Saints Pre Match Thread

[City64]

Ok match day is here and I’m still fucking fuming even though we are 11pts clear with just 10 games left . Top performance and 3 pts tonight and nothing less !!!

[nottsblue]

It is a rare thing that we haven’t bounced back after a defeat in recent years. I expect to see a lot more focus from the off tonight and a busy performance

[Kippax Sean]

A big game this one, be happy with a 1-0 victory. Foden and Bernie in for Sterling and kdb, be happy to see Torres in for Jesus aswell. Defense will be ok whether it's Walker/Cancelo or Cancelo/Zinchenko. 3pts will ease the frustration of Sundays debacle. Come on City!

[john68]

What happened on Sunday with our attacking force has been happening all season. On Sunday wewere punished and that made it all themore obvious.
We have always struggled against those sides who pack their defences, it is our main weakness .

Too often in almost every game, our 3 ballerinas;- Sterling Mahrez and Jesus have stopped attacks and helfd up play until opponents dedences are set up or not taken a half chance to shoot. Reminiscent of the old Arsenal side. our forwards, particularly those 3 ballerinas need the perfect chance, the space or ednsure they have the right balance before then aiming the ball directly through a solid object (the covering or blocking defender. IT'S FUKKIN ANNOYING.

How often do we get the ball wide only to see Sterling and Mahrez put their foot on it and stand. The consequence is that the defenders have time to reset and/or double upandblock any cross. The ballerina solution is then to either shoot/cross at the defenders...shot blocked,or pass back and start all over again.

On Sunday, what we saw from the rags was fast forward movement directly at the City goal. No chancefor our defence to set.

Our 3 ballerinas are not fit for purpose for what we need up front.

On Sunday, we knew that the rags would come with energy and fast movement. Our response w, as to drop the 2City players that could match theirs and give us some of our own. It was no surprise that when Foden came on, his more direct approach andwillingness to rtelease an earlier ball improved us.
Bernie cover so much ground, he was a necessity for such a game.

I have no doubt,City will punish a poor Saints team. the cracks willhave been papered over and all will be considered well again...Until we come up against a top Euro team that willdo what the rags did to us again

[Outcast]

What happened on Sunday with our attacking force has been happening all season. On Sunday wewere punished and that made it all themore obvious.
We have always struggled against those sides who pack their defences, it is our main weakness .

Too often in almost every game, our 3 ballerinas;- Sterling Mahrez and Jesus have stopped attacks and helfd up play until opponents dedences are set up or not taken a half chance to shoot. Reminiscent of the old Arsenal side. our forwards, particularly those 3 ballerinas need the perfect chance, the space or ednsure they have the right balance before then aiming the ball directly through a solid object (the covering or blocking defender. IT'S FUKKIN ANNOYING.

How often do we get the ball wide only to see Sterling and Mahrez put their foot on it and stand. The consequence is that the defenders have time to reset and/or double upandblock any cross. The ballerina solution is then to either shoot/cross at the defenders...shot blocked,or pass back and start all over again.

On Sunday, what we saw from the rags was fast forward movement directly at the City goal. No chancefor our defence to set.

Our 3 ballerinas are not fit for purpose for what we need up front.

On Sunday, we knew that the rags would come with energy and fast movement. Our response w, as to drop the 2City players that could match theirs and give us some of our own. It was no surprise that when Foden came on, his more direct approach andwillingness to rtelease an earlier ball improved us.
Bernie cover so much ground, he was a necessity for such a game.

I have no doubt,City will punish a poor Saints team. the cracks willhave been papered over and all will be considered well again...Until we come up against a top Euro team that willdo what the rags did to us again

I thought we did well against teams like that, We seem to gone backwards since KDB returned, I'm not saying he's shit, as others mentioned his current position is not helping the team's balance and probably needs moving up front to be more effective. As you mentioned, this role is suited to Bernie, they call him bubblegum for a reason, hardly ever gives the ball away. What do you do, upset one of your best players or the team's balance?

[john68]

My point was pparticularly aimed at the 3 ballerinas, who, when fed with the ball in a position they could shoot, or move the ball on quickly to a player in a better position.....usually DON'T.

