04 Aug 2018 18:38:42
Todays Game

Its best not to attempt to read too much into the result. The whole thing raised more questions than gave answers.

So many players looked tired, it was 30 degrees and perhaps after an energy sapping Wednesday and two hot days Thur/ Fri they became sapped?

Bright Spots - Mo Elyounoussi and Maya Yoshida. Mo showed his class and Maya, looked sharp, just as he did in the World Cup.

Jack Stephens was the best of the Central Defenders and therefore, next Sunday, if we are playing 5 across the back, we should have Jack - Jannik - Maya with hopefully Soares, we missed his pace today and Ryan or Matt on the left.

Ryan looked out of position slightly and Matt too as Right Wing Back - Sparky shaped them over mid second half but it still wasn't quite right.

Stuart Armstrong was brilliant on Wednesday, was okay today but looked tired (or maybe got a slight knock)

JWP - too slow in his thinking, great from corners/ set pieces but in open play he gets caught napping.

Lamina looks completely out of sorts, he gave the ball away easily and made bad decisions.

Nathan Redmond added some pace, but we are short of firepower.

Shane and Charlie to me looked short on ideas on how to score, Shane will run forever but how long does he carry on being given field time?

Manola Gabbiadini is looking much more engaged and a threat, but he needs a partner that delivers him chances, I think he and mo might click.?

Goalkeepers - well Mr McCarthy didn't have the best of days, but let's hope he gets back in the grove once we start for real. Gunn didn't make the pitch today, but he is in the wings. thankfully!

This Week

Lets get a few out of the mix and clear the fog. Steven Davis - Shane Long and dare I say it, if West Ham want to pay £30 million for Lamina. toodles!

Lets keep Sam Gallagher and Josh Simms, especially if we don't bring in a striker.

Few youngsters need to go out on loan;
Harris Reed (Sell or Loan)
Alfie Jones
Jake Hesketh
Yan Valery
and a certain Fraser Forster

Work in Progress - Looking forward to next Sunday with my best mate Rob (and the obligatory wine gums)


Pete Wesley.

1.) 05 Aug 2018
04 Aug 2018 23:42:14
It looked like Bertrand and Lemina didn't want to be there today. Maybe they know something that we don't? I still think that Yoshida is as good as any of the other central defenders if not better. Targett showing pride and passion and I would start him as left wingback or even left midfield in front of Bertrand. Still think we're a striker short.

2.) 05 Aug 2018
05 Aug 2018 09:47:12
I agree with Pete re Sam and Josh. Also, as we're all clamouring for a striker, I personally would have kept Carrillo. He would be an unknown quantity this season. Never really got a chance to see what he can do. Play the right formation and tactics he could have done well alongside Gabi. Eds, do you know if there is any recall option in his loan deal?

{Ed001's Note - you can only do recalls in transfer windows now anyway, but I don't remember there being one in his contract.}

3.) 05 Aug 2018
05 Aug 2018 10:15:00
Thanks Ed. BTW, I know Hughes has now come out and said there will (probably) be no more ins or outs, but were you aware of any potential strikers we may have been looking at and if any deal IS likely before Friday?

{Ed001's Note - I think he is being honest and that is it for now. Though there is always the chance someone gets offered at a discount as teams get desperate to offload, I don't expect Saints to be buying.}

4.) 05 Aug 2018
05 Aug 2018 10:21:14
Thanks muchly. Keep up the good work.

{Ed001's Note - very welcome mate. Here's to a good season this time out!}

5.) 05 Aug 2018
05 Aug 2018 13:09:10
Fingers crossed.

6.) 05 Aug 2018
05 Aug 2018 16:14:36
Whilst I don’t think friendlies always give you an accurate reflection on a team’s progress over the summer, it is alarming that the weekend before our season kicks off, we are able to put in a performance so lacking. Yes we’ve played 3 games in a short period of time but so have BM and they too were playing in the same heat as us, so fatigue doesn’t really cut it with me. The players should be starting to look sharper, focused and disciplined in what was our last friendly, looking to give the manager a selection headache for our first competitive fixture and by and large, they failed.

As has rightly been pointed out, our shortcoming in the last couple of seasons has been scoring goals, but also last season, under Pellegrino and Hughes, our defence was also poor. There were too many individual errors and that to me suggests that the players were not being effectively drilled as a defensive unit. Certainly, that has been a complaint made about Mark Hughes’ coaching whilst at Stoke and if they do not work as a unit, individual errors become more likely and more costly. But we have had the summer to rebuild and MH has had time now to start to work on these things…. but in every friendly we’ve played, teams have been able to walk through us all too easily at times and the better teams have capitalised. Celta Vigo are two weeks behind our preparation, as our Borussia Monchengladbach. We should expect to see their fitness, match sharpness and cohesion a little off the pace compared to ours, but that was not the case. Perhaps Celta Vigo tired in the second half or our second half team was much stronger that our first half team, but yesterday we had no answer.

