Southampton 1 West Ham Utd 0 (18/10/11)

[Gerblatz]

The referee is aptly named Deadman...he really needs to get his decision making spot on for this one

Whatever the formation, tactics, stats...etc,,etc - a game like this spins on one bad refereeing decision or a magnificent piece of flair and skill...so which of ours is it going to be...Faubert perhaps?

[wakephan09]

Isn't Tonks' groin questionable for Soton?

I think we go with the 4-5-1 away from home. Taylor may not be fit either.

.......................Almunia

O'Brien.......Faye......Reid......Linda

Faubert......Diop.......Noble......Collison

........................Nolan

.......................Cole

[Hammer Matty]

Surely the right thing to do is adjust, if they have 2 extremely slow centre backs, play Baldock, if they have relatively small ones, definitely play Carew, if they play a 3 man centre midfield, play Diop to avoid getting overrun, no matter how good our team is, and at whatever level we play, we should still adjust to whoever we're playing. That was a long sentence...

Yep, I don't disagree, but I just fear it will always be us adjusting to other teams, I mean if we play 3 in midfield at home, will every team coming to us decide to play 3 so that we don't overrun them, or will they stick to there 442 or whatever and attack us?

But that's how we'll get promoted Mate, by seeing the oppositions weaknesses & hopefully punishing them for it, like we did with Blackpool on Saturday & have done to a few others this Season..

If we JUST played 4-4-2 or JUST played 4-5-1 or 4-3-3 ( bwah ) then we'd get figured out pretty easily by other Mangers that WERE willing to adapt their Teams to what they think OUR weaknesses are & even though we're a decent Championship that will probably get promoted, we're well beatable by a side that do their homework on us...

I see where your coming from, and I agree with most of that including punishing the oppositions weaknesses, that's why I think instead of us changing to 451 to suit them, we should stick with 442 and use Baldock.. I've only watched Southampton against Leeds this season and I thought they looked most dodgey in defence when up against Gradel

Thats not saying much though as Leeds were pretty pony that day, so I'll trust Sam and if he feels its best to go with 451 then I won't be too upset as that has been successful to us so far this season

[The Moth]

Yep, I don't disagree, but I just fear it will always be us adjusting to other teams, I mean if we play 3 in midfield at home, will every team coming to us decide to play 3 so that we don't overrun them, or will they stick to there 442 or whatever and attack us?

I agree. I mean we are clearly the strongest team in the league I don't understand the need to change a system after winning 4-0 . Surely we should go out to attack and win every game. How come you don't see Man Utd or Chelsea changing their formation according to if it's home or away? Play your best players who are in form and build the formation around them. That means Baldock has to start.

I've only watched Southampton against Leeds this season and I thought they looked most dodgey in defence when up against Gradel

Quite right. If Southamptons strength is their midfield I don't understand playing 5 in the middle and turning it in to a midfield battle . Surely with 4-4-2 we can press them back and put the pressure on their defence. From watching them I think Baldocks movement could caused Southamptons defence all sorts of trouble. Hoof balls shouldn't be a problem as they got quite a few 6 foot plus.
I also don't agree playing one up front automatically makes you stronger defensively. As we've witnessed over the years it can often lead to a team struggling to keep the ball and can invite pressure.

I accept this is the way Allardyce wants to set up and I thinks he's done a very good job as a manager overall, it's just a difference in opinion.

[D C]

Because their midfield are good on the ball, dont get flustered and we will end up getting over run with their passing and movement due to our immobile choice of 2 cm's. Which would also mean no service to Baldock making him as irrelevant as he was vs Ipswich.

[The Moth]

Because their midfield are good on the ball, dont get flustered and we will end up getting over run with their passing and movement due to our immobile choice of 2 cm's. Which would also mean no service to Baldock making him as irrelevant as he was vs Ipswich.

Fair enough , as I said just a difference in opinion.

I will point out though we've played a three man centre midfield at home and have lost to teams who have played 4-4-2 this season. Strange that seeing as surely those teams would see our midfield as our strongest area?

[Scaloni Is The Messiah]

I think we're in danger of respecting Southampton too much in this thread. Yes, they've had a promotion bounce (as did Brighton for a few games) and they've played well. They may do a Norwich and go straight up again. They may fall away once the euphoria of promotion wears off.

Either way, we were playing two divisions higher than them just six months ago and we've got stronger since. We should have enough to beat them and there should be no way they should be capable of 'passing us off the park' or anything like it.

Whatever happens, I back us to give a good account of ourselves tomorrow. Personally, I think we'll win 2-0 and give ourselves a real platform to push on from.

[James P]

I agree. I mean we are clearly the strongest team in the league I don't understand the need to change a system after winning 4-0 . Surely we should go out to attack and win every game. How come you don't see Man Utd or Chelsea changing their formation according to if it's home or away? Play your best players who are in form and build the formation around them. That means Baldock has to start.

I'm not sure we've proved this yet. It's right to have confidence in ourselves but that shouldn't turn into arrogance. I'm not sure our 442 has so far proven itself to be so fearsome that wwe can go to the top of the team league with an extraordinary home record and expect to just run all of them a man light in midfield.

