macca155

Fair point, they are all over the place so far

Good goal with his wrong foot, not sure Bendarek could anticipate that. Forster shouldn't be working this hard. Armstrong and Romeu very poor so far

After that performance this is not the time to make judgements. Need to view it a little more objectively. Both FF and AM are the wrong side of 30. Both have great games but equally both can mess up. All goalies do that occasionally but most are consistent. The lack of consistency at GK and CH has been the core problem for Saints these last few years. Frazer knows that going forward he will inevitably become No2 to a younger goalie. That is probably the reason he'll leave at the end of the season. I think McCarthy has already accepted that as his future. Interesting conundrum for the club.

Last week when the 4th goal went in, Forster thumped the ball into row HH. He was an angry man who doesn't like conceding goals. No surprise that he meant business yesterday. Great performance, well done big man. I'm not sure about the change to a more passive approach. We'll see more draws that way I suspect. I don't think that was the major factor yesterday. The changes in defence were the bedrock for that performance. Lyanco was put in the middle of the defense. He had experience on one side, pace on the other. That meant we had cover what a difference. He is fast becoming one of my favourites. KWP did a great job at RB. He stifled Saka (what a player) to the point where he swapped sides. Waste of time as Perraud was an equal match. I also thought Long and Redmond were great when they came on. Long is so experienced he immediately became a bloody nuisance. Redmond got stuck in like a man who wants to force his way back in the side. However, probably best not to get carried away. Arsenal had the majority of possession and looked dangerous. Going to be a very different game on Thursday. Let's see how they adapt.

Plus three ar the back with Valery in. As you say need players who give a shit

What is good about this and other forums, is that after the inevitable (and fully justified) 'sack them all' reaction, a concensus starts to emerge as we all come to terms with the performance. Ralph's decision to make so many changes against West Ham, has clearly impacted on the players. The difference between Feb and March is stark. We may have won that game but at what cost? I think the players lost their rhythm and just don't know how to get it back. Same has happened to Utd and Everton, somehow Ralph has to find a way out of this. He has to respond to other team's strategy against his tactics. I like Ralph still believe in him as our manager, basically the good outweighs the bad. However the new ownership need to do a reset with this squad. That defence cannot cope with an all out assault. One of the bonuses of the Cup changes was the emergence of Valery as a central defender. He was excellent against Chelsea in the cup and Ralph was talking him up. He's shown potential so why not play him. He has pace and would have been a better opponent for Warner than Bendarek, or as it turned out Salisu. Anyway its no good doing what ifs for too long, pretty pointless really. Arsenal next different prospect. Let's give them a game of footie and try not to get hammered..... please.

They do do that and it often works well. However Howe, Hodgson, Gerrard, and now Tuchel, have all worked out that we are often exposed in midfield when pressing. Romeo can cover when on his game, but he was struggling today. JWP is good but that isn't the best part of his game As a result Loftus Cheek was destroying us with ease. They had so much room it was ridiculous. Just horrible, forget it move on. Who'se watching MOTD then 😲

100% this, ridiculous set up against the European champions. They played 3 at the back and 1 up front. So where did the rest play Ralph? 2 in midfield for us was never going to work. Tuchel got his players to target Salisu and Armstrong. It meant every ball was played in a hurry and mistakes crept in. As a result JWP had nowhere to pass. Forster, Adams and KWP put in a shift. Valery was an improvement (says very little), the rest need a long hard look at themselves. Chelsea were good, very good, but that was to be expected. So were City but we harassed them into a draw. This reminded me of Liverpool away. Terrible tactics at the start and got a spanking. 2nd half they improved. Ralph has to have a different playbook up his sleeve when other teams work you out.

https://cricfree.top/soccer/leeds-united-southampton-cfrdli76?l=1376427832

Hame turned on the penalty. Absolute stonewall no arguments. What on earth was he thinking. Game fell away from that point onwards. Too many chances missed, but their defending was very good, always close to the man and never gave up. Better performance but the two CHs struggled. I wonder if all the changes to our team have dented our confidence. Take what positives we can and move on. Build for next season and give Adam A a run of games. He either cracks it or needs to move on. Anyway better than the last team we lost 4 1 to in the cup.

Away fans are part of the fun/agony of going to a football match. Be boring without them. Some of my best and worst experiences have been at away games. Spurs was epic, as much as Rochdale was the lowest point ever. Yes some are arrogant idiots but the sheer, joy surprise, shock, relief of the Watford fans on Sunday was quite funny even if it was at our expense. When they started the 'we've got the ball' chant on 10 minutes things were looking bad. We've all been there! The club just needs to sell the tickets to Chelsea fans from their club's register .... and keep the money 💰 They can then go bust and we can laugh. There fans need to suffer for living beyond their means for so many years, but they've got the right to watch it.

