| Martin on what Saints missed the most: 18:43 - Mar 10 with 2739 views | Chris_ITFC |
Power & athleticism. Sounds a familiar story. |  | | |  |
| Martin on what Saints missed the most: on 18:52 - Mar 10 with 2520 views | Herbivore |
Players that have that and that also have Prem technique aren't that easy to come by though. |  |
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| Martin on what Saints missed the most: on 18:54 - Mar 10 with 2502 views | textbackup |
Crazy to think many hundreds of fans for both clubs could have pointed that out from watching MOTD, yet these clubs haven’t purchased players like that. |  |
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| Martin on what Saints missed the most: on 19:02 - Mar 10 with 2446 views | Chris_ITFC |
| Martin on what Saints missed the most: on 18:52 - Mar 10 by Herbivore |
Players that have that and that also have Prem technique aren't that easy to come by though. |
Oh totally. Identifying a problem doesn’t mean the solution is easy.
Probably our best performers - O’Shea, Cajuste, Delap - have it.
Some of our tricky positions, we lack it - RWB, 2nd CM, LW. | | | |
| Martin on what Saints missed the most: on 19:03 - Mar 10 with 2438 views | Herbivore |
| Martin on what Saints missed the most: on 19:02 - Mar 10 by Chris_ITFC |
Oh totally. Identifying a problem doesn’t mean the solution is easy.
Probably our best performers - O’Shea, Cajuste, Delap - have it.
Some of our tricky positions, we lack it - RWB, 2nd CM, LW. |
Although you'd expect Johnson and Phillips to have it, given their experience at this level. | |
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| Martin on what Saints missed the most: on 19:03 - Mar 10 with 2429 views | TheBoyBlue |
| Martin on what Saints missed the most: on 18:54 - Mar 10 by textbackup |
Crazy to think many hundreds of fans for both clubs could have pointed that out from watching MOTD, yet these clubs haven’t purchased players like that. |
Or perhaps those players didn't want to come to us or Southampton? |  |
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| Martin on what Saints missed the most: on 19:16 - Mar 10 with 2380 views | bsw72 |
| Martin on what Saints missed the most: on 18:54 - Mar 10 by textbackup |
Crazy to think many hundreds of fans for both clubs could have pointed that out from watching MOTD, yet these clubs haven’t purchased players like that. |
The fact that a manager of one of the sides has clearly identified the problem but wasn’t able to solve it suggests that the players required may not be easily available to the newly promoted clubs. |  | | |
| Martin on what Saints missed the most: on 19:49 - Mar 10 with 2273 views | Chris_ITFC |
| Martin on what Saints missed the most: on 19:03 - Mar 10 by Herbivore |
Although you'd expect Johnson and Phillips to have it, given their experience at this level. |
Power & athleticism covers lots of things.
Johnson is slow.
Phillips doesn’t have the physical resilience to play regularly. | | | |
| Martin on what Saints missed the most: on 19:53 - Mar 10 with 2252 views | bournemouthblue |
| Martin on what Saints missed the most: on 19:49 - Mar 10 by Chris_ITFC |
Power & athleticism covers lots of things.
Johnson is slow.
Phillips doesn’t have the physical resilience to play regularly. |
I don't totally agree there, he just isn't that great defensively |  |
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| Martin on what Saints missed the most: on 21:01 - Mar 10 with 2003 views | BlueBadger |
He forgot to mention 'a manager who isn't an utter fraud'. |  |
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| Martin on what Saints missed the most: on 09:22 - Mar 11 with 1510 views | textbackup |
| Martin on what Saints missed the most: on 19:16 - Mar 10 by bsw72 |
The fact that a manager of one of the sides has clearly identified the problem but wasn’t able to solve it suggests that the players required may not be easily available to the newly promoted clubs. |
I mean, that’s just rubbish isn’t it.
‘Oh you only just came up? Best you shop in the small footballer section of the profession’ | |
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| Martin on what Saints missed the most: on 09:28 - Mar 11 with 1487 views | NedPlimpton |
| Martin on what Saints missed the most: on 09:22 - Mar 11 by textbackup |
I mean, that’s just rubbish isn’t it.
