Match Day Thread S0uth4mpton v Chelsea Sunday 6th October 2pm
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There's a top 6 that we will find it difficult to break into (esp. this season) and a bottom 3 that we definitely don't want to be in. IMO with the squad we have (quite skilful but full of mistakes and vey inconsistent) could just as easily finish 17th as 7th. Ralph knows what he has. It was only a couple of weeks ago we went into the Bournemouth game knowing a win would take us 3rd. Ralph was asked about it and he said he didn't look at the table because a couple of defeats could see us back in 17th place. Prophetic or what? So I'm not looking at the table just yet.
Judging by your handle you've probably been supporting the Saints like I have since the mid 60's. We should know better than to predict a finishing position. Hope for the best, prepare for the worst....
Well we were beaten at home by Chelsea and the sky has fallen in. I can’t get that excited. Even getting beaten badly, it was a far better spectacle on Sunday than the football under any of the last 3 managers. Djenapo is a big miss but we pressed well for periods. At the end of the day, the players we have are unlikely to trouble the top ten but personally I don’t blame RH for the result . I do blame the players for the ridiculous faffing about in their own defensive quarter. There were so many times that I was yelling, along with everyone else, for us to just hoof it out and a lot of the backpasses just put us under more pressure. The crowd did not have their finest hour, either. I am not exaggerating when I say that the Kingsland was half-empty by the whistle- with the Chelsea fans singing, “oh when the Saints, go marching out”.
Still haven’t seen any of Sunday’s game. But a non Saints mate said we pressed hard for the first 20 minutes, couldn’t take advantage, then conceded due to a hideous defensive blunder? That sounded all too familiar, but not worth panicking yet.
And at 1-2 we were pushing for the equaliser when the inevitable happened and they got their third, at the worst possible time for us? If that’s true, I’m not blaming anyone for giving up at 1-3, the players might be pros, but they’re human.
We got beat by Chelsea, I’m over it. Not getting a point at WHL still rankles a bit though
And at 1-2 we were pushing for the equaliser when the inevitable happened and they got their third, at the worst possible time for us? If that’s true, I’m not blaming anyone for giving up at 1-3, the players might be pros, but they’re human.
We got beat by Chelsea, I’m over it. Not getting a point at WHL still rankles a bit though
Ah, my bad, I've fixed it.
Last season league form under Hiughes DLLWDLLDD 7 ponts from 10 games and 3 of the 4 draws were 0-0. A single win. We then had to wait another 6 games for a win over Arsenal which was under Ralph.
This Season LLWDW 7 Points from 5 games we are going to be in europe next season !
so shut your whingey, sorry for yourself faces and smell the delicious coffee.
That's a reasonable description of the first half, as I saw it, except that the third goal was an even bigger sucker punch because it took a wicked deflection, leaving Gunn stranded. Actually the only goal that I thought was down to a major defensive error was the second one - Romeu and Bednarek between them completely stood off their player on the edge of the box.
Unfortunately, there was a second half. So although I agree that 1-3 as a scoreline is going to have a demoralizing effect, I expected there to be a reaction after the break (a) from the players with some serious intensity and (b) from the manager with a change of tactics. Neither came and that's the thing I found worrying and disappointing.
Agree about the faffing around, the ball starts with the goalie, is rolled a few yards to the defence who pass it around for long enough for the opposing team to re-group, then we run out of passing options so the ball is recycled to the keeper who pumps it unconvincingly out of the danger area to one of our relatively diminutive forwards who has Mike Tyson, masquerading as an opposition defender up his arse (metaphorically speaking).....and another thing why did this absurd ritual of taking minutes to take a free kick enter into our game, the referee drawing lines around the pitch, players talking behind their hands scheming some tactic that they probably don't understand, only to eventually wellie the ball over the bar, if it's designed to be living theatre it doesn't work for me, the delay eliminates about 60 percent of the advantage that should be gained, alright I exaggerate 59 per cent then, I say bring back the Keith Burkinshaw approach to coaching! ....something else ......but I've forgotten what it was!
