond had some great interplay - he had the Watford full back on toast. 

Romeu - 7. Decent. Did Romeu things reasonably well. He has his limits but if he had a passing range and more mobility he wouldn't be at saints.

JWP - 7 (just). Some good passes but the game passed him by a little. He'll have better days.

Elyounoussi - 7. It's a strange compliment but I didn't really notice him today. In his last spell with us he often stood out as out of his depth. He belongs at this level and has proven me, and plenty of others, wrong. 

Redmond - 7.5. Decent performance. Worked hard in both directions and carried the ball relatively well. A few pot shots that could have been closer. His best play came in linking up with KWP to give him space to push in to.

Armstrong (A) - 7. I liked his movement. He created some chances of his own and one of those sighters where he cuts in from the left and lets fly will find the net soon enough - I'm hopeful he'll come good.

Adams - 8. The finish was top class and is the reason for the 8. He should have had another but he worked hard, linked play and got in good positions. He tired a bit towards the end and it would have been good to bring Broja on.

 

Armstrong (S) - 6. Tried a bit too hard but flashes of what he was about and added energy.

Diallo - 6. Not too much time to make an impact but drew a foul well and positions his body really well to hold possession. Great to have competition in the middle and genuine options.

Lyanco - hard to fairly score him. One header that was more up than away but came on and helped us get to the end with points in tact. Loved him midweek and looking forward to seeing more of him.

 

Ralph - 8. A good week for him. I doubted KWP at left back but it worked a treat. Our game plan really worked and we should have won comfortably. Sarr aside Watford were limited to offering nothing - they should worry this season, no Deeney to drag them through by sheer force of will. Subs were effective and again Ralph is showing better flexibility/game management this season.

100% proven me wrong. I had completely written him off with his pre season performances (on top of his previous showing here). Wouldnt have him in my starting 11 when everybodys fit, but has done very well so far this season and is now a good squad option. We need players like him to start chipping in with goals though. Got plenty at Celtic so certainly knows where the net is

[OttawaSaint]

Shit I’ve just realized that I’ve had a bit of a Chris Kamara moment. I didn’t notice Lyanco coming on and playing out stoppage time. 😂 

[John Boy Saint]

2 hours ago, OttawaSaint said:

Shit I’ve just realized that I’ve had a bit of a Chris Kamara moment. I didn’t notice Lyanco coming on and playing out stoppage time. 😂 

Have a peek at the BBC website and look at the Match report - you’ll see he had an absolute stormer getting himself the number 6 player rating spot on the list of the 14 players we used. 
that stuff of Legends 🤪😜😳😁😇 

[austsaint]

7 hours ago, beatlesaint said:

Do we win by more if Broja was fit? 
Let’s hope he’s back next Friday 

I don't know about that - I'm a Broja fan, but Adams and Armstrong were effective today; the great finish from Adams and the movement and creativity of Armstrong even if they could have collected 2-3 other goals from gilt-edged chances.

Another uplifting performance and win with a continuation of the recent fast, free-flowing play balanced with a tight, well organised defence which highlighted three of the best performers on the pitch - KWP, Livramento and Salisu.      Both FB's played like wing-backs with marauding runs and good crosses, and the combination of Redmond and KWP worked very well.     KWP gets player of the match from me because he also excelled defensively and had the presence of mind to clear off the line in a crucial play.     Livramento looks more and more like a wing back, attacking midfielder to me and while I'd rather see KWP and he playing on the right hand side, as long as Walker-Peters is getting regular starts and game time we have two outstanding full backs who ignite so much attacking threat.   Mentions to McCarthy and Romeu.   McCarthy justified his retention and continued his solid season and once again Romeu underlined how important his midfield role is.    He also demonstrated with a succession of progressive attacking passes and movement how under-appreciated his passing game is.

Salisu has made such a difference and is majorly responsible for the tighter defence.   His speed, anticipation, blocks and tackles are stand outs, while the quality of his passing is improving rapidly.    

