gio1saints

Play Tyler. 😁

Jack Stephens playing v well in his position in front the cb’s. Most players did ok - Joe Aribo very good, BBD held up ball well in a way we not seen a while on the left. AA is off it a bit today, looks sluggish.,Alex gave them his present as expected but we got away with it. Nice Smallbone header from a Yuki delivery ( he’s good at set pieces) brought out a good save and he had another good chance blocked by excellent defending. These are whinging about every challenge. Will needs be careful as he could easy see a red second half. KWP tidy with a few glimpses of his skills. Jan and THB co trolled as ever. Flynn just oiling everything as usual. Not bad not great not rubbish could easy be 2-0 at HT.

I’ve heard this walker Peters guy is quite good. Be like a new signing if he works out at wingback. 😁

Melier. What awally . Gives Pompey an equaliser with crisp packet hands.

It may not surprise a few of the better informed here but our club transfer and spending strategy is set up based on the high likelihood, NOT the possibility, of relegation this year. Another year in the EFL but at a higher base line of quality and experience playing this way , an essential promotion - and we may then be more competitive in the EPL 2026-2027.

Good assessment. It is based on the premise that our squad and average performance level need to improve by a factor to avoid relegation from EPL given the jump in standard. What kind of factor of improvement do you think we need to have to avoid relegation? 10% better ? 50% better? What does that mean in actual goals scored or conceded this year per match do you think? FWIW I think our goals scored was ok last year. But our goals conceded ( over XG) was bad. That needs urgent attention for all the talk of getting more forwards we must stop conceding over XG needlessly this season..

Think that’s exactly what RM will play and the outcome he hopes for.

Am i right in saying shirt #10 is unallocated and that Lallana has no shirt number at present?

Eddie Howe does not need 100 hours of video analysis to know how we are going to play. In particular our GK. Putting a good spin on it I’d say saints fans need prepare to endure many a statement defeat if you like - to show how wedded we are to becoming excellent at a certain style of play. No matter interim results along the way. Sadly I don’t think this current team is going to score as many goals from Alex to the back of the opposition net in 10-30 cute passes as the opposition will from Alex accidentally passing to them in our own penalty area. And the latter is gonna happen all season long. So relegation is almost a certainty - unless FFP rules hitting other clubs saves us. Get accustomed to that and the season may become more bearable. At this EPL level, with these current, mostly, barely EPL level squad players, we may score 5-6 supremely beautiful goals playing our way - but the cost of playing our way will be we also concede 30-40 from essentially losing possession in and around our penalty area. I’m going to have to convince myself that it’s better to get beat most weeks playing this stylish and brave way looking to crack the genius level code for possession football than get beat most weeks looking like a poor no identity no spirit football team. Which is what can easily happen ( see last time around). Apols if that sounded depressing. I’m positive about Saints and always will be but it does help if one’s expectations are in the right ball park! Simply not getting relegated would be a massive result this year. 😇

Hi Sue you probably will remember they let Mason Greenwood play for them as part of his rehabilitation from being a sex offender when no one in the uk would touch him. Best play is called Borja something is a forward and they’re a mid table Spanish club. Should be a very tough challenge for saints in terms of technique as they certainly will be excellent on the ball. Yes I’m going because I like to watch the state of organisational understanding /preparation of our squad/fringe players - not for the result really. Im hopeful we can match them and, hopefully but expecting to be disappointed again, for us not to keep letting the opposition have free goals/ chances by literally sending party invitation cards out to a penalty area press in our own area 6 times per match. The invite says “ Just turn up in our penalty area with your Getafe mates and Alex will personally give you presents and cake”🎂. But I can see the funny side of it. I think Charles Bronsons best film was “ Death Wish” also. 😂

