04 Feb 2018 16:47:32
We have a win at last, thoroughly deserved as well. Now I am going to be as usual contentious, after that result it proves to me we have to get rid of MP now. He has messed around with the line up until most of the squad are dizzy. West Brom went one up very early and forced us to play like we did against Watford in the first half. It s pretty obvious to me that we have some very talented players that are far superior to the squads of the teams around us in the table. Limena just looked different class and he has been sat on the bench. Still not sure about JWP got good bits about him obviously his ability with the dead ball but still a bit powder puff tackling wise as a midfielder rather have Hojbjerg who is strong and improving every game. Carillo looked very similar to Gabbi with his quick thinking and touches but our style of play destroyed Gabbi's confidence because he was played as a target man which he is not. We do need a central defender with pace on the ball as Jack and Hoedt are a bit one paced. Anyway I could go on forever about what I think but one thing is for sure in my mind the squad of players we have should never ever be playing where they are in the table, nearly all of the pundits keep saying what a great squad we have. Conclusion, top players playing a system that doesn't bring the best out of them which in turns affects their confidence. A new manager, mind you the right one, would turn this team of ours around in a couple of games why can't the board see this most of us can. Unfortunately winning yesterday will probably keep MP in a job, one he doesn't deserve. Frustrating.

1.) 04 Feb 2018
04 Feb 2018 20:58:04
I couldn't agree more .
reality is, there is no guarantee that Lemina will actually start in the next game. The same thing happened with hoejberg, came into the team, was outstanding and man of the match . and on the bench next game. Personally I think the midfield three of Romeo, Lemina and Hoejberg should be cast in stone. Although I would like to add, it wasn't until I watched Lemina play alongside Romeo that I realised how good L is . every time he passes the ball he moves for a return, when not on the ball he is always making himself available; Romeo looks very static .

2.) 05 Feb 2018
05 Feb 2018 07:30:46
Saint Chris I agree with you for the majority but disagree about JWP. To me he isn’t the biggest build out there and you may be confusing that with hard tackling and hard work. He has come on in both areas hugely over the last couple of seasons. His role isn’t that of the enforcer like Romeu or Pierre, his is more of creativity.
It’s funny writing this that we are all for the majority saying MP should stick with a regular midfield but to me at present there are too many players at roughly the same standard.
Ask a saints fan for his/ her midfield options and it will be different. One thing I would say is that Lemina needs to be playing week in and week out. Maybe slightly more forward?

3.) 05 Feb 2018
05 Feb 2018 08:35:12
Is it me or has Romeu's form dropped a bit. After he played bad in the first game against spurs he seems to have not been making as many vital blocks and challenges, and he doesn't seem to shoot as much now either. As someone said in one of the previous posts he is 'static'.

4.) 05 Feb 2018
05 Feb 2018 10:44:56
I take your point Cyprus about JWP but still don’t think he is quite the creative midfielder you say he is. I know he has improved a bit but it’s taken a long time for him to show the promise he had 3 seasons ago. Just don’t think he is ever going to be quite good enough needs more to his all round game in my opinion. Wish somebody could do something with Redmond, there’s a top player in there somewhere. I would just repeat I don’t think this manager will ever be able to coach this team to their true potential, he’s had long enough and still keeps changing it around hoping to get it right . More by luck than judgement when we do get a decent result.

5.) 05 Feb 2018
05 Feb 2018 11:00:43
I think Cyprus is right south_hants_rich. The main problem with playing Hojberg, Lemina and Romeu together at the moment is that all three are more comfortable playing in a deep-lying midfield role. There is a risk in playing all three that Lemina and Hojberg’s games are not attack minded enough to give the right balance to a midfield three and provide support for the forwards. That’s why MP prefers to drop one and have a more attack minded player in there.

That said, I think its worth playing Lemina in a more advanced role, not as an out and out attacking midfielder but in a position where he can drive forward like Patrick Viera used to do at Arsenal, but with greater freedom as Lemina would have the protection of Hojberg and Romeu. When he is up the pitch, he has demonstrated the ability to pick out a through ball and try different things creatively so I think its worth a few games experimenting with this to have our three strongest midfielders on the pitch at the same time.

Just while I’m on the Lemina point, I’ve seen several posts around the forum of late questioning Lemina’s absence from the first team for recent games. I’m not entirely sure why fans have been confused by this. After reports surfaced he was struggling with an ankle injury, he did make several sub appearances and a start but in each of those games, he was a huge liability. Gone was the strength and confidence on the ball we saw in the first part of the season. He was easily shrugged off the ball, too slow to react to pressure and was caught out of position, unable to recover. He simply wasn’t playing well, be that a result of injury or not. The West Brom game was the first game he’s played since his injury where he looked back to his old self. If we can keep him fit and playing that way for the remainder of the season, it could really be the difference between us and the others fearful of the drop.

JWP has scored a few this season and his delivery of the ball from set pieces is so strong, its very hard to drop him. In open play, he does seem to offer a little less than a natural wide player when he’s on the wing but he’s not really a wide player. He’s not a combative central midfielder, nor is he an Eriksen-like creative attacker blessed with the same vision and finesse. But his work rate is very good, his range of passing is excellent and with this, he can quickly turn defence into attack. I think he just needs to add an extra dimension to his game, be it breaking up play, intercepting passes, or playing with freedom in an advanced role and finding through balls, spreading the play and getting into the box to score more often – something he’s appeared to be working on this season. If he can do either to a useful level, he’d be quite a player.

I’ve been thinking the same saint bod; Romeu has really gone off the boil this season. Its perhaps easier to pick holes in performances when the team’s playing badly, but all too often he’s been caught napping, out of position, lost his runner or simply dwelt on the ball too long and coughed up possession in very dangerous areas. It may be that teams are more readily employing the tactic of pressing our players higher up the pitch, but it seems to me that Romeu is often playing without the spark he once had. It may be a confidence thing so if the team improves, so may he, but with Lemina and Hojberg both able to play in defensive midfield positions, albeit not quite the same, it may be that he should be the one being dropped more often than Lemina or Hojberg.

6.) 05 Feb 2018
05 Feb 2018 11:42:30
I agree Figo about Lemina maybe he hasn’t been totally match fit but I also think they were playing him too deep and we ended up strangled in midfield due to perpetual defensive play. When we press higher up it opens up the midfield for the more creative players like Lemina . We play too defensively and with not having a solid centre half who is quick on the ball and can bring the ball out of defence we struggle to turn defence into attack. That is what we did when we had Toby and VVD. We should have got a quality centre half in the January window. Overpriced, yes, but so was VVD so the cost difference would have been cancelled out.

7.) 05 Feb 2018
05 Feb 2018 22:55:27
NO Analysis Like you Guys . I just enjoyed the Game, the win and the 3 points.