Jump to content

Recommended Posts

Posted

Once again some positives to take from that late rally. Lovely to see TP score from a well delivered corner and help set up the 1st with a knock down from a free kick. If we can just get better at delivering those balls from open play.

But we're not going to get anything only playing for part of the game. That 1st half was dreadful.

Does feel that Les should play regardless of how fit he is, as we look different with him in the middle. Really hoping we can get charles into that midfield too once he's back. Downes looks a shadow of the player he looked like in Russ' set up. You can completely understand why West Ham were happy to sell him.

Hopefully that's the last we see of A.Armstrong for a while.

 

 

  • Like 8
Posted
Just now, Chez said:

KWP played again and he did a lot of running. Fernandes too. Don't understand that decision. 

They’ve pretty much been in and playing since August making them more 90 minute match conditioned.

Posted
2 minutes ago, Harry_SFC said:

Les didn't looked fatigued at the end when he ran back 50 yards to disposses Murillo.

 

That was the equally unfatigued Sully TBF.

Posted
1 minute ago, Chez said:

KWP played again and he did a lot of running. Fernandes too. Don't understand that decision. 

Assume because both KWP and Fernandes are 'match fit' given they've played a lot of football this season, whereas Sully (and Les) hasn't...?

  • Like 2
Posted

The team is surely pretty obvious now moving forward.

Get KWP back on the right. Manning on the left. Les, Aribo and Fernandes in the middle. Sulemena playing off Onuachu or Archer. 

  • Like 10
Posted
Just now, Baird of the land said:

Once again some positives to take from that late rally. Lovely to see TP score from a well delivered corner and help set up the 1st with a knock down from a free kick. If we can just get better at delivering those balls from open play.

But we're not going to get anything only playing for part of the game. That 1st half was dreadful.

Does feel that Les should play regardless of how fit he is, as we look different with him in the middle. Really hoping we can get charles into that midfield too once he's back. Downes looks a shadow of the player he looked like in Russ' set up. You can completely understand why West Ham were happy to sell him.

Hopefully that's the last we see of A.Armstrong for a while.

 

 

Was he actually on the pitch?

  • Like 1
Posted
15 minutes ago, OttawaSaint said:

Why? I didn't wish cancer on him or make fun of cancer sufferers.

If he had bandy legs and I said that he looks like he has Ricketts would I have to apologize? 

Fuck off 

  • Like 1
Posted (edited)

Abject first half, battling second... Pity that once again we can't have a consistent 90 mins.
Just shows that AA and to a lesser extend CA and Downes are just not physically built to be premiership starters (especially in a struggling team).
At that level, you need a combination of speed, strength, stamina and skill.

Sulemana, Les and TP did well. Aribo as quarter-back like defensive midfielder isn't a bad idea. Manning and KWP in their proper position makes a different. 
Unfortunately, I reckon it will take Juric another month or two to get the team playing well for 90mins... If only

Edited by ButtikonSaint
  • Like 1
Posted (edited)
7 minutes ago, Harry_SFC said:

Les didn't looked fatigued at the end when he ran back 50 yards to disposses Murillo.

 

Well, exactly, that's the point being made isn't it? He might only have been up to playing, say, 30 minutes of high intensity premier league football today, hence not being chosen for the starting 11?

Edited by trousers
Posted (edited)
1 hour ago, OttawaSaint said:

It's hilarious. Dog with a bone!

The expression has recently been updated to "A pedant with a keyboard"
SaintsWeb gets cited in the references for the update, for some reason. 🙂 

Edited by Holmes_and_Watson
  • Haha 2
Posted

Once Sulemana and Ugochukwa came on, the best Saints team was on the pitch. Cue a late 2nd half the same as the 1st half against Utd.

Clearly they can be competitive but need reinforcements, as the squad simply cannot sustain the same level of football.

Glad we had something to raise our spirits at the end.

  • Like 7
Posted
8 minutes ago, trousers said:

Well, exactly, that's the point being made isn't it? He might only have been up to playing, say, 30 minutes of high intensity premier league football today, hence not being chosen for the starting 11?

Tbh the way Downes is playing, even a fatigued Ugochukwu would've been an upgrade. 

  • Like 1
Posted

I only caught the second half. It took Bedders trying to get out of the way of a shot, and it going in for us to do much of anything, as well as more aggressive subs.

in the end, it's another defeat to add to the pile. Doing it in spells isn;t worth anything on the points tally. 

