Let's talk about Southampton

Rebaño Sagrado wrote:What happened to Clyne?

He starts every week... he'll go to a top 4 side eventually wouldn't mind betting on Arsenal tbh.

Excellent team who will likely see further investment in January in an attempt to sustain their push for Europe. Whether they are able to do so will depend on injuries and the performance of depth players however they're well placed to compete against Everton, there's certainly no talent deficit, if anything Soton are the better squad.

Osvaldo certainly hasn't been a flop though, excellent striker who has simply been adjusting to a new team and has unfortunately missed the past few games through injury. Even without scoring regularly however he has been maintained in the first team line-up when available due to his all round contribution to the team. The only major flaw Osvaldo has is that he's liable to be sent off at any moment. He'll certainly perform well though in the long run and with England's most underrated forward in Lambert they have very significant firepower up front.

Ramirez however has been an absolute disappointment. At Bologna he was aided by the on field presence of Diamanti and Di Vaio who occupied the defence and gave Ramirez the space to act as a free agent however his decision making and lack of team ethic has been shown up in his time at Southampton and with the likes of Lallana he's certainly not missed in the starting line-up.

The major surprise has been how well Lovren and Fonte have worked as a central defensive partnership, however this is certainly an area where I think Southampton will attempt to strengthen in either January or next summer. With Shaw, Clyne and even Chambers as a back-up they're really only missing a more competent back-up than Fox at left back in the fullback positions.

The major disappointments thus far have been dropping points against the poorest sides in the league such as Sunderland however whether they can maintain their current advantage depends a lot on how they manage the schedule over the next month.

Arsenal (A), Chelsea (A), Villa (H), City (H), Newcastle (A), Spurs (H) is a fairly awful run. If they can get on the order of 10 points from such a run it will leave them in good stead to grab a European place come the end of the season. I personally feel that being knocked out of the league cup very early will come as a blessing to the side, reducing the number of games the side has to cope with and avoiding a distraction that is likely out of their reach.

Certainly a shot to sneak a EL place, putting them on par with Everton is probably a good call too, probably a good chance at going deep into the FA cup if they approach it properly. Quite luckily im going to be watching them play live at the end of the month so hopefuly they can keep up this run of good form

Also word to the wise, Southampton are a very good choice for manager mode in FIFA14

Great Leader Sprucenuce wrote:

Rebaño Sagrado wrote:What happened to Clyne?

He starts every week... he'll go to a top 4 side eventually wouldn't mind betting on Arsenal tbh.

Clynes a Chelsea fan, if Ashley Cole doesnt get an extension for next season then Clyne is his clear replacment for him (pray for Bertrand)

Are you sure that's Clyne you're speaking of and not Luke Shaw?

Shaw is the LB, Clyne plays on the right

talking about Ramirez, how many serie A stars flawlessly translate to the EPL?

Again, Ramirez was another Pastore, overrated within the A due to 1 in 5 notable performances yet scrubbing the rest of the Serie A matches. Anyone who actually watched Bologna regularly understood Di Vaio carried the team while the rest were downright awful or inconsistent.

Very harsh to downplay Diamanti's influence on that Bologna team, though I would argue in your favour that his importance has grown since Di Vaio's departure. Ramirez was certainly only the third spoke however. I don't want to distract from the topic of Southampton though. Ramirez would still be best off fighting for his spot in this team rather than moving on. Even if it hasn't been a positive experience, stability is preferable for his career and he's under the tutelage of an excellent manager who won't simply ignore him even though he's rightly out of favour at the moment.

futbol wrote:Nigel Adkins in his first 11 games:

1 win, 2 draws, 8 losses - 5 points. 29 goals conceded.

Random LA LIGA coach in his first 11 games:

6 wins, 4 draws, 1 loss - 22 points. 5 goals conceded.

DEM GOAT La Liga tactics pwning DAT d o n k e y league.

yep.. dem La Liga scrubs pwning EPL.

Pellegrini
Negrito
Navas
Soldado
Medel
Aspas
Deulofeu
Amorebieta
some more Swansea scrubs

Whats delufelol doing in there lmao. he was a segunda scrub

Negrito has been excellent. Will be in contention for golden boot at the end of the season.