Well done to Ralph today - picked a decent side, and made good, timely decisions about substitutions - including the rewarding of recent performances from Diallo and Lyanco with game time today.

[JRM]

10 hours ago, Saint Since '51 said:

I was there. Enjoyed the game a lot.

Contested for the ball really well, dominated the opposition for most of the match, 60+% possession. We looked really well coached and created lots of pressure on their goal. All good. Well done and thank you to Ralph and the whole team.

But one shot on target. One. In a game we bossed. That has to be a worry.

Agree completely, really enjoyed the day, we always take a good following to Watford and well deserved the 3 points, but we made much harder work of it than needed. 1 shot on target is crazy for our dominance. Armstrong needs a bit of luck to get him going again,  he must have had 6 or 7 shots himself, had a good game other than finishing. 

Watford fans seemed pessimistic, not seen so many leave before the end when it's only 1-0 before. 

Table looks much better now, Brentford sinking down after a good start perhaps they will struggle after all. 

[Yorkshire Saint]

Can anyone shine any light on image 46 on the official site ? Seems a rather random picture of a lot of bored faces in presumably an executive area. 

[Sunglasses Ron]

Very happy with that!

Most pleasing aspect is the general solidity of our defending. What’s that now, three clean sheets (Man City, West Ham and Watford)? Much easier to win games if you don’t ship them in at the other end!

[Billy the Kidd]

1 minute ago, Sunglasses Ron said:

Very happy with that!

Most pleasing aspect is the general solidity of our defending. What’s that now, three clean sheets (Man City, West Ham and Watford)? Much easier to win games if you don’t ship them in at the other end!

And Leeds. 

[Sunglasses Ron]

Just now, Billy the Kidd said:

And Leeds. 

Oh yeah! Jesus, we really are half decent 😂

[Teddeer]

7 hours ago, austsaint said:

I don't know about that - I'm a Broja fan, but Adams and Armstrong were effective today; the great finish from Adams and the movement and creativity of Armstrong even if they could have collected 2-3 other goals from gilt-edged chances.

Another uplifting performance and win with a continuation of the recent fast, free-flowing play balanced with a tight, well organised defence which highlighted three of the best performers on the pitch - KWP, Livramento and Salisu.      Both FB's played like wing-backs with marauding runs and good crosses, and the combination of Redmond and KWP worked very well.     KWP gets player of the match from me because he also excelled defensively and had the presence of mind to clear off the line in a crucial play.     Livramento looks more and more like a wing back, attacking midfielder to me and while I'd rather see KWP and he playing on the right hand side, as long as Walker-Peters is getting regular starts and game time we have two outstanding full backs who ignite so much attacking threat.   Mentions to McCarthy and Romeu.   McCarthy justified his retention and continued his solid season and once again Romeu underlined how important his midfield role is.    He also demonstrated with a succession of progressive attacking passes and movement how under-appreciated his passing game is.

Salisu has made such a difference and is majorly responsible for the tighter defence.   His speed, anticipation, blocks and tackles are stand outs, while the quality of his passing is improving rapidly.    

Well done to Ralph today - picked a decent side, and made good, timely decisions about substitutions - including the rewarding of recent performances from Diallo and Lyanco with game time today.

Agree with much of what you say but one shot on target tells me we'd have done better with Broja up top and he must start against Villa if fit.

[austsaint]

2 minutes ago, Teddeer said:

Agree with much of what you say but one shot on target tells me we'd have done better with Broja up top and he must start against Villa if fit.

I won't be disappointed to see Broja start - and I've thought for a while that he and Armstrong will be (if not now) our best striking combination.   I'm not going to blow up at Ralph if he starts Adams and Armstrong though.   I know the Adam's header miss was up there with Redmond's scuff the week before, but he worked hard, and his goal was superb.   I'm thinking Broja on at half-time; not because he isn't good enough to start, he clearly is, but Adams scored the cracker goal and between he and Armstrong there were plenty of chances created....if not finished!!