Pluses were Sule tracking back. TP got a good delivery and got his first goal for us. He got into at least a couple of decent positions too. Sadly, our attack is so disjointed we stumble onto chances more than create them. Aribo and Les put in some decent runs. Will got into some space to get the ball forward. I didn;t see his performance the other night. He didn;t do massive amounts today, but was always there to receive and pass, which is what  he's best at.

I'll read the comments on the first half, and no doubt get a very different picture to the side that nearly got a draw, yet managed not to.

Posted

Forest fans forum is funny. They're squealing that we played too rough so maybe Ivan is beginning to get his point across. Clearly their fans wanted us to roll over meekly but Juric must have read the riot act at half time and threatened a few outside if they didn't show more aggression 🙂

  • Like 2
Posted

Downes is proving himself to be so limited. Two of their goals running centrally towards our goal with edge of the box finishes.

Some nice play up top today, which is reassuring. TP was dominant - at one point he caressed the ball out of the sky with a soft control after Ramsdale launched it long. Supreme skill and calmness of mind - especially as he has a couple of Forest players around him.

Would've been nice to score a third but we did have some luck on our side today, too.

Posted
Just now, Harry_SFC said:

Tbh the way Downes is playing, even a fatigued Ugochukwu would've been an upgrade. 

Wouldn't pick Downes again unless injuries mean we have to. Head's and heart not in the fight now.

  • Like 1
Posted
14 minutes ago, obelisk said:

If Bedders header had gone in might Saints have got a 4th? Took too long to get enough crosses in at the end though.

The result might be the same but the football has been a lot more entertaining since Juric took over.

That clearance off the line was phenomenal. 3-3 would have been a fantastic result.

Still was to see Archer playing off TP, and please can we finally give up on AA.

  • Like 3
Posted
3 minutes ago, saintant said:

Wouldn't pick Downes again unless injuries mean we have to. Head's and heart not in the fight now.

Since his best buddy was sacked? 

  • Like 2
Posted

It’s not the 1970’s the manager or magic sponge man doesn’t decide whether players are fatigued, there’s sports science, with red zones, data, algorithms around certain indicators, and other specialist pony. The fact Suly & Les haven’t played many minutes will make them different from KWP & MF. At least it gave Ivan another opportunity to see how fucking useless AA is and how over rated Downes is. The difference when they and Archer went off was night & day. 
 

Glad for Tall Paul, finally getting that monkey off his back. Bree is incredibly average, but again he did ok and is playing at his maximum. Fair play to Manning as well, made a difference. THB is starting to wind me up, he isn’t as good as he seems to think, and is starting to play to the audience by throwing his arms around.  “look how hard I’m trying”. MF decent again, KWP good going forward, not so great defensively. Aribo awful for 80, last 10 he did well. 
 

  • Like 3
Posted
10 minutes ago, saintant said:

One Forest fan saying 'Can we get that big fucker for our bench ' 🙂

Is this the first line of a reimagining of ‘One man went to mow’?

  • Haha 1
Posted

Of todays starting XI

Ramsdale- best we can hope for

KWP -play him on the fucking right and he’s good

Bree- tries but championship standard 

Bednarek- want to finally get shot of this bang average fucker

THB- average PL CB short on confidence but should improve if the players in front of  him do

Sugawara- Not good enough, clumsy defensively 

Downes- disgusting performance and generally not up to it- get rid

Aribo- can look good but too patchy and not wholehearted enough, needs to move on

Fernandes- bright light of the season, hope we keep him

Armstrong-  suppose we have to keep him for his goals last season but useless until August

Archer- seems a nothing player to me, but never had a proper run so not writing him off yet

Of the subs, Les and Sulemana need to be starting as often as possible now. Manning should start to enable KWP to play right

Onuachu is not very good but doubt we can sign a better aerial threat 

Smallbone- sell If possible 

 

 

 

 

  • Like 1
Posted
33 minutes ago, John Boy Saint said:

They’ve pretty much been in and playing since August making them more 90 minute match conditioned.

OK, but Les didn't play the full game on Thursday and could have been subbed today. Sulemana could also have been subbed off. The game was over before they got on the pitch.

Posted
32 minutes ago, AlexLaw76 said:

We are worse as a team with sugawara in it, and probably Armstrong and Archer

Not really seen him until the last two games in which he was poor. He's lightweight, keeps falling over and playing for fouls and technically not quite good enough. His touch keeps letting him down. I don't know if that's the real him, but if it is, we have not replaced KWP. Perhaps he needs more time to settle. He does get forward quite well and puts a good cross in, bit you can't lose the ball in dangerous areas like he does and get away with it in the Prem.