Aspas is injured but was never going to play over Suarez anyways

Pellegrini only needs to brush off City's away vodoo and they will be back with a bang.

Arquitescu wrote:Again, Ramirez was another Pastore, overrated within the A due to 1 in 5 notable performances yet scrubbing the rest of the Serie A matches. Anyone who actually watched Bologna regularly understood Di Vaio carried the team while the rest were downright awful or inconsistent.

No chance.

Pastore is really good. Just picked the wrong career move in PSG. Needs a move, desperately. Balotelli did the wrong thing by going to City as well, Mancini didn't know how to use him so Mario was getting slated, lucky enough for him he had Milan sign him. He's the next Ibra, and I was slated for saying that it when I first said it when he was at City. Crazy potential and same attitude as Ibra, too.

And Ramirez isn't playing for Soton because Soton don't play with a number 10. I personally want him at Liverpool. Would be a lot better than Coutinho in that role number 10 role. (My thoughts on Coutinho as a number 10 are well known in the Liverpool section.)

Casciavit wrote:As for Soton, they have been great. Whole team has been impressive, but the players that stand out for me is Shaw and Lallana.

Both great, Shaw is Chelsea bound I feel. The next Cashley. Best player is easily 'Sneijder-Lan' though.

Casciavit wrote:

Knutsford123 wrote:it just goes to show how poor serie a is, when they were stars in italy and flop in uk

Every league has its fare share of players who flop in different leagues. It has more to do with the player than the actual league. Going by your logic..

Bundesliga is shit, because the likes of Holtby, Sahin, Kagawa didn't translate there Bundesliga form to the EPL, right?

Yet, it still does have some players from Bundi, who have performed well in EPL.

La Liga is shit as well, I mean the likes of Soldado, Navas, Deulofeu and Monreal didn't translate there La Liga form to the EPL, right?

La Liga also has its fare share of players who have performed great in EPL.

As for Serie A, yeah it does have a few players who aren't exactly performing in the EPL as they did in Serie A. But, the players are Giaccherini, Osvaldo, Ramirez, Lamela and Jovetic. Giaccherini was a rotation option at Juventus. Osvaldo was always inconsistent and his best form came under Zeman's ultra attacking 4-3-3 where all attacking players flourished.Ramirez has been poor, but he has time on his side, he can still improve. Lamela is still adjusting to the EPL and will get a good run of games soon. If you think Spurs's most expensive player of all time won't start soon, than you are deluded. Jovetic has a tricky situation, the guy is injury prone and was always going to find trouble beating the likes of Aguero and Negredo to a place in the lineup. Injuries haven't helped him.

But going by your logic, I guess BPL is poor since Flamini and Lovren are flourishing while they were scrubbing in there previous leagues, right?

Romanian league must be great since Chiriches is playing amazing for Spurs, right?

Grooverider pls

The master comes back to teach his pupils some more

Anything above 8th will mean they have scalped one of Liverpool, Everton, Arsenal, Chelsea, Spurs, City 'n United :-). It would be great if they can manage EL spot via Cups. As for bashing their manager, give any of the 'Elite' managers a mid-table team and see what happens.

Outside of Arsenal, they'v been the team I've kept my eye on in England. One of the best defensive records in Europe so far and I don't think that's a mistake.

I think it depends on what they do in January and if/when injuries will hit key players. If they continue as they have, they could very well be around in reckoning towards the end of the season. I think they are doing THAT well.

They remind me a little of West Brom last season who had a decent start, but then couldn't maintain the form.

I expect a top half finish and would be surprised if they finished higher than 7th.

Southampton - The darlings of the Fantasy League bargain hunters

Red Alert wrote:

Arquitescu wrote:Again, Ramirez was another Pastore, overrated within the A due to 1 in 5 notable performances yet scrubbing the rest of the Serie A matches. Anyone who actually watched Bologna regularly understood Di Vaio carried the team while the rest were downright awful or inconsistent.

No chance.

Pastore is really good. Just picked the wrong career move in PSG. Needs a move, desperately. Balotelli did the wrong thing by going to City as well, Mancini didn't know how to use him so Mario was getting slated, lucky enough for him he had Milan sign him. He's the next Ibra, and I was slated for saying that it when I first said it when he was at City. Crazy potential and same attitude as Ibra, too.    

