9 games only 3 goals conceded and 18 points! Bring on Stoke

It would appear to be the obvious tactic. It worked for Wimbledon for many years against technically superior opposition. Luckily for us although they have some tall forwards, I'm not sure they have anyone particularly quick up front.

 

If the ball is put over our heads into space down the wing, our defenders are fast enough in their reactions to get back to cover. This is where the drilling comes in...if this happens, do this. Quick reactions can make up for the lack of a yard of pace. However, a through ball down the middle will be effective as we lack real pace. That just leaves Boruc!

 

Stoke fans seem concerned about their team's fitness as they think some of their players struggle before 90 mins. And they have played a midweek game. I wish Saints were a fit side

 

They will do well to recover from last night. Just need to make sure we arent complacent.

 

Can't wait to see Artur star-jumping against Crouchie. Crouch will just disintegrate like a swatted daddy long-legs.

Kenwyn Jones will be a better contest though.

 

Wanyama can deal with all of them. Or rather, Stoke will need all of them to try and deal with Wanyama.

 

My tickets have just arrived, and it's safe to say I am really looking forward to this one now.

 

I must say, I am almost enjoying Saints' victories this season, as I have a lot of respect for any team who fields a lot of players who are eligible for that country's national team.

You certainly have a lot of good young English players. I am a big admirer of Luke Shaw- I think he's an excellent footballer. And how the England manager could every defend his decision to play Tom Cleverley over Adam Lallana is beyond me. Lallana should be starting the friendlies next month against Chile and Germany, in my opinion. To be honest, I'm not so sure about Lambert for Brazil. England have two top quality forwards in Wayne Rooney and Daniel Sturridge- however I do think that he would be a good addition to the squad, as he offers qualities none of the other England strikers do; plus Lambert can take penalties, which is a good trait to have for your country! I'm still a little mad at how you treated our Vegard Forren though by the way, he is one of our best players, and back home they expect him to go and play for Manchester Unite believe it or not! The options you have now are far better than him though!

Oh and I never mentioned before- Jay Rodriguez and Nathaniel Clyne have impressed me as well. Enjoy your game on the weekend!

 

I thonk Soonts have shacked a lot of purple this sooson. Will you coup it ip til Moo and quillify for Europe or will you drip bock and end ip in mod tooble?

 

Arnautovic will play out wide but probably frequently end up as a second striker I imagine, he is the only one I really worry about, as not only is he 6'4" he's bloody quick as well, Clyne probably edges him on acceleration but if Arnautovic get into his stride it will be hard for poor little Nat to stop him without some excellent sliding challenges (Which are in his locker, to be fair). He is their only player who really gives me headaches as he's such a mismatch, the only other worry for me is that in our style recently we give away a LOT of cheap free-kicks in our half, and whilst Stoke are no longer a Pulis side they've still got an array of giants to pile into the box.

 

The trick is to wind him up so he reacts and gets sent off.

 

Kind of you to say. Regarding Forren, I was disappointed with how that turned out as well, and there were all kinds of rumours going around about his personal life to explain that rather odd episode (drinking problems, etc). I wouldn't presume to know, but suffice to say there were some non-footballing reasons for his failure here.

Also if we're going by international records, Lambert is a far superior striker to Sturridge (and so are Welbeck and Defoe). I know he is in blinding form for Liverpool but sadly he has so far been utterly unsuccessful at translating that to the international stage.

 

But we're too nice to do that, all our lovely angelic choirboys wouldn't even know how! Although maybe Boruc can have some words with him when they get a corner.

 

Dude just couldn't get in shape. It was a bit tough for him coming from the off-season to a team in mid-season and to a team where everyone has to run like crazy. Then he had some mild injuries in training that hurt his fitness. And the team was trying to stave off relegation but above the drop zone, so there was more to lose than to gain by switching starters. And as you noted, we signed Lovren and the Lovren/Fonte partnership is working like gangbusters so he became superfluous to requirements. A lot of factors added together to conspire against him.

But still, the bottom line is every time I saw him he looked lumpy. Not just lacking match fitness, but kinda lacking fitness in general. He could have made a better go of it, but I don't think he was very happy here. I'm also gonna say, there was a shot of him on the bench one time during a match and he looked hungover as hell. Maybe he wasn't, but it definitely looked like that to me and I drank a lot in my twenties with friends who drank even more than me so my ability to spot that "day after" look is pretty keen.

 

Don't think Forren was happy or even willing to try. Probably home sick. Best for everyone that he returned home. Hop he is doing well now.

 

Think he's acrrying an injury. He's been subbed early last two matches.

 

Couldn't agree more. Looked a stone overweight and in a permanent daze at what he'd run into.