Southampton Banter Archive August 25 2013

25 Aug 2013 14:12:58
Any one else thought that clyne could be used as a right winger?

He is decent going forward but we don't really use traditional wingers so probably not, but, if we were to, I think from my brief look at Chambers he may be better suited if that is the route we were going down!

We're playing 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1 atm with wing backs on the attack so we aren't using wingers

I love Clyne to bits, but he has two faults that I have seen.
1)While he is great tearing down the wing, or cutting inside, when he gets into a position to deliver a ball, nine times out of ten the delivery is appalling.
2) Clyne's major flaw is his height. Hell, my eight year old kid is taller than him.

Interestingly, Chambers seems to have great delivery, and has the height to be able to deal with the high balls.

Clyne loves to bomb forward and forgets he is a defender witch leaves you exposed at the back

Fox had a good delivery and was taller than clyne does that mean he is a better option
Ashley Cole is small
Dani Alves is small
most top players in that position are small

Lol, yes and Messi is a midget too!

Come one! I'm not criticizing the guy, but merely highlighting the fact that being vertically challenged is a disadvantage for a defender and while he's great going forward, his delivery needs a lot to be desired. Overall, he is a quality full back, but if we are talking about him being used "as a right winger" then delivery of his final ball is critical.

What the hell has height got to do with being a right back, Gary Neville was hardly giant haystacks, most full backs are vertically challenged, they are mobile not used for mopping up high balls, that post about Clyne's height was utter tosh!

All the best fullbacks are small

Saint IQ

25 Aug 2013 10:41:36
Looks like we played very well yesterday, and if decisions went our way we could have won 4-1 with 2 Lambo penalties (Both clear penalties) and a J-Rod goal, which was defo onside! We dominated the match, JWP and Chambers both look like future stars in the making and Obsvaldo looked classy when he came on, can't wait till next match, very excited about this season!

Jay rod was defo offside once you watch again!

Also looked like Osvaldo and Ramirez linked up well

Decisions went against us all game because the ref seemed not to like us but luckily he didn't send of Osvaldo (although I'm not sure his first foul actually should have been the booking, his second should have so perhaps the ref was realising the first one was a mistake).

But that is football, on average we seem to lose out on decisions for whatever reason.

I have to agree about our youngsters though. Ward-Prowse was playing some Gerrard quality balls every now and then and showing that he could be the next big thing in the English midfield and as for Chambers, I think Clyne should be worried about his starting position because he has played two solid games so far.

The future is bright.

Pablo defo showed his quality but don't think we'll be winning the fair play league this season!

On MOTD the highlight looked like he was onside to me, check it out

Offside was tight, no daylight but he was just passing the line. I think Chambers is good for his age but should be no threat to Clyne. Chambers needs to sort positioning out when attacking. Too often he stands very close instead of going into space. Gutted Punch has left, he was consistently very good last season. Oswaldo was far from classy when he came on. Should have been sent off and aside from one good cross, if contributed nothing. But, we shouldn't expect a lot from a guy that's been on board 5 minutes. We were sloppy on and off the ball on Saturday. Couldn't believe the amount of cross field long balls in the first half - not like us at all. But the ref was weak and a point was the minimum we deserved for a very average performance against a poor side.

I totally agree with the above. Clyne made a massive difference when he came on - his positioning is spot on. Think I'll reserve judgment on Chambers as he was caught out a couple of times.
The second half was absolutely superb. Wave after wave of attack. Who would have thought Osvaldo, Lambert, JRod and Ramirez would be on the pitch at the same time! Very excited about the rest of the season.
Osvaldo's inch-perfect cross for JRod was excellent.
Thought Ramirez was fantastic when he came on. He surely has the best close control and dribbling skills in the squad. The Sunderland defence were petrified when he ran at them. He also seemed a great bloke after the game and was happy to have photo taken with my son. Good on him.

PS - don't agree with the Osvaldo comments. Thought he showed great potential. Was strong on the ball and should never have been booked. Sure he'll be a great signing.
Punch was good last season and worked well with Clyne but is left footed and so was always cutting inside, getting his head down and going for goal. Not looking up at all. Think we need someone who can get to the by-line and get decent crosses in. JWP did this on Saturday.

You only need to have one body part that can legally play the ball over the line to be offside. JRod was offside by a head.
I thought Osvaldo showed good first touch and good acceleration, but (not unexpectedly) had a hard time getting on the same page as the rest of the attackers. With some practice time, I think he will be very good for us.
Chambers was only playing his second game! I thought that he showed excellent first touch and good confidence on the ball. He's not about to beat out Clyne, but Clyne has 4 years more experience. Chambers is going to be an excellent player within the next couple of seasons.
Concerns: Schneiderlin looked lost--he needs to figure out how to play with Wanyama. JRod was pretty poor. Lallana was anonymous except for a 15-20 minute spell before he was substituted.

Chambers looked good my only worry is that he lacked some pace tracking back that we have with clyne other than that looked a well rounded and composed player and with clyne filling in at LB when shaw went off at least we have better cover for shaw with clyne than fox!

The ref also missed Osvaldo pulling their defenders shirt while Fonte came in and smashed the guys nose while heading in the goal! ;)