****ing hell. Some of the people on Solent were a joke, Jay rod out of his depth? NA tactically inept? And the worst one if we don't drop guly we will go down!? Morons giving is a bad name as fans. We were unfortunate today but as stated we were a bit naive and weren't strong enough in midfield. Davis, clyne, jos and Lallana stand out players for me today.
think lallana had a good game, but looks lost having him in the middle of the park. need him on the left wing as he has such a good flow and understanding with fox, plus we missed his creativity and trickery. i know guly got a lot of stick some fans like usual, but i thought he was our best player first half, thoughts?
Guly was alright today - had some great little spells where he was just toying with their players, jinking through the centre of the pitch. Thought he was about a 6.5 today.
I don't agree myself. I think because he controls the game so well for us, he has to play in the centre and I like the midfield three of Davis, Schneiderlin, Lallana. We do lack quality wide men though. Watching Swansea today, they were very impressive and I honestly think we're not far off that standard but the difference was they had two pacey tricky wingers that made them very unpredictable which we certainly lack.
We were undone yesterday by a patient decent side who if you look at how they finished last season had an incredible run in beating some top sides on the way to survival and who attained seven top flight seasons in the process so any thoughts of an easy 3 pts should never have entered anyones mind if anything Wigan would have quietly fancied it yesterday.We started well and it was pretty even till they scored in fact we had the better efforts goal wise untill they scored then after the first goal we visibly shrunk and looked naive and clueless. No need for total panic yet as my son informed me that Swansea did not score untill their fifth game last season but in my opinion if we do sign players this week they need to be experienced preferably with prem background rather than players for the future ie Jay and Clyne they are great signings but the top flight is a harsh place to learn your trade and they will need help.Players and staff have to learn and pretty quickly as other promoted teams before us have and have gone on to solidify their status .It will also require plenty of patience and a new mindset from the fans who are used to winning every week as there were a few sat near me bleating and whinging who predictably went home early 'to miss the traffic' i expect .My take on it is we have taken a long time to get back here enjoy it there will be some fantastic teams and players coming to st marys this season far better than Wigan who were decent but if the team can adapt and learn to hold their own we can survive any thoughts beyond that are naive
There are a lot of naturally miserable people who can't have enjoyed the recent seasons apart from us nearly blowing it at the end of last season. How they must have cheered when they saw our opening games....they have now come into their own and can wallow happily in their misery. I would never leave a game early (without an extremely valid reason before everyone starts listing them). If I enjoy victories and claim my part in them, I would feel wrong not to support the team when things go wrong.
I never dismissed them for a minute , our team was simply 2nd fiddle , they schooled us in possession and finishing . So from that Nigel now knows one of two things We are not as good as he he thought we were Or he got he tactics completely wrong I think he thinks he got his tactics wrong , he did but he has to know that team is not strong enough to compete at this level . I think we have to accept this and move on together (the squad) because theirs heads will drop as it's only natural , the vast majority of them have been used to winning and getting pumped every week by superior teams is one thing but knowing it's happening as you have a weaker side will drain you eventually .
We played ok just no cutting edge, Rickie looked lost up top on his own and Lallana doesn't effect the game as far up the pitch in his new central role. To play the formation we are playing you need pace on the wings. The best player on the park was Clyne, I felt sorry for him. Let's hope we get a reaction this week and he purse strings get loosened.
Adkins admitted his tactics were wrong in the second half...being able to recognise that is half the solution. He is more aware than us of the strengths and weaknesses of the team, but knows that demoralising the players you are forced to use is not the way forward. He has to get the best out of them he can and the fans have a part in that. He wanted players better than he had and he wanted them early in preseason, but it hasn't happened. Time for fans to play their part.
Of course he knows more about the team than we do , what concerns me is does he know more about the opposition ?
It's a marathon not a sprint. Yes, we need to be beating teams like Wigan if we want to stay up, but there is another 36 games to play for. It is the same as last season, we lose a game at home and our fans go bonkers and think all is lost. Immediate reactions were that 4-4-2 should have been used, especially at home, and that JRod is wasted on the wing. Lallana seemed wasted in that formation too, and we lacked creativity. However, it's only one game, and we could play the same formation and players against United and create a lot more, then we will all be back in favour of it. There will always be games where players aren't at their usual best, maybe yesterday was one of those, at least I hope, else we could be in for a long season.
We are as its stands in for a long season , not being dramatic just giving my thoughts , our defence will get ripped a new one every week . The Wigan forwards on a number of occasions hot behind with relative ease , that scared me ****less . Do the Southampton management team honestly think this defence will cope ? If they think it will they should not be in football , they should not be anywhere near a football in fact .
We're premier league we're premier league we are Southampton we're premier league. I think the reason that so many people are angry/upset is because their expectations are too high. Looking at everyone's predictions most thought this was an easy win. 2back to back promotions and now in the Best league in the world! Enjoy the ride and don't always rifle the officials not great but not that bad. COYR
I am so pleased that you have joined us as it is clear that your one over riding ambition is to lift our spirits and to motivate us. After yesterday's disappointment it was a real blessing to come on her and read all of your positive and encouraging comments. I am however rather puzzled that with your obvious talent for analysing the game and knowing all of the solutions you should be wasting your talents posting on here when you could be preparing yourself to be the next manager of Man Utd or to be a pundit on MotD.
Over the last two seasons we have managed to hide our defensive frailties by outscoring the opposition and being technically superior to most teams. It is all well and good having technically gifted players but if they move the ball too slowly they will achieve very little. Now that we are in the top league there are more teams technically adept and we need therefore, imo, to add strength as well as quality to succeed. I still do not think Kelvin is good enough for this league, nor come to it JOSE. Yesterday Jose had a stinker but all players can have days like that. The first goal was made with a ball that split our CB's and Jose was far too slow to see the danger and react as the player ran past him. The second he was made to look clumsy and very poor. However it is not only the back fours job to defend and for me we are not a team with enough physical presence. Our midfield is not strong enough for me and we will find many occasions where we will see the midfield bypassed with ease. That said we are now on the end, hopefully, of a long learning curve. We have come from deaths door to our esteemed place in the sun too quickly without having had the time to really establish ourselves. We will see many more games like yesterday while we learn and adapt. The world was not made in a day any more than a season is made in a game.
Guly apparently had only a 93% pass completion yesterday, not good enough at this level, we need someone to produce 101%.
Those stats are misleading a lot of the time , how far were the passes ? Was he under pressure ? Or were they 3 yard sideways/back passes ?
