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Southampton bring in England RUGBY boss Jones on eve of Europa League opener
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Southampton are hoping to kick their winless form into touch – after a visit from England rugby coach Eddie Jones.
Aussie Jones , who visited Chelsea and Crystal Palace last season and has gone to Bayern Munich in the past, rocked up at the Saints ’ training ground on Wednesday as he continued his whistle-stop, info-sharing tour of different clubs — and sports.
Southampton will be trying to secure their first win of the season when they kick off their Europa League group-phase campaign against Czech visitors Sparta Prague on Thursday night.
And while Jones’ appearance might bring back bad memories for their fans of ex- England rugby coach Sir Clive Woodward’s ill-fated, 13-month spell with the club that ended in 2006, boss Claude Puel said: “It was a good meeting. He is a good man and trainer.
“It’s interesting to meet him, and to discuss together, for example, tactics in playing rugby, there’s a similarity with football, to discuss together.
“I like rugby. My father was a rugby player. I know (former Italian coach) Pierre Berbizier - he is a friend - and also the last trainer of Toulon Bernard Laporte.
“When I was training every week it wasn’t football I was watching, but rugby. I was born in Castres, which is the city of French rugby.
“It is important for a trainer to stay open and work with other trainers, even from other sports. It is very interesting to see the similar tactics and it is interesting to discuss and take ideas from different sports.
“Could anything help tomorrow? I hope so. We will see.
"But it is always interesting.”
Southampton fell at the final Europa League play-off hurdle last season , but have gone straight into the group stage this time — and Puel wants them to establish themselves as regulars in European competition.
The 55-year-old, who has managed French sides Lille and Lyon in the Champions League, said: “Whether it is the Champions League or Europa League, it is important to play these games to have good experience and opportunity.
“I hope to play another year of Europa League next year because it is very important for the future.”
Saints’ Group K also includes Italian giants Inter Milan and Hapoel Be’re Sheva of Israel.
- VIRGIL VAN DIJK hopes Southampton can enjoy their first step into Europe this season – unlike his old club Celtic.
Dutch defender Van Dijk watched on TV as his former team-mates got battered 7-0 by Barcelona in their Champions League opener on Tuesday.
In pictures — Celtic ship seven against Barcelona in the Nou Camp:
He said: “I saw the game and it was a tough night, especially after [Barca opened the scoring in the first] two minutes. They aren’t enjoying the Champions League but hopefully they’ll do well.
Van Dijk, 25, played Europa League football with Celtic before moving to Saints last year, and said: “It’s an amazing competition to play in. To get the opportunity again with Southampton is, for me, great. It’s amazing. It’s a reward from last season.
“We need to enjoy it, but we don’t need to forget it’s a big opportunity for us to hopefully have a good run and hopefully progress.”
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Summary of non-mainstream articles: 15/09/2016 08:43:16
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Inter leave out £100m worth of talent
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Saints’ Europa League prospects have received an early boost after it was confirmed that Inter Milan have left £100m worth of talent out of their squad.
UEFA have released the official squad lists that every club must submit ahead of the start of the group stages - and they have revealed Inter will not play some of their biggest names, who are worth almost as much combined as the entire Saints squad.
Brazilian striker Gabriel Barbosa and midfield star Joao Mario, who joined Inter towards the end of the transfer window for a combined €70m, have both been left off the list and so will not feature in the group stages.
Inter’s two big summer signings from the previous season, €31m French midfielder Geoffrey Kondogbia and former Manchester City striker Stevan Jovetic, have also been left out.
Those four players alone cost more than £100m. The entire Saints squad cost around £116m in transfer fees to assemble.
Inter, who this evening start their Group K campaign at home to Hapoel Beer Sheva, are understood to have dropped their star names from the list in order to comply with the Financial Fair Play rules in European competitions imposed by UEFA.
If the four players were in their squad then they would run the risk of a substantial fine and potentially a transfer ban.
As such Inter have taken the decision to hold them back just for Italian competition.
That is a blow to Saints fans keen to see Inter’s best team play, but at the same time a significant boost to their chances of getting results against one of Italy’s biggest clubs.
Barbosa is considered a particularly exciting talent, having been tracked by the likes of Chelsea and Manchester United.
He was part of the Brazil squad which won the gold medal at the Rio Olympics.
