Chez

as well as we played in the first half. To me it looked like Spurs were lost without Kane and we felt much more confident. When Ings went off the inverse occurred. The second was woeful. So many panicky clearances and jack shit on the break. Walcott, Tella, Adams etc. have to hurt them much more when we get a break chance. We just don't scare teams like they do to us. In the second half we suddenly looked like a side full of under 18s. kicking it away anywhere or nowhere. I've said this so many times. We give the ball away cheaply in their third far too often, we then consume so much energy recovering, covering gaps (which the midfield does quite well,) and protecting the back four. But the longer the game goes on those midfielders get tired, the gaps widen, their is less protection, less bodies and players like Son take advantage. We hide our deficiencies, but for only so long. That also affects our attack. We get tired and the quality goes, which means the final parts of the game we create next to nothing. We are almost never pressing near the end of games for equalisers. we have faded a long time ago. Its not a lack of fitness. Certainly not a lack of effort. Its too much wasted effort because players don't keep the ball and use the ball well. The only remedy is better players.

you are right, but if they do, will we be as interested in what is left? I struggle to get my head round winning the English top flight that doesn't have the big 6 clubs in it. Will it feel like winning the Championship now, Great, but not the same as winning the Prem? Not sure. I think we will find out though, assuming Saints win at some day of course.

everything you say might be true, but the reality is "because they can, and they will". Winning the European cup so many times may have made Madrid what it is, but they don't care and no longer need `everyone else', regarding themselves as bigger than UEFA and the CL. It's sad, unfair and selfish, but that is the capitalist world we live in. Dog eat dog, rich getting richer etc. For me its been inevitable that the big clubs would form a closed European super league sooner rather than later. These owners don't want a pyramid, shared wealth and competition, they want every last dollar they can get, every year, without the fear of it not being there next season.

I am in no way a fan of this proposal, but just for context, out of a total of €3250million of commercial revenue, the big twelve received about €633m last year. UEFA pockets €295m to administer the tournament. They give the domestic leagues €227.5m and use another €560m to fund the Europa league. In the eyes of the big clubs, there is a hell of a lot of money that their brands earn that never reaches them. They will argue that the vast majority of that £3.25b comes in because Madrid, Barcelona etc. feature, so why do they only see 20% of it? The big 12 owners will also say, "who made UEFA god?" and "why do we let them tell us what to do and how much of our money we can have?" Administrators should work for us, not the other way round - as was the case when the Prem was formed. The clubs will argue that UEFA gets rich on the back of the clubs. Likewise FIFA gets rich on the back of the players they pay ($4.6billion in revenue in 2018).

a shit load of money?

Could be right. Jankevitz ought be getting ten minutes at the end of games, where possible. CMs do the most running and must get tired and this is where gaps open. I don't expect him to start any games this season, our CMs by and large have done enough to retain their places, but with a year left on his contract, lets see if he is worth fighting for this summer.

you don't get that they are tired or the reason for our drop of form?

when Bertrand is sent up for corners, i think that tells you everything about our arial prowess. Maybe a target man might be an idea...

good point. Our tactics and general shape is terrible. We give teams everything they want - space and lots of it in or final third.

shut up S-C, don't you know how much broadband costs these days. There's copper and fibre too.

no, you do.

no he didn't. He said, in reply to Lighthouse saying `he didn't bother watching it on TV': "You watch or go to an FA Cup Semi Final no matter how you feel about your club at this moment in time".

What the fuck are you talking about? He chose not to watch it on TV because we've been a bit shit recently. What bearing does the cost of going to watch the game have on his decision to watch it or not on TV?

we're Southampton FC, not Man United.

fuck off.

this is is second season (and to be far he was unlucky with injuries last year), and he's 22, so I don't want to write him off, especially as he is the closest thing we have to a `goal out of nothing type', but where are those moments? Need many more of them next season or we are fucked. I can't stand his crying when not even touched. Hate it. He has a trick, but he falls over his own feet too often. He works pretty hard going up and down, but we need much more when he has the ball. I get the feeling that workrate is Ralphs only cup of tea. He seems to be coached only to do that. I want to hear Ralph shouting at him to take players on not pass it safely.

Good description. we really are. Boy do we need some real talent carrying the ball. We need some pace, flair and `goals out of nowhere' types too. Maybe even a big target man. And a left back and....

cheers. Maybe you can let us wallow in our fa cup semifinal defeat misery before delivering the second barrel.

Absolutely this. Contained them at the expense of attacking threat due to our lack of quality attackers. Redmond did nothing and nor did Adams and Djenepo. Individually and collectively we dont have `it' going forward.

We are looking for Moussa to kick on to be Mane II. We are so desperate for a Saint-Maxin or our own, but he has failed to do that so far. There is still time, but in addition to allour other issues, flair is a major one. Redmond can dod it against shit like Bournemouth, but out him up against better Prem defenders and he hasn't got the pace and he knows it. We need to invest in this area, among others.

that's the player I saw on tape before he signed too, but Fonte used to be the same back on the day. Bednarek is a trier, but thats all. The bigger issue is the attackers. We get left short at the back because the attackers reply on KWP doing their jobs. If we had better players up front, he could hold his position more often and we'd be more solid and score goals. It's one or the other at the moment.

without question I'd of have an extra man in the middle today. As soon as you see their 5-3-2 teamsheet you shuffle it, but we don't seem to ever want to do that.

two slow CBs and fullbacks that play as wingers, but without the extra man in midfield to cover the holes they leaveIts bloody madness and teams like Leicester know how to beat it.

They did step it up. They really pressed, got tight, closed every space down, kept the ball brilliantly. Don't get me wrong, we weren't good, but Leicester did a number on us after they go their lead just like they did at their place earlier in the season. Very good side without the ball.

don't get between the lines, don't get round the back, with this rigid 4-4-2 formation, what is the fucking plan...keep it tight seemed to be the order of the day today?