Interesting pov from lazio fans who rate Shea Charles but, in an impressive bit of insight, state that the result needs consideration in context of how saints do in the EPL this year. The OP raises the same concern many of us have - which is of our PB game that worked in the Championship being overwhelmed by higher quality of EPL intense pressing. ( wrt to Shea Charles) good guy, eh, they have three or four kids who really seem capable of doing a lot of things (in their career), their coach is also good, for 15 minutes they dribbled in our faces with notable technical and movement skills, of course after that they risked getting 4 /5, we ran a lot, badly for 20 minutes then we were much more effective in pressing and I didn't displease them at all, a Verona (in terms of pressing and aggression of spaces) with a decidedly better technical rate, I don't know how to evaluate the together, if the Saints were to secure a quiet survival tending towards the center of the table in the Premier League, this friendly match would have been excellent, if instead Southampton's good dribbling and game ideas were to be overwhelmed by the pressing applied in the Premier League and they were to be relegated in a disastrous manner, well then this friendly match would also take on another meaning (ultimately right from the start six saints in the premiership we will have an idea about Lazio)

Summer 2023 Didn’t we also sign Russell Martin & co?

Agree with @Saint86. Think RM knows who can play way he wants. Needed to see if his squad players especially new ones can do it too. Was expecting a stronger team but in reflection the team we put out was probably better and correct for reasons stated. Ling season, with injuries and suspensions and tactic tweaks we will need full squad no weaknesses all on same page that last years team/squad ended on.

You are right. And sry if I sounded like a pompous whatever. We have not got a brilliant record in goalies nor strikers. Can be improved. We do have good records elsewhere though, and overall- well I guess they are above the median line in my book - largely in my eyes because we have a great team spirit -with players we kept and those we unloaded . It’s NOT a great team - but it’s a great team spirit - which was not there two years ago. We may have even had better players last time out but this lot have developed into a team much more. That counts for a lot in my book. Turning average players into good uns is a skill. Dont mind us losing if we play with spirit tbh.

I think Charlie did well. He stood up for Shea who was unfairly barged pushed the guy away and it kind of kicked off. Once it started he was game and wanted some but the usual pacifists got in the way. Bloke grabbed Charlie’s neck and that’s certainly a no no. I thought lazio were the first to run on the pitch to intervene followed by *some* saints. I’d like to say Jack was leading it but I think he was being captain-y on the bench and only jogged on when it was calmer. I thought Shea could have done a bit more but he was being calm ditto Alex who could have redeemed himself for an otherwise entirely as usual performance of ball giving away in our area if he could have delivered a cantona style riposte to those dirty lazio So and sos. I’d have felt he would have cemented first place starting keeper with that singular display of excessive aggression but sadly not to be and it was largely left to Charlie who got some belting choruses of support from the Northam and was awarded the Southern ABA welterwieight belt at the end of the match by the ref. Apparently fighting KSI next month. 🤣

Probably irrelevant but Ryan Fraser liking Saints fc insta posts from last night match shows he still wants to be kept in mind. To my mind anyway.

Yeah appointing RM taking and keeping Flynn and THB keeping will and Sam E bringing both on during the season, keeping KWP encouraged the resurrection of AA’s career, delivering promotion and a record unbeaten run of matches refusing to buckle to fanpressure and supporting RM and team at height of fan ire at style of play and results yup an ever growing line of bad decisions. If you search for negatives there’s always plenty to find in life you know. But the cup ain’t always half empty you know.

Lazio a decent team but were allowed to get away with fouls early in that would normally be yellows. Proper match they’d be with ten men at half time 9 at full time. They hit the bar a few times but would not be doing that with us being men up. Our play was decent also EXCEPT. For about five times always the same offing nonsense giving the ball away our own area. Their goal was a worldie but if we give opponents six chances per match, of which five are literally handed on a plate don’t have to do anything except push 15 yards further up the pitch we are gonna get tonked 10-0 one of these games…and have record goals conceded in an EPL season as a certificate in our trophy cabinet at end of season. It’s NUTS.

Fucking animals

Best game he’s played in ages. Not saying much I know but he’s not be rubbish. Think he’s being watched…

And another fuxk around chance.

It was impressive when it worked.✅. But lazio sussed it out - likdd Ed every EPL team will - and the last 15 they looked like they were confident in their press.,just a rehearsal for a whole season of watching us give goals away by fucking around the box. With this keeper. But yeah, ole stuff when it works. But FFS Alex and his giving the ball away a couple times per half is more predictable than death and taxes …🤨

How is that no -1-2. Alex runs out misses the ball and lazio player misses open goal!

Lazio just pressing onto us now like they know what to do.

We invited it though to a degree by our fucking around in the penalty area last five mins.