  • Like 1
Posted

I think after the last two games Juric has a good idea of who starts moving forwards.

Smallbone, Downes, Armstrong have all played themselves out of contention. 

  • Like 4
Posted
36 minutes ago, ButtikonSaint said:

Abject first half, battling second... Pity that once again we can't have a consistent 90 mins.
Just shows that AA and to a lesser extend CA and Downes are just not physically built to be premiership starters (especially in a struggling team).
At that level, you need a combination of speed, strength, stamina and skill.

Sulemana, Les and TP did well. Aribo as quarter-back like defensive midfielder isn't a bad idea. Manning and KWP in their proper position makes a different. 
Unfortunately, I reckon it will take Juric another month or two to get the team playing well for 90mins... If only

is it my imagination or have we been like this for many years? One half goof, on half terrible?

Posted
35 minutes ago, trousers said:

Well, exactly, that's the point being made isn't it? He might only have been up to playing, say, 30 minutes of high intensity premier league football today, hence not being chosen for the starting 11?

Does it really take a young proper athlete like him 3 days to recover from 83 minutes of a Prem game? 

  • Lighthouse changed the title to Forest 3-2 Saints - Match Thread
Posted
27 minutes ago, saintant said:

Wouldn't pick Downes again unless injuries mean we have to. Head's and heart not in the fight now.

He was clattering into Forest players in the first half yet you are saying his heart is not in it? I wouldn't pick him right now too, but that's because he is not playing well and is doing the wrong things - not because he isn't trying or is up for the fight. 

  • Like 3
Posted
3 minutes ago, Chez said:

Does it really take a young proper athlete like him 3 days to recover from 83 minutes of a Prem game? 

Yes

The club's sport science team will know his condition 

 

 

  • Like 2
Posted
45 minutes ago, BotleySaint said:

We deserved the equaliser. 

Not sure that's true. We deserved a point or more on Thursday, but by and large we were poor today. A late rally helped by a load injuries to their better players was good to see, but we got what we deserved overall.

  • Like 3
Posted

The first half was reminiscent of RM, The second goal was typical of Pre - Juric period. As was the third goal on Thursday. We are suffering from the early season and the manager unable to differentiate between the useless and the useful. We were better with four at the back and a target man up field. Bednarek needs to stop tippy tappy crap in our own half. Sugawara and Bree doesn't work on the right also KWP on the left. Downes was the worst I've seen him. Archer and Armstrong were hopeless.

We've got to use the assets we've got. KWP on the right, Bednarek, THB, Ugochukwu, Aribo, Fernandes, Onuachu and Sulemana. We blew the first half and the match with the starting lineup. Stick Onuachu up front with Sulemana and maybe Archer and feed them with crosses and early through balls. Cut out the playing it out from the back. Play long to Onuachu it rattles the opposition. 

  • Like 7
Posted

I’m trying to get a bigger picture “read” on the rollercoaster ride of the last two games.

It seems to me that we’re in the mental transition phase between Martin’s painfully slow, possession based approach and a more aggressive style focused on getting the ball forward earlier. But the Russball mentality is so deeply ingrained that it’s almost instinctive.

One of its most frustrating characteristics shows in the passing – even simple passes to open players. Instead of playing the ball ahead of the target, allowing us to maintain forward momentum, we still play it to feet and often even behind the target. Aribo does it a lot, but he’s far from the only one.

Sure, some of it is an ability thing but it’s just as much a mentality thing. When we revert to the Russball instinct we look awful but when we make the mental shift from a possession focus to a penetration focus we look far better. Same players but totally different mindset, and the more creative forces like Dibling, Sulemana and Fernandes get a chance to show their skills.

  • Like 7
Posted
1 minute ago, Matthew Le God said:

Yes

The club's sport science team will know his condition 

 

 

Sulemena looked very tired at end of united game, so I can live with that decision, but Les wasn't out on his feet and hasn't had injuries, so what about him?

How does a sports science actually evaluate the health of player. I hear lots of mentions of red line or red flags or whatever, but how do you actually test (what is the test) to get a red flag that suggests they might pull a muscle if they are played again?

