03 Jan 2017 08:59:25
We are really not in a good position. The rotation is not working and suggests that Puel does not know who the best starting 11 is and everyones best position on the field.

Yesterday it was clear that we were missing a CDM, all 2 of the 3 goals we conceded our midfielders were all over the place. The reason why we've been such a solid squad defensive over the past 3/ 4 seasons is because we've always had 2 great defensive CDM's in front of the defence.

What would be our best 11 at the moment? I think it is.
GK: Forester
RB: Cedric
CB: Fonte
CB: Van Dijk
LB: Bertrand
CDM: Romeu
CM: Davis
CM: Hojbjerg
RW: Tadic
STR: Austin
LW: Boufel.

1.) 03 Jan 2017
03 Jan 2017 12:06:19
Think hojbjerg has looked awful for a couple of months.

2.) 03 Jan 2017
03 Jan 2017 12:51:51
I would go with that but hojberg is debatable think him jwp and clasie r bang average so is davis except for his workrate but I would put jwp in for hojberg simply for his free kicks.

3.) 03 Jan 2017
03 Jan 2017 13:26:46
hojberg technically is superb I don't think he is fit at the moment and will take a while to get him up to speed and premier league fitness. JWP don't rate his delivery to predictable and not much comes of it far better with Bertrand and davis taking the kicks ad drilling them in at pace. Forster looks poor this season problems with his feet again great shot stopper but hat is it. Need a striker keep saying it pelle would have 15 by now min we would have 6-9 more points and still be in the Europa. Don't buy this rotation system a team is just that a group who play together regularly if they can't play 2-3 games a week and not train between should they be premier players. Look at Ibrahimavoic much as it pains me he jas probably played more minutes than any saints outfield player and he is 36. Pick a team stick with it and only rotate for injuries or fatigue. much needed boost against Norwich neede and then regroup and push again with a striker please. J rod needs this year at least injury free to be anywhere near back.

4.) 03 Jan 2017
03 Jan 2017 14:00:20
I don't think that J Rod will get to his best again. Not being able to play competitive football for over a year has ruined his career.
I feel so sorry for him as well as he could have become one of the most prolific strikers in the league.
I think we have a very young team. And I think another issue is top class experience. Redmond/ Hojberg/ Boufal all very young players with not much experience so I don't expect them to be the best players in the world in their first season.
But these are all players that will probably peal soon and go to bigger clubs. We can't expect to grow if we keep feeding off ouroad best players. We just seem to replace, meaning there is no room for improvement.

5.) 03 Jan 2017
03 Jan 2017 16:14:26
I agree with your back four totally. What would be an interesting statistic is how many times this formation was played (when they were all available) .
The midfield; I agree with your chosen three. I also agree with the recent dip in form of Hojbjerg BUT he is player who came to Saints to get playing time. When he was playing regularly he was superb; definitely one that suffers from irregular playing.
Forward; a difficult one . Boufal is exceptional, his control of the ball is unbelievable, he can also score. At times he is so deep, he needs to beat 5 players to get near the box! personally I believe we should be playing two wingers/ players that can cut in from the wide positions. This used to be J Rods strength. If we really want to win games and not play for draws, J Rod and Boufal out wide with Long as the target man. Or even play four up, with JRod and Tadic out wide with Boufal in behind Long .

Whatever we do, we need to change the way we are playing. You can not make 6 changes two games running and wonder why your team is not playing free flowing football!

6.) 03 Jan 2017
03 Jan 2017 17:27:57
I think we played the best attacking when Pochitino was in charge.
We has J-Rod, Lallana and Lambert in thus formation but with more freedom. So Lallana would play all over the place. J-Rod would come inside and Lambert would drop back as he has class vision and delivery.

I wanted Koeman to adapt this with Mane, Tadic and Pelle but he didn't.

I think given the freedom and structural mobility between a front 4 of long, j-Rod, Tadic and Boufal we could improve our attacking game.

7.) 03 Jan 2017
03 Jan 2017 19:13:15
Can't understand how we as fans can tell what the problem is and which players are able to play in this league and the so called managers are clueless. As Rayzer previously said, Hojberg, JWP, Clasie and sometimes Davis aren't cut out for these games. Davis has so many opportunities to shoot but seems to want to pass it. 90% of shots on goal seem to go way over the bar. Aim for the goal line. Also a huge problem we've had for many years are our throw-ins. So slow and we never seem to be able to keep the ball. Please try and throw it faster and also can't remember the last time we scored a goal from break. By the time we get up to the oppositions area their entire team is back defending.

8.) 03 Jan 2017
03 Jan 2017 21:05:28
Puel . I hope you are watching the Bournemouth game . I am! and I had forgotten what it is to watch EXCITING, FAST flowing football .