And so have some of our fans, after TWO league games. We were much better Second Half, and overall much better then we were against Everton against a team that only wanted to defend, that's it. Just chill for a bit, yeah?
True. And kind of inevitable with a centre half at right back. Still willing to accept that Ron knows what he's doing though. Some decent individual performances tonight, we're just not a unit yet.
We're going to go through here. Don't see the issue. 3-0 saints win away. Pelle was excellent second half as was Jay. I thought both probably got a talking to at half time.
Not ideal, but no need to panic. It was actually very un-Saint-like to take care of Vitesse so quickly....the result tonight is what we are used to. As for the League, we had only 1 point after 2 games last season....admittedly we had a good performance against Liverpool to start us off, but I remember how disappointed we were with the WBA result.
Just got back. Thought Targett and Yoshida did well - Maya's ball skills! Haha. Pretty average performance overall but second half was enjoyable enough. We should be able to win it away. I think the team is starting to come together but we need to start playing with more belief. Going to read back through this thread now and see what you lot think!
Haven't read the posts above, so apologies if already said. Why is Ron persisting with a loose 442/424 formation when we don't have the personnel to play those wide roles? JWP is not a left midfielder. He gave Targett no cover and never once (certainly first half) offered Himself for a pass down the line. Every time Targett received the ball JWP, tucked in and only gave him the option of a side pass or a back pass. No surprise that Targett's best play came on the occasions JWP swapped sides with Mane, who gave him more options. Should have scored a hatful and the goal conceded was down to everyone switching off and not marking, so still expect us to go through.
Thought it just didn't fall for us tonight. On another day we could have scored 3 or 4 goals. Caulker scored a perfectly good goal, and Maya hit the post right at the death. Things could've been different and we were by far the better side. Still, we are behind in the tie because of the away goal, but we should feel confident enough that we will cause enough problems next Thursday to progress. Impressed with Caulker tonight, and Romeu was great particularly in the first half. Targett, not so great. Someone teach him how to bloody cross.
Just got back. From what i saw tonight it is starting to come together. Thought Pelle was superb and the interchanging is beginning to show positive signs. We need to get something at Watford though because a draw tonight was still not good. To be fair to saints we only had about 70 mins of actually playing dur to the most absurd amount of time wasting i have ever seen. Sure we moan when a sub takes a minute to get off but tonight was simply outrageous. If we are winning in Denmark, I hope Ron tells the team to go down every 5 mins or so and give them a taste of their own ****ing medicine.
Pelle, Romeu and caulker I thought played well. And jay rod was lovely. Really not understanding how Yoshida is getting in the team every week, at all costs. Do not understand how such a wasteful player can keep playing.
Feeling OK after that because I didn't really see any bad performances. Once they start gelling we're going to be formidable again. Ron was right, the speed at which the team gelled last year was unusual; we may have to wait another game or two this year. Romeu fills me with confidence, as does Caulker (who will be an excellent bet for first goalscorer in games this season) Vin
Overall, all good news apart from the away goal for the midgets. I thought that was Pellè's best all-round performance for 9 months or more. Yes, there were some wasteful flicks but he showed he knows how to hold the ball up and play to feet, or to where runners are going. He nearly put Jay through a couple of times which shows the signs of a good understanding taking shape. Mané was also excellent and frightened their defence every time he ran at them. Targett did OK, shame he didn't score, and Caulker was probably our best defender. JWP's set pieces were almost faultless, and Romeu and Vic, although they looked shaky at times, notably when Midtjylland scored, there is the makings of a good partnership there. It'll be tough next Thursday but the team know what to expect now.
One of the most confusing things for me, is that we had two right backs on the bench, and none on the pitch.
