And the good news is Michael Oliver is reffing our game on Tuesday so unlikely to be too many complaints about his refereeing. Oddly, we always seem to win when he refs us.
It was but it was VAR that should have given it. Never really sure that the ref has the correct angle of view to give it but that is exactly what VAR is there for. Actually thought the ref had a good game. He let a few things go which annoyed fans but that helped the game to flow along nicely. He maybe could have picked up on the time wasting but had we been 1-0 up we’d have done exactly that same. On a random observation I was particularly annoyed at the security guards who apprehended the Utd fan at the end who ran on to the pitch. After the usual dance around the pitch he saw he was going to be nicked and emptied a stash of drugs from his pocket. Nobody seemed to notice and as I left the ground they were still lying in the pitch! edit: NOT the one in the pic above!
Great game of footy and just fell short after playing them off the pitch for 90% of the game. Lots of positives, really can't complain about the result since we didnt get it in the net. The non-penalty was absolutely baffling and McTominay on the whole was an absolute arse all game, got exposed and looked ****e against Aribo and Lavia. Hey, ho, that's football I guess. We will win more than we lose if we can keep that up. God, I wanted Lyanco to score from CF, crazy player, crazy Sub, Crazy manager.
I think if Lyanco had scored when the ball fell at his feet, he'd have been off running laps of the common.
Another special mention from me for Djenepo. He was really good again today both getting back and going forward. Definately didnt get used as much on the left but was clearly targeted by utd and made their players look pretty average. five gold stars.
My favourite part of the entire match, and it was great throughout, was tiny Djenepo taking down Ronaldo in the box. Perfect tackle, a joy to see
Proof, if it were needed, that we want another striker Would have been perfect if he got the equaliser we so deserved from a last minute messy goalmouth scuffle 6 minutes added, 4 from the injuries in the 85-89mins, 2 for subs and 0 for time-wasting Hmmmm
Yeah.. Mara was a whisker away from 2 spectacular finishes and has the makings of a really exciting player. IF we bring in another proven striker I could see AArmstrong dropping to a 10 because his performances out wide have been the best in a saints shirt, better than Ely maybe. I'm finding myself in that familiar position of feeling really good about our players and that we are getting the absolute best out of them. Lasts about 3 months on past experience... ....maybe this season will be different.
Bella-Kotchap was incredible and I thing that Aribo looked good too. It was a disappointing result after a brilliant Saints performance. I think we should have got the penalty and, by the same toke, bossed Man Utd for so much of the hgame that we should have taken the three points. Probably the best Saints performance I have seen since January,
Funny Ian have we can see performances so differently. BK looks an incredible prospect, l think he will become the dominant partner in the CB pairing. Best l have seen since we signed VVD. Aribo, on the other hand, l thought was a little off yesterday, he wasn't bad, but nothing standout. Lavia, looks to be another immense signing this Summer. He utterly dominated his area of the pitch and has such good ball skills for such a giant of a man. Overall, the back-four looked a solid unit, but pleased to see Perruad back. Moussa has done a fantastic job and if he could take that higher up the pitch all the better (with Perraud tucked in behind). Final third is still the issue - really need a striker who creates space for himself and can finish. I am not sure if we can find someone this late in the transfer window but am sure its not for the want of trying.
100% agree with this. I really like Aribo and think he’s really strong and clever at holding the ball up but didn’t do enough yesterday to catch the eye. Lavia, Baz, A Armstrong and Bella K were the standouts and everyone did well
The improvements we see with AA are a lot to do with dropping Romeu imho. Don't get me wrong, I love Romeu, he's been immense for us, but our current midfield is offering more and allows more space in attack. Thankfully gone is the slow ponderous sideways passing in defence allowing the opposition time to set their own defence. We're in a much better place to cause teams problems and long may it continue. ABK in defence though. My word what a signing
