SaintsBarry74

He says he didn’t want to sit on the bench, he wants action. Well, he came to the right club for that, because he’s going to get peppered in goal every game.

The Leicester keeper made 14 saves against them, and judging by the highlights, nearly all of those were world-class. He earned a 9.7 rating and was named MotM, yet still conceded 4 goals from their 36 attempts, yes 36 fucking attempts on goal. This could be another one of those 9-0's.

I'm worried about this game. I'm not sure we'll 'dominate' possession against these.

Martin has to go. The system just isn't working, and we're quickly becoming a laughing stock, having so much possession yet doing nothing with it (just look at the BBC comments). He neither has the players nor the competence to make it work, and it’s clear he doesn't have an alternative approach.

Everyone here is moaning about us conceding 3 goals and Martin being broken, and there’s a reason for that. Our 51% possession is the lowest we’ve had since the 22/23 season. Laughing stock of the league really...

1-2 Saints, but more importantly, 71% possession for us.

Should aim for at least 70% possession for this, assert our dominance from the start.

It's clearly our bread and butter innit.

I know most of you lot really value possession stats (possession, got to have it all right?), but here's our performance relative to our fixture difficulty thus far.

We have the 2nd highest possession in the premier league, surely we should be able to convert that dominance into some points?

As always when pulling up Baz-stats you've got to scroll down.

I’m pleased to report that big Jan still holds the top spot for highest possession percentage in the Premier League.

Swap Ramsdale for the best ball playing keeper in the world, and play Russball. The result would still be the same.

Only thing I'm sure of about this game is that we'll be having at least 70% possession.

Got to admire having so much possession and 0 points. I imagine we'd be the first club to concede 9 goals in a game with 70% of the ball.

Our possession has dipped to 62%, putting us tied for 2nd with Man City, but just behind Tottenham. On the bright side, though, Jan Bednarek is now leading the Premier League with the highest individual possession. Small wins!

Lots of shot practice

Thankfully this red card came in late so surely a 0-9 is off the table?

We'd be down at least 0-3 with McCarthy and minimum 0-5 with Baz.

Makes sense, he is the player in the PL with the 2nd most touches so far. Also our most important ball player for some reason.

They can’t do anything to us we haven’t already endured, unless you reckon a 0-10 is possible? Doubt it.

It’s basically this that’s padding RM’s possession stats. I get that it’s only been three games, but these early numbers are already in line with last season’s RM-ball pattern, and that was against weaker opposition. Lots of huffing and puffing with little end product to show for it. If we keep up this up, a 0-9 battering is almost guaranteed to be looming around the corner.

GCA per 90 minutes (Goal Creating Actions) gives you an idea of how "dangerous" we are when in possession of the ball. Despite our high possession stats, the reality is that we’re struggling to turn that into real threats - hence, the low GCA numbers.

This post is spot on, and it’s not just the eye test that makes it accurate - the stats back it up too. "It mostly defies logic - why are our least technically gifted players monopolising possession among themselves?" Southampton - Most touches and most possession: 1. Jan Bednarek 2. Jack Stephens 3. Taylor Harwood-Bellis These players are also in the top10 players with most possession in the PL so far this season. Well done. Jan is in fact in 2nd place with 313 touches ahead of Kevin de Bruyne's measly 283 touches. High risk / low reward perfectly explains this next stat, we have the 2nd highest possession% in the league, but we also have the 2nd lowest Goal Creating Chances per 90 min., only Crystal Palace is worse.

Tiki Taka footy innit Okay, last stat: in the Championship last season, we also led in most passes per attempt at goal -- by some margin. How this excessive, error-prone fiddling with the ball will fare in top-tier football is bound to be an excruciating watch for any Saints fan.