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Comment | Tino Livramento Could Miss Rest Of The Season For Saints
at 07:33:47
Very frustrating - needlessly overplayed for an 18 year old, in a position for which we have plenty of options. The club needs to demonstrate exceptional player care if it’s current recruitment strategy is to succeed, or parents will send their young’uns elsewhere. Has Ralph heard of Burnout Syndrome? |
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Comment | Southampton At Liverpool The Verdict
at 12:13:02
Managed to get to this one and although I've been critical of Ralph at times, I think that he at least tried something different for once, and credit to him for doing that. It didn't work, as the new system left vaste swathes of space between our midfield and defence - if you go to Anfield, I guess you need to keep the midfield compact and ours was anything but. Perhaps we ended up with a bit too much width, as an array of diagonal balls from Liverpool were just not getting intercepted.
I think Ralph tried something new, knowing full well that Klopp expected him to mirror his tactics from the Man City game, it didn't work but it was a free hit against a team that are scoring for fun at the moment. I also thought that Lyanco showed some good touches and Salisu was excellent. a 4-0 defeat and yet I didn't go home in my usual frustrated state of mind. |
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Comment | Ritsu Doan The Latest Name To Be Linked With Southampton
at 14:32:24
Tadic was an incomparable player, who never really had the chance whilst at the club to play either as a No.10 or an outright CF. I reckon that, had he done so, he’d be seen now as a true Saints legend |
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Comment | Southampton May Now End Minamino Interest As Liverpool Set Out Transfer Stance
at 13:11:09
In terms of attacking midfielders, I'd prefer to see them go for Matt Grimes of Swansea on a permanent transfer: a more rugged player, but definitely talented, and I think he'd play his heart out for the Saints for years to come. Appears to be a v popular player with Swansea fans (just reading their article about him on Fans Network).
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Comment | Saints Can Now Breathe After Fulham Defeat Ends Relegation Worries
at 08:08:02
I think that poor tactics have been a big part of this freefall in 2021. I read a lot on here about the squad not being good enough: I'd say the GK's are alright, CB's OK (and in Salisu we have a star of the future) and FB's and CM OK when they are fit (in fact JWP and Armstrong are, I think, excellent players and underrated).
The difficulty is the commitment to playing a high line at all times - you can only do that if you have really top, top players. Our system has been found out (eg the forwards swapping with wingers during build ups, or the stupid insistence on passing backwards to try to lure the opposition into a transition), and although I still think that Ralph could be a great manager, he is also very stubborn and needs to learn to build a team to reflect the strengths of the players which he does have.
We have several quick players and we could learn a lot from Leicester and others about counter-attacks. Funny how one of our best performances came against Leicester - when due to a sending off we had no alternative than to play a deeper line. Two players who'd really benefit from counter-attacking tactics might be Adams and Tella. If Adams conserved a bit of energy during games he might remember where the goal is.
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Comment | Saints Closing In On Salisu But Youth Is Not The Solution In The Centre Of Defence
at 17:03:28
"Benalisbroom- When Mark Wright joined he had Chris Nicholl alongside him for his first full season and when Van Dijk signed he had several seasons behind him for Groningen & Celtic so was hardly a youngster, With Wright he was raw but Nicholl talked him through it and talent shone through".
Sorry to be pedantic, Nick, but Wright was barely 18 in that first full season, during which he made 30 odd appearances - not all alongside Nicholl. Since Nicholl left that summer, he then spent a season partnering either Ken Worthington or Mark Whitlock who (let's face it) didn't exactly go on to become household names. And we finished second in the league! Since Salisu has 30 appearances to date, he's kind-of at the same point as Wright was in his second season, 'innit? Kevin Bond came in the following year as his partner, but again I don't really think he shot the lights out if my memory serves me correctly. As an aside, IMP the next decent, experienced CB we had was Russell Osman, who signed in 1989.