And Ramirez isn't playing for Soton because Soton don't play with a number 10. I personally want him at Liverpool. Would be a lot better than Coutinho in that role number 10 role. (My thoughts on Coutinho as a number 10 are well known in the Liverpool section.)  

On talent alone Ibra wipes the floor with him.First touch,dribbling ,vision you name it,Balotelli is just plain inferior to him.The only thing he's better at is his serial diving fishing for penalties at every instant something Ibra would never match.And Ibra is also far more manageable on the field unlike that ticking time bomb.

Seriously think twice before comparing to him.Just because he has a similar sort of crazy attitude and that arrogance doesnt mean he'd become the next him.A very different player to Ibra in the first place and whether or not he'd amount to what Ibra has amounted to in his career is a huge IF.Ibra at Balo's age was super good.

halamadrid2 wrote:Whats delufelol doing in there lmao. he was a segunda scrub

Negrito has been excellent.  Will be in contention for golden boot at the end of the season.

Aspas is injured but was never going to play over Suarez anyways

Pellegrini only needs to brush off City's away vodoo and they will be back with a bang.

No chance.... his hold up play will be a big reason why Aguero is though.

Red Alert wrote:

Arquitescu wrote:Again, Ramirez was another Pastore, overrated within the A due to 1 in 5 notable performances yet scrubbing the rest of the Serie A matches. Anyone who actually watched Bologna regularly understood Di Vaio carried the team while the rest were downright awful or inconsistent.

No chance.

Pastore is really good. Just picked the wrong career move in PSG. Needs a move, desperately. Balotelli did the wrong thing by going to City as well, Mancini didn't know how to use him so Mario was getting slated, lucky enough for him he had Milan sign him. He's the next Ibra, and I was slated for saying that it when I first said it when he was at City. Crazy potential and same attitude as Ibra, too.    

And Ramirez isn't playing for Soton because Soton don't play with a number 10. I personally want him at Liverpool. Would be a lot better than Coutinho in that role number 10 role. (My thoughts on Coutinho as a number 10 are well known in the Liverpool section.)  

Apart from the attitude, Balo is not at all similar to Ibrahimovic.. the latter is an all-round player whereas the former is much of a physical specimen. Also Mancini was the one who gave him his chances in the first place.. at Inter, at Man City. He was out of favour at Inter because of his issues with Mourinho and Mancini brought him to City. He just couldn't get into the City lineup with Tevez, Aguero, Dzeko all ahead of him in the pecking order.. not the case at Milan, where he's almost a guaranteed starter and there's no one as good as him who can compete with him for a starting spot.

Ramirez isn't getting gametime at Soton because he's a terrible team player and doesn't work hard enough.

ExtremistEnigma wrote:

futbol wrote:Nigel Adkins in his first 11 games:

1 win, 2 draws, 8 losses - 5 points. 29 goals conceded.

Random LA LIGA coach in his first 11 games:

6 wins, 4 draws, 1 loss - 22 points. 5 goals conceded.

DEM GOAT La Liga tactics pwning DAT d o n k e y league.

yep.. dem La Liga scrubs pwning EPL.

Pellegrini
Negrito
Navas
Soldado
Medel
Aspas
Deulofeu
Amorebieta
some more Swansea scrubs

Great post. Negrito aside that league keeps churning out scrubs.

Aguero scrub
Mata scrub
negrito scrub
de gea scrub
silva scrub
yaya scrub
Michu la liga scrub GOating the donkkey league:proud:
Pochettino la  liga scrub goating the donkkey league

Please don't make this a league vs league thread.

Rebaño Sagrado wrote:Aguero scrub
Mata scrub
negrito scrub
de gea scrub
silva scrub
yaya scrub
Michu la liga scrub GOating the donkkey league:proud:
Pochettino la  liga scrub goating the donkkey league

Michu "3 goals in last 16 games"

Yaya "the reason for City's shitty away form" "proud"

Kun/Silva "let's take a whole season off and don't do anything (last year) "

Benchta

Mich top 5 am
Mata top 5 am
Yaya Fantasy football goat
Kun/silva we win when we want