Agree, the most important thing, particularly away from home (and against a team who beat us twice last season) is not to lose and he set us up well from that point of view. Tactics of keeping possession as much as possible worked well and restricted their chances. Stroke of fortune to get the win, but he deserves credit indeed.
On the way back now. Have to say Lovren was superb, excellent positioning which was my worry with him and some great balls out of defence. Shaw was excellent, especially going forward which made up for a slightly timid yet solid debut from Chambers. JWP was excellent too. Everybody else was efficient. What a superb save from Boruc at the end!
Boruc - 7 - Had very little to do, but ended up singlehandedly saving us 2 points. Kicking was poor throughout though. Chambers - 7.5 - Helped out a lot by Ward-Prowse defensively, but still deserves much credit for such a solid debut. Brave in the air. One brilliant block from which his positioning was superb. Fonte - 7 - On more than one occasion in the second half he played a dreadful pass to put the ever-building pressure back on us. Other than that, his aggression and willingness to win the first ball allowed Lovren to sweep behind him, a combination which worked very well throughout. Lovren - 8 - Has wasted no time in establishing himself as our no. 1 centre back. Keeping Long and Anelka as quiet as he did on his Premier League debut is a brilliant acheivement. His positioning was so good that West Brom never looked like getting in behind. On the one occasion he allowed Anelka too much space he made up for it with a superb challenge. Feel really assured with him in the team already. Shaw - 8 (MOTM) - Best player on the pitch. Going forward, he continues to improve at a remarkable rate, whilst consistently playing faultlessly at the other end. Wanyama - 7 - Good battle with Mulumbu/Yacob all game. His physicality was frightening at times, something i've never seen from a Southampton player before. Gave away too many fouls though. Schneiderlin - 7 - Like Wanyama, deserves praise for contributing to the clean sheet. Got stuck in as much as Vic but was less rash with his challenges. Ward-Prowse - 7 - Seems to have been put into the team to help out Chambers, so in that respect he deserves a 7. Such was his role today that he was never going to stand out going forward, but he ended up offering very little support in the second half, which led to us being on the back foot for long periods. Set pieces a little disappointing too. Did what was needed though. Lallana - 6.5 - Both sides were set up so defensively that he had very little support and space to work with in his role behind Lambert. Still looked bright enough but the game didn't suit him at all. Would've played better on the left IMO Rodriguez - 6 - Like Lallana, plays better in an end-to-end game, which today rarely was. WBA's full backs hardly got forward, which subsequently gave Jay hardly any room. On the two occasions I can think of on which he did attempt a dribble he was outdone for pace by first Mulumbu, and then Morrison, which is a little worrying. Lambert - 7 - Had an off day due to lack of support. Still ended up winning us the game. Subs: Not enough time to rate. Poch - 7.5 - Had we lost 1-0 today i'd have been annoyed, as we were very negative in the second half after a positive first. Should've been 0-0 really. His confidence in Chambers has been justified though, and Ward-Prowse at RM was a clever decision too. We created a worrying lack of chances though, I hope the Osvaldo deal goes through.
I'd think Fonte had a bad game, that stats are misleading i fell. I think he had so many clearances as everyone else was passing it out but Fonte was booting it long. Also a couple of his long passes might have counted as clearances as it wasn't always clear who he was passing to But can't judge anyone on one bad game. It took him a while to setting in last season.
Nah there's a pretty clear line between clearance and long ball and he also had plenty long balls down in the stats, 21 which was joint most in the game along with Foster. Only 11 of those were accurate, so his wayward long balls were accounted for in the stats. But all 14 of his clearances were effective (Removed any pressure or threat on the goal), definitely not tidy, but effective all the same. As as side note, Lovren on the other hand had 15 accurate long balls out of 18, a 83% accuracy rate as opposed to Jose's 52%.
Boruc - 7 - Solid as always, everyone is saying his save at the end was class, but i missed it unfortunately Chambers - 7 - Did well, few decent crosses and was solid in defense. Did have the odd mistake but it was his premier league debut at the age of 18 so that is understandable. Very happy to know we have a good backup option for Clyne Lovren - 8.5 - Very impressive, was a bit worried about him after his reputation, but he was strong and but some great tackles in, as well as playing some nice passes Fonte - 6 - Ok, but a bit dodgy at times, expect Yoshida to replace him Shaw - 8.5 - Good defensively, lots of attacking intent and won the all important pen! Maybe needs to work on his crossing a bit (MOTM) Wanyama - 7.5 - Strong and took hold of the ball well Morgan - 8 - Morgan is Morgan another good game Ward Prowse - 7 - Solid, did a few nice things, i still just think he is missing that spark if he is gonna play high up the pitch Lallana - 6.5 - Flashes of greatness, but a bit iffy at times as well. Then again he did almost score and i think he will go on to do great for us this year Rodriguez - 6 - Meh... But then again i think the way we played in the second half really makes his LM/ST role hard, so i am not to upset about his performance Lambert - 7.5 - Would be a 7, but hey, he won us the game in the end! I think that our defense is getting better and if we can get a bit more creative presence up front, whether that be Ramirez or a new signing it will be a good year Team performance - 7 - Probably a bit harsh seeming as we won away at a good team, just felt we missed that flair up top Still i am a happy man
Yeah this. It is expected for a premier league centre back to make almost no mistakes every game. But nowadays they need a cutting edge, e.g. dominant in air, quick, good passer etc, something Jose hasn't really got. A bit of a jack of all trades who is a top class 3rd CB, but maybe not quite good enough for where we are aiming.