Yes, but the issue was that Chelsea completely dominated the midfield, so there was nowhere for the ball together. It was pointless lumping it forward to Ings, Long, etc as they were completely dominated in the air (even though we kept trying it, much to my frustration). I was disappointed that there wasn’t enough slick passing and running at what is actually a fairly fragile Chelsea defence (when attacked on the ground - see Valery’s run which led to our goal). JWP and Hojbjerg both had weak games and allowed their midfield to do what they wanted.
Saying that, we were the better team in the first 10, could have gone ahead, then cocked up a long ball, letting Tammy knock it over Gunn. The only dreadful error we made was for their second (but I’ve been watching Saints for so long, I rather expect them to stand off a player just outside the box and let him shoot).
Once we scored, we seemed to get our mojo back and put them under pressure, but that deflection from a pretty poor Kanye shot knocked the stuffing out of us.
I hope we learned from Chelsea, their short, quick passing just bypassed anything we could do and we need to stiffen up all round. Possibly go back to 5 at the back (but not Vestergaard please!) and some bite in midfield to support Oriel (who must be very close to a suspension for yellows) ........
Funnily enough, this feels a little like that run under Koeman (though it’s nowhere near as bad) where he, through injury, was forced to finally play Long, and which resulted in a massive streak of wins and great play.
The jigsaw suddenly began to fit. Let’s hope a similar thing happens here.
The jigsaw suddenly began to fit. Let’s hope a similar thing happens here.
Maybe you should be a wink or smilie emoji at the end of that, or you could upset people.
And this run has only been 3 league losses, with 2 of them against Spuds and Chelsea punctuated by a big win at our bitter local rivals. Ronald's run of bad defeats was a lot more prolonged and we had the infamous sack poll on here, plus it was mid season. Saints fans really are some of the most kneejerk I can think of and considering our history it's a bit unrealistic IMO.
I think that Ralph might benefit from sticking with a formation for a while and a settled team, the one that he used for the second half of last season worked well with the high press. I think the midfield 3 do compliment each other in the right set up. Romeu's tackling and breaking up play and keeping it simple, Pierre's energy and leadership, JWP's passing range and knack of getting into the box at the right time. Plus the latter two's long range shooting.
I think that he has used these opening games to experiment a bit and that has showed with inconsistent performances but I think it will be more settled moving forward and hopefully the performances (and results) improve with it.
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That was the point of my original post. In life my expectations always start low and if things go better than planned, good, if they go pear shape, the disappointment is easier to handle.
ihatemyselfandwanttodie
Well-Known Member
Erm, but didnt we already have a fair few more points on the board?
Our run has been absolutely shocking for 2-3 seasons, RK had about 10 games. I dont think they are comparable, we havent showed signs of playing particularly well for, well I cant recall when actually.
Our confidence is gone, and it wasnt in a good starting position.
I like Ralph still, but his job, regardless of what is going on behind the scenes, to get them up for it and turn these frowns upside down. If he needs to change players, like Laces said above, it just clicked, then he needs to do it, if he needs to alter tactics, then he needs to do it. There are a few things not working...players in wrong positions, players out of form, wrong formation.
Maybe Ralph needs to take a long look at himself, if he cant play the way he wants with the people at his disposal, he needs to learn to adjust - isnt this what we all do in work and life?
I think he has experimented too much, he needs to go back to what we are good at with a settled team.
The second half of last season wasn't bad and we played some decent stuff.
And I'll keep saying it but we have already played 4 of the teams that will probably finish in the top 6 this season, Burnley and Bournemouth were disappointing admittedly but we had a couple of good away wins too.
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And a settled formation that suits the players strengths.
I am okay with changing formations during a game, if we can’t get on top, but if we play to our strengths and get DO on top, then the other team will be the one adapting, instead of us.