Mario was part of the Portugal squad that won Euro 2016, and a former teammate of Saints star Cedric Soares when they were at Sporting Lisbon.
All Europa League sides have to submit a squad of a maximum of 25 players, with at least eight falling into the UEFA definition of being locally trained.
Youngsters who have been with the club for two years can be placed on a separate B list which can be submitted the day before a game.
That is the reason why the likes of Matt Targett and Harrison Reed do not appear on the initial Saints squad list.
Saints begin their Europa League campaign when they host last season’s Europa League quarter-finalists Sparta Prague at St Mary’s.
A fortnight later they face their first Group K game away from home with the long trip to Israel to take on Hapoel Beer Sheva.
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Southampton get training boost from rugby coach Eddie Jones ahead of Europa League clash
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Jones watched Puel’s training session yesterday morning, before giving some advice to the Frenchman. Although Saints will be hoping it will be more useful than ex-England Rugby World Cup winning boss Clive Woodward’s stint as St Mary’s director of football. Saints are ready to kick-off their first Europa League group stage experience against Czech side Sparta Prague tonight, and Puel said: “It was a good meeting, he is a good man and a good trainer. “It’s interesting to meet him and to discuss together tactics in rugby, there’s a similarity with football. “He makes progress and improves because rugby and football and other sports develop all the time with the personality of the players.
“The games are different all the time and it is important to follow other perceptions of the sport. “It is natural to accept visitors of different sports, different trainers. It is always interesting to share different ideas of football and other sports. “I hope what we discussed will help in the match but we will see.” Puel has also warned fans not to get too excited about an opening round win against European regulars Sparta. The Frenchman, who is yet to taste victory as Saints boss, is keen to blood his players to continental football before putting pressure on them.
“I think it’s not easy to play the Europa League” He said: “I think it’s not easy to play the Europa League because good teams are used to playing this game. “Sparta play every season in the Champions League and Europa League. It’s good to have experience. “For many players in my squad it is the first time. Sparta have had many, many chances. “It will be important for us to play this year so it will give us experience for the future to play another campaign in the Europa League.”
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Summary of non-mainstream articles: 15/09/2016 11:44:42
| | Quiz! Name the 2016/17 Europa League group stage teamsFOURFOURTWO |
| Southampton v Sparta Prague: Saints can kick-start season with winNEWSLADBROKES |
| | Southampton v Sparta Prague: 10 Vital StatisticsBETUNIBET |
|| Southampton v AC Sparta Prague Betting Tips and Predictions 15-09-2016KICKOFFCOUK |
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| | Puel: Rotation is vital for SouthamptonEUROSPORTUK |
| | FIFA 17: The complete Southampton guide | ShootSHOOTCOUK |
| | Southampton Set to Make History in First-Ever Europa Group ClashFOXSPORTS | ...voraciously pieced together by Optimus trousers...beta v1.9 - now with EXTRA pictures!
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Sourced from Daily Echo article
Sparta boss: Rosicky’s a big miss for us
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SPARTA Prague manager Zdenek Scasny admits that they will miss former Arsenal star Tomas Rosicky’s Premier League experience at St Mary’s tonight in the Group K Europa League opener.
Playmaker Rosicky, who ended a ten-year spell with the Gunners this summer to return to his homeland and the club where his career began, is not ready to play against Saints due to a lack of match fitness after spending the last few months recovering from a thigh injury he suffered at Euro 2016.
Sparta chief Scasny accepts that is not ideal to be missing such a key man, especially considering his knowledge of the game in England.
“It is a shame we are losing him as he knows the Premier League inside out,” the Sparta manager, pictured, said.
“I was talking to Tomas about the situation and he said he knows the players but the systems will have changed since Koeman left.
“He can hardly help with the way they play nowadays. He has a high respect in the squad and I consulted him [about Saints].”
Prague have not won in England since 1983, but Scasny will hope to again inspire victory and end that run.
The Czech boss was the goalscorer on that past occasion, in a 1-0 win at Watford, and now manages a team that has failed to defeat English opposition during its past 14 attempts.
Defensive midfielder Lukas Vacha is aiming for Sparta, who are currently in second place in the Czech top flight, to catch Claude Puel’s side on the break, but knows that Saints pose a big threat.
“Southampton are a strong side,” he stated. “We are aware they suit their formation. We hope that that we have quick breaks and have to watch the set pieces.
“We are known as having experience Europa League players, but we know that Southampton will have hard players.
