26 Feb 2018 03:08:14
Just checking out the league table. Southampton are in a relegation battle! I guess if they get relegated we will buy there whole team.

1.) 26 Feb 2018
26 Feb 2018 07:21:52
I wouldn't mind Gabiaddini to be honest. He'd make a great back up striker and is lethal in the D as a goal poacher. Great plan B.

{Ed001's Note - seriously? He is average, no movement and is far from lethal, which is why he has been struggling for goals since he had one purple patch after first joining.}

2.) 26 Feb 2018
26 Feb 2018 08:01:53
Well I do rate him and I think it would be really hard to get a good or top striker to seat on the bench as a plan B. Gabiaddini would do it for me.

3.) 26 Feb 2018
26 Feb 2018 08:04:21
What's your thoughts on ward-prowse ed? Not saying he's right for us but I always thought he was going to be brilliant.

{Ed001's Note - not impressed with him at all. He spends far too much time messing with his hair to concentrate on the game. Only thing he is good for is set pieces, the rest of his play is Championship level at best.}

4.) 26 Feb 2018
26 Feb 2018 08:07:48
Gabiaddini, mate he's not good enough even as a backup. We have youngsters who can be plan b who have a lot more potential then Gabiaddini.

{Ed025's Note - yeah but they dont play for southampton salah, i can see liverpool playing in red and white stripes in the future mate.. :)

5.) 26 Feb 2018
26 Feb 2018 08:10:55
Nice to see someone with their own opinion who sticks to it.

6.) 26 Feb 2018
26 Feb 2018 08:15:00
Cheers man! Pity as I always thought there was a player in there somewhere.

7.) 26 Feb 2018
26 Feb 2018 08:16:37
Saints only have a handful of good players. Stephens, Yoshida, Bertrand, Hoedt, Cedric, Lemina, Romeu, Ward-Prowse, Boufal, Davis, Redmond and Austin are the only players in their squad who are fit for the Premier League. Unfortunately the only player there who can score goals is Austin and he is never fit. Also, having no good keepers and only one true goal scorer (who is injury prone), kind of negates the fact that they have a handful of decent defenders and midfielders. They're like a poor mans Liverpool under Rodgers where we had too many attacking midfielders, Mignolet in goal and relied 100% on Sturridge being fit up front! And how boring were we even though we had better quality overall? Very boring!

Aside from Lemina, Hoedt, Boufal, Romeu and Bertrand though, all of their players are bottom half Premier League players. Romeu, Boufal, Hoedt and Bertrand (who has fallen badly since becoming an England regular; ego i think) are probably 5th-8th place quality, with Lemina being the one truly gifted footballer they have at the club. Lemina is good enough to play in the Champions League, but I'm unsure whether he could be a very top level player who can regularly win titles as a first team regular. Though he did win medals at Juventus as a squad player, he's never been a key player at a top club.

I'd take a punt on Lemina, but 4 or 5 players aside, the majority of their squad won't look miles out of place in the Championship, which is where they will probably be next season unless Austin miraculously manages to stay fit and Forster remembers he is supposed to keep the ball out of the net. Don't forget that this team is the same that finished 8th last season and got to a cup final after beating us in the Semi's. They are mainly just victims of poor management, failing to get the best out of their key players.

8.) 26 Feb 2018
26 Feb 2018 08:41:21
I think Bertrand could do a job for us, I think I'd rather have robbo though. Fair play about the gabadini post, I get where you're coming from dude, if we have an injury up front things don't look so rosy, if we have two injuries up front we are in trouble, especially if those two are the boys with pace. I love Bobby and I think HD really benefits from having fast players to set up. I think dom solanke is going to be class buy would I trust him yo lead the line at Chelsea or utd or real Madrid? Not yet. Not saying I'd trust gabadini but we do need some back up to the front boys and finding cap able players who will sit on the bench a lot is going to be hard. Aoc can play in that front three and so can lallana, with ing and solanke I guess we are okay. I'd like to see a new striker in the summer but it will have to be back up as our boys are too good to drop.
That lemana or w/ e looks very promising, could be a liverpool Plas yer one day. Radix shows glimpses of class. How about boufan?

{Ed025's Note - liverhapton could have a really good team SS..

9.) 26 Feb 2018
26 Feb 2018 08:42:42
Yeah and they rewarded Puel with the sack. There is no player i would take from there, Juventus don't let players who are going to become world beaters go for peanuts. Actually he is a very risky player who dribbles and does tricks in places he should just pass the ball. Overrated due to all the wrong reasons.

