Southampton Banter Archive August 05 2015

05 Aug 2015 20:11:02
Lets give the transfer speculation a break please and let ROKO concentrate on tomorrow's and Sundays game plus the up and coming PL fixtures.

We should know by now SFC keep things close to their chest . Leave them be . They will deliver .

05 Aug 2015 13:01:39
Been away for the last 3 weeks with no wifi so haven't been able to follow the preseason. How well did saints play in the Dutch games and against espanyol and did any players stand out?

05 Aug 2015 16:26:58
There's been a few players who've looked very good.

The team was a little disappointing in the 45 min friendlies in Austria but they'd only played one game before then. In the Dutch friendlies and the Europa cup game though we were different class. Dutch teams aren't bad, especially feyenoord and Vitesse but apart from a few small patches the team completely bossed those games

Didn't see the espanyol game so I'll leave that for someone else

Anyway, about the players
Gazzaniga looked good against Groningen (I think it was that game he played).
Soares has stood out all pre season, looks better than Clyne already.
Tadic looks like he's back to the player he was before Xmas.
J-Rod's severely lacking fitness but still banging them in, looks promising for when he's fully fit.
Wanyama has been bossing games.
Stekelenburg hasn't needed to do much but pulled out a game changing save vs Vitesse.
Mane looks like he's starting this season like he finished last.

There's been no real surprises, no ones turned into Messi over the summer but the team looks as good as ever

05 Aug 2015 17:18:52
I went to the Espanyol game, Koeman wasn't too impressed by the overall performance judging by his post-match interview.

But as for the match from a fan's point of view, it probably represented the most typical of pre-season friendlies you can get. Neither team went for the others jugular, although a few Espanyol players were a bit rugged with their tackling. I remember Mane getting chopped down by Hector Moreno, a poor challenge but the type you see every week in the league.

Not really the type of match you can judge any player's performance on, but aside from the usual starters Caulker seemed steady enough in his first game, Juanmi showed his attacking intent, and Jay Rod scored a wonderful goal to mark his return at St Marys.

05 Aug 2015 17:26:25
Espanyol game was a bit of a damp squib. Nobody wanted to over exert themselves or risk getting an injury. Harrison Reed was probably the best player on the day and Yosh did well when he came on. Caulker had a decent game on his first game for Saints and JRod scored a cracker.