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Comment | Hasenhuttl Prioritises Academy Before Transfers But A Balance Needs To Be Struck
at 15:53:55
Nick, although I kind-of agree with some of the points you raise, it seems a bit churlish to be moaning about our CB’s a week after the best performance by a Saints CB pairing in living memory. You may be right - neither Jan nor Jack might not be the long term solution, but given their recent endeavours (and factoring in Stephens’ growing excellence in his distribution of the ball from the back) it seems like the perfect moment to really get behind these two young fellas. |
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Comment | On This Day In History - 8th May 1999 Delhurst Park
at 08:21:45
Great day. I went with a friend who was a Spurs fan and to this day he still talks in disbelief about the atmosphere Saints fans created in that stadium on that day. MlT’s free-kick moved in slow motion for me - as soon as it left his foot it felt like a Saints head would get to it first. |
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Comment | Hasenhuttl Trying To Avoid Unwanted Record At Home
at 12:02:32
Nothing to do with the fans, Nick. This is all about tactical naivety. You only have to read the pre-match interviews of visiting managers to realise that they all know how to beat us at home: long balls, defend in depth and either counter quickly or attack high balls at the far post. If we were smarter and didn’t burn ourselves out by 60 minutes after having the majority of the possession, teams might have to come at us a bit more and we’d properly open them up. I appreciate that it’s a balancing act. |
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Comment | Newspaper Claims Saints Squad Missing Rohl
at 13:05:01
I'd be very happy to Sammy Lee back. I got the impression that he was influential in a lot of areas around the club, beyond his core role on the training ground eg he'd often be seen in restaurants with potential signings, at the airport etc. He's also clearly quite an energetic, outgoing character - which I think may be needed at the moment. |
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Comment | Lemina Claims That His Stay At Saints Was A Two Year Plan
at 13:34:01
What an appalling template for all that is wrong in the game...
Nick: you are too charitable. There's plenty wrong in what he said and his record suggests that he's a spoilt brat who thinks he shouldn't have to commit to anything to get what he wants out of life. |
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Comment | Saints At West Ham United The Verdict
at 07:25:01
For me, we’ve got a good squad but need a quick striker and a CB. Poor Stephens - his confidence must be shot and although I haven’t sat down and totalled up the points per game when he plays as opposed to when he doesn’t, I’m sure the comparison will be a stark one. Sadly, it’s felt like whenever he plays we lose and vice versa for a long time. For the final game he should try Klarer, Jones or Bertrand at CB. |
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Comment | Still Defensive Issues For Trip To West Ham
at 08:15:16
I agree with you, Highfield. I hear that Klarer could be the real deal and I also remember reading somewhere that St Mirren fans were impressed by Jones. As for the idea of trying Stephens up top, I seem to recollect that Chris Sutton started out as a CB. I think it’s a great idea and just the sort of thing that RH might try. They have nothing to lose and potentially a lot to gain by such an experiment. |
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Comment | Hoedt Explains Why He Had To Go !
at 15:15:05
I have a feeling that it wasn't anything about his professionalism, but that RH (who is quite obsessive about transition moments) just thought he's a little one-paced and that would always stop him becoming a top PL premier, where breaking at speed is very important. Personally, I also think that his distribution of the ball was quite poor...So I'm not sure that it was a decision based on which of the 4/5 CB's makes the most mistakes (they all do) - more about what fits into a team which attacks and defends as one unit. |
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Comment | Ryan Bertrand Nearing Return
at 09:06:18
Stephens in the middle of a back 3 doesn’t make much sense to me. Stick the giant Dane in the middle, with Bednarek to the right and Betts to the left, with one pacy w-back (Valery) on the right and one great crosser (Targett) on the left. That feels to me like a nicely balanced back 5. |
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Site Scores| Forum Votes: | 11 | | Comment Votes: | 71 | | Prediction League: | 0 | | TOTAL: | 82 |
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