“We are well prepared for them, we have watched videos. They are very good in attack as they showed against Arsenal in their last match.”
He continued: “We look forward to this game. It is the first game in the competition for us. We have been told it is sold out and we are looking forward to it.”
“It is not the first time we play in front of big crowd but we will concentrate on our own game.”
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Sourced from Daily Echo article
COMMENT: Balancing act for Puel
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Claude Puel has already stated that he intends to make changes when his team are playing three times a week, but right now he seems to have a limited amount of wiggle room.
The Saints boss is in a delicate position.
He really needs some wins to kick start the season, which usually would mean fielding the very strongest side you have at your disposal.
But he also cannot afford performance levels to dip and risk results due to that because players struggle with what is a very demanding run of fixtures.
After four games without a victory, Puel knows this is the perfect time to release the pressure valve.
While Saints do have a Thursday-Sunday combination for the first time this season, both matches are at home.
With due respect too, they are facing Sparta Prague and Swansea, who are not going to be anywhere near the best teams they play during this campaign.
It seems very much like a chance to really get the season going and for Puel to finally build up a bit of momentum.
Put simply, two victories in a matter of days to put Saints in a strong early position to qualify from their group in the Europa League and move them into midtable in the top flight would make the atmosphere around St Mary’s a lot happier. The alternative is not as palatable.
With that backdrop in mind, Puel’s stated faith in the depth of his squad will really be tested now.
If he does indeed really believe in them all, then he will make wholesale changes to keep things fresh. If he does not and sticks with those he knows for sure he can rely and hopes they stay fit and fresh, it tells a story also.
Puel has given himself a small amount of room for manoeuvre after his team selection for the game at Arsenal, but it’s not much.
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg only played 26 minutes, James Ward-Prowse ten minutes, Shane Long one half – Jay Rodriguez had the other - and Charlie Austin not at all.
Those are four front line first teamers who can all freshen things up.
Put them in for Sparta, and maybe even change a couple back for Swansea, and you have the start of a bit of squad rotation.
It might be a bit harder in defence.
You sense there is very much a first choice back four.
We know that Cuco Martina was not in Puel’s plans as he almost got sold to Everton so from the manager’s point of view using him instead of Cedric Soares is a significant change.
Ryan Bertrand came straight back into the side for Matt Targett, while Jose Fonte and Virgil van Dijk are being backed up by Maya Yoshida and Florin Gardos.
Do you want to break the Fonte and van Dijk pairing by fielding one of them for each game, is it better to play them both for one match and then stick out Yoshida and Gardos for the other, or do you stay with them and hope?
While Yoshida has proven himself as a stand-in, Gardos has been out for a long time through injury, which makes it a potentially dicey decision.
Up top, Dusan Tadic and Nathan Redmond have been bright sparks. If they aren’t to play every game then you need a rethink.
This was always going to be a hard equation for Saints no matter what was going on, and it is a good problem to have. It is European football.
The underlying issue is the need for results as they don’t have the fall back they would have wanted because of the two home draws against Watford and Sunderland.
It will be intriguing, and very telling, to see what Puel does.
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Puel: Saints can’t let Europa League be a one-off
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Claude Puel has told Saints they need to ensure that their Europa League adventure is not a one-off.
Saints begin their first ever group stage campaign tonight as they welcome Sparta Prague to St Mary’s.
Puel believes that the demands of playing on a Thursday and a Sunday will be a challenge for his squad, but says that the club have to get used to it if they want to progress rather than view this as a one-time task.
He said: “I think it’s not easy for the Europa League because the teams are used to play this game. For example, Sparta Prague play every season the Champions League or the Europa League and it’s important to play this game for good experience for the team.
“For many players it’s the first time and difficult with the emotion of this game.
“Sparta Prague have many chances to play this game every season. These players play every time for a good position in their championship.
“It’s always important to have a good experience and many possibilities.
“For us it will be important for the future to experience this and to play another campaign of the Europa League for next season for example.
“It’s very important to get good experience every time and not just to play in this competition for one season and then two, three, four seasons without - for me and the team and for us.”
Puel has no fresh injuries worries of Sparta’s visit and faces a selection dilemma with an important home match against Swansea in the Premier League just around the corner.
“I think because we are a good squad with many players at the same level I think it’s important two players for every position in the team,” he reflected.
