IT'S FAST becoming a
season of extremes for
Saints.
You have the extremes of the
defensive injury list and all the
problems that brings.
You have the extreme of not
being able to stop the goals flying
into your own net, and now having
a much more solid defence.
And we also have the extreme of
goals arriving from everywhere to
goals coming from virtually
nowhere.
In the first part of the season
Saints were the great entertainers
of not just the Championship but
English professional football.
Their games were high scoring
and very unpredictable - the only
thing you could be sure about is
that goals would rack up at both
ends.
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Now they have got far more circumspect
at the back, far tighter
defensively.
That was needed, but they have
lost a little of their cutting edge.
Just three goals scored in seven
games is not good, especially when
you bear in mind that constitutes
not having scored at all in five out
of seven.
The decision for George Burley is
whether to stick with what he's got
and believe it will come good again
or make a few subtle changes.
The obvious place to make
changes, if they are to be made, is
the strikeforce itself.
Stern John has been the man
who has scored two of those three
goals; he looks in decent form and
fairly sharp, even if he did miss a
few chances last night.
Bradley Wright-Phillips looks
lively enough but hasn't delivered
a goal in his last seven appearances.
With Grzegorz Rasiak still hardly
able to get a sniff of the action and
with Marek Saganowski also a
perennial sub, Burley may be
tempted to shuffle his pack.
The advantage Wright-Phillips
has is that because of his pace and
the way he plays off of a bigger
man, he is seen as a good partner
for either John or Rasiak.
Burley will no doubt be concerned
that John and Rasiak would
not work as a pairing as they are
too similar. But only time would
tell for sure.
Wright-Phillips is also of use
because he can occupy a wide position
in the 4-5-1, or 4-3-3 as Burley
would say, that has been employed
of late.
It seemed it would only be a tactic
on the road.
But Burley stuck with it for the
first hour at St Mary's last night
before reverting to a 4-4-2 which
looks better at home.
Saints probably should have won the game so a draw was disappointing. It’s a struggle in the final third at the moment. Burley has to decide whether to make changes or keep the faith again.
Adam Leitch
Talking of the goalscoring is negative
at this point in time, but there
is most definitely a positive at the
back.
There may be a lot of injuries,
the defence may have a makeshift
look to it, but it is starting to perform
effectively. In fact so much so
that some of the returning defenders
may struggle to get straight
back into the team.
Both the defensive strength and
attacking struggles were on show
against Wednesday last night.
It was a far cry from the 5-0 beating
Saints received at Hillsborough
only a few weeks back.
Saints will reflect that they probably
should have won this game.
Though there were few chances
for either side, and Kelvin Davis
made the better saves, Saints did
dominate possession and looked
very good until the final third.
Davis was first called into action
on 15 minutes when he superbly
turned Burton O'Brien's low drive
from distance round the post.
Saints had the better of the rest
of the half, though, with John finishing
only to see an offside flag
raised in a marginal call, Adam
Hammill curling just wide and
Wright-Phillips' shot deflected
just over.
Alan Bennett proved he belongs
at centre half when he was presented
with a gift of a chance just
three yards from goal but totally
miscued his shot which went not
very far but off target.
Just before the break John tried
an audacious volley from 40 yards
that almost caught Lee Grant off
his line.
After half-time the game was a
lot more scrappy.
Wright-Phillips saw Grant do
well to save at his near post on 49
minutes, John went close on a couple
of occasions while Hammill
could only hit the keeper with a
firm shot from 20 yards.
Wednesday's only real chance of
the half fell to Marcus Tudgay
after Saints failed to clear a cross,
but Davis was off his line quickly
to make a brilliant save at his feet.
After the win at Leicester it was
a shame Saints couldn't follow it
up with another victory at home.
But you get the feeling that when
their goalscoring touch returns, it
could be in yet more extremes.
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