I am struggling to see why LVG persists with 352 when it produces very little in the way of chances and let's teams set up to counter it very easily.
I said on the Saints match thread minutes before the goal our performance was very Chelsea like under Mourinho away to the big clubs. It turned out to be exactly like that.
A deserved win for Southampton, to stop Utd creating at home is no easy task but the back four is good and with Morgan Schneiderlin and Wanyama in front of them they are a great defensive unit.
Solid away performance by Saints. I thought we controlled the majority of the game, BUT the only thing we lacked was getting players forward. Rooney - far too deep in the first half and never really bombed forward on the break. Carrick - never goes beyond the half way line. Shame really, I thought we looked good for the win. But fair play to Saints, they put in a solid defensive performance and hit us with the sucker punch. Ah well, **** happens, we still look good for top 4. We march on
I thought European cup winner Ryan Bertrand was immense and certainly the pick of the left backs on show.
Being the home team you did not create much that's a fact, if you're happy with the chances created today then you have low expectations.
The game wasn't a boring 0-0 though there was a feeling throughout that one of the teams would get a goal.
tbf I thought we created plenty of chances. Having no shots on goal doesn't mean we didn't create goalscoring opportunites, it just means a combination of good defending and a bad day at the office for our front men.
Amazed that Luke Shaw hasn't really done the business at Man Utd but I think the performance today makes up for the three points we carelessly dropped when United visited St. Marys. I'm really confident that this isn't just a blip and the current Southampton can make it into Europe. We now seem so organised and capable of absorbing 60% possession so that the home time can't put one attempt on goal. Hopefully people will start to take Saints seriously.
I think people have taken Saints seriously tbf. At least as seriously as the Saints fans have themselves i.e. they've been bloody good but can they really do it? A slight blip a few weeks back must have cast a few doubts even amoung Saints fans. But after your last 5 games, nobody I know thought it was going to be easy for us today. I would have been happy with a draw before the game tbh. We could and perhaps should have won it today when we had you defending for large periods of the game, particularly the first half. I think it was partly your solid defending, but partly down to us not getting enough players into the box when we went forward. That did help your defence imo.
LVGs tactics didn't pay off at all. Di Maria as a striker? Rooney in midfield? Plus a 352 formation? How many CL or PL winners have used 352? And to top it all off Falcao not even in the squad, to make way for having 3 centre backs on the bench? There really was a fair few bizarre decisions from VG today! Fair play to Southampton though, a good away performance
Treble I thought we made massive steps last season and did expect that we would struggle to repeat this in 2014 /15. However, I think we have actually improved and the club is now on a path to replicate what we achieved under Lawrie Mac. I would love up to finish in the top four (especially at the expense of Arsenal) but I think Man Utd will get there in the end. I'd rather Utd qualified that either Liverpool , Spurs or Arsenal.
I wish Southampton all the best. I think most (if not all) neutrals want Southampton to get top 4, even those who support top 4 clubs. They just don't want it at the expense of their team ha! I agree with you, you really have been a quality outfit this season . Thank fck we won't be playing you again this season.