“There are young players of course but it’s very interesting to put together something strong at the beginning of the season and my players take confidence.
“When I say we build a season with a good collective, strong in defence and aggressive and good quality for attack and also with a spirit and to have many possibilities to change the team for injuries, for the succession of games. All of this is very important for the season.”
Sparta are highly experienced in European competition, which will present a different challenge for Saints.
“It’s a very good team with good players,” reckoned Puel. “They play football, they start at the beginning with the ball on the ground and it’s very interesting to play this team.
“I think you have the possibilities to win and to make a good game with good spirit, good collective.
“It’s very interesting for my players to play this game and to answer with a good level.
“I think no problem we will be present for this game with a good spirit and good quality.”
Puel added: “Different teams in the Premier League, some teams attack with possession like Arsenal, for example, some team defend with a strong work like Watford and Sunderland at home. Different games, different teams in the Premier League.
“When we play the Europa League the same.
“The team they like to play because I think the level to play the Europa League is to play football and not just make the ball and have some counter attack.
“It’s important also to play in possession a set attack with good football, and not just wait for good counter attack. This is not possible in the Europa League.”
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Manchester United are in unchartered territory tonight as they kick off their first even Europa League group campaign away to Feyenoord.
But many are expecting a tough clash for the Red Devils against a team who have started the season on fire with five wins from five games.
Liverpool fan-favourite Dirk Kuyt, who scored that famous close-range hat-trick against United during his time at Anfield, is Feyenoord’s main man, although he now plays in a deeper role as captain - can he thwart United once again?
The Dutch club are backed at 3/1 for victory, while Man United are 5/6 for an away win and the draw is 12/5.
Meanwhile, Southampton are 8/13 to record a home win over Sparta Prague, with the Czechs 4/1, and Irish minnows Dundalk are 12/1 to win away at AZ Alkmaar.
For more of the latest sporting odds, listen to the Coral Daily Download IN FULL above!
Coral is the official betting partner of the Alan Brazil Sports Breakfast
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Summary of non-mainstream articles: 15/09/2016 12:45:12
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Tadic wants Saints to be under pressure
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DUSAN Tadic has urged Saints to put themselves under pressure ahead of two defining games in four days.
The Serbian attacking midfielder has spoken of a “need” to put a positive pressure on the squad to succeed.
Saints’ opening Europa League match against Sparta Prague at St Mary’s tonight is followed by a huge chance to get their first Premier League win of the season at home to Swansea on Sunday.
A win in both matches will undoubtedly begin to change the negative opinions from supporters over Claude Puel’s credentials as manager, which have crept in during the Frenchman’s winless stint so far.
Tadic has recognised that to come out of the next few days with a triumph in their Group K opener and in the league will change everything for the better at St Mary’s ahead of a hectic period of seven games in just 18 days.
“It will be totally different and I think we need to do that,” explained the playmaker. “It is simple, we need to put that kind of pressure on ourselves, because sometimes I like to feel the pressure that we need to beat our opponents.
“We need to beat them - it’s simple.”
There is a feeling that Saints have a point to prove against Sparta after the frustrations of last season’s short-lived and anti-climatic sortie into Europe.
Last summer, after a routine defeat of Vitesse Arnhem in the third qualifying round, Ronald Koeman’s side were eliminated by Danish minnows FC Midtjylland in the play-off round, just before the group stages. It has been a sore subject ever since and the players are fully aware that they have a chance to put things right this time around.
“It was really disappointing because Southampton have never played in the Europa League group stages,” Tadic stated.
“But now we give them that, we give them extra matches to watch us in Europe and I hope we will make them happy.”
A win against Sparta will give Saints “more confidence to beat Swansea” according to Tadic, but he has indicated that their Czech opponents won’t simply roll over in the face of Premier League opposition.
“I know them (Sparta Prague) because I was watching Europa League last year and saw some of their games,” he revealed. “They are a strong team. They are not easy to beat. “You can never say in football that ‘they are not good’ and not give 100 per cent because they have a lot of qualities and we know it will be a hard game.”
The 27-year-old waved away any thoughts that the Europa League is an unwanted distraction considering Saints currently vacate 18th in the Premier League without a victory.
Instead, Tadic labelled every Europa League match as “massive”.
“Every game is massive, you need to try and beat everyone to go through,” he said. “It’s always big when you play at home or away. You need to take the points if you want to go through.”
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