I haven't seen any comments on the "coming together" of Long and Jones(I think) on the edge of the Utd penalty area, second half. Anyone get a good look at it on a stream, with a replay? I'm sure if it had been Lukaku and Yoshida, at the other end, MOTD would have shown it from all angles, especially if there was a decent claim for a foul/penalty and a possible red card, depending on rule interpretation.
I was watching Long more closely, first half (because from where I was sat it was easier to see his movement), and there were times when he was just walking alongside his markers, even when we were in possession. He wasn't giving the CBs any real concerns, other than when the ball was played over the top and he could utilise his pace from a standing start. He did that well, gaining possession of the ball when he wasn't favourite to do so, but it raises the question as to how much more dangerous he could be if he were to time his runs and actually get 2 or 3 yards ahead of the defence instead of always having to catch them up. Redmond is similar. He often doesn't gamble on the pass being made so when, for example yesterday, two players worked an opening to send him free down the left, he was standing still and didn't move until after the ball had been passed. The example I am thinking about would have put him in behind the full back, but because he didn't read the pass, it ran out of play. There is no comparison between him and Rashford, who was constantly moving in anticipation of passes reaching him in areas where he could cause a problem. And whilst on the subject of Redmond, I thought he was poor first half, improving second half but I find him to be so frustrating. It's not his losing the ball when taking players on, it's how often, when he receives the ball in space, his first response is to turn away from the opposition goal and go backwards.
I thought long/Jones incident was a foul all day long! Shane can't help it if he's quicker than Jones and gets infront of him,which then causes the legs being tangled because jones simply can't keep up. So has to be a foul foul for me,had it been the other end and it been Rashford/Yoshi I would of said the same. Same old story though the one big chance they had fell to the top striker and scored, our best chance fell to probably our worst finisher , it's just the way it goes sometimes. It's frustrating especially against united having outplayed them again and lost again.
I expect it might have been sped up too much Should catch on more and more with time though I suspect it will be more of a hit at away games to begin with.
Now that we have a strong and settled back 7 that should be pretty defensively sound, I think we need to start mixing things up up front. For me, one of Gabbi or Austin (but mostly Gabbi) needs to be on the pitch at all times as we have very few goals elsewhere in the team, but we know these two know where the back of the net is. Try Tadic left, Redmond right. Try Long left, JWP right. Try McQueen in an advanced position. Try Tadic left, Boufal right. Try two strikers! Romeu and Lemina in front of our back 4 gives us the opportunity to experiment with our attacking players. Maybe it won't work, but I'd rather that than sitting on something that we know rarely works in the attacking third.
https://www.fansnetwork.co.uk/football/southampton/news/46632/ Gao watched his first game at SMS. Glad he didn't select the Watford game.
Completely agree about Redmond, only once did I see him beat his man and make it to the byline and whip in a dangerous cross. I can't fathom for the life of me why him and Tadic don't occasionally swap wings to give their respective defenders something to think about. The problem with Saints attack is that it's always in front of the defensive unit and therefore easily nullified. Both Redmond and Tadic rarely seem to gamble on a pass round the back and if they did so at least it would drag the defender out of position and create space. Everything is always played across the back four where invariably it's always too congested to create a decent scoring chance. Basically I think Saints are too predictable in attack.
In fairness Tadic played about a million good passes through to Cedric on the overlap yesterday. He had a good game.
Has anyone got a vid of the Jones foull & sending off that wasn't ? Expected to see it on MOTD - errr not important apprently Best chance fell to our worst finisher? Errr which one was that? I don't know who our worst finisher is
I think Tadic played better second half but still don't think he's back to the level he was in previous seasons. Saints attack got me wondering how Gaston would have suited this side? Any ideas why Soppy Boufal wasn't playing? (apart from the fact he's a bit crap? )
