They should all be fluid enough to adapt anyway. Against more dynamic and attacking teams, I’m sure Hughes will shut things down and mandate players stay in position.
I remember the video of Armstrong when we signed him - you know the sort showing all the good shit the player has ever done and that they’ll never do again in a Saints shirt. I saw him pulling strings in the middle and shooting and scoring in the corner of the net countless times, or otherwise playing cute little balls from the centre to strikers to score. It was for Celtic and it was in Scotland, but I want to see him given the chance to do that here.
Seriously, do yourself a favour and watch this, then count how many times the ball hits the side of the net when it goes in.
This is either completely unrepresentative (Celtic, Scotland, lucky, etc.) or this is the most natural finisher I’ve seen wear a Saints shirt in a long while.
Hmmm… unpopular opinion incoming! The fact that he has improved, maybe even ‘come of age’ and arguably (I would say so) warrants a starting role alongside Vestergaard doesn’t ignore the fact that he HAS been a bit of a liability in the past. Another unpopular opinion is that I think it is also testament to the decline in quality over the last few years. Seemingly supported by league positions, points tallies and goals conceded.
I have always maintained that centre back is a highly specialist and intuitive position, with a subtle line between good and great. It boils down to positioning and anticipation, of where a cross may land and where your feet and body are positioned are the difference between heading the cross back the way it came or for a throw and heading it behind for a corner or in to the path of an opponent.
It is important to point out that we do have the second youngest squad in the Premier League as well. And as you say, defenders tend to get better with age, so having youngsters like Bednarek, Hoedt and Stephens together is possibly asking a bit much. Lovren, Toby and VVD had the benefit of playing alongside an experienced Fonte who was pushing and then exceeding 30 when they played with him.
@BTripz - ha ha, just read your anticipation of my impending critique! Just wanted to add some balance because to say that fans who don’t or at least didn’t rate him “have no idea” is a little definitive and reached with the benefit of hindsight. Take Redmond for instance, just because he is now turning in some impressive displays doesn’t mean that those who said he has been total wank for 18 months are wrong. He was. He showed glimpses of quality where he ran and players and got to the byline (semi finals against Liverpool always sticks in my mind) but nowhere near often enough. So we knew he had it in him but for whatever reason he didn’t show it. People are quick to blame managers but I cannot imagine Puel or Pellegrino ever telling him not to take defenders on down the outside and get crosses in. Clearly he lost confidence but that will come from not doing enough of the things that GIVE you confidence. Like scoring a goal, getting an assist, beating a man etc. All things within a player’s control when he is out on the pitch.
Anyway I digress! All I am saying is that Yoshida has not always been as solid as you seemingly make out. I’m not digging him out and calling him names, I’m just saying that he has a history of scaring utter shit out of me. Something that Hoedt is quickly taking over in doing!
As I say though, I would like to see a Yoshida and Vestergaard pairing given a go. I’m actually a little surprised it wasn’t given a run out last night.
I suspect that with Redmond it was more a case of two managers (Pellegrino in particular) emphasising retention of possession and eschewing risks. So, rather than run at defenders, or look for passes to play his teammates into dangerous positions, Redmond would do the frustrating check inside and lay the ball back thing that we all became far too familiar with. In other words, he was being told to not follow his instincts and play his natural game. If your game is based on instinct that’s not an easy thing to do, and it showed.
Don’t worry @BTripz I was only dishing out the love because @saintbletch went to the effort of writing a long report based upon the drunk sounding ramblings of Dave Merrington.
I then agreed with @Fatso that I too would have hoped that Hughes would have a more conclusive idea of his best side and system by now. Then the fact that we bought a guy who scored a load of goals as a number 10 but then he sticks him out wide.
For what it is worth I think we will eventually settle in to the following or a variation of it at least:
I’m not denying this, he always had one bad backpass in him.
What I have always said is that giving him a run in the team with a consistent partner made him a better player. I think he is very much a confidence player.
As with most players, when they don’t do anything spectacular or make mistakes they aren’t noticed. Yoshi’s mistakes were always noticed but people failed to see his arial duels that he won of his positioning to stop a pass.
Last minutes tackles (spectacular) and flying blocks (spectacular) are not in his armour as he does not need them so much.
And I believe he has these attributes just they are not noticed so much…
I guess we’re always going to agree to disagree on him so…
Ha, I guess we are destined to differ on this issue because to my mind, last ditch blocks etc are what I consider to be his strengths! He did quite a few in the World Cup!
It his his aerial ‘failings’ that you reference that stick longer in the memory for me.
Let’s just agree that he can score cracking volleys at the other end…
Hughes urged Gabbiadini to take the chances when he gets them.
“At times we don’t recognise the good runs that he makes, he’s got a lot of energy and at times he’ll demand the ball.
“He’s not very demonstrative as a guy, he won’t scream and shout when maybe he should do just to make people aware that he wants the ball at the right time.
“Maybe at times we’re guilty of not giving him the service he wants but on other occasions he knows what he has to do as well as he can when he gets opportunities and he mustn’t let opportunities pass him by.”
(i) Gabby doesn’t get the service he should, especially when ‘Captain Safety’ JWP is playing in the centre of the park. I lost count of the number of times our players won the ball, dilly-dallied or passed sideways, and missed a perfectly good run from Gabby. If I were him I’d be fucking furious and screaming at my teammates, but he’s got to be the least demonstrative Italian I’ve ever seen in my life.
(ii) Stephens in horse shit at CB and RB. He’s a liability at RB, more so than Yoshi was when he played there and that’s saying something. Stephens should be nowhere near the first team defence - fifth choice at best. He could possibly be converted to a defensive midfielder if he plays alongside someone with proper concentration levels who can tell him where to stand 90% of the time.
(iii) Yoshida is easily one of the two CBs we should be playing. I’ve always rated him but he’s improved significantly in the last year or so. I don’t even think he’s got any more mistakes in him per game than the majority of CBs in the league nowadays, and he was impressive in the World Cup for Japan (where he probably feels more confident because he’s highly valued).
(probably because I’m defending Yoshi)
