PLAYER WATCH: Benjamin Stambouli

[iluvsteffenfreund]

He was far from worst, should I watch it again and come to conclusion Eriksen isn't good enough for Championship?

Hence why erikson was dragged as well. Erikson was poor like they all were bit erikson didn't get bossed by mark noble on the opening day of the season like bentaleb did. Anyway we will see when he names his next side where bentaleb plays. Wager that he doesn't start ? Doesn't offer anything I'm afraid

 

[FinnYid]

Doesn't offer anything I'm afraid

Glad Capoue offered so much today. Anyway Poch clearly disagrees with you, otherwise Nabil wouldn't start before Sandro, Dembele, Paulinho or Holtby who could all be considered to partner Capoue.

 

[iluvsteffenfreund]

Glad Capoue offered so much today.

Ha ha your talking about today only ? Ahhh bless you.

 

[FinnYid]

Ha ha your talking about today only ?

Well, there were quite a lot of games last season where Capoue offered next to nothing.

 

[kaz Hirai]

Is Sandro not fit or does he not train hard. He is one of the best defensive midfielders in Europe IMO

 

[iluvsteffenfreund]

Well, there were quite a lot of games last season where Capoue offered next to nothing.

True and I'm not saying he's the answer but at least he had a go today, made tackles, competed for headers etc his quality wasn't great but as a midfielder if your quality isn't great u get stuck in at least, bentaleb didn't fancy it today and offered nothing whatsoever

 

[dannythomas]

Well looking at Capoue's performance today we just cannot rely on him and Bentaleb as the 2 holding midfielders. He just looked slow and lethargic. Just like at the Emirates last year after looking good in the opening couple of matches against weaker opposition. From what I have seen of Stambouli ( which is not much admittedly ) he is hard tackling and full of energy. Bentaleb is one for the future but is still out of his depth against the top teams. I would play Dembele and Sandro in those matches. Bentaleb on the bench. In fact they were a pretty solid pairing a couple of years ago. But if Poch likes Stambouli bring him in to compete for 1 of those spots.

 

[iluvsteffenfreund]

Well looking at Capoue's performance today we just cannot rely on him and Bentaleb as the 2 holding midfielders. He just looked slow and lethargic. Just like at the Emirates last year after looking good in the opening couple of matches against weaker opposition. From what I have seen of Stambouli ( which is not much admittedly ) he is hard tackling and full of energy. Bentaleb is one for the future but is still out of his depth against the top teams. I would play Dembele and Sandro in those matches. Bentaleb on the bench. In fact they were a pretty solid pairing a couple of years ago. But if Poch likes Stambouli bring him in to compete for 1 of those spots.

Bang on mate

 

[iluvsteffenfreund]

Glad Capoue offered so much today. Anyway Poch clearly disagrees with you, otherwise Nabil wouldn't start before Sandro, Dembele, Paulinho or Holtby who could all be considered to partner Capoue.

Let's see shall we. I think mo PO has seen what he needs to see, let's see who he goes with next game shall we....

 

[DaSpurs]

I just dont want to see us line up with 2 defensive midfielders again. We need a ball playing midfielder more than an anchor in midfield. It doesn't sound like this guy is a different type of player to Capoue and Bentaleb. We dont have enough variety in midfield, too many of the same type of player. That's why I really want us to pull out all the stops to get Schneiderlin.

I could not agree with you more, as I'm not a fan of the double-six and especially not until we transition in other areas of the field. Leaves us far too stagnant and predictable. However, despite Schneiderlin's quality, he isn't that DLP he's often believed to be on here. He's a very forward thinking defensive mid with great passing ability, but he'd still be another fit of the double-six/pivot whatever you want to call it.

 

[DaSpurs]

Glad Capoue offered so much today. Anyway Poch clearly disagrees with you, otherwise Nabil wouldn't start before Sandro, Dembele, Paulinho or Holtby who could all be considered to partner Capoue.

That doesn't necessarily mean he views Bentaleb as an optimal pick, simply that he's better than those other options at the moment for the way he wants to play. As we rather clearly saw from today, changes will need to be made, likely in terms of both personnel and tactics.

