Match Day Thread Chelsea vs Southampton, 19:45, Tuesday 25th April

Basically we've played two teams recently in Man City and Chelsea who were both at the top of their game and with a bit of luck and less clinical finishing from the opposition we could have got a result in both. We certainly didn't disgrace ourselves in either game particularly last night where, once again, we created some decent chances but couldn't convert.

To be honest Chelsea's defence seemed to go into panic mode far more than ours, but we didn't have the players up front to capitalise.

 

The voice of reason there lff.

 

True about the quality of opposition. Chelsea are a very good side, City are a very good side. However, just for once this season, wouldn't it be nice to get the better of one of these very good sides?

Also, whilst Chelsea have the quality players up front who can punish you for any defensive lapse, Gary Cahill isn't really one of them. And it was his goal right on half time that killed us.

We scored two against the best organised side in the league, so creating and finishing wasn't really the problem - despite Cedric's feeble waste of the chance Tadic handed him on a plate. You can't concede 4 goals, even away to the champions elect, & expect to be competitive.

Gabbiadini though - not much service, but that was the movement of a world class striker; always finding space. Romeu was relentlessly excellent. Tadic his usual mercurial self; the one player I'd never drop, even when he's struggling to influence the game, just because of what you know he can do..

 

Yawn - you seen him play recently?

 

Our record against the top 6 in the league, no wins isn't it? A point away at Man City was excellent though and you can't forget beating Liverpool twice.

 

Our failure against top sides this season is markedly different from recent seasons. We are a decent side....but we are suffering from injuries (which hit a side like us more than a top side) and an improvement in the usual suspects for the top 4. In the last couple of seasons, the top sides have been less consistent, but everything seems back to normal this season. I'm hoping for better next season with the manager settled in and players used to his style....and perhaps a couple of new players as extras not replacements.

 

Does Redmond have regular spats with Puel?

 

Or does Adam Blackmore regularly tweet cobblers just to look like he has something to say? You decide.

Seems to me Puel has shown a lot of faith all season in someone he supposedly has regular spats with. Maybe he just thought it was time to give Boufal a start, and he wasn't going to drop Tadic because, along with Gabbi, he is the one player even Chelsea's defence couldn't contain for 90 minutes.

 

Redmond is a bouncy character....often shoving and pushing other players in training...a bit like a large energetic puppy. Very easy to switch from being funny to being down right annoying and needing pulling into line (perhaps with a choke collar ). My guess is that he has had a row with Puel at some stage and an assumption has been made that it is an ongoing thing (when it probably isn't). .

 

Indeed. With my usual 'Saints [not-getting-the-recognition-they-deserve] antennae' raised high, I note that glamour teams have their available and unavailable players meticulously commented upon pre-match. It is so rare that I hear a pre-match comment that Saints have been quite badly compromised throughout the second half of the season by missing the rock-solid VVD. Just once in a while a commentator might allude to the fact that we sold Fonte in January, and then might carry the comment on that, due to a bad injury to VVD, Saints have been playing two back-up CBs for most of the season. One fairly accomplished, the other still a whipper-snapper in CB terms. And you never hear about us missing Austin, Targett, Pied, etc... Did they mention McQueen's groin injury.? I doubt it.

 

Yeh, every week. I'm sorry but for me, as an attacking midfield player, he doesn't offer anything. Yeh, he takes the odd decent set piece (delivery wise, not decent effort on goal wise) but to be honest any of our front 5/6 should be able to do that. He continually gets muscled off the ball and quite often misplaces a pass, especially when under pressure. He doesn't make forward runs/passes with the ball enough either, relying more on the sideways or backwards pass, and he should be getting in the box more than he does (although he has improved that part of his game a bit lately). Do you see his performances this season differently to me?

 

Obviously been doing better than 'OK', seeing as he's now played for England on the back of his performances.

 

Lambert used to get on the shoulder of the full back as often as he could.
Nothing weird about it, just good centre forward play.

 

Our CBs have received a lot of criticism tonight, but I can't help thinking the same thing happens on every forum, for every team, when their team has been turned over by top, top quality strikers/midfielders.
Sometimes it's best to just acknowledge that we were up against a superb attacking team, rather than just pick holes in the defence.
The movement and speed of thought and passing can make even the best defences look silly, at times, and the 4th Chelsea goal was worth the admission fee on it's own. Fantastic goal.

 

Just to add to that point, we get into some excellent positions on the pitch but somehow don't get the final pass or the shot right. If we'd scored the number of goals we probably should have (throughout the season) there'd have been way less pressure on the defence and I doubt we'd even be talking about it.

 

I think he's improved a lot recently, he's faster, stronger and fitter and therefore makes less mistakes
None of our front 6 can deliver set pieces anything like as well as he does as consistently as he does ...
... and he was poor last night. Just an off day

But to spread praise and blame fairly shouldn't Oriel have been on Hazard before he scored their 1st ???
I think the only mistake Davo made was just as I turned to Mrs S and was saying how well he was playing ... well hush ma mouth!

 

Someone should have been on Hazard. And someone should have been on Cahill for the second. Collective failures really.

 

A running theme since Virgil picked up his injury, unsuprisingly I should add

 

1. Don`t let Chelsea score early (again) . 2. Once back in the game, don`t let them go ahead again just before half time. Not to worry, next game please !

 

I'm convinced now that lots of fans live in a bubble.