MY MOTM is obviously tied as I have three players with 8.5 and wasn't sure who deserves it the most. There's definitely a solid argument for Forster, Schneiderlin, Mane imo. Thought this was the best game Schneiderlin's had in ages (if we forget about his set pieces, which someone like JWP would get slated for).
Fair play for giving Vic an 8. Glad you noticed he played well today after your blistering tirade on Saturday!
He played poorly after it didn't he? If me saying Prowse had a bad game (not saying he is poor) is nonsense. Then what is your mad rant at Wanyama the other day then?
Morgan was the best player in a sub-par team performance although Fonte played well. Palace were unlucky and did more with their 38% possession than Saints. The first attempt on goal took 40 minutes. Bolasie and Puncheon tore us apart in the second half . I thought that Long's appearance seemed to fire us up. The goal was lucky. Ward-Prowse did well to break through but failed to convert again. Lucky that Mane was on hand to slot in the stray ball. Two loose passes by JWP afterwards also nearly cost us the three points.
Morgan's set pieces were excellent! He whipped them in with good pace and in good areas. Not sure what you saw there!
Well the one that sticks in the mind was plonked straight on the roof of the net. I thought Morgan had a decent game, just not quite the Lothar Mattheus-esque dominance that we seem to be getting sold here. I didn't think he was any better than Vic for instance.
One corner. I was sat right behind the corner flag in the Itchen stand and his outswingers were very good.
No, I know, I was just really giving a nod to how perceptions tend to become coloured by the mistakes sometimes. I do stand by my initial impressions though that he had a decent game, no more. In fact, I'd categorise it as the type of game I would expect someone of Morgan's quality to have as a basic requirement. I just didn't think he particularly stood out.
Forster - 7 Didnt have loads to do, made couple of vital saves, only mistake was that dropped ball. Clyne - 7 Looked a threat going forward. He seems to link up better with Mane than Elia. Fonte - 7 Fonte did what Fonte does, win the balls, control the defence, make presence known. Yoshida - 8.5 My MOTM. Made some great tackles when required. Seems so much more confident this season. Bertrand - 7 Made the runs, defended well. Linked up well with Tadic. Wanyama- 8 Solid, made tackles, tracked back, made some decent runs forward. Couple of sloppy passes. Schneiderlin- 7.5 Decent game, him and Victor together are strong. Needs to be taken off corner duty, dont think 1 went passed first defender. Elia- 6 Quiet, didn't offer much. Hasn't won me over yet. Potential but needs to show more. Mane - 8 Looked the most threatening, wasn't afraid to take on players and attack. Does need to stop making that cut inside and try take the player on the outside. Palace started to read it. Right place, right time GOAL! Pelle- 6 Another poor performance, won alot of the long balls but noone around to run onto them. Is frustrated and you can see this. Needs to start couple of games on the bench. Tadic- 6 Does try a little to hard sometimes. Rather than looking for that cross he tries to take on 3/4 players. JWP- 6 That goal will come one day. Long- 6.5 He just keeps running. Won majority of the long balls. Would be interested to see him and Pelle as a 2 up front.
don't think any of our players deserve more than 8 tbh. Palace set up with 7 men behind the ball and 3 up front, seems like a tactic we struggle to play against. Difficult to break down and dangerous on the counter, little more quality and they'd be a decent footballing team
I'd mark Clyne down a bit. Thought he was great defensively but going forward his final ball was poor.
Mane was MOTM for me. He scored the decisive goal, so that was massive, but had that not happened, i would still hold him in contention. He was by far our most potent attacking threat. He's so explosive, he can gain a yard on anyone with his first step.
You are all being very hard on our players. They were under enormous pressure last night against a physically strong and defensively solid Palace side who had already beaten us at home this season. Palace made it very hard for us to play. They had obviously been learning from Poch as they played a high pressing game at times although the long ball was a bit crude and was a typical Pardew tactic. I left the game emotionally drained so goodness knows how the players felt as you could feel the tension in the stadium even before kick off. They all get a ten from me for trying so bloody hard and giving their all. I'll even give the fans who turned up a ten. I have nothing complimentary to say about the fair weather fans who stayed away other than to award them nil.
Watching that corner I have a sneaky suspicion that Spider was trying to score direct from the corner, the ball swerved late and was just too high but it had the GK flapping at it.