 

[FinnYid]

Let's see shall we. I think mo PO has seen what he needs to see, let's see who he goes with next game shall we....

Unless we sign Stambouli I'd say Bentaleb and Capoue.

 

[Essexyid07]

Hence why erikson was dragged as well. Erikson was poor like they all were bit erikson didn't get bossed by mark noble on the opening day of the season like bentaleb did. Anyway we will see when he names his next side where bentaleb plays. Wager that he doesn't start ? Doesn't offer anything I'm afraid

Agree ref bentaleb as he was nothing more than a spectator/passenger today just not up to it yet IMO

 

[iluvsteffenfreund]

Unless we sign Stambouli I'd say Bentaleb and Capoue.

Dembele will be in front of nabil now no question, he started training later (wc) which was the reason he didn't start against west ham and qpr, and he played his first 90 on thurs hence why he didn't start today.

 

[FinnYid]

As we rather clearly saw from today, changes will need to be made, likely in terms of both personnel and tactics.

Poch doesn't change tactics (though we probably didn't play he wanted us to play), so probably no change there. He supposedly pays rather little attention to opponent as it's all about his game and making the team play that way. Not necessarily a bad approach, but means there won't be much tactical responses to our results.

 

[FinnYid]

Dembele will be in front of nabil now no question, he started training later (wc) which was the reason he didn't start against west ham and qpr, and he played his first 90 on thurs hence why he didn't start today.

Remains to be seen, Dembele isn't that much of Poch type player. I'd be bit surprised to see Dembele start our next PL game.

 

[iluvsteffenfreund]

Remains to be seen, Dembele isn't that much of Poch type player. I'd be bit surprised to see Dembele start our next PL game.

Haha ok, poch loves good footballers and dembele is a very good footballer.

 

[DaSpurs]

Poch doesn't change tactics (though we probably didn't play he wanted us to play), so probably no change there. He supposedly pays rather little attention to opponent as it's all about his game and making the team play that way. Not necessarily a bad approach, but means there won't be much tactical responses to our results.

You make a good point, but I'm not sure that will be necessarily true.

He has to have figured out by now that it isn't as easy for our attacking players to both press and open up space as it was for them at Saints, considering opposing defenses don't play as compacted against a midtable side. This causes a problem, as it causes us to be stagnant. Furthermore, since we're playing two holding mids alongside each other with no one really possessing the skillset of driving the ball forward, it only adds to this stagnant nature.

I think between new players coming in, and this realization, he will have to make a few slight changes while still adhering to his overall plan. Not drastic changes, but changes nonetheless. You'll also note he experimented with playing a more mobile, dynamic passer in preseason quite often. He has since reverted to playing two holding mids, but me may return to the drawing board to adapt a bit to our presenting problems.

 

[DaSpurs]

Haha ok, poch loves good footballers and dembele is a very good footballer.

Poch doesn't work that way. Either the player works into his system, or he doesn't play. Gaston Ramirez for instance was one of Saints' most influential players before Poch arrived, and suddenly he took a backseat to Lallana and then he goes superstar. It's about who fits, rather than who possesses the most quality per se.

 

[Mediocrates]

I made the point that last season against Liverpool at anfield and man city at home he was completely over run and these games are too big for him, he isn't ready not good enough to be running our midfield. Same again happened today. He never got us ticking which is the job of our deep lying midfielder he never made a tackle and ducked out of 3 headers. When you realise that isn't acceptable come back and chat. Until then keep those blinkers on

True and I'm not saying he's the answer but at least he had a go today, made tackles, competed for headers etc his quality wasn't great but as a midfielder if your quality isn't great u get stuck in at least, bentaleb didn't fancy it today and offered nothing whatsoever

Why do you hate Bentaleb so much? Weird.

He's only 19, it's not his fault all our experienced central midfielders have been deemed so ineffectual that he has to play. I'd point the finger at the club for not shifting the central midfielders who don't fit Poch's system and thus rendering us incapable of securing those who do, if I were you. That's assuming that the current problems in our team must be blamed on one thing and one thing only.

But no, you're probably right, it's probably Bentaleb. Let's bring back Scott Parker!