We didn't look nervous. We just sat back and defended what we had. And it worked - we were very good defensively - Leeds didn't create much in the 2nd half for all their possession and territory. We made Leeds look poor in the first half. What key players were Leeds missing? They got players back (Cooper, their captain being the main one). You sound like a Leeds fan, focusing on their negatives rather than our positives. Very odd view to take IMO.
Hopefully this is a turning point. Absolutely loved to see how hard everyone worked. Even Sulemana tracked back! Hard work beats talent if talent doesn’t work hard. Need more of this fight if we are to be successful. Well done saints
There's a common denominator there I think. Isn't that what we've all been asking for? Perhaps our manager might work that out too. Fair play he did a better team selection today.
I agree that Leeds were useless at finishing but I felt that we made errors with distribution in the second half that did not happen in the first period. I felt Benarek made a difference today. I do not feel we battered them for 90 minutes and think going in 3-0 up made it difficult for Leeds to come out in the second half. Today just underscored who having a striker on form can make a difference - albeit I feel their keeper should have done better. Just felt that Armstrong's goals were both very impressive given the angle.
I think it was more balanced than the result suggested.... Official stats Possession - Leeds -53% ,Saints 47% Shots - Leeds -15, Saints 10 Shots on target =5 apiece Corners - Saints 5, Leeds 6
when we were promoted out of the Championship our first game was against Leeds. We won 3:1. A good omen...or am I just very sad to remember that?
Ian football doesn’t work that way. We were by far the better team in the first half and created and finished 3 great chances. In the second half the pressure was on them to dominate and try to get the ball in the net and we did our job again. We were the better side on the day and won 3-1.
That’s not sad. When you support Saints, you have to hold on to the good memories as long as you can…
If you look only at stats, yes. But I don't remember Baz being particularly threatened, even when we were under the cosh a bit at the end. We thoroughly deserved those three points, on first half performance alone. You say that Leeds found it difficult coming out at 3-0 down in the second half, but really that's a credit to our first half performance.
The problem is solved, from now on we kick off towards the Chapel End and lo and behold we score goals...
Our movement was much better today, and we passed quicker than we have been doing. Much more running onto balls played into spaces rather than waiting for balls to feet and slowing down play so that was good to see. 2nd half, we didn't play with as much attacking intent, but we soaked up the pressure very well and saw the game out well. Manning looks a liability still, but we didn't get rinsed down the left like I expected. If we can keep playing creatively, and playing our best 11 when possible, we'll see a few more wins than I was expecting. I'll give RM credit here, it was a very different game plan to previous outings and it showed.
Didn't concede in first five minutes. In fact scored in first five minutes. Didn't give it away stupidly at all. Looked constantly threatening going forward. Much more energy and grit. Bazunu solid in goal. Adarma deadly up front. So yeah, better all round.
THB definitely, not convinced by Downes as a DM at all. Was comfortable on the ball and only a couple of sloppy passes which considering how often he was on the ball isn’t too bad. His fault for the goal defensively if you had to place blame, but as I say he just isn’t a defensive player