10.) 26 Feb 2018
26 Feb 2018 09:17:57
The only player I would take from them is Stephens. A bit raw but I think he could be a good centre back in the future. The rest of the squad is quite average tbh. Lemina I am not convinced by, lots of energy but is so inconsistent and makes the wrong decision most of the time.

11.) 26 Feb 2018
26 Feb 2018 09:27:22
Lemina does take risks in possession, but isn't not taking risks the stick everyone regularly uses to beat Henderson with? 🤔 He's only recently turned 24. Lemina would be a decent player to have rotating with Henderson who as Ed001 has said, may never be fully fit again.

I know everyone is busting nuts over Jorginho right now (who is actually very poor defensively and plays slightly ahead of Diawara usually and especially in bigger games), but Napoli are a very hard club to deal with and we insulted them with a derisory offer for Koulibaly less than 12 months ago so just forget about that one lads. He is a world class pass master, but he's not going to happen even if the club are considering him. He'd get trampled in the holding role against quality teams. Harry keeps peddling the myth that he is anything like Alonso when he simply isn't. He is far more energetic and is given more freedom to roam forward. I'd say he is more like Veratti or Modric.

Not saying Lemina is more likely to happen because there is no interest as far as i know, but he is far more attainable and played a key role in Juventus's run to the Champions league final last season. In fact, Juventus only lost 2 games in all competitions that he was involved in; to Real Madrid and Roma.

We can't all come on here and slaughter Henderson for playing safe, then say we don't want Lemina because he takes risks. I can understand you not rating him because it's all subjective, but that argument is just as lazy as the "Henderson only passes sideways" argument. Lemina takes risks in the Saints team because he often has Romeu alongside him doing additional (almost unnecessary) defensive work, So he can afford to. His risks usually pay off as well and haven't cost Saints at all this season. On top of that, Southampton play with so much rigidity that there is rarely a passing option aside from going backwards, so he is taking risks to try and make something happen in a dire team. Teams are also pressing him much harder because they know he is the guy who starts there attacks off, but he's not getting any help in terms of movement. You can't judge a racehorse if they're being ridden by Dwayne Johnson. Lemina is carrying a very poor team.

Then there is the argument that Juventus don't sell good players, which is about as relevant as me saying "Juventus don't sign bad players" and yet they signed Lemina didn't they. So that argument is also pretty easily debunked. Juventus let Bonucci and Alves leave for peanuts too this last summer.

Sorry to be confrontational Nostradamus, and i really like your posts normally, but that was just a lazy argument with very little analysis or solid points. I'd genuinely be interested to hear you elaborate a bit more though on these "wrong reasons". As i say, you're a good poster so I'm sure there are good reasons behind your opinion. I think Lemina has a lot of quality though and in a better team, he has proven he is Champions League level.

12.) 26 Feb 2018
26 Feb 2018 09:30:06
Southampton players should be totally off limits. It is getting out of hand now.

Southampton supporters must be totally sick of Liverpool, I hope they stay up and kick on next season.

13.) 26 Feb 2018
26 Feb 2018 09:56:20
I think Boufal is a good player, but that’s it.
I know ed001 would take Forster but I don’t rate him personally 🤝.

{Ed001's Note - hahaha very funny Ronald.}

14.) 26 Feb 2018
26 Feb 2018 10:03:17
I've worded that horribly. Jorginho plays slightly ahead of where Diawara would play, and is ahead in the pecking order, but in bigger games (particularly in the Champions league) Diawara plays instead of him in a slightly deeper role. They rarely play together. It's weird because Jorginho is first choice, but regularly gets dropped for Diawara when they play offensive opposition.

In the away game vs City, Diawara played and Man City were very lucky to win 2-1. Yet in the home game vs City, Jorginho played and Napoli were lucky it only ended 2-4 because the entire game was like watching a hot knife go through butter, and Jorginho wasn't the hot knife!

Italy is a weird league. The tempo is slow in most games and hardly anyone gets at the opposition (with Napoli being one of the only teams who actually do) . Most teams play a very deep defensive line and therefore the DM role over there is completely different for some teams. See Pirlo for a prime example. Even if he could tackle, he deliberately avoided doing it to the extent i don't know how good he was at it. Some teams just choose to play with a pass master in front of the defence because they know they won't get truly tested. You don't get that luxury in the Premier League or Champions League though.