‘Oh you only just came up? Best you shop in the small footballer section of the profession’ |
It's obviously not rubbish if all of the promoted teams have struggled to make signings that have had a big impact in this league
Do you honestly think that bigger players would be the answer to all our prayers?? It would probably help if they could also play football to a Premier league standard, and those players aren't easy to come by as the recruitment of the promoted sides has shown |  | | |
| Martin on what Saints missed the most: on 09:29 - Mar 11 with 1476 views | Herbivore |
| Martin on what Saints missed the most: on 09:22 - Mar 11 by textbackup |
I mean, that’s just rubbish isn’t it.
‘Oh you only just came up? Best you shop in the small footballer section of the profession’ |
The point is more that the pool of players who are big and athletic and also technically sound isn't all that big. We could have signed some more units but whether they'd have been close to the technical level required is another matter. | |
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| Martin on what Saints missed the most: on 09:30 - Mar 11 with 1466 views | textbackup |
| Martin on what Saints missed the most: on 09:28 - Mar 11 by NedPlimpton |
It's obviously not rubbish if all of the promoted teams have struggled to make signings that have had a big impact in this league
Do you honestly think that bigger players would be the answer to all our prayers?? It would probably help if they could also play football to a Premier league standard, and those players aren't easy to come by as the recruitment of the promoted sides has shown |
I think bigger physically stronger players could have helped us in a number of areas, with the main one being
- Attacking from set pieces
Where, I’ll be honest, I think we have been abysmal this season.teams fighting for survival should utilise every ounce of the game to try and get those valuable goals | |
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| Martin on what Saints missed the most: on 09:41 - Mar 11 with 1418 views | Herbivore |
| Martin on what Saints missed the most: on 09:30 - Mar 11 by textbackup |
I think bigger physically stronger players could have helped us in a number of areas, with the main one being
- Attacking from set pieces
Where, I’ll be honest, I think we have been abysmal this season.teams fighting for survival should utilise every ounce of the game to try and get those valuable goals |
We've frequently got first contact from set pieces though, Taylor at Wolves and Greaves at Liverpool both scored direct from set pieces. Delap missed a really good chance against Villa or Fulham at the start of the season, Burgess hit the woodwork at Spurs (and maybe another time?), O'Shea planted a free header straight at the keeper at home to City, Delap hit the post at home to Spurs. We've created a good number of chances from set pieces, our xG from set pieces is the best of the bottom four and the same as Everton who have plenty of bigger players in their side. The issue with packing your team with big players is that if they can't also play football to a decent standard then they are going to get shown up. | |
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| Martin on what Saints missed the most: on 09:46 - Mar 11 with 1385 views | Swansea_Blue |
| Martin on what Saints missed the most: on 21:01 - Mar 10 by BlueBadger |
He forgot to mention 'a manager who isn't an utter fraud'. |
That was my first thought, although the change doesn't seem to have done them much good. There's a warning here to people who think we're on some sort of guaranteed track to ultimately become established in this league.
We might be getting to the point where the gap is so large between the PL and the Championship that you can't incrementally improve by being a yoyo club. Maybe you can no longer hold onto enough players when you're relegated to guarantee a bounce back and be in a stronger position in your next season in the PL. Each visit to the PL may need complete surgery on the squad, which makes it very difficult for a newly promoted side to become established.
Who knows. But S'ton had been in the PL for many years and are in a right mess. Leicester too. |  |
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| Martin on what Saints missed the most: on 09:49 - Mar 11 with 1360 views | textbackup |
| Martin on what Saints missed the most: on 09:41 - Mar 11 by Herbivore |
We've frequently got first contact from set pieces though, Taylor at Wolves and Greaves at Liverpool both scored direct from set pieces. Delap missed a really good chance against Villa or Fulham at the start of the season, Burgess hit the woodwork at Spurs (and maybe another time?), O'Shea planted a free header straight at the keeper at home to City, Delap hit the post at home to Spurs. We've created a good number of chances from set pieces, our xG from set pieces is the best of the bottom four and the same as Everton who have plenty of bigger players in their side. The issue with packing your team with big players is that if they can't also play football to a decent standard then they are going to get shown up. |
I’m not suggesting the entire squad is full of bulked up units.
