Well, there's no doubt who Saints man of the moment is. James Beattie has finally been rewarded for all those goals by getting his first England call up. There's every chance he'll start the game too. Eriksson has called up a number of fresh faces , all of whom Beattie is ahead of. In addition, the absence of Heskey really gives the England boss the chance to look at a Beattie/ Owen partnership.
Beattie didn't score yesterday, but did get on the end of a couple of half chances. Strachan's comments about James being just a run of the mill centre forward, while grounding, are in fact toss. While Beattie is the perfect player to have in the box for cross from wide positions (you hear that Fernandes, from WIDE positions!) he's far too good a player to just get balls thumped up the park to.
It's Beattie's movement which makes him stand out. When Saints are playing along the ground he pulls defenders all over the place, creating plenty of space for other people, who invariably hit it over the bar >sigh<.
In addition, he's capable of good control and has an excellent shot on him. Why Saints use a long ball as a regular source of attacks remains a complete mystery to me. It's going to be interesting seeing how Beattie reacts to international level. It would be just typical, if they just thumped long balls up to him, thinking that Heskey was still in the team.
One player who must be looking at pushing into the England squad is Matt Oakley. With the likes of Konchesky and Parker making the squad, Oakley must be pretty optimistic. He's one of the best English holding players in the league. The problem is that he doesn't get forward enough. We saw the goals against Millwall, and he's capable of doing that every week.
Of course, with Oakley that far up the park, you can bet there would be no one dropping back, and that's something Saints have to look at. The good news is that both Delap and Prutton can fill that role.
We could soon be seeing an attacking Saints midfield partnership, which each player moving up or back as required, and getting a fair number of goals between them. Where that leaves Anders Svensson is anyone's guess. We could always put him up front, just behind Beattie. It's got to be better than having Tessem there.
It's surprising just how varied opinions are about Fabrice Fernandes. When he arrived, he clearly had skill but couldn't impose himself on the game enough for nearly anyone. Then he settled in and had a blinding run of games.
Anyone who remembers seeing Ruel Fox may have had an advanced warning about Fabrice. While he looks really tricky, it would seem that it's just the one trick with a few variations. Even the nationwide teams have got him well and truly sussed.
It's not the end for Fabrice, not by a long shot. He still has the skill to get past players. He just has to be reminded that he should be doing that rather than turning towards his own goal and running into the centre.
I'd like to see a temporary wall build at Staplewood. It runs from the edge of the box right the way down the park. Fabrice is place half way and a defender put in front of him. Fabrice's goal is to beat the defender. He has to go wide to do it, and I 'm sure after the first dozen times he's knocked unconscious against the wall , he'll get the idea.
That just leaves trying to find a way to get him to pass to Telfer.
It's an old tradition to have a big bloke/ little bloke combination up front. A hundred years of tradition insist that this is the way to go. Strange foreign coaches revolutionised the concept by having >gasp< two little blokes, with passing to feet.
But no one at any time has thought it was a good idea to have two big blokes. No one. Ever. Saints of course, sneer at these uneducated fools. "We can have two big blokes if we want," says Strachan, "and to prove it works we'll even pick one who isn't a striker at all!"
Yes, stubborn bloody mindedness is the only reason I can think of why Tessem is still in the side. He. Is. not. a . striker. I'm getting really tired of saying it. He has the killer instinct of Ghandi . Yes he can thump a 25 yard shot from midfield, but the chances of it going in were always slim. To use that as an excuse to play him as a striker is feeble.
Just because he says he's a striker doesn't make it so. After all Ali Dia claimed he was a footballer and did we play him ? Ah, never mind.... have a look at some more pictures while I go off and sulk.
