Yes. But not straightforward. A chance, definitely but, 'clear cut' no, I wouldn't say so. Anyway, so what! We couldn't score when we we on top (same old story) and, in the end we were lucky that Bournemouth didn't score. We were probably one goal scorer and one world class centre back way from stuffing them!!!
Same. I feel for Jay, and I'll cheer for him to hit the ground running at his next stop. He's just not going to get the opportunity he needs here.
At a push we had two clear-cut chances over the 90 minutes, in my book. Tadic's first chance that he smashed over, and Long's chip that he put wide. As for Jay, I do sadly agree. Whether it's loan or permanent, I think he has to be moved on in the summer. I did actually think today was one of his better games, and in some respects he was unlucky to be subbed. But it's an indictment really of how low the bar is for him, that I'm saying that about him. If that was Gabbiadini, or even Austin, putting in that performance I'd be saying something like quiet game, or he'll have better days. Jay needs regular football, but he's not getting that here.
How about Longs 1 on 1 with the keeper (we would have considered it simple for Mane) or Prowses missed shot at a goal with no goalkeeper? you forgot both of those in your summary.
Our Centre backs are far too passive in my view. A few examples in today's game, but the Lingaard goal in the cup final was the perfect example. Just backing away all the time and getting in front of the goal, but they're leaving a huge gap between themselves and the midfield. One of them needs to engage the ball instead of hoping Romeu gets them out of jail or they need to hold their line a bit higher
This. In the last 20 minutes I was on edge, biting my nails, frustrated, shouting at the ref, & a bag of nerves. At which point it occurred to me that that's why I go to football - to experience emotions like these and, just occasionally but not today, jubilation. Well, that and to see good football. Both sides played quite a bit of that. Both sides needed a finisher. Finally, fair play to the Boscombe fans for helping to create one of the best atmospheres at St Marys this season..
Also going forward. We miss the great VVD. When he gets the ball at his feet it's not always a sideways pass, he strides forward into space with purpose.
This is of course ignoring the countless times both Stephens and Yoshida saved us by winning tackles and headers, blocking and generally getting in the way of passes, as well as the countless times they played the ball out from the back with intricate interpassing with Romeu, Davis, and the full backs. I fail to understand how people are blaming our defence for a 0-0 draw.
Rodriguez one on one offside goal, Tadic hitting the outside of the post, Boruc making a good save from Rodriguez to deny him a goal? I'd say all 3 of those were quite clear cut...
If you are going to play Long or JRod then a player that can play the through balls that they both prefer needs to be in the team, Sims or Hesquith are this type of player, Tadic now spends too much time on the call before passing, in this time both Long and JRod are offside. Going by the stats of this season Long or JRod have about a 20% chance of scoring, we lose nothing in giving Seagar or Barnes a game. Gabbi has shown that a composed finisher will score in this system, this is not Long, could be JRod but not in his current frame of mind. I hope Gabbi is not rushed back for midweek, if he is sidelined then I hope Seagar gets the nod
Personally I'm very disappointed with our defenders for keeping a clean sheet yesterday. With Stephens' years of PL experience and Yoshida being our first choice CB, they should have easily been able to keep... erm, a clean sheet. And why didn't Puel play Van Dijk? Shocking decision IMO. Bournemouth are crap, you can see how many points we are above them in the table. So it should have been an absolute walk in the park. In all seriousness though, I'd say the current rate of improvement of Jack Stephens is the best thing happening to this club at the moment. It was only about a month or so ago that people were suggesting moving Romeu or Bertrand to CB. It's great that the academy finally realised that we won't ever win the league by playing a team full of left-backs and dwarves. The last decent CB they produced was Maximus Hoofimus, back when we were Clausentum FC. Anyone wanna join in with some sort of sweepstake as to when Stephens' will take over from John Stones as the 'best young English defender'? I'm going for maybe, one year from now, (depending on whether VVD stays to help).
Tadic was through on the keeper . He shot wide. That is a clear cut chance at any level. (More space than Long had which you called a clear chance) Yoshi had a clear header from a corner. Clear cut chance (despite Lff saying otherwise ) I'm not saying it was an open goal tap in, but it was a clear chance from 6 yards that if on target was a goal. Two more. In my humble opinion and that ignores us hitting the post (tough chance) and a great save from Boruc
A few thoughts. That was probably the most eventful and great atmosphere 0-0 seen at St Marys, for the neutral. As a Saints fan, it was nail-biting stuff for the last 30 minutes. I agree that Stephens had a great game and is going to be excellent. I thought bringing on Long was sensible as he is just the sort of in your face pressing player who cause errors from defenders. The other thing which stood out for me, is are there many teams in the league better at keeping possession when coming out of defence? Much as I admire the skill and Coolness under pressure, there are times when I wish for a quick hoof to the halfway line. Overall, I feel the draw was fair. The feeling that we were lucky would be reversed if the halves were watched in a different order.
If you read back, I listed the first half chances When responding to those saying we didn't create many. I referred to Long's chance later too. Prowsey' I didn't mention, true.
I'm not being rude, but did you watch the first half? Tadic was our key threat. For the first half hour he found himself space in the middle and was feeding balls through to the forwards. Quite a few were one or two touch. Yes the normal Tadic holds on to it too long and he probably did at times yesterday but in that first half, him in the hole and playing early balls courses then so many problems. I think you saw what you've seen before and that's not fair on Tadic's first half performance. Yes he gave it away sometimes, but Bournemouth were troubled by him early on.
Reading back through this thread, there seems to be a lot of criticism of both J Rod and Long. Not surprising given the lack of goals perhaps, but unfair. Didn't think Jay did anything wrong, brought an excellent save out of Boruc and made all the right runs into space which didn't get picked up. As for Long, we all know he is at his most dangerous when he has space to run into. Bournemouth didn't allow him that, leaving him for the most part trying to win balls in the air with defenders right on him.. The couple of chances that he was able to create for himself where very tight and if he was capable of regularly putting those away, he wouldn't be Shane Long, he'd be Sadio Mane - & at Liverpool. No doubt we are missing Gabbi and Austin, but criticism of Jay and Shane on yesterdays showing is harsh.
I agree. I think a lot of criticism from yesterday was about recent history, not yesterday's game. Two good, evenly matched teams in a match where each dominated one half. An entertaining 0-0