But getting a ‘first contact’ on the ball doesn’t really means much if we aren’t actually scoring from those, IMO of course.
It’s a bit like highlights of the season including ‘taking the lead at man city’
Just feels like an area we could/should have scored from more than we have | |
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| Martin on what Saints missed the most: on 10:03 - Mar 11 with 1307 views | Herbivore |
| Martin on what Saints missed the most: on 09:49 - Mar 11 by textbackup |
I’m not suggesting the entire squad is full of bulked up units.
But getting a ‘first contact’ on the ball doesn’t really means much if we aren’t actually scoring from those, IMO of course.
It’s a bit like highlights of the season including ‘taking the lead at man city’
Just feels like an area we could/should have scored from more than we have |
I don't disagree we should have made more of set pieces. Our xG from set pieces is a little over 9 but we've only scored twice (I think?) from set pieces this season. We've been fairly average at chance creation from set pieces but have been really poor at taking the chances we create. Whether having bigger players would fix that, I'm not sure. Feels like we've missed something in the big moments this season but for me it's that extra bit of quality rather than pure size or athleticism that's been lacking. | |
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| Martin on what Saints missed the most: on 10:06 - Mar 11 with 1301 views | itfcjoe |
| Martin on what Saints missed the most: on 09:49 - Mar 11 by textbackup |
I’m not suggesting the entire squad is full of bulked up units.
But getting a ‘first contact’ on the ball doesn’t really means much if we aren’t actually scoring from those, IMO of course.
It’s a bit like highlights of the season including ‘taking the lead at man city’
Just feels like an area we could/should have scored from more than we have |
Just looking at the Opta stats on this - per set piece we actually rank ok but just not had enough of them or quite got the rub off the green
Goals per set piece - 10th in the league
Shots per set piece - 1st in the league
xG per set piece - 6th in the league
So we are doing well in creating chances from set piece, not converting them as well as we should be but main issue is not getting enough of them
Defensively we are also doing well
Goals conceded per set piece - 3rd best in the league
Shots conceded per set piece - 6th best in the league
xG conceded per set piece - 2nd best in the league
I didn't check it before Old Trafford but imagine that knocked us down a fair bit
Again, we probably are conceding too many set pieces which means that some inevitably do get through |  |
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| Martin on what Saints missed the most: on 10:10 - Mar 11 with 1280 views | Swansea_Blue |
| Martin on what Saints missed the most: on 10:06 - Mar 11 by itfcjoe |
Just looking at the Opta stats on this - per set piece we actually rank ok but just not had enough of them or quite got the rub off the green
Goals per set piece - 10th in the league
Shots per set piece - 1st in the league
xG per set piece - 6th in the league
So we are doing well in creating chances from set piece, not converting them as well as we should be but main issue is not getting enough of them
Defensively we are also doing well
Goals conceded per set piece - 3rd best in the league
Shots conceded per set piece - 6th best in the league
xG conceded per set piece - 2nd best in the league
I didn't check it before Old Trafford but imagine that knocked us down a fair bit
Again, we probably are conceding too many set pieces which means that some inevitably do get through |
Sa actually, set pieces are our strength. As you say, we're getting plenty of practice with the defensive ones, so no wonder we're reasonably good at them! | |
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| Martin on what Saints missed the most: on 10:11 - Mar 11 with 1274 views | EuanTown |
Akinfenwa, apols for the spelling clearly he was what we needed |  | | |
| Martin on what Saints missed the most: on 10:15 - Mar 11 with 1245 views | textbackup |
| Martin on what Saints missed the most: on 10:06 - Mar 11 by itfcjoe |
Just looking at the Opta stats on this - per set piece we actually rank ok but just not had enough of them or quite got the rub off the green
Goals per set piece - 10th in the league
Shots per set piece - 1st in the league
xG per set piece - 6th in the league
So we are doing well in creating chances from set piece, not converting them as well as we should be but main issue is not getting enough of them
Defensively we are also doing well
Goals conceded per set piece - 3rd best in the league
Shots conceded per set piece - 6th best in the league
xG conceded per set piece - 2nd best in the league
I didn't check it before Old Trafford but imagine that knocked us down a fair bit
Again, we probably are conceding too many set pieces which means that some inevitably do get through |
Appreciate the stats look alright, but as you say, actually converting them is the issue.