1) They stop the ball and stand with it waiting for defenders, often 2 defenders to approach them. This ends by them either;-
a) having to pass backwards...chance lost.
b) having been blocked, attempting to pass or shoot the ball directly through the defender (a solid object)...chance lost.
c) having been faced up by 2 defenders, attempting to run through them and often defenders behind them,either losing the ball, which is often followed by falling over and either waving their arms about or producing a sufficiently suffering facial expression at why no penalty was given.
d) having to take several extra touches putting whilst defenders block them and the rest of the defence reset, thus putting themselves in a worse position than when the received the ball,.

If you don't believe me. City V Saints tonight, coming to a dance theatre near you...make your own mind up.

[City64]

My point was pparticularly aimed at the 3 ballerinas, who, when fed with the ball in a position they could shoot, or move the ball on quickly to a player in a better position.....usually DON'T.

1) They stop the ball and stand with it waiting for defenders, often 2 defenders to approach them. This ends by them either;-
a) having to pass backwards...chance lost.
b) having been blocked, attempting to pass or shoot the ball directly through the defender (a solid object)...chance lost.
c) having been faced up by 2 defenders, attempting to run through them and often defenders behind them,either losing the ball, which is often followed by falling over and either waving their arms about or producing a sufficiently suffering facial expression at why no penalty was given.
d) having to take several extra touches putting whilst defenders block them and the rest of the defence reset, thus putting themselves in a worse position than when the received the ball,.

If you don't believe me. City V Saints tonight, coming to a dance theatre near you...make your own mind up.

Mahrez has been excellent of late and was ok in the derby shit show . Sterling and Jesus have to be replaced by either / or Foden , Aguero and Torres tonight. KDB benched also replaced by Bernie . KDB has took a lot longer than usual to regain his “A”game and peak fitness than in past circumstances, maybe he is getting older etc ? He will undoubtedly return to those peaks in the not too distant future but at this present time he is fucking up our rhythm big time . Gundo , Bernie and Foden pulling the strings and tons of energy is the way to go and let’s get Sergio firing again !

[johnny crossan]

My point was pparticularly aimed at the 3 ballerinas, who, when fed with the ball in a position they could shoot, or move the ball on quickly to a player in a better position.....usually DON'T.

1) They stop the ball and stand with it waiting for defenders, often 2 defenders to approach them. This ends by them either;-
a) having to pass backwards...chance lost.
b) having been blocked, attempting to pass or shoot the ball directly through the defender (a solid object)...chance lost.
c) having been faced up by 2 defenders, attempting to run through them and often defenders behind them,either losing the ball, which is often followed by falling over and either waving their arms about or producing a sufficiently suffering facial expression at why no penalty was given.
d) having to take several extra touches putting whilst defenders block them and the rest of the defence reset, thus putting themselves in a worse position than when the received the ball,.

If you don't believe me. City V Saints tonight, coming to a dance theatre near you...make your own mind up.

Mahrez has been excellent of late and was ok in the derby shit show . Sterling and Jesus have to be replaced by either / or Foden , Aguero and Torres tonight. KDB benched also replaced by Bernie . KDB has took a lot longer than usual to regain his “A”game and peak fitness than in past circumstances, maybe he is getting older etc ? He will undoubtedly return to those peaks in the not too distant future but at this present time he is fucking up our rhythm big time . Gundo , Bernie and Foden pulling the strings and tons of energy is the way to go and let’s get Sergio firing again !

It is hard to argue with this but I will in the case of Sterling. He is the only forward we have with genuine pace and that invariably takes out an extra defender leaving a hole for our LB/RB to move inside and create an overload. This is a key part of our attacking strategy.

[stevefromdonny]

what we need to do and whatever the team is to grow some bollox and play as we can, stop pissing around near the halfway line, to move the ball a lot quicker than against utd, and if near the area then just have a pop instead of trying to walk the ball into the net, and for god's sake make sure the pass gets to our players and not leave it way to short

[carl_feedthegoat]

My point was pparticularly aimed at the 3 ballerinas, who, when fed with the ball in a position they could shoot, or move the ball on quickly to a player in a better position.....usually DON'T.