Just thought i should clarify that point because people nit-pick on here and i worded it really badly.

15.) 26 Feb 2018
26 Feb 2018 11:27:07
Well, if you must know i have watched him since he was 18-19 years of age and to this day he does the same mistakes and is so inconsistent its actually scary, NOPE, henderson is one of my favorite players (atleast he was before the injuries) and its not the same stick whatsoever mate, Henderson passes side ways a bit more than people like, the stick is to do with the passing!

Lemina dribbles and wants to show his skills in a position where stuff like that is simply unacceptable for any top club, don't see Veratti taking on 2-3 players just to show what he can do when a simple pass is on, or Kante or any other so called Defensive midfielder for that matter, His decision making is simply terrible and i know for a fact Juventus couldn't wait to get rid.

I saw him have a fantastic game vs West Brom fair enough but vs any team with decent players in midfield he is quickly found out, he tries to showboat in a position where showboating is not allowed. I understand that a guy who does a great skill will get the plaudits from TV fans and ''pundits'' but he has 2 or 3 good games in 10 games and that is the reason why Juventus let him go so cheaply when they themselves are looking to rebuild their midfield.

He is 24 as you say and the same applies for Emre, if you think Emre is inconsistent please
watch Lemina over 20 games then come back to me, he makes Emre look the most consistent
player of all time (i'm exaggerating a bit) . But he is young, he might stop it and learn from the countless mistakes but 5 years on since the first time i saw him play and he is the exact same player, i'm not keeping any hopes of him becoming a great defensive midfielder any time soon because that's where he wants to play, even Romeu is playing a bit ahead of him now or with him, honestly MP is not a very good manager his tactics are very weird.

Then the personality, which is the most important thing that makes a player become a top
player or just another player. Determination and very hard work, 2 of which Lemina has very little of, Lemina is like Mamado Sakho if there is an example i can use,
no hard work in training, messing about, twerking with Balotelli's fiance, that kind of stuff ;)

Then i won't get into your ridiculous arguments, because when Juve signed Lemina he was 18-19 and they had high hopes he would mature as a human being and as a footballer, alves is 40 and Bonucci is not that good a defender, he is an excellent ball playing defender but at actual defending Barazagli and Chiellini do/ did all the dirty work. From your whole post i get you have basically watched Saints play 2-3 times where Lemina was brilliant, because i have watched him when he was terrible for both the Saints and Juventus and i remember you making fun of a guy saying it is not difficult to spot a good player because he was working on a scouting license or whatever, apparently it is very very difficult to spot really good players because its not all about how many people i can dribble past while pretending to be a defensive midfielder. I met the guy twice when he was younger and his dream was to become the new Viera good luck with that and to you as well spotting all those world class players!

16.) 26 Feb 2018
26 Feb 2018 11:37:46
You also keep talking stats, while Lemina actually came off the bench a lot in games already won and was a back up rotation option at best, my best friend is a life time supporter of Juve and was very happy they got rid. He has also worked in football for over 22 years and i mean no disrespect but i take his words over yours 10 out of 10 times, you say stats mean nothing then use them most of the time yourself to justify a point. Jorginho is on a whole other level even though i haven't opened my mouth or creamed myself about him as you say because i don't think it will happen then you go and say something hilarious like Lemina is more attainable and is proven, proven of what that he has 10 terrible games and 2 good ones? More attainable? Really like the 79 million € we are paying southampton for van Dijk attainable? Yeah thought so. If they were selling him to West Ham for 20 million and we asked he would suddenly cost us 60 million, just suggesting anymore southampton players for us to sign is ridiculous all together, they are not the only team in the world!

17.) 26 Feb 2018
26 Feb 2018 11:24:23
😄 couldn’t resist it ed.

{Ed001's Note - he is like the anti-Kovacic....}

18.) 26 Feb 2018
26 Feb 2018 12:43:37
I wouldn’t worry too much Harry, if Ed001 comes out and state he doesn’t rate Lemina, Mk will stop banging the drum ;)

19.) 26 Feb 2018
26 Feb 2018 13:05:39
You've clearly taken offence to me asking to hear your full opinion, when you should have regarded it as a compliment that i wanted to hear your views in more depth.

