Match Day Thread Arsenal v Saints - Sat. 23 Nov - 15:00

Ralph's body language after yesterday told me he wants to stay - at least to try and get us out of this mess. He looked distraught that we hadn't won. He cares.

 

Replaced by?

 

Him caring is a major boost for us fans and the players.

He hasn't always looked that way for a couple of months.

But many of us fans, including me, just don't get that.

 

Haven't seen it but sounds like we were lucky, again.

 

No idea.

Apparently, I just dont see things like most fans.

 

It was only moving very slightly. Wouldn't see it with the naked eye unless you were looking really closely.

 

Doesn't seem to matter when 1mm offsides are called.

 

That was a great game. I went with a mate from London who is an Arsenal fan and he bought the tickets so we were in with the Gooners. I quite like Arsenal and on the whole their fans are a pretty decent bunch. Cedric, Stephens, Bednarek, Bertrand were pretty solid apart from a few odd moments and Armstrong also played well. We are definitely better with Armstrong in the side with his ability to push forward. Hojbjerg was ok but more hard work than talent and he does slow play up.

Danny Ings is excellent and does so much with very clever runs and pulling the the opposition out of shape. He is worth every penny we paid for him and he clearly loves playing for Saints. Redmond did ok but is still not at his best. Boufal and Djenepo are real quality and it's great to have them available. We were up for it yesterday and if that team spirit remains for the rest of the season we will probably scrape by and avoid the drop, but it will be close.

Arsenal fans are very flat at the moment and quite a few of them thought we should have won that easily. We really should have, but our finishing was pretty dreadful. Interesting listening to the comments around us with, 'Saints are always a good side' and 'Saints are far too go to go down'. Maybe we have lost our way this season but if everyone pulls together there is enough talent in the squad to get to safety.

It felt like Ralph had recognised that his tactics have become too technical for our squad, and have had to be blended with the way we naturally play. If that is the case, and yesterday's performance was the result of a more organic approach, it worked. Long may it continue.

 

Watching MOTD this morning ... how the **** did we not bury them?

Also, don't get the McCarthy hype at all ... 2nd away game in a row he's come for a cross, not got the ball, and goal conceded. As a keeper, he should be claiming them outright. If that was Gunn or Forster, there'd be meltdown in the camp.

Also, so pleased Stephens is back in the team and performing well.

 

32,000 people at St Mary’s all see a different game. And the coach sees something different again. That’s how it works

 

I though McCarthy had a good game, and wouldn’t blame him for either goal.

You’re right we should have buried them well before the 90 mins were up though.

 

McCarthy was excellent apart from that. Claimed everything he came out for previously and that was a great save with his feet.

 

So arsenal are not the team of old and yet to get going this season and clearly have issues.But

We showed no fear, confidence, good use of the ball, good positioning off the ball, quick movement, good link up play and team spirit.

One team cost over five times the amount of the other team to assemble but you couldn't tell that.

It's good to see us creating clear cut chances and we just need a bit more composure in front of goal. Pleased to see players like Bertrand (who supposedly is sulking) give their full commitment.

I don't have a crystal ball, I can't say we will stay up, we have the ingredients to play an attractive and technically good style and win matches. Get those ingredients in the correct order and cook for the right time, 96 minutes if necessary, then I am optimistic for a premier league feast.

COYR

 

McCarthy definitely was excellent and there is a better understanding between him, Stephens and Bednarek. Bertrand looked fired up yesterday and that back 4 are a lot more solid than we have had of late. Jack Stephens has made a huge effort to get back in the team and he should really be encouraged by the fans. We may not have the best players but yesterday you couldn't fault any of them for effort.

Things do go wrong, like Cedric's daft over-hit that went past Obafemi but it's all too easy to be critical of players when the reality is that the attitude and effort yesterday was like the battling Saints of old and it was fun to watch. No one wants to loose or settle for a draw when we could, and should, have won but such is life.

Saints were a football team worth watching yesterday and a lot of Arsenal fans thought the same.

 

Saw the highlights this morning and got really annoyed for the first Arsenal goal. When the ball got to the penalty area the Saints midfield was nowhere. Hojberg was on the half way line, Ward Prowse was jogging back and I couldn't see the other two. Only the back 4 and the keeper were there. We have conceded too many goals this way.

Once the midfield starts to work as hard in defence as they do in attack then last minute goals won't matter because the game will already be won.

Talent is there to stay up comfortably but the work rate isn't. Who said hard work beats talent if talent doesn't work hard?

Ralph must tear his hair out in frustration because the problem is obvious but it is down to the individual player to sort that out. Run harder back or a tactical foul but do something!

 

The Cedric pass stands out as one of the worst attacking decisions yesterday, but in fairness, the chance would never have arisen if he and Obafemi hadn’t been harrying Sokratis in the first place. I hope Ralph points this out to the team. We had 21 attempts on goal yesterday compared to Arsenal’s 12, and as you say, the entertainment value was great, even if the stress levels were at normal volume.
Playing 4 at the back meant the midfield were a much better link between defence and attack than they have been with 3 CB’s. It does mean that at least one of the 3 midfielders has to play box-to-box though, and nobody was doing that yesterday, which meant that there wasn’t enough cover for either of their goals.

 

Tom, he does indeed seem to care. The international break seems to have helped too. The real downer for the team was conceding so late. Had they equalised with 15 mins to play, the impact would have been felt less. Nevertheless, it was an unexpected point, but we cannot keep throwing away points as we have.

I appreciate you cannot point to any one game over a season and say that is what got us relegated, but we had 3 great chances to have buried that game yesterday and those 2 dropped points (not 3 as l wrote yesterday) could possibly be crucial.

 

The problem is that we can get points when we are at our best and playing a top side (especially one lacking in confidence for whatever reason) but then struggle against an 'easier' side determined to give us nothing. How often have we got a good result followed by a poor result against lower half sides.

Don't get me wrong...I'm delighted we put in a good performance which gives us hope....but we need to string some results together.

 

Agreed, its like the euphoria expressed on here after our performance against M

Spot on Fran. Like the spirited performance against Man City - we worked hard but lost and did not take that into the Everton game. Yesterdays result will count for little if we lose either of our next 2 home games.

 

It's not really euphoria, it's strong signs of life in a team and manager that many have written off as dead and buried. Yesterday was very good to watch and being in with Arsenal fans probably gave me a better perspective on how Saints are seen by other supporters. It was a bit strange being there with them when we scored, but to be fair to them, there were a lot of hand shakes all round, best wishes for the rest of the season and very warm comments from some of them. Decent guys.

They didn't see us as a relegation team and a number of them said they would swap managers with us. They also said that with us having sold off all our best players year after year, they were amazed that we could still perform like that. Maybe we feel so negative because we are so close to all of it, but sometimes it's good to look at things through a different pair of eyes.

Ralph is a good manager and we just have to hold our nerve and see the season out. It might not be pretty, it might not even work out how we want but there's no point in thinking we will always screw up. At some point we are going to hit a winning streak, and it could start next week.

I think as a natural born pessimist I have just turned into an optimist ....... but I doubt that will last very long.