I actually think Fonte had a pretty good game today. He partnered Lovren very well and although his long range passing occasionally went astray, by and large he was solid and didn't look like he was going to be personally beaten. In fact, the whole back four looked very impressive today, and that's something I haven't said about a Saints defence in a long time. I didn't think this was due to any lack of ability from WBA, but Saints defensive capability instead.
That is a horrible passing stat to have!! Some of his completed passes include Shaw and Chambers making all or nothing headers on the side of the pitch, which were certainly going out of play too! happened atleast 3 times IIRC.
Yep, his long passing was pretty dreadful really. But still all importantly did his job defensively, so I don't hold it against him too much. Don't think he did enough to keep a fit Maya out of the side, though.
Boruc - 7.5 Didn't have much to do, made a fantastic save the one time he was challenged. Shaw - 8 Looked solid on defense, threatened when appropriate on offense and won the penalty Lovren - 7 Looked good both tackling and in possession. Nice pass to Rodriguez that almost resulted in goal Fonte - 6.5 Wasn't terrible, but stood out as the worst of the back 4. Got the major things right but his passing/clearing was a bit sloppy. Chambers - 7 Good, solid effort in debut. Put in a couple nice crosses, but mostly played conservatively. Schneiderlin - 7 Didn't have much to do. Wanyama - 8 Beast. Dominated with physical presence. Looked good with the ball as well. Rodriguez - 6.5 Ran around a lot and speed helped keep WBA pinned back. Didn't end up doing much in the end, however. Lallana - 6 Had one nice play in the second half, but was mostly quiet when not giving away possession. Ward-Prowse - 6.5 Good on delivery on set pieces. Looked to move the ball when he could, made a few nice passes. In the end though, didn't create enough opportunities. Lambert - 7 Have to give him a point for a superbly struck penalty, but otherwise a 6 as he didn't do anything else in the game. The attackers are tricky to rate. Lallana to me was clearly the worst. But the rest of the attackers as a whole were unimpressive, but hard to say whether Lambert wasn't getting the service he needed or JWP wasn't finding the strikers available when he wanted. Good illustration of the general attacking malaise was when Ramirez came in. He took a pass, and ran at a crowd of defenders, made a nice move on one, was clearly looking for someone to get on the end of a pass, but didn't find one. He ended up eventually just kicking the ball off a defender for a corner. The next time he got the ball, he had some players available though not in particularly attractive positions, and he tried to dribble around someone and lost it. We just don't have good ball movement or player understanding when the other team gets the players behind the ball. I think all our best attacks came off crosses or passes from deep and/or defensive players. The goal was created by JWP.
Your negativity is ridiculous after a clean sheet away from home against a team we struggled massively against last season.
Everyone's saying there wasn't enough time to judge the subs, BUT; Gaston had at least 15 minutes to make an impression and he managed to make as much an impression on that game as he did the whole of last season. That is no impression, btw.
You quoted me twice, yet if you read my comments on the game, I was nothing but complimentary about our defense. The only criticism I have made was his passing, which has been backed up by a stat provided from elsewhere. It would be naive to only concentrate on the positives from the game, as we have to continually improve to get the overall goal of reaching Europe. It's also worth noting we spent 20m on defensive improvements, in reality it should be MUCH stronger than last year, and it is. With all the money we spend, we must also higher our expectations. 'By never standing still we will find a better way' is one of the cheesey lines being used by the club for this season! I can see where youre coming from though, it was a cracking win!
It is obvious that with no Fox to moan about, the neggys on here have to find someone else beginning with F to criticise?
Was at the game today and thought Big Vic was outstanding in midfield. Completely dominated the middle of the park and was very composed. Can't see many teams bullying our midfield about with him in the side. Shaw and Chambers were fantastic, as well as young JWP who came in and did a terrific job. Fonte's passing was diabolical but him and Lovren did well at keeping Long quiet in the game. I must say I thought West Brom were distinctly average for most of the game and resorted to the long ball tactic which worked so well for them last year. Didn't work today though, as there was no Lukaku. Lallana worked very hard, Rickie is just a legend and Boruc, despite his kicking being a bit shaky, was confident with his hands and made a cracking save right at the death to earn us the points. Great first day of the season. For once
And Odemwingie. We were already 2-0 down due to Odemwingie last season at the Hawthorns before Lukaku even came on.
MOTD Just starting and can't wait to see the early contender for save of the season. Brilliant stop for Boruc, his kicking was suspect at times, but he claimed a couple of great crosses and was solid. Unfair comments on Lallana I think, was our best attacking threat today and helped make things happen. Mulumbu was excellent again for West Brom and deservedly their MOTM, but for me Morgan was just supreme. Shaw did brilliantly to win the penalty, showed some clever play and helped out at right back at one stage. I do think he needs to work on his concentration as occasionally he gets caught out of position. He limped about toward the end, I wonder if he cramps up? Great challenge from Lovren to stop an almost certain goal. Big Vic was very impressive on debut
Interestingly, Squawka, which rates players just on the stats of their performance, had, for MOTM: Jose, Artur, Luke I thought he had a very solid game. Hoofing it into the crowd can give a team a bit of time to recover so can sometimes be better than risking it staying in play by trying to be clever. Vin