Just to be clear though, i watched him play a couple of times for Marseille which is where he actually was at 18-21 years old, before he joined Juventus (initially on loan) a couple of months before his 22nd birthday. He was only at Juve for 2 season. So you've not followed his career anywhere near as closely as you're pretending and your in the know friend at Juventus doesn't even know how long he was at the club. I only saw him play Champions League for Juventus and he was always solid and he dribbles his way out of trouble rather successfully from what I've seen. He actually played 270 minutes in the CL for Juve that last season, including 3 starts in the group stages, so he didn't only come on when the game was won. That is a total lie to try and discredit him as a player.

With regards to the scouting stuff, you've confused me for someone else. I have never claimed to be a scout or even suggested i want to be. I'm just a fan of football who enjoys debating it and writing it as i see it. I know exactly which poster you are referring to, but you've jumped the gun there massively. Mistaken identity mate.

You are correct, I've not seen loads of Lemina. About 5 games for Saints, about 3 for Juventus and about 2 for Marseille. Am i not allowed to judge a player based on what I've seen though? If we're all only allowed to have an opinion on players we've seen 50btimes or more, we basically aren't allowed to debate anyone who doesn't play for Liverpool!

As for the personal attack on me apparently using stats; where have i hear? Normally, I give an opinion and explain it in detail, on rare occasions adding a few relevant stats on the back end, but I've not used any stats on this entire thread 🤔 i haven't used stats as the basis for my opinion for about 4 years. I admit that i used to, but i learned that they are largely irrelevant and easily manipulated.

I'm bitterly disappointed by your replies. I genuinely enjoy your posts and i knew you had the eloquence and quality in your writing to put a stronger argument together than 3 sentences with no explanation, so i politely asked you to elaborate. Instead of debating Lemina though, I've had to spend my entire reply defending myself because you took offence to me valuing your opinion, and launched a scathing personal attack on me for things other people have said 🤦🏻

I won't bother asking you for your opinion in future, as you've done a fine job of ensuring i never value your opinion again, not least by telling me you don't value mine at all 👍🏻.

20.) 26 Feb 2018
26 Feb 2018 13:29:03
I agree with Ron. That boufal would be good back up for those wingers.

Lol Ed, I don't know why we don't just sign their scouts!

{Ed001's Note - Boufal? Too inconsistent and moody, fantastic talent but only turns up twice a season. May as well not bother.

As for their scouts, why would we want them? I would rather we targeted better players than keep looking at Saints. We should be looking at Genk's scouts, who spotted the likes of Leon Bailey, if we are going to grab some scouts. Not Southampton, who have shown an inability to replace their better players, instead signing donkeys like Redmond.}

21.) 26 Feb 2018
26 Feb 2018 14:02:22
Now I've defended myself i will debate your points.

Firstly on the inconsistency; that is largely down to the fact that this is his first season as a first team regular. He is slightly inconsistent, but so are Southampton so it's not as simple as just blaming Lemina.

Secondly on the dribbling point; Kante dribbles a lot! I'm actually surprised you used him as he is the worst example for your argument. Kante regularly skips past 2 or 3 players in midfield. Another top holding midfielder who does the same is Weigl at Dortmund. Dembele at Spurs does it too all the time. So it is a bit factually incorrect to say no top teams have a holding midfielder who takes risks and dribbles with the ball. I would guarantee you that anyone on here would take any of those three players despite them taking risks on the ball.

On the personality front, i can't comment as i have no knowledge of him away from the pitch. I perhaps would've considered your friends inside info as valuable if he hadn't also told you Lemina joined them at 18 years old which is actually the age he signed for Marseille.

Alves is not 40 either but i think you knew that. Bonucci might not be great defensively, but he is a good ball playing centre back still. There were a lot of top teams interested in him for that characteristic alone.

Also, how is it hilarious to say Lemina is more attainable than Jorginho? Anyone who thinks otherwise is nuts. Napoli are one of the hardest clubs to deal with and Jorginho is a top player for them. Southampton are probably going to be relegated and suffer a mass exodus.

Whether you want to dispute him being proven or not, he has played for a top 5 team in Europe and still managed to make 42 appearances in 2 seasons. There is stat number 1 of the debate for you. I don't really care if he came on as a sub in half of them. He still made a healthy amount of appearances at a young age for a huge club and won 4 trophies in 2 seasons with them. He has started games in the Champions league that his team have won comfortably. So he has proven to me he can cope at that level. Whether he stands out at that level is a different matter, and i did query whether he had the quality to be a key player at the top level, on the end of my initial comment. Hence why i said I'd take a punt on him, initially as cover for Henderson.