And big players wouldn’t change that over night I know.
Especially when it seemed like Chaplin scored 100 goals over two seasons from set pieces. | |
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| Martin on what Saints missed the most: on 10:48 - Mar 11 with 1173 views | itfcjoe |
| Martin on what Saints missed the most: on 10:15 - Mar 11 by textbackup |
Appreciate the stats look alright, but as you say, actually converting them is the issue.
And big players wouldn’t change that over night I know.
Especially when it seemed like Chaplin scored 100 goals over two seasons from set pieces. |
I think it's not getting enough which is the main issue - when you get 3-4 corners a game compared to 13-14 last year it kills the actual output | |
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| Martin on what Saints missed the most: on 11:36 - Mar 11 with 1060 views | SaffronWaldenBlues |
| Martin on what Saints missed the most: on 09:28 - Mar 11 by NedPlimpton |
It's obviously not rubbish if all of the promoted teams have struggled to make signings that have had a big impact in this league
Do you honestly think that bigger players would be the answer to all our prayers?? It would probably help if they could also play football to a Premier league standard, and those players aren't easy to come by as the recruitment of the promoted sides has shown |
We'd have to pay over the odds in fees/wages.
The argument is, could we have managed, say two quality signings for more with a weaker "squad" rather than recruiting players from the Championship Playoff range, supplemented by loans in Phillips and Cajutse. Luton did that, and made a better go with it than we did, but would it work for us? They have in effect, sacrificed this season because of that as well.
It would depend. If we had just signed Delap and Hutch with two established Premier League players for silly money and gone with what we had, we might have done better just through having some continuity. I think we did try to bed in too many, too soon, but we should be better placed next season, but then we're back to square one the season after, as lets be honest the likes of Burns, Chaplin, Walton, Morsy and Mass won't be playing for us in 2026/27 if we are promoted again. |  |
| An East Anglian Town overtaken by Londoners |
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| Martin on what Saints missed the most: on 17:05 - Mar 11 with 800 views | FrimleyBlue |
| Martin on what Saints missed the most: on 10:48 - Mar 11 by itfcjoe |
I think it's not getting enough which is the main issue - when you get 3-4 corners a game compared to 13-14 last year it kills the actual output |
Prob doesn't help when we lost our main corner obtained in burns and have two inverted wingers playing in most games. The likelihood of winning corners is very low compared to last season imo. |  |
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| Martin on what Saints missed the most: on 17:25 - Mar 11 with 777 views | ITFCSG |
| Martin on what Saints missed the most: on 11:36 - Mar 11 by SaffronWaldenBlues |
We'd have to pay over the odds in fees/wages.
The argument is, could we have managed, say two quality signings for more with a weaker "squad" rather than recruiting players from the Championship Playoff range, supplemented by loans in Phillips and Cajutse. Luton did that, and made a better go with it than we did, but would it work for us? They have in effect, sacrificed this season because of that as well.
It would depend. If we had just signed Delap and Hutch with two established Premier League players for silly money and gone with what we had, we might have done better just through having some continuity. I think we did try to bed in too many, too soon, but we should be better placed next season, but then we're back to square one the season after, as lets be honest the likes of Burns, Chaplin, Walton, Morsy and Mass won't be playing for us in 2026/27 if we are promoted again. |
"We'd have to pay over the odds in fees/wages."
We won't if we had a decent overseas scouting network and/or KM is more receptive to non-English native speakers not brought up within the domestic system
Palace paid less for Mateta than we paid for Philogene and J Clarke.
How much did Enciso cost Brighton? | | | |
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