[Teddeer]

3 minutes ago, austsaint said:

I won't be disappointed to see Broja start - and I've thought for a while that he and Armstrong will be (if not now) our best striking combination.   I'm not going to blow up at Ralph if he starts Adams and Armstrong though.   I know the Adam's header miss was up there with Redmond's scuff the week before, but he worked hard, and his goal was superb.   I'm thinking Broja on at half-time; not because he isn't good enough to start, he clearly is, but Adams scored the cracker goal and between he and Armstrong there were plenty of chances created....if not finished!!

Ralph will undoubtedly get flak if Broja is fit and he leaves him on the bench and we struggle to score against Villa. Nothing I've seen so far convinces me that a front two of Che and Adam Armstrong is going to score a flurry of goals but I'd love them to prove me wrong.

[Whitey Grandad]

22 minutes ago, Teddeer said:

Agree with much of what you say but one shot on target tells me we'd have done better with Broja up top and he must start against Villa if fit.

‘On target’ or not doesn’t bother me. A shot on target that’s not a goal is not much different from a shot that is a foot wide or hits the woodwork. They are all goal scoring opportunities.

[redder freak]

A pleasing win. Watford are a good side and scored 5 against Everton last week. Could easily have scored a few against Saints, but for great goalkeeping and last ditch defending.

[sfc4prem]

3 minutes ago, redder freak said:

A pleasing win. Watford are a good side and scored 5 against Everton last week. Could easily have scored a few against Saints, but for great goalkeeping and last ditch defending.

Quite right. This game could easily have finished 4-2 to Saints.

[East Kent Saint]

18 minutes ago, Whitey Grandad said:

‘On target’ or not doesn’t bother me. A shot on target that’s not a goal is not much different from a shot that is a foot wide or hits the woodwork. They are all goal scoring opportunities.

Good to see Armstrong getting the shots in , back in the Lallana/Tadic days the shot rarely happened !

[Chez]

15 hours ago, saint1977 said:

 Bit of luck first half with the post/McCarthy part block but good awareness from KWP.

We need to learn from that incident. Romeu was done for pace, we were short handed and fractionally better play from Watford and it would have been a much more straight forward chance.  Cant remember of it was our own set piece or not, but that is certainly when we are vulnerable. Every time I see it happen I question the manager, the analysis that I assume happens, and the tactics put in place. 

[skintsaint]

GTFI, good win. Could/should have been way more. Really good to see team gelling now. Stick with that front two and it will all come good i'm sure of it. AA just needs a goal and hopefully he will start banging them in.

[Red]

15 hours ago, Chewy said:

I am happy, just disappointed that Redmond is the worst footballer in the world ever and no one except Ed Rooney can see it.

 

Ok I know it's tongue in cheek but would you really rather have Theo over Red yesterday? Hopefully Redmond is taking onboard the coaching etc. and he does seem to be more direct lately - would love it if he did more of it. Perhaps his concern is not to leave us too exposed if we go all out attack - which really is not his role and maybe having addressed the piss poor leaky defence of last season he feels he can focus more on the attack

[Teddeer]

1 hour ago, skintsaint said:

GTFI, good win. Could/should have been way more. Really good to see team gelling now. Stick with that front two and it will all come good i'm sure of it. AA just needs a goal and hopefully he will start banging them in.

Not sure we should stick with this front two because Broja is far more clinical. Yesterday Che missed a sitter of a header and Adam Armstrong had two clear sites of goal in the first half - one he blasted over the bar and the other he put just wide but both should really have ended up in the back of the net. I still have confidence Armstrong will get his fair share of goals and Che will too but, from what I've seen, Broja is the most clinical of the three and offers us much more overall as he can shoot, head and cause havoc by direct running with his pace and power. 