22.) 26 Feb 2018
26 Feb 2018 14:20:23
I like Boufal as he's exciting to watch. I think he'd be okay back up but I wouldn't pick him because i think he's hit his ceiling. I'd still pick Richarlison if i had the choice of a back up wide forward. I still can't believe he's only 20. I think his pace of the bench would cause teams problems and he has the potential to break into the first team one day.

23.) 26 Feb 2018
26 Feb 2018 14:21:09
Good point Ed. When playing old fifa I used to raid the Scandinavian leagues for defenders especially. Not relevant I know, I will keep an eye on genk, anyone there you like Ed?

Look at Gerrard houlier, that team he built in his first season. Hypia, henchoz, hanman and even camara. Real hidden gems. Maybe not hanman, he was already an established cm. There were a few signings from Scandinavia then.

I've been banging on about Vvd and his calming effect and subtle contribution to Liverpool. Look at Southampton now he is gone.

{Ed001's Note - Saints were poor with VVD, they haven't changed because they lost him, they are struggling because they have been badly run in recent years. They are trying to move away from the model that gave them success and it is not working.

I haven't seen Genk's current team play but in the last few years they have had Wilfred Ndidi, Leon Bailey and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, all bought for peanuts. You could even include players such as Christian Kabasele as successful scouting when you consider the size of the club and the league it plays in. Funnily enough they have raided the Scandinavian market a few times recently as well, Aidoo is a defender that some people have suggest to me as a player to keep an eye out for in the future.}

24.) 26 Feb 2018
26 Feb 2018 15:07:33
no more players from Southampton please, we have cleaned them out.

25.) 26 Feb 2018
26 Feb 2018 15:11:25
Best player in Genk's current side for me, is Gambian centre back Omar Colley.

Proper old fashioned defender. He could easily play in the Premier League. I did do an article which included him about 6-9 months ago but i cannot remember what it was called now.

Good player though. If you can catch a game of there's on a streaming site, keep an eye out for him! Plays very similar to the likes of Pepe, Manolas and Koulibaly; right on the edge of the rules! Who doesn't love a beast at the back though?

26.) 26 Feb 2018
26 Feb 2018 17:18:20
Lol Plan B. We lack width and that should be our plan B. Though, Lemina is a great shout.

27.) 26 Feb 2018
26 Feb 2018 17:49:39
Lol, my friend never told me when he joined Juventus, i made an asumption that was wrong because he was pushing to leave france after 2 months, my bad! Its not like we sit and speak about the almighty Lemina all the time, i asked him a question when he was about to join Saints and he said he did nothing special and was still doing the same mistakes in france. you have obviously watched him a ton (so have i and have even spoken to the kid 2 times) but you know best i won't argue, dembele is not a defensive midfielder in any way shape or form but again you know best, and Kante dribbles when put under pressure or he has to, his first thought when he gets the ball is the quick pass, Lemina loves to dribble, its his game. You always use stats, i can search your name and find 50 posts of you using stats to prove a point. And i have nothing against it because you are trying to prove a good point most of the time. What you basically did is call me a liar and dismissed my post as rubbish and expect me to keep reading your opinions. My point about southampton is that they will make us overpay for the tea lady but enough now, it doesn't matter really, its all good!

28.) 26 Feb 2018
26 Feb 2018 19:09:21
Thanks for the reply ed01. As always your opinion is much appreciated. Love your football knowledge, tbh its pretty amazing. Best site ever.

Do you think klopp Could help boufal find some consistency? Or do you think it's just a total waste of time? Sorry about the awkward question, I know you can't see into the future! Thanks again.

{Ed001's Note - thank you for the compliments.

I really do not know with Boufal. He has so much talent but I don't see him developing the consistency under anyone. If Klopp could he would have a player who is amongst the most talented in the world.}

29.) 26 Feb 2018
26 Feb 2018 19:51:34
Wow. I wonder how much he would cost? Could be worth a punt if under 20 mil? That is some endorsement Ed. It must be SO frustrating for pellegrino! One match boufal beats 6 men and puts the ball in the back of the net. Next game he skies free kicks, scuffs crosses and goes missing when bullied.

I reckon Southampton would be asking 30/ 40 mil for him, if so I totally agree, steer clear. For 15 mil though, like I say, could be worth a punt. If Southampton go down he will definitely be off right?