Match Day Thread Saints V Dirty Leeds Sat. 16th Oct, 3pm

My only regret is we only have Broja on loan. Although I think he'd jump at the chance at regular PL football like Tino so hopefully we may get a chance to sign him.

 

Even if Chelsea aren't willing to sell (for a price we could afford), I could easily see them loaning him out for another couple of years. So if that was also to be for us, we could be looking at a three year stay for him. And that is possibly the same as if we signed him outright (eg I'm not expecting Tino to still be here in four years time).

Sure, we wouldn't benefit from a nice juicy transfer fee for selling Broja. But hey ho.

 

Absolutely, your last point!

 

18 attempts 5 on target. Of course there's room for improvement there always is.

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Edit: Sky sports has the possession reversed and 19 attempts

https://www.skysports.com/football/southampton-vs-leeds-united/stats/446366

 

Impressive

 

Yes, Leeds clearly never defended as well as Wolves did in the previous home game but there was also a higher rate of productivity from the front four with Redders having his best game this season and Mo El finally looking like he can play at this level.
It is early days but maybe Ralph has found the right attacking combination although i'd like to see Stuey start instead of Moussa.
I think that 3-0 would probably be a fairer reflection of the play but just scoring from open play is a confidence booster and this is a very important result.

 

Playing alongside Salisu seems to have taken a bit of the pressure off Bednarek. This was Beddie in the second half yesterday;

 

I think we will see Stu ahead of Moussa. Then that really is a half decent team...

 

I think it will Armstrong in for Elyounoussi.

 

Rehashing something I might have said earlier but one thing from yesterday that may have gone under the radar slightly understandably.

Perraud was very good yesterday, matching Livramento’s quality on the right, very good news if he can do that consistently - we might have gone from 1 good full back to 3 (2020 Bertrand was no longer a good player imo).

 

The key for me is consistency, particularly from the creative/attacking players. Doing it for 1 game in 8 against an under strength Leeds team is not enough and we need a similar if not better display against Burnley but maybe the win has got the monkey off our back and the players can express themselves a bit more.

 

Oh totally agree.

 

I'm not sure if this has been answered elsewhere, and it's not really part of this particular match thread, but I've been informed by 'an insider' (OK, a mate of a mate) that there are indeed two shiny new big screens somewhere close at hand. Unfortunately, the new screens themselves are so heavy that the current roof structure would be unable to bear their weight, so the screens are gathering dust, and Saints are, apparently, looking to offload them onto another club, if one can be found. Hands up who specified them, beyond being 'bloody big'.

 

Ha. If that is true how long do you reckon it’ll take for them to openly admit that the new big screens they have been bragging about for months and using as a selling point (not that it would make a difference to buying an ST) are redundant.

I am going to guess they will silently bury it, until they find a lightweight replacement sometime next season or something.

I was guessing the screens might be the same as Leicester have, if they are that would suggest St Mary’s isn’t of the same construction quality as it’s sister stadium? Either that or the club has lost the plot because those are HUGE.

 

Completely. The difference in our play having someone of his presence up front similar to Lambert/Pelle. I have no doubt that Che and A Armstrong will come good for us but we desperately need a target man to give us an option up front to stop the contant pressure on our defence and forcing us to sit deeper and deeper. Even when he came off against leeds and we brought walcott on we sizzeled out as any time they attacked we hoofed it back and immediately had to await the next bit of pressure. Luckily in this game we held strong but as we have seen in other games this does not always work.

 

That would such a Saints thing to do

 

Absolutely delighted for Ralph and the team. All season they have needed the confidence a win gives, whilst playing a country mile better than the last 5 months of last season.

Ralph has got his tactics right virtually every game this season, and really hoping they push on, as I really dont want Mr Howe.

 

Spot on for me. Ralph is a much better manager than Howe. The low number of points we've picked up is due to the tough start rather than Saints being particularly crap (Wolves game aside). You can also throw in a bit of bad luck in there (Broja hitting the post and header off the line v West Ham, penalty overturned at City for example). I think Burnley will definitely test Ralph's tactical ability as they will sit back like Wolves did. It will be up to us to break them down.

 

Yeah I thought the same about breaking Burnley down.

I like the interchanges on the flanks between Perraud/Moussa and Tino/Ely and think that may be an area they go for more getting crosses in the box quicker for Broja.

Also, Redmond was really good on Saturday, really liked his play, and he has generally been good this season - very direct, turning when gets the ball and his first thought is im going forward.

You could see the tension in Ralph on Saturday, and the relief when we won, I think he knew if we hadnt he was closer to the exit door.

Tactics this Saturday will be interesting, as Burnley also need to come out a bit as they are more desperate than us now for a win. Also, with our use of many formations and tactics during games, it wont be so easy for Burnley to work out how to play, hoping we cause them more problems than they cause us.

 

Maybe I'm just cynical (or a Saints fan, it often amounts to the same thing) but what appears to have happened in several games this season and last is that Saints' tactics are spot on for the first half, but we fail to score (enough), then the opposition manager works out a way to counteract Ralph's formation and style of play during the second half. Ralph then either comes out late with a few pints inside him, after half time, or he believes that his plan is still working, and when the opposition team starts to play (and/or stops us playing), Ralph realises what is happening, somewhat too late to change things. Hence the 85th minute substitutions, which may have improved things, if they'd been made in the 60th minute. Still, if we won every week, we'd get bored, and still wouldn't be happy...