What did Ramirez do wrong*? Other than play neat and tidy passes, open a couple of opportunities, want the ball, track back and have a couple of efforts on goal? The same almost exactly as Lallana really....... *other than be foreign
No. No he didn't. Not in the game I was watching anyhow. I'm not saying he was great at all, but really, he was no worse and probably better than most today.
Didn't see anything apart from the score, guessing we were a bit underwhelming? Or was it Gazza/Guly/Vic's fault? Someone give me the v sort summary. Either way surely not worth crying about, well done to Cardiff as well (before we forget about them).
Sounds like you must have been watching the Southampton vs Cardiff game there Saintly! Not the game that was being played in someone's head......
All the possession in the world in first half. Cardiff have one chance in second. Score. We then don't do an awful lot. Apparently that's Gaston's fault this week (clue: it wasn't at all).
You can debate it's effectiveness but I most certainly saw a plan B for the last 20-25 minutes, we hit a significant amount of diagonal balls looking for knock-downs, which did create a few reasonable chances but didn't exactly leave Cardiff scrabbling for hold on for dear life. I think in with the players we have, system-wise it's pretty much the best option available, there's only so much you can change before you're just hitting and hoping, whether it be with long balls or long shots. Any kind of 'plan B' definitely needs to come in the shape of players and player progression (Like Shaw or Chambers beating the first man with their crosses) for me.
No individuals fault just didn't put them to the sword as most expected. Great passing and movement, especially first half, but nothing more than that really. Second half after Cardiff scored we were pretty crap but I think they surprised us by actually playing football for 20 minutes.
One minute before Cardiff scored I looked at live odds and Cardiff to win was 10/1. I bottled it... Damn
True. We had enough decent chances to win today. As usual we had a lot of shots. But we still didn't create enough good chances for the amount of possession we had. I suppose against teams that sit back, you are going to have less good chances and need your players to take the chances that are created. Pretty disappointing to lose so limply against a poor team that didn't even play well.
Exactly this. We were clearly the side with the better players and technical ability, but Pochettino tactically outthought by Solskjaer. Not the first time this season we've been tactically outthought in the same manner by a well organised side prepared to defend and let us have as many 'poor' chances as we like, and then hit us at the point we over-commit. Naive in the extreme. I know some may not like the timing of this assessment or say I'm overreacting, I do know however that I am perfectly calm in this assessment due to not being surprised and having seen the evidence so many times before. I know he's a decent manager, and was an improvement on Adkins at the time he came, but personally my opinion is Pochettino has hit his ceiling in terms of his ability to improve us (in that I don't reckon we'll ever get a 60pt season with him in charge). Happy enough if he stays, but not too bothered if he leaves in the summer. As a comparison, and just so nobody thinks I'm saying he's completely hopeless:- David Moyes was a decent manager (for Everton), but not good enough for Man Utd. Martinez is also better than Moyes, for either club. So there we have it, feel free to lambast me.
Oh well never mind, we haven't had many surprise defeats so can't really overreact to this one. I'm in a bar in sunny Jersey, so maybe it's less upsetting for me . Wife giving me funny looks now, better get off phone .
No, sorry, don't agree at all. Cardiff played with a hopeful tactic that came good through some poor individual performances on our part. They weren't tactically superior, and neither was Pochettino tactically outthought today. There was nothing specifically wrong with playing the way we did today (and have for the season), we just need to implement it better. They got lucky with their tactic on the day. If we played the game again tomorrow, we'd likely win 3-0. We had over 20 shots to their 5 or so. That's not a tactical problem, it's a finishing one.
Oh. Was that a deliberate tactic? It looked like desperation and a lack of ideas. Since we lost Puncheon, I don't feel like we have anybody that will come off the bench and even threaten to score a goal (unless Rickie starts from the bench). I agree about our full backs though, they are so important to our attacking play, and really need to improve their crossing.