We definitely do need a new striker as back-up to CA if nothing more. Gabbi has looked nice and sharp in our friendlies but he has rarely played (if at all) in a genuine strike partnership with CA. Elynoussi brings a pace and guile we have lacked since Mane, albeit not quite as electric, but what about the goals Pelle provided or Lambert before him? CA is capable when fit but in each friendly he has featured, he has fatigued quickly and looked to be hobbling. We cannot rely on him to be fit all season. Armstrong too looks capable of being a fine purchase to help create and score but when CA is absent, he and Mo will need someone in front of them. Sam Gallagher for me has yet to show the potential to succeed in this league and with each passing year, the concern is that he is not quite there.

But defensively, we have the components of a solid defence now we have added JV and yet we remain utterly butterly. If MH aspires for his teams to beat opponents the old Manchester United way of outscoring them, then surely at least he should be putting all his eggs in our attacking basket and bring in a new striker to play beside or back-up CA. To start a new season with Shane Long as your back-up striker or even as a starter is surely folly for a team with hopes of faring better in the league than last term. But even that Manchester United team could defend when they needed to. Its all well and good debating Bertrand or Targett/ Yoshi or Bednarek, but when the defence is as flimsy irrespective of which players you field, you have to ask questions of the coaching and tactics.

Just consider the formation for a moment. If we are to play three centre-backs, do we have three truly reliable players for that role? Question marks remain over Hoedt who is young and learning, capable of the sublime and stupid in a single move. JV may need time to adapt to the Prem. Yoshi is committed but his positioning and decision making is not always the best and Stephens suffers the same issues but has youth and inexperience as a defence. Bednarek seems to hover in the Hoedt description at the moment. Playing three at the back, we have also shown the capacity to concede heavily. So something isn’t quite right and its not as simple as blaming the system deployed as of course it is also matters how its used. At the moment, we are still missing the same thing (s) as at the end of last season and in his comments after yesterday’s game, MH seems unsure what the problem is.

I would still prefer to see us play with three attacking players as I think this would utilise the players on our books more effectively, not least by allowing them to play in their preferred positions. In midfield, with the addition of Armstrong, we now have the players to play three in the middle. Romeu, Hojberg, Lemina (if he ever wakes up from his living nightmare and remembers he can play football) . And three in the middle would allow ME to play on his favoured left side rather than as a striker supporting CA or on his own. We have Redmond who looked more threatening on the right wing in his cameos there at the end of last season, Gabbi can play on the right and drift in as well so we would appear to have balance across our front three as well (provided we find someone to deputise for CA) . This would then require only a back four and I would feel more comfortable deploying two centre backs with question marks rather than three. Its simple maths isn’t it?

If Angus Gunn is to be our future, why not give him a run of starts as well? He did well on loan last season and has looked dependable in our friendlies so far this summer. Alex McCarthy is solid rather than spectacular so he should only start if he deserves to based on current performances.

Still, there’s a week for these issues to be ironed out ahead of the new season and with the recruitments made, on the whole I have confidence in the squad MH has at his disposal to perform better than last year. Here’s to a better 2018/ 19.

7.) 05 Aug 2018
05 Aug 2018 17:15:35
Afternoon Figo

All well thought through and well said.

Charlie Austin only played 10 games for us last season, he looked "hampered" and his running looks awkward. he doesn't look like a prolific/ turn up every game player and Shane Long is not of Premiership quality.

The comment about Sam Gallagher is not wrong, more that as you rightly said, we miss Sir Ricky Lambert and Pelle, Gallagher needs to use his physical presence to good effect and become a target man.

Totally agree with playing 3 up front and 4 at the back with Soares being allowed to "Wing Back It" and the CBs close the gap once he is on the march.

If we had somebody with Sisto's pace and ability to strike on the left as an attacking midfielder he could cause all sorts of havoc with MG and ME as two forwards. Its not a total natural fit but ME has played that role in the past.

Obvious to all that we could do with another forward, we have lost Boufal - Corrilo - Tadic and by default should see Shane Long moved on. That leaves CA who can sit on the bench along with Gallagher, what do you think might work?

Simms needs games, I know that he is slight, but he has something, he is not strong enough to start at the moment which is a concern. Redmond again is a "Nearly" sort of a player, but you wouldn't bet your house on him!

Going to be an interesting week.

We are still going to have fun, because we will!

8.) 06 Aug 2018
06 Aug 2018 03:22:49
Great match report Pete and brilliant insight as always Figo. People tend to dismiss friendly match results as we saw the same Deby side that swept us away some days ago struggled to get over the line against Reading in the league. Whether it gives us a glimpse of the tactical shape and performance of the team as a whole depends on what the manager is trying to achieve. If Hughes is focused on player conditioning and fitness then I assume players will be told not to take too many risks and push themselves too much as they might get injured before the season starts.
I do not see Hughes changing his formation after persisting with it throughout preseason, if he starts with a back four then that would make preperations so far to be redundant. Unless we get ourselves into a slump, I don't see us using anything else than a back three. As much as I miss the days of having actual wide forwards and flying wingbacks.