[bpsaint]

5 hours ago, Nick75Sfc said:

Can anyone shine any light on image 46 on the official site ? Seems a rather random picture of a lot of bored faces in presumably an executive area. 

Can’t see anything of note, other than possibly Nelly Gao sat next to Martin Semmens?

[whelk]

15 hours ago, The Kraken said:

BBC run a system where everyone can vote on players performance and it averages it out. Redmond was the lowest ranked Saints player. But then Lyanco scored 7.8 for a cameo appearance, so pinch of salt recommended.

About as meaningless as Garth Crooks team of the week. Every fucker seems to want to run a poll and report it as news these days

[whelk]

3 hours ago, Whitey Grandad said:

‘On target’ or not doesn’t bother me. A shot on target that’s not a goal is not much different from a shot that is a foot wide or hits the woodwork. They are all goal scoring opportunities.

Yep indeed another stat trotted out as significant. “Not since blah blah..had less shots on target…” wow like means anything

the old boys hate it but xG really is the best stat to define performance even though hard to fathom how they conclude the numbers on occasions

Edited 31 October, 2021 by whelk

[BERMUDASAINT]

23 minutes ago, Teddeer said:

Not sure we should stick with this front two because Broja is far more clinical. Yesterday Che missed a sitter of a header and Adam Armstrong had two clear sites of goal in the first half - one he blasted over the bar and the other he put just wide but both should really have ended up in the back of the net. I still have confidence Armstrong will get his fair share of goals and Che will too but, from what I've seen, Broja is the most clinical of the three and offers us much more overall as he can shoot, head and cause havoc by direct running with his pace and power. 

I keep seeing this, the chealsea loaner, Broga over our own strikers? I can see he is a special tallented kid, but each time he plays he is taking time away from the strikers we have brought and need to get scoring. I am all for playing the kid every now and then, but to bench our other strikers could be detrimental to the team long term. We can win without him. I don't know if Broga will ever be our player permanently, would love it to happen,  but for now he cannot block the path of our permanent strikers who need to gain  their form and confidence.  I love the pressure he has put on them and I hope he will be a Saints signing one day.........

[Toadhall Saint]

5 minutes ago, BERMUDASAINT said:

I keep seeing this, the chealsea loaner, Broga over our own strikers? I can see he is a special tallented kid, but each time he plays he is taking time away from the strikers we have brought and need to get scoring. I am all for playing the kid every now and then, but to bench our other strikers could be detrimental to the team long term. We can win without him. I don't know if Broga will ever be our player permanently, would love it to happen,  but for now he cannot block the path of our permanent strikers who need to gain  their form and confidence.  I love the pressure he has put on them and I hope he will be a Saints signing one day.........

Saved me the typing - cheers

[Sheaf Saint]

10 minutes ago, BERMUDASAINT said:

I keep seeing this, the chealsea loaner, Broga over our own strikers? I can see he is a special tallented kid, but each time he plays he is taking time away from the strikers we have brought and need to get scoring. I am all for playing the kid every now and then, but to bench our other strikers could be detrimental to the team long term. We can win without him. I don't know if Broga will ever be our player permanently, would love it to happen,  but for now he cannot block the path of our permanent strikers who need to gain  their form and confidence.  I love the pressure he has put on them and I hope he will be a Saints signing one day.........

I get this argument but I don't agree with it. If he's the best striker in the squad he should be playing. End of.

Reducing our chances of getting points by leaving our best goalscorer out cos he's only on loan is completely irrational.

[UpweySaint]

18 minutes ago, Sheaf Saint said:

I get this argument but I don't agree with it. If he's the best striker in the squad he should be playing. End of.

Reducing our chances of getting points by leaving our best goalscorer out cos he's only on loan is completely irrational.

It's not completely irrational. Plenty won't agree with it but there is a clear rationale behind it. Much like us selling Ings - he's a better player than all three of them but selling him was not irrational.