I missed the game. We’re we that bad?
We done the 3xCB thing, which is what I think Koeman would have done vs Everton, if he’d had 3xCB’s available. We looked more defensive solid. Mane went off after like 20 minutes with concussion, which fucked us a bit offensively. We lacked creativity after that cos midfield of Wanyama, New Bloke & Steven Davis, is good recipe for Southampton 0.
Bert Rand back would be helpful in this formation, because Targett, bless him, is a bit of a lame duck in the final third.
3 Likes
Sounds at least like there was a plan. Which is promising. I reckon Koeman can probably get quite angry, so by next Thursday everyone will be too petrified to mess up again, and we’ll be back to our old winning ways.
I was joking with someone at work this evening, just after the final score came up on my phone. I said ‘building from the back’. I joked, that sounds a little bit like a struggling team thing to say… Then I just read this, all I think is no no no.
We are a good side! After 10 games we will be in the top half, we just need to stay positive and play positive. Saying that good defensive display, with no shots on target from the home team, but I cannot help feel that this is a game we should be winning. Still no away win since Feb!
Originally posted by @Sfcsim
Still no away win since Feb!
Really? This isn’t helping. I’m still in Alpball mode - can’t help feeling this is our season to unravel.
Furpine, you may be right. But I’m still confident Koeman will fix.
We watched the game on TV with English commentary in the pub for a change. Yes we get all PL games on TV and if not on a Saturday we get English Commentary.
Understood Koeman using 3 CB’s. IMHO we should have played that formation against Midgetland to better combat their direct approach.
Cedric fits that formation very well, clearly understands it, and the surprise was watching Caullker believe he was an overlapping FB and being involved in THEIR penalty area all the time. (Think he had 2 of our 5 efforts on target)
The PROBLEM is that on the left, Yoshida did not make the forward moves that Caulker did and that left Matty Targett looking like Billy no mates in the kitchen at a party. Cedric always had options within 3-8 yards, Targett was always on the receiving end of 40 yard cross field balls and was then alone (generalisation OK) So our balance was simply not right. I’m sure alpsweb will be ranting about Targett being Pub Team standard but that wasn’t the issue, Maya was composed but simply never got much past the half way line to support him.
Maybe that was a factor of Mane going off but Shlong seemed to pop up in wide positions and not so much through the centre as Mane had done yet we were supposed to be set up with two up front, so Shlong SHOULD have stayed more central?
With the balance being wrong we also lacked any tempo in our passing, players in midfield again were isolated (which NEVER happened when MS played) so we became very sloppy with our control and our passing. IN fact welooked bloody awful.
No composure on the ball.
Now we can argue about missing MS, building from the back, lack of confidence in the team, missing CB’s, time to gel etc, but also the last 3 games we have been outnumbered & out muscled in midfield. It could be the Europa League jinx, but equally it could be that teams have now learnt how to press us in midfield rather than parking the bus against us.
For those who didn’t see it live we were awful. It was very frustrating, and very worrying. To give an example - how many times in a game last season did we take speculative shots at goal from 25-30 yards out? Never. We recycled the ball and looked for another opening.
For the last 20 minutes or so we were taking rushed 30 yard snap shots whenever we got close to their box.
No composure and tbh no confidence.
Yes it is a point on the road, no I don’t know the answer and I am not ranting like many will be - we were sh1t for the 3rd game in a row. Something is wrong somewhere.
We will NOT qualify for the EL Group stages playing this way with this mental attitude. Something needs sorting out mentally and tactically fast
3 Likes
Originally posted by @Coxford_lou
Southampton manager Ronald Koeman:
"We played a little bit different than the first two games because we had to be defensively better. In mine opinion, it always starts at the back and at least we had our first clean sheet of the season.
“One of the key points of last season was that we had a strong defensive organisation.”
Southampton’s Sadio Mane and Victor Wanyama have been linked with moves to Manchester United and Tottenham respectively but Koeman added: "We know have to deal with speculation over our players.
“Again, no-one is for sale. Everyone stays at Southampton. We want to bring in another defender.”
Corrected that for you, Lou.
Originally posted by @Dubai_Phil
We watched the game on TV with English commentary in the pub for a change. Yes we get all PL games on TV and if not on a Saturday we get English Commentary.
Understood Koeman using 3 CB’s. IMHO we should have played that formation against Midgetland to better combat their direct approach.
Yep. We played the same personnel, but lined up differently.