Quite right. If Southamptons strength is their midfield I don't understand playing 5 in the middle and turning it in to a midfield battle . Surely with 4-4-2 we can press them back and put the pressure on their defence. From watching them I think Baldocks movement could caused Southamptons defence all sorts of trouble. Hoof balls shouldn't be a problem as they got quite a few 6 foot plus.
I also don't agree playing one up front automatically makes you stronger defensively. As we've witnessed over the years it can often lead to a team struggling to keep the ball and can invite pressure.

I accept this is the way Allardyce wants to set up and I thinks he's done a very good job as a manager overall, it's just a difference in opinion.

Of course it's different opinions and we could probably return all three possible results with both formations depending on how the wind blows on the day. I have to agree with Sam though that if we don't match them in the middle of the park we could struggle to put our influence on the game. I don't think we're that great a swift counter attcking back to front team which is what you need to be if you're keeping the ball away from the centre of the pitch and looking to utilise your extra man up top. We won't press Southampton back as such with a 442 as we'd be more likely looking to turn them and getting them running back towards goal. I'm not sure we're quite that clinical yet.

We were able to look so dominant against Blackpool because we had 442 plus the lions share of possession. Southampton won't do the same. Match them in the midfield, and if we are truly the better team we should be able to maintain prolonged possession and build attacks from a firm base rather than surrendering much of the game and hoping to catch them quickly when they lose it.

[The Moth]

Whatever happens, I back us to give a good account of ourselves tomorrow. Personally, I think we'll win 2-0 and give ourselves a real platform to push on from.

[Hugh Jargon (Old)]

Great test for our new team. A draw will do and 3 points Monday night.

[ereford ammer]

I hope that Lallana will not be playing as he is the type of player that can give us real trouble. I am told by a keen saints fan that they are hoping to playing him but Adkins is very cautious about playing anybody that is not 100% fit. I think we are going to see a corker of a game with two teams capable of demolishing each other.

[Yea Why Not]

If we play 442 against Southampton at there ground where they have mullered everyone we will get beaten badly.

Says who? That's just like Tottenham going to Newcastle with the same view

I reckon we'll go 451 and get the draw we are coming for but there's no way you can say that about the best team in the league on the back of a 4-0 win

[Bobby Orangeboom]

I think we're in danger of respecting Southampton too much in this thread. .

We can say what we like in the Thread, it's of no real meaning.

I just hope SA doesn't under estimate Southampton or we'll come unstuck to a Team that has won every Home Game so far..

Under estimating Teams is more dangerous than showing them too much respect, see the 3rd Round of the League Cup this Year for so many Teams, as an example..

[Countryboy]

The key to this match is: don't get beaten. If Saints win they go five points clear of us, which is not insurmountable, of course, but makes life trickier than it needs to be. If we draw, we stay two behind, with the possibility of winning against them at UP on Valentine's Day and taking 4 points out of 6 from a major promotion rival.

If there's one thing we know about BFS it's that he's an incredibly calculating, numbers-driven manager. So he'll be thinking in those terms. He's also done his stats analysis on Saints and thinks he knows how to nullify them. So that's what he'll do: cancel them out and try to find a way to get a goal from a breakaway or set piece.

If we come away with a 0-0 he'll be delighted.If we sneak a 1-0 away win he'll do a Big Fat Sexwee in his Big Fat Pants. The very last thing he wants is an open, end-to-end game which they come away winning 4-3.

It's a 4-5-1 formation all day long.

[wakephan09]

Got my isotonic drinks chilling in the refrigerator, my chihuahua kitted up, and radio tuned to the BBC. Oh, how I love matchday.

[carnage]

I can see where your coming from.. but I just hope Sam isn't going to use the same mentality all season where we adjust to other teams instead of them having to worry about us

I think this is what's referred to as tactics, which has hardly been mentioned this season. They had a good airing last season mind. :lol:

[shammy]

If we play 442 against Southampton at there ground where they have mullered everyone we will get beaten badly.

Do they play on a different sized pitch? Are their goals smaller?.....Home/Away?...Whats the difference?...A better team will win the football match, simple as that.

[ymcahammer]

to much saints hype going on, we are a better team than them lets have some faith 2-1 to us trust me

[Benny the Ball]

.....we are clearly the strongest team in the league ...

Team is the wrong word...its players. This year we have a better squad of players than all of the teams in our division. Last year we had a better set of players than half the PL. Unless you get them performing as a team the quality of the players is worthless.

The Blackpool match may be a turning point, but having sat through the dross at home to Ipswich and PeterBoro makes me wonder. At times we made Ipswich look like Brazil, so like I say, hopefully we have turned a corner.

I dont think we will lose tonight and agree that Sam will be looking at percentages and making sure we pick something up. He is targetting no more than 7 defeats this season, and has already picked up 2.

BtB

[sendô]

It's naive to assume that because we're the biggest club in the division and we've probably got the best squad that we can just turn up at any ground playing the formation that we all like the most and get a result. We need to go with the formation that is applicable for the match, whether it is 4-4-2 or 4-5-1. We can't just go with one or the other because we feel like it, and luckily neither will the northerner.