Think it was a matter of Clyne being insanely fast and being capable of getting there as opposed to bad positioning/decision-making/effort. Davis was on a breakaway and couldn't be caught from behind but Stoke actually had someone in position to take on the trailer; Clyne just blew right by that guy like he was standing still.
They played about the same level overall, I guess. I'm not saying Yoshida was awful. There was just something off about our defensive set-up today, hard to put on any one player but more of just a collective lack of quality. I thought that Fonte was the most active in at least trying to pick up the slack and organize things. Yoshida just played fundamental-ish sort of football and avoided mistakes. You could rate Fonte and Yoshida the same and I wouldn't really argue especially since it was just a flat match overall and no one (bar perhaps Davis) really distinguished themselves. I can't see the 8's and 9's being given to Yoshida today though. No one deserved an 8, much less a 9 and certainly not a defender and among defenders certainly not Yoshida. I bet if you go and check the stat sites, every one of them will have Fonte as the more active in tackles, interceptions, passes, aerial duels won, etc. etc. and the higher rated player. Not saying that stats are the end all be all but they can certainly lend some perspective. I think that maybe people tend overrate Yoshida because they like him and to some degree he has been over-criticized, but then they go overboard with the counter-reaction. He's not terrible but he's also not that good.
I'm just glad that Yoshida has improved with a few games under his belt. Sometimes people can be very harsh on players who haven't played much. It can take a game or two to get match fit. He isn't a Lovren, but he is a better stand-in than people give him credit for (though I wouldn't mind another CB in the summer).
Davis and Cork did a good job I thought, and Yoshida was fairly solid but unspectacular. I felt Lambert was a bit hot and cold - a few good passes and nice free kicks, but then just slow to react or a bit lethargic at other times. Generally we huffed and puffed but didn't really manage to create very much today. I thought Stoke did a good job with tight defending and some surprisingly neat passing, and whilst I thought we were probably a bit better overall, I don't think either team deserved to win it.
There's a bit in the MOTD highlights, which I will go back to in a minute, where Boruc takes a lofted goal kick and it comes to Rickie, who kills it absolutely stone dead, apart from moving it in the direction he wants it to go, in one small flick of the foot. It is an absolutely superb piece of skill. Rickie suffers from the Matt Le Tissier syndrome. Because he moves in a seemingly lethargic style, people assume he's dragging his sad body around, half-heartedly. He isn't, that's just his way. With the skill that he possesses, he doesn't need to run around like a headless chicken on amphetamines.
I'd agree with Dan but if we're doing half marks I'd bump everyone up to a 6.5, I view 6 as the average and I think on the whole we were slightly above average against a Stoke side that played excellently in the first half and stubbornly in the second with no real stand-out positive or negative performances.
I get that, and Rickie is great at that stuff. I just thought that there were a few moments when Stoke had the ball and it was our turn to press, he would wait for a bit and look around for someone else to do the job before realising that he was the lead man that he had to do a bit of running. The running was fine, it was the thinking time I was thinking about!
Boruc 6 - Never feel comfortable with Boruc at corners but the delivery was first class and that what beat him. Clyne 7 - agree with this, some would say he should have passed his one chance to score but it was a fine effort on goal, unlike Jrod, Cork and Schneiderlin. Fonte 7 - Good game all round. Yoshida 7 - see above (Fonte) Shaw 6 - thought he was immense in defense so I go with an 8. Cork 7.5 -as usual, great work rate, solid as ever, needs to either practice shooting or pass everytime he is close on goal. Schneiderlin 7.5 - see above. (Cork) Lallana 7.5 - 6 for me, never really played upto his usual high standards. Marked out of most of the game. Davis 8 - one player who moved around and opened up spaces and opportunities, MOM for me. Rodriguez 5 - looked lost, never stretched the defence, last week he moved around and pulled defenders wide, this week he was never really in the game and when he had opportunities he blasted wide. Lambert 8 - Ricky has vision that sometimes is lost on the team, very much like Charlie Adam. Can make a sublime pass and no one can read it. Adams make the same pass and Stoke score. His free kick was WORLD CUP CLASS. chambers 6 - always tough to rate a sub, but I guess 6 is fair. Side Note; We really need a wideman/winger. We had so much possession today but when we went forward we were so one dimensional, everything up the middle. I watched Liverpool Vs Arsenal this morning and Liverpool tore Arsenal apart just like we did in the first half at St Maryâs, difference is Liverpool scored 4 and we scored 1
Rickie has recentky been moving like a guy thats feeling something. And i dont think he jumped once. Stilloffers a lot tho, & with gallagher on compassionate leave we dont hav any other options. Anyway, as with a few home games this season, u cant really complain about any attacking players. We scored 2 at home, we should have won.
I have tried to analyse yesterdays game, coming to no sensible conclusion. Stoke's game plan was to stifle our passing game close to their goal. Their strengths are that they are an arial team in that they play a lot of airborne balls and use the long ball game. Away from home the defend very deep. So what do we do......... play a lot of arial balls............ too many in my opinion, we played right into their hands. Their team is a physical team so why try and mix it with them? Stoke's first goal was a classical defensive error. When you play a high line like that they are going to have fast wingers/strikers on your shoulder. At times Stoke played the exact same game, both defences at times were within an 18 yard span it was crying out for a Charlie Adam type ball. There was a few times when both Lallana and Jayrod were screaming for such a ball. For me while we have a decent midfield we are missing someone that has just that bit better quality of passes and thought, a level perhaps that is just above our current midfield. As for our shooting....well sometimes that leaves a lot to be desired. Nice to see Ricky get one from a Free Kick.....is that his first this season from a fee Kick? Can't think of another........ Yes I am disappointed we did not get the right result all the possession in the world is not going to get you a goal if you cannot use the possession to your advantage. Which seems to be our weakness at the moment.
There is a tendency to overanalyze games following a loss...we will never win every game...and the difference between a win, draw or loss is often just one goal either way. Stoke defended well in depth and the weather didn't suit us...a game based on rapid, accurate passes is never going to be helped by atrocious conditions. On another day, playing the same way we could have lost or won...it is that close.
I realised that, just a good example of how we can counter and have our RB there. It was a positive comment
I've seen a million posts from you exaggerating. Rickie did a decent job with his hold up play. Nipped ahead of the defenders on a number of occasions to win challenges. I think you would be surprised by how much he won. Yes he didn't dominate the Stoke defence but think it was more 50/50.
According to Squawka's analysis Rickie was the 3rd best Saints player on the pitch behind Davis and Cork.
we played a lot of arial football yesterday?, obviously you didnt watch the match then, we were the better team first half and you were the better team second half, a draw was the correct result.
Won't argue with you there. But there's no denying that you have a big, physical side, and whenever the ball was in the air, we came off second best. When it was played on the ground, from a Saints perspective it suited us better. There's nothing wrong with being direct btw, the long pass (from Charlie Adam was it?) for Odemwingie's goal was a great ball that opened us right up.
Adams pretty much owned Cork and Schneiderlin the first half. We were the ones playing more of the long balls through the air because Stoke was pressing us and we couldn't advance the ball when we tried to play out from the back. Only toward the end of the game when Stoke had gone into a defensive posture did they resort to the odd hoof n' hope.