1) They stop the ball and stand with it waiting for defenders, often 2 defenders to approach them. This ends by them either;-
a) having to pass backwards...chance lost.
b) having been blocked, attempting to pass or shoot the ball directly through the defender (a solid object)...chance lost.
c) having been faced up by 2 defenders, attempting to run through them and often defenders behind them,either losing the ball, which is often followed by falling over and either waving their arms about or producing a sufficiently suffering facial expression at why no penalty was given.
d) having to take several extra touches putting whilst defenders block them and the rest of the defence reset, thus putting themselves in a worse position than when the received the ball,.

If you don't believe me. City V Saints tonight, coming to a dance theatre near you...make your own mind up.

That about sums it up.

[Dimples]

Sure there are issues with energy, finishing, speed, etc... but Brown is another big problem.

He is not captain material, he disrupts our flow, he is 'moody', acts like Billy big balls at times, does not cover enough and comes across with a superior attitude all head shakes, verbals and mouth at other players when they do something that displeases him which is disrespectful to your team mates.

Yes he can play sublime football but at a cost. I am not to sure he is worth that cost anymore.

Think the great players. Maradona, Pele, etc... with them it was all about the team and respecting your team mates.

I would not be worried if we sold him on unless his attitude changes.

[PeterParker]

Sure there are issues with energy, finishing, speed, etc... but Brown is another big problem.

He is not captain material, he disrupts our flow, he is 'moody', acts like Billy big balls at times, does not cover enough and comes across with a superior attitude all head shakes, verbals and mouth at other players when they do something that displeases him which is disrespectful to your team mates.

Yes he can play sublime football but at a cost. I am not to sure he is worth that cost anymore.

Think the great players. Maradona, Pele, etc... with them it was all about the team and respecting your team mates.

I would not be worried if we sold him on unless his attitude changes.

This.
It will be interesting because, normally, in the summer he will take the captain armband from Fern.
If he stays he will be the captain for many years, a mistake, imho, looking at how Dias actually is.

[sheblue]

My point was pparticularly aimed at the 3 ballerinas, who, when fed with the ball in a position they could shoot, or move the ball on quickly to a player in a better position.....usually DON'T.

1) They stop the ball and stand with it waiting for defenders, often 2 defenders to approach them. This ends by them either;-
a) having to pass backwards...chance lost.
b) having been blocked, attempting to pass or shoot the ball directly through the defender (a solid object)...chance lost.
c) having been faced up by 2 defenders, attempting to run through them and often defenders behind them,either losing the ball, which is often followed by falling over and either waving their arms about or producing a sufficiently suffering facial expression at why no penalty was given.
d) having to take several extra touches putting whilst defenders block them and the rest of the defence reset, thus putting themselves in a worse position than when the received the ball,.

If you don't believe me. City V Saints tonight, coming to a dance theatre near you...make your own mind up.

That about sums it up.

It does indeed. Nothing more to say.

[CTID Hants]

Your midweek City line-up!

XI | Ederson, Walker, Dias, Laporte, Zinchenko, Fernandinho (C), Gündogan, Mahrez, De Bruyne, Bernardo, Foden

SUBS | Steffen, Stones, Sterling, Jesus, Agüero, Rodrigo, Torres, Mendy, Cancelo

[Hazy2]

My point was pparticularly aimed at the 3 ballerinas, who, when fed with the ball in a position they could shoot, or move the ball on quickly to a player in a better position.....usually DON'T.

1) They stop the ball and stand with it waiting for defenders, often 2 defenders to approach them. This ends by them either;-
a) having to pass backwards...chance lost.
b) having been blocked, attempting to pass or shoot the ball directly through the defender (a solid object)...chance lost.
c) having been faced up by 2 defenders, attempting to run through them and often defenders behind them,either losing the ball, which is often followed by falling over and either waving their arms about or producing a sufficiently suffering facial expression at why no penalty was given.
d) having to take several extra touches putting whilst defenders block them and the rest of the defence reset, thus putting themselves in a worse position than when the received the ball,.

If you don't believe me. City V Saints tonight, coming to a dance theatre near you...make your own mind up.

That about sums it up.

Not really Raheem missed two chances that were a tap in 6 inches out, and a free header. What is worrying is he did not have to think about either chance. That is more of a concern when the biggest issue has been when he has to much time on his hands.