Cedric fits that formation very well, clearly understands it, and the surprise was watching Caullker believe he was an overlapping FB and being involved in THEIR penalty area all the time. (Think he had 2 of our 5 efforts on target)
The PROBLEM is that on the left, Yoshida did not make the forward moves that Caulker did and that left Matty Targett looking like Billy no mates in the kitchen at a party.
Exactly right. I know I sound like an apologist for Eastleigh’s own Matty Targett, but being blooded in a team that is not functioning correctly is tough, and much of the criticism that comes his way is harsh. (He’s also an alumnus of the school I work at!)
Plus Watford’s creative right winger was allowed to be one-on-one with Targett too many times. He really was left exposed.
Cedric always had options within 3-8 yards, Targett was always on the receiving end of 40 yard cross field balls and was then alone (generalisation OK) So our balance was simply not right. I’m sure alpsweb will be ranting about Targett being Pub Team standard but that wasn’t the issue, Maya was composed but simply never got much past the half way line to support him.
Unlike Bear, I also thought that Matty Targett put in a few good crosses - given the lack of support you mentioined.
Maybe that was a factor of Mane going off but Shlong seemed to pop up in wide positions and not so much through the centre as Mane had done yet we were supposed to be set up with two up front, so Shlong SHOULD have stayed more central?
With the balance being wrong we also lacked any tempo in our passing, players in midfield again were isolated (which NEVER happened when MS played) so we became very sloppy with our control and our passing. IN fact welooked bloody awful.
No composure on the ball.
Now we can argue about missing MS, building from the back, lack of confidence in the team, missing CB’s, time to gel etc, but also the last 3 games we have been outnumbered & out muscled in midfield. It could be the Europa League jinx, but equally it could be that teams have now learnt how to press us in midfield rather than parking the bus against us.
For those who didn’t see it live we were awful. It was very frustrating, and very worrying. To give an example - how many times in a game last season did we take speculative shots at goal from 25-30 yards out? Never. We recycled the ball and looked for another opening.
For the last 20 minutes or so we were taking rushed 30 yard snap shots whenever we got close to their box.
No composure and tbh no confidence.
Yes it is a point on the road, no I don’t know the answer and I am not ranting like many will be - we were sh1t for the 3rd game in a row. Something is wrong somewhere.
We will NOT qualify for the EL Group stages playing this way with this mental attitude. Something needs sorting out mentally and tactically fast
Saved me a lot of work with this review, Phil.
The only thing I would say that I saw differently was that in the first half we were being dragged everywhere in midfield, but in the second half we looked much more compact and solid as a team.
I was really pleased to see that. That is the foundation that Morgan gave us, and we have to get that back (or an approximation of it) before we can build anything more creative.
I don’t agree with Bear (for a change) when he said above that Davis, Wanyama and Romeu is a recipe for Southampton nil. I do however think that it is a potential recipe for goals against nil.
Not a great start to thr season but we still have Clasie and Bert Rand to come back and hopefully a quality centre half so I am keeoing my sheets dry for now. Interesting that we are now shooting from distance when we didnt used to before. Need to get the balance right, there are times to shoot and times to play the ball back. Early days, things can only get better!
Some say…
That we have not shot from distance for a few years now.
As such we have forgotten how to do it. In fact we simply have never done it in training (by the looks of it)
Oh another technical issue.
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I like Cedric, I think he will be a quality player for us and possibly an upgrade on Clyne as he is more creative.
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He is Sooooooooooooo one footed. Oppo defenders force him to cut back and onto his left foot and he is reduced to only being able to nudge it short. He needs a LOT of work to learn to be able to cross with his left foot.
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Mind you he did nearly score with his left foot yesterday, the shot was so weak and so slow that Gomes had dived, aged and signed on for his pension before the ball trickled past him and the post. Could be a neat tactic.
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I have a worrying feeling that Romeu is also very right footed, could be why he keeps going into tackles all wrong and getting booked
Originally posted by @saintbletch
Originally posted by @Coxford_lou
Southampton manager Ronald Koeman:
"We played a little bit different than the first two games because we had to be defensively better. In mine opinion, it always starts at the back and at least we had our first clean sheet of the
Corrected that for you, Lou.
I love it when he does that! I don’t care if the team plays shit, I love Koeman!
A dull match of football, although at least Southampton IFC (i.e. SaintsWeb) won against the Watford fans’ team in the morning before Saints-proper played. Plus I managed to last 90 minutes and am only mildly broken now. Yay! 
The roadworks on the M3 were the worst bit of the day. After a performance like that you just want to get home, but J2-J5 (or was it J6?) featured 50mph average speed cameras.
Still, another away ground ticked off the list.