10 May 2015 19:44:11
Hi Fellow Fans, I like the rest of you would like to figure out what has changed for the worse. RoKo got Manager of the Month in Feb and we were back in the frame. Then Fraser Foster, that keeper many continued to knock, got injured v Burnley. At that point we had conceded 19 goals in 30 matches. Six games later won 1 draw 1 lost four conceded a total of 11 goals in 6 games last 5 two per game. I think Forster was a massive loss - for his clean sheets etc and the confidence he gave the back 4. Over the past couple of months Clyne has stopped being the marauding wing back and hardly broken into a trot or sweat. He should be careful because Van Gaal will have noticed this. Bertrand has played much better but still is not like before Xmas. Wanyama and Schneiderlin have hardly played a game together and both have not been themselves. Most of this is down to the speculation about their futures. Alderweireld has not been regularly in the back 4 and Jose and he were brilliant until the Forster injury. Tadic who was brilliant until nov has clearly got a big injury no one has admitted to and his creativity has been missing since November. Our forwards certainly need some restructuring. I think they can all contribute in the right environment but a Charlie Austin type might be the answer. We have had a great season even if we lose the last 2 and Swansea get past us. It is such a shame this has happened and I think although I have named a number of individuals the TEAM is not the team it was. I think the key problem is the loss of Fraser Forster and the fact that we have played teams who are far hungrier than we are right now. Keep the faith and I am sure Roko and the board will fix things in the summer and give us an even better season next year.
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11 May 2015 09:35:18
I think the squad is fatigued and not in the right mind set. Forster was a huge loss as he usually pulls off a big save at least once or twice a game in which Gazza and Davis haven't done. The sooner the season ends the better, opportunity to sort the squad and add much needed depth in Midfield.
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10 May 2015 16:26:55
The main thing that still bothers me about Ronald is him bringing in players he knows from Holland which their parent clubs are quite happy to lose . The main thing I can't still get my head round is paying 12 million for Shane Long and playing him as a bit player . I don't think that could be called good business in anybody's language . I would bring Ramirez back as well as he is our player and although you're not going to get a tackle out of him he at least might score one or two from attacking midfield and he does have good vision which we lack desperately and I think he would link well with Mane. We need some creativity going forward and not 70% possession with no cutting edge.
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10 May 2015 17:39:29
Thats because les bought long as a panic buy and roko doesn't rate him
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10 May 2015 19:43:52
Yes, I can't really imagine Koeman walked through the doors and immediately demanded: "Get me Shane Long - whatever the cost!"
I doubt he even knew who he was. That was a Les Reed special, for sure.
I would hope that, having had a full season to experience the Premier League now, Koeman has a much clearer idea of what kind of player is suitable for this level and what kind isn't (immobile and feeble, for example, like Pelle and Tadic). We're not in Holland anymore. Having seen the Eredivisie quite a lot this season, it is not a strong league at all. Even Colin Kazim-Richards has scored double figures there this season - a Championship/League One player.
Gaston will probably be moved on. He's in the last year of his contract and one of the highest paid players at the club. There's no way they're going to offer him a new deal. It's a shame, as he's always shown flashes of promise, but he's not going to make at Saints or in the Premier League. Expect him to resurface as a very decent player in Spain or Italy.
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11 May 2015 13:47:47
Qwertyell bet you weren't saying that about Pelle and Tadic at the start of the season, two players who were crucial to our incredible start to the season, Pelle can't be expected to score constantly for a whole season and Tadic has had groin problems for a while now, which has coincided with his poor form, the fact that we have one goal scorer in the team has been the issue, both are good players, I agree I'd like to see Ramirez given another chance and think he could be the missing link, if he has a good pre-season with us and stays fit I think he could become the player we expected him to be
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