Sort of agree but I don't think Elyounoussi had a good game. He was off the pace and left Perraud exposed at times. He's been great so certainly not bashing him, defo a 1st team player. I think he was a victim of the tactics more than anything. He just doesn't have the engine for box to box work. He does have a box of tricks in close play and knows where the goal is. Probably our most obvious No10 at the moment. Redmond has pace and energy, and certainly would have supported Perraud more, best part of his game frankly. However he will be ring rusty and there is nothing to suggest that he can offer anything different from what we have going forward. Djneppo (God help us) is probably in front of him.

I think it's more about giving squad players a game. Like it or not that seems to be the clubs way forward.

I'm sure the players will respond and give it a go. A good start and the last 3 games will be forgotten. Despite 3 knock backs we aren't completely useless. However this is City and if they are in the mood we are toast. Need to get back to high energy levels, quick passing, doing the the simple things well, believe in themselves, oh and don't be shit. Going to need high levels of shithousery for this game. Break up play by any means possible when they have the ball. Assuming Ralph will want to use his squad a bit, I expect the team to be. Forster Tino Valery Salisu KWP Armstrong JWP Romeu Redmond A Armstrong Adams

I can hardly bring myself to comment on the game it was ghastly. Watford took the chance we gave them. Good luck to them. Once again Hodgson won the tactical battle with Ralph. This all goes back to that cup game against West Ham, that many changes ripped the heart out of the team. You simply can't do that at this level. Playing Smallbone and not A Armstrong was bizarre. The midfield was hopelessly outgunned and the attack slow, ponderous, and lacked creativity. The root of all our problems remains the defence. It is so fragile and needs sorting. Now we go in to the City game with all momentum lost. Players unsure of who is next to them, and confidence on the deck. It has also silenced the crowd which is never a good sign. I thought the ref was good, worth axshout out imo. The handball should have been given but he had to rely on VAR for that. I loved the fact that he was very visible in warning players about potential offences. Very rare to see a ref continue play with players on the deck. Got a bit card happy on the 2nd half and bottled the 2nd yellow during injury time but better than most we've had.

Spot on and in particular Valery to start. He has clearly transformed himself into a potentially decent CH but will need games to develop. So far none of our CH pairings have worked except bizarrely Stephens and Valery in the cup. Maybe three at the back today, that will put real pressure on their creaking defence, but equally it could play straight into the Rodgster's hands. He has won the tactical battle against Ralph on too many occasions for my liking. I suspect we may also see Redmond for Moi today, that will annoy a few but we have mix it up a little. Maybe Redmond, KWP, Perraud, and the Armstrongs, running around like rats on speed will unsettle them more than two big guys up front. Saints should have enough for this game .... oh when will I learn

I think dropping 5 places is unlikely but your point is well made. Broja is clearly a better player than Armstrong and his goals will earn us a few million. Charlie Wayman's point is equally valid, somehow we need to engineer some return on Armstrong's fee, and we know he'll be here next year but keep Broja ticking over. I think the Watford match is probably the ideal game to start Armstrong with Broja to come on early enough to make an impact.

Old saying .... hard work beats talent that doesn't work hard Or something like that. You can hear Nigel Adkins saying that.

Ha.... be less own goals

Lyanco definitely offers more than Bendarek. He provides more support for Tino for starters. No way would he have allowed a tall player that sort of space at the back post. In fairness I doubt Stephens would have either. None of our defenders are front line PL quality. Not even Salisu at the moment although given a decent partner he'll flourish. We really should have bought that guy from Forest when we had the chance. Although a gamble of course. Its so frustrating when we have three good full backs to be so weak in the middle. Maybe Valery is the answer 😲 Finally shout out to Shane Long Beat Burn to a header twice the man has springs in his boots.

Just back, what a depressing game. I've no issue with Newcastle. They played to their strengths which are limited but it was enough to see off Saints. Both Howe and Gerrard have worked out a strategy to blunt our attack, and in defence ... well it is obvious to everyone. Has been for years. Pump the ball in to a big man. Chances are he'll score eventually. A replacement for Bendarek is required, and he needs to be a big bugger. I thought Mo struggled tonight, and Broja's game has gone off the boil a bit. However he is being marked very closely. Has to learn to deal with that. Funny how we see the game differently. I thought Adams played ok and really put himself about. They defended deep, and there never seemed to be an outlet for our wide players. Need to get our mo jo back on Sunday.

Reckon this will be a crap game. They'll be nervous of Saints and after Saturday Saints will be nervous of themselves. As a result both teams will probably dance around each other a little. Once a goal is scored then the offended team will resort to type, and the game will open up. Dour draw I reckon, one bad game doesn't destroy a team. Saints need to use this game to reboot and get their system going.

Most teams have days like this at some point. Combination of believing the hype, no Salisu or KWP, opposition playing well and the team looking jaded. It happens but don't just give in and concede 5 or 6. Fight, try and get a goal or two back. Crucial to keep some self belief

Guess we were due this at some point. The defence is being carved open, this partnership clearly isn't our best. However the ball is being lost elsewhere far too frequently. Bad day at the office, changes required.