Southampton v Swansea

!!!!
We defended in the second half just not as often as in the first. We weren't great in defence but Ashley Williams was world class.
Listen to Koeman and he's got it spot on.

 

A word about Gomis - took defenders away to make space for Shelvey to shoot and did what he could given we hardly touched the ball in the first half.
Same for Dyer who did a huge amount of defending.

 

I know what you mean but there's going to be pages and pages of Monk V laudrup comparisons from this so I'm just going to enjoy the moment .Stay up this season is the best we can hope for and today is 3 (unexpected) more points towards it .

 

I'd rather listen to Le Tissier and Carragher but I understand why you'd rather listen to Koeman

 

So ignore eveyone else and listen to Soton's manager? Sounds like a clear attempt to push an agenda.

 

Lol which is why I am trying my hardest not to mention the West Ham game and the 20 shots, and 0 on target that some criticised Laudrup for Oh damn you Boundy, look what you made me do lol

 

He was talking as I was typing - Monk said much the same to begin his interview saying we didn't go to defend then went on about it all being planned.

 

But the difference is, we won today, so tactis were spot on

 

If we can go to places like Southampton and come away with a win then i dont care how we do it. Nearly everyone thought we would lose including me but monks game plan worked today and if that was to park the bus as some put it and go for the breakaway goal then so be it. One shot on goal or 20 shots on goal it dont matter as long as you score one more goal than the opposition....

 

It's 'touché' for what happened at the Lib. Couldn't be more delighted....

 

Being battered into defending for 80% of a half isn't tactics - it's surviving being battered. Well done to the players for keeping it 0 - 0 at half time. But you can't say 'we didn't go to defend, we went to play our game' and then claim you'd planned the win from a tactical perspective.
We got lucky and if Monk is going to be taken seriously he needs to be honest. At home to Soton we were unlucky, today we were lucky.

 

Listen to the first part of his interview and even he said it wasn't as planned.

 

Was soooooo pee'd off last week, contract cancelled, bundled into cargo plane, took 4 days to get home but it was worth it, I got to watch the match.

Superb result for us. We set up for a point and tenaciously nicked all three. After 15 mins we contained them well Imo, limiting their chances to only a few, phew, well done Ash.

Gomis put himself about, happy about that. Naughton looked decent, an upgrade at RB for me. He did look knackered when he came off but should get his breath after a couple more games.

Carroll and Fulton did the best they could and filled the holes. Fulton lost his legs after 70mins but hung on in there.

Shelvey, well done son.

Nothing smash and grab about this victory imo, we did set up for a draw but hey, it worked and I'm chuffed to bits. Good tactics from Monk and well executed by the players. A superb if unexpected win. Fantastic

 

Agree with you on Shelvey, but today he did make an effort even by his own standards, and he was our main goal threat, so he deserves credit for that in my view, shame on Dyer though...................

 

Now you know what it feels like

 

Bob monk is not going to come out and say we are going to park the bus and wait for a chance is he. that would be silly to let the opposition know your tactics ....the only ones who knew would be the players and they did a pretty good job even if it did not look pretty to us.

 

9 Fabianski - excellent
7 Naughton - a solid first start for us
7 Fernandez - wobbly in parts but mostly effective
10 Williams - world class as a defender and captain
6 Taylor - run ragged but well supported by Dyer
6 Carroll - made some space for relieving passes but could have been used more, generally OK breaking up waves of attack
7 Fulton - quite busy and did nothing wrong - solid
6 Emnes - could do little with no ball and wasn't offering much in defence - would still use him with Gomis when possible
7 (5 for the goal) Shelvey - a couple of goos shots, two or three good passes, a lot of standing around so still not convinced
7 Dyer - good game in defence - and had to be - can't be blamed for not creating much as it's difficult to do so without the ball
7 Gomis - created space for Shelvey to score, he does look like allayer who is used to 2 up front BUT he must get attempts on target and has to learn the offside rule
6 Barrow - fast but ... did what he could and was enthusiastic.

A good backs to the wall performance (hopefully an approach we won't see too often) and we caught them with a sucker punch. Ant talk of that being tactical is rollicks.

 

I hear from a little birdy that your dear Laudrup is none too happy being a camel jokey and wants out again??.......................

 

Please don't confuse having an objective opinion from watching the game with "putting our side down". I am very much against slagging people or things off for no valid reason without offering constructive criticism.

 

How about, 'We tried to play football but Southampton wouldn't let us, credit to them. It looked like we'd get a welcome point but Jonjo's caught the ball sweetly to take all the points. We've know what it's like to lose points in similar situations but luck was with us today."
As it was he just sounded a bit of a knob, especially as he started by saying one thing about our approach and contradicted himself within a few sentences.
If we had gone there to defend why pick two attacking midfield players, an out and out wing and a dedicated striker?

It was an admirable backs to the wall performance.
A brilliant three points and world class from Ash.