shame we didn't have a bit more belief over the 90mins as we would have won that, but I can't really blame Rusk for the 1st half approach given our last 2 home games
Agreed, and I've always thought this. Even back when everyone was calling him useless. Let's keep playing players in their natural positions now shall we, Saints?
I think it's worth mentioning that in the lead up to the missed foul and red card by Hooper Fernandes got himself clean through as a result of a massive hoof downfield by McCarthy. Never would have happened under Martin. Could easily have scored from that. Sometimes route one is a good option!
Some pride restored, Archer did well, not in the game for an hour but had enough composure to take the opportunity when it arose. Manning, in his present form, should now be an automatic starter. Dibling needs nursing along alternating with Lalana. Visibly see Downes etc growing in confidence as the pocession bridle was released.
Fair point. But to counter it I would say that we have more than once proved we cannot beat a decent club's reserves and youth team under Mr. Martin because he plays the same tactics and another clubs 2nds and 3rds aren't Sunday morning footballers despite what we say and think. Last night we lost - again - I think that is probably game number 8000 I've seen Saints lose, possibly more, but we had a chance, we maybe could have snatched a draw with a tiny bit of luck and a more competent referee. I hate to say it but under the previous manager, I would say we couldn't have said that and we might have lost 3-0 with some errant passes in our own area.
I wonder if Russell watched the game last night. And if he did, what he thought of it in terms of maybe he could’ve changed things up.
If I was Russell I would have in order to learn and see what could be done different. However, I don't think I am as pig headed as him, so I doubt he would have.
What I will say about this 'pissing about at the back' experiment is that it has made us better in the long run in defence. There are occasions (maybe once or twice a game) where you need to do it (rather than the 20 or 30 times under Martin) and I feel more confident that we can play out of trouble once or twice if needed due to it being drill into them. I noticed last night that we did do this once or twice, but away from the goal and at the first sign of trouble booted it longer. Yes, we may have lost it on the halfway line, but that is better than on the 18 yard box.
He showed the attacking intent that is so essential in a wing-back. Manning and Bree were both horrific in that respect. It was painful watching Manning take three strides forward, and then go backwards. He looked far more comfortable in the final few minutes as a full-back, when he had a winger in front of him to link up with. I'm not convinced that Sugawara is defensively good enough to play as a full-back in the PL, but he's shown promise as a wing-back. He made a real positive impact.
The second half was arguably the best we’ve played since the Newcastle game. There actual attaching intent and a good period where we looked like a threat. The issues are that Liverpool knew exactly how to handle this and really took the sting out of the game 5 minutes after our goal. Between the 80-90 minute mark they were well in control other than a couple decent counter attacks. The absolute best thing though is that it was fantastic to see us go 2-0 and not lose our heads about it! We stayed in it and fought back and that makes a world of difference to just doing the same passing it around the back **** that RM would have pushed. It was quite clear at half time they were told to show a bit of a backbone because they came out the second half a different team completely.
I liked the 5-4-1 set up but thought we were lazy in applying pressure on the ball in midfield. Maybe they were instructed to hold the line and try to pick off the passes through the line but it made it very easy for Liverpool to control the tempo of the game, especially after we had scored. We had a few minutes in ascendancy, putting pressure on their back line, but then we let them control the game again, stopping our momentum. I wasn’t overly impressed with Dibling who was just jogging from one player to another, loosely following the ball. He looked disinterested, to me, and I hope he hasn’t taken RM’s sacking as an excuse to take his foot off the pedal. Archer is quoted as saying how close RM was to the players, which isn’t always a good thing, especially in a professional sport environment. I hope the next manager will be likeable but I would prefer him to be respected and sometimes feared by the players.
I'll give it a go bit of patience please I've a few other tasks, obviously less important but necessary non the less.
