Havent read any of these pages cos I can already see from FLT's comment above that it isn't worth it. Saints played pretty well yesterday. Well enough to beat 2/3 of the teams in the league. Unfortunately Chelsea were simply faultless. As well-drilled and efficient as the Mourinho era (first time round). No complaints losing to them because quite simply if they carry on like that they will win the league. I've already said we've got to not obsess over our league placing this season. It's a transitional season (again) and we have a much better chance going for the cups because we can still match anyone on our day. Bring on Inter Milano!
So in summary, we were beaten by a very well organised team full of highly expensive classy individual players who were working hard for an excellent manager. It is frustrating and I don't see the point in damning individual Saints players to put blame for the defeat so let's put this game away and move on to Thursday and give Inter a thumping
Can't believe the ref didn't once reach for his cards. Chelski worked that out and just blocked, bullied and fouled their way through the game to break up our play. Hope the ref on Thursday is better - Milan will have been watching that and we can expect more of the same!
Don't agree with the heads dropping...you want to watch a team drop effort then watch man united and Kante's fourth goal against them as he waltz's through with barely a tackle attempted. Compare that with the effort showed from the Saints lads to protect an open goal and third goal following Forster spilling a shot
I think heads dropped in the last 10, but I didn't blame them. Ref gave us nothing and was very poor - Matic should have been booked in the first 10 for that high boot, then he'd have been a lot less influential. Also - I haven't got my Saints tinted specs on as there was at least one Saints challenge he let go. Generally - he was weak
Thought Chelsea were right up for it, 1st minute till last and were excellent. Saints didn't play badly, but were nullified by Conte's tactics - and they have some outstanding players (Hazard/Costa/Kante). Simply, we just forget about this game and move on because on some days, you just say that the opponents were better.
Everyone saying how impressive Chelsea were - rightly so - but it's also quite impressive in itself that we matched them for the majority of the game. Both goals were individual lapses from two players - it happens in football. As a unit we were very good! Onwards and upwards, small matter of the 3 times European champions at home this week...
Sometimes it's just the wrong time to play teams. Imagine if we'd played Chelsea 2nd game of season instead of ManUre & then ManUre y'day. Results might look totally different. We played a very well organised, top class side y'day & got well & truly beaten. A less lenient ref might have helped us but we're a long way off a top 4 spot. Nothing wrong with that though; we continue to progress. Roll on Thursday to get EL back on track. Tough game tho.
My final thought on this- restricting Chelsea to two goals when they were in such form might be considered a decent result. Many good sides might have caved under that much pressure. If Costa's shot had hit the woodwork and the tight off-side decision gone our way, we could have got a point. Such fine margins in footy!
[QUOTE="fatletiss, post: 9862856, member: 1008587" As I said I'm off now because I just don't get Saints fans I really don't. I've posted less and less recently and that is likely to continue. I genuinely feel that there is a lack of understanding, but I'm Not going to fall out with any more people.[/QUOTE] Fats,come on now man,when you posted it was late and after a long tedious drive,you should remember (like I forget to do) the large cross section of age groups that post on here.Mostly reasonable stuff actually when compared. A large proportion of all fans have been brought up to believe you can adjust things in slow motion or that is somehow real life and they also seem to think that pundits and the media in general are always correct (rarely of course IMO) We're all different and I'm the only one that's right!
On a side note, great to see Fats, Vin and Dave again and to meet Itsonlyagame at the pub beforehand. What a lovely bunch of gents.
Chelsea were better than us, shame we didn't track Edens run in the 6th minute, because that early gift allowed them to use all their experience and some dark arts to keep us a arms length. On to the next game..... .....that happens to be MILAN! Hell Yeah
The referee appeared to allergic to his own cards. In the first fifteen minutes Chelsea had more dirty tackles that the Society of Morcambe Bay Winkle Picklers. Was a little disappointed with the crowd tbh, When we went 2-0, even the Northam stopped singing. Some nice intricate play from our lads, but we needed to take the occasional shot from out the area just to keep the Chelsea keeper on his toes.
Would someone be kind enough to explain to me, what is a Jordy Clasie? I am yet to fully understand why he is being selected in the starting line-up for Southampton FC. Because as far as I can see, he does not do a lot. If anything. Is he supposed to be creative in midfield? If so, why doesn't he create? Is he supposed to be defensive in midfield? If so, why doesn't he tackle? Why, when we are attacking, does he go up to the edge of the box like a striker? I find it very strange. So far, all I've seen him do is backwards 10 yard passes. Yes that retains possession, apart from the times when he fails to retain possession. All in all, a bit odd. Even more so when you have Pierre-Emile Kordt Højbjerg who seems a much better, more powerful and busy option.
Yep. We fought to the end. Very close offside decision, who knows what might have happened at 1 - 2 with 10 min left to play. Also, if you think swapping Davis and Clasie for PEH and JWP would have made all the difference yesterday, my question to you is why? I'm yet to see any significant differences in the quality of those players.
Who are you kidding Fats? Half the squad aren't good enough, the diamond doesn't work after all, <insertscapegoathere> should have been let go in the summer, and none of this would have happened if Cortese was still in charge. Oh, and we're being asset stripped as Kat Liebherr hates us for taking her daddy's attention away from her.
