In a game that gave them a good work out Mr Pardew played a mix of first teamers and youngsters. He declared himself satisfied that things were coming along relatively nicely.
The squad that went to Interlaken had to endure ten days of extremely hard physical work in preparation for the coming season.
They also played two games against good quality opposition and showed up well for long periods of both games. Alan admitted that in both games the hard physical training had left the players slightly drained.
Now he stressed that the training was more ball orientated as the finesse aspect of the game was worked on.
The Farnborough win came with a solid work ethic and we didn’t give many chances away. We were the better outfit overall and Alan was pleased with reveral of the performances.
Ben Reeves had a special mention from our manager. He thought that the youngster did really well when introduced and Alan sais that he thought Ben showed great quality on the ball. Even going so far as adding that Ben could soon be pushing for a place in the first team.
Danny Butterfield also came in for some special praise. Since his arriving he has looked terrific and Pardew said how pleased he is with him.
Of the other youngsters Alan spoke well of Jordace Holder-Spooner, Ryan Doble, Ryan Tafazolli, Aaron Racine and Sam Argent. All have come on a lot since Alan became manager and he holds high hopes for them as well.
He did stress that with the first team improving as it is the youngsters still need to keep working on their game as it is getting tougher all of the time for them to make the break through.
Talking about the transfer it seems that though still in the market for players to improve the squad. It was not anywhere near as important as the situation was last year.
We will get the players as soon as the ones we are looking at become available. Saying that the market has been fairly quiet and that there needs to be some movement before he acts.
Sounds to me as though Alan is quite happy to get the men that he is interested in as he is confident with the current ability of our squad.
The midfield was one area that he thinks needs strengthening as we don’t have many options available to us. Without using our reserves or youngsters I agree.
An attacker is also something that he would like to bag but again he will wait to see what options in that area become open to him.
Overall I get the impression that our manager is happy with his lot and is looking forward with keen anticipation to the new season.
The only downside of last night’s game was the injury to Anthony Pulis. He dislocated his shoulder but it popped straight back in and hopefully won’t be out for long.
So all in all it seems that with the next game at Sutton Alan Pardew will be playing a full strength team. He expects another good workout and wants to start getting the team ready to start with all guns blazing against Plymouth on the opening day.
All I can say to that is bring it on.
Join Vital Saints
It’s easy to register , simply click the link and enjoy getting involved (you can even win prizes!)
Message Board To visit the message board, click here. Get involved
This website is your website and we are looking for people to help run the site. Do you go to most of the games and have an opinion? Why not write a match report? Perhaps you are a budding journalist or even just someone who is very opinionated? Well why not join our team? If this interests you please contact Vital Saints.
Read more: https://southampton.vitalfootball.co.uk/forum/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=1906&posts=4#ixzz0uPK9H16G
Share this article
Related Articles