Posted
7 minutes ago, Chez said:

Not really seen him until the last two games in which he was poor. He's lightweight, keeps falling over and playing for fouls and technically not quite good enough. His touch keeps letting him down. I don't know if that's the real him, but if it is, we have not replaced KWP. Perhaps he needs more time to settle. He does get forward quite well and puts a good cross in, bit you can't lose the ball in dangerous areas like he does and get away with it in the Prem.

Sugawara's confidence is shot and that'll have affected his first touch. He's made several goal-conceding errors this season so he's probably second guessing himself all the time which is a sure way to guarantee even more mistakes. I also think he needs more time to settle as the Dutch league is much less physical. We better hope he improves anyway as no-one's buying him after this season so we're stuck with him!

Archer I feel similar about re: confidence, he's clearly an intuitive / playing on the shoulder run and hit it kind of striker, so I think he's just gotten lost this season under RM and needs to get it out of his system. He's also still young and could improve a lot. I expect us to keep him next season and he'll score a ton in the Champ as he has before. Come on, his goal against Arsenal was superb and showed what he can do.

  • Like 1
Posted

Pleased for TP to finally get off the mark, hopefully that gives him a bit of belief to maybe pop up with a couple more this season. The negatives though; we were dreadful first half and the game was all but over after 41 minutes. Bednarek's goal was an absolute fluke and Ramsdale has had an absolute mare. The disallowed goal was a howler and he can't be conceding the three he did at this level.

Hopefully the Newcastle game is more second half than first.

  • Like 2
Posted
2 minutes ago, derry said:

The first half was reminiscent of RM, The second goal was typical of Pre - Juric period. As was the third goal on Thursday. We are suffering from the early season and the manager unable to differentiate between the useless and the useful. We were better with four at the back and a target man up field. Bednarek needs to stop tippy tappy crap in our own half. Sugawara and Bree doesn't work on the right also KWP on the left. Downes was the worst I've seen him. Archer and Armstrong were hopeless.

We've got to use the assets we've got. KWP on the right, Bednarek, THB, Ugochukwu, Aribo, Fernandes, Onuachu and Sulemana. We blew the first half and the match with the starting lineup. Stick Onuachu up front with Sulemana and maybe Archer and feed them with crosses and early through balls. Cut out the playing it out from the back. Play long to Onuachu it rattles the opposition. 

when we are passing it to central midfielders that then pass straight back to CBs or are passing between CBs, opponents go all in with the press and we are in trouble. We haven't done it a lot recently, with Les, Aribo and Fernandes always looking to be on the half turn, but whenever we do, we look terrible.

  • Like 2
Posted
5 minutes ago, CanadaSaint said:

I’m trying to get a bigger picture “read” on the rollercoaster ride of the last two games.

It seems to me that we’re in the mental transition phase between Martin’s painfully slow, possession based approach and a more aggressive style focused on getting the ball forward earlier. But the Russball mentality is so deeply ingrained that it’s almost instinctive.

One of its most frustrating characteristics shows in the passing – even simple passes to open players. Instead of playing the ball ahead of the target, allowing us to maintain forward momentum, we still play it to feet and often even behind the target. Aribo does it a lot, but he’s far from the only one.

Sure, some of it is an ability thing but it’s just as much a mentality thing. When we revert to the Russball instinct we look awful but when we make the mental shift from a possession focus to a penetration focus we look far better. Same players but totally different mindset, and the more creative forces like Dibling, Sulemana and Fernandes get a chance to show their skills.

You can blame previous manager and his style all you like but the ‘bigger read’ is there is a core group of players here that over two seasons of the PL have been consistently finding ways to lose football matches at this level, whatever tactics they are asked to play. 

  • Haha 2
Posted
5 minutes ago, CanadaSaint said:

But the Russball mentality is so deeply ingrained that it’s almost instinctive.

I think that is fair. It's Downes natural game and he needs to adjust. I hope he can. Aribo, Fernandes and Les seem to be more aligned with what Juric is after. 

  • Like 3
Posted
3 minutes ago, Chez said:

Sulemena looked very tired at end of united game, so I can live with that decision, but Les wasn't out on his feet and hasn't had injuries, so what about him?

How does a sports science actually evaluate the health of player. I hear lots of mentions of red line or red flags or whatever, but how do you actually test (what is the test) to get a red flag that suggests they might pull a muscle if they are played again?

VO2 max tests

Heart rate monitoring 

Blood biomarkers

Lactate Threshold Testing

Electromyography

Functional Movement Screen

Load Monitoring

  • Haha 1

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...