CWD

That has to be one of the most bizzare goals I've ever seen us concede. He just wandered into the box with the ball 😂

Could easily have been 2-0 up ourselves with better finishing, but the defending from that point is woeful. Same old story. Some good stuff, no end product, concede, capitulate. It's fucking boring.

I think it’s only embargoed until 10pm/10:30 or something

Boring. As soon as we went behind it was obvious we were done. Apart from a brief period after the disallowed goal where we actually moved the ball around with some pace, we offered nothing. Is the game plan flawed or our players fucking thick? Coz we start running at the defence and passing quickly and it opens up for us... but a minute later we’re back to slowly knocking it backwards to JWP in our half again.

“Not PL standard” is one of the silliest insults thrown at our players. What does it even mean? If Redmond wasn’t PL standard then he wouldn’t have been playing consistently in the PL for the last 8 years. Redmond didn’t do much going forward yesterday, but neither did any of his team mates. The difference is, when the chance came to attack, he was clinical with his passing. Our two main chances involved a brilliantly weighted pass and a well dug out cross - both from Redmond. If that was Ings putting in that performance yesterday we would be singing his praises about how he makes the difference in key moments. yes he can frustrate at times, but I wish people would give credit where it’s due sometimes. It just seems with Stephens out the team we have to have someone to bash. His work against the ball and overall play is obviously pleasing Ralph or else he wouldn’t be in the team.

You’re absolutely right, but in a game like this the positive is it gives us a breather and disrupts and frustrates the opposition. I know it’s not very British of me to say, but I’m all for rolling around on the floor second half 😂

Recent history would suggest if we don’t win this 1-0 we’ll lose. Hoping for a second half goal to buck the trend.

Home v Villa? As in the Barkley header? If you really think any 'keeper should be saving that then you're never going to be happy!

McCarthy is the number 1 and rightly so. People are getting too fixated on stats. Yes, when you look at it, he's conceded lots of goals recently and Forster has kept 4 clean sheets. But I would guess McCarthy made as many saves in the Utd game as Forster has in those four games. How many goals in the recent defeats has he been directly at fault for? 1 obvious one but that's all I can think of.

Agreed. The cup is definitely the priority now but we need to get back into some some sort of form leading up to it. We are a team that relies hugely on confidence and momentum. Next few weeks could be exciting.

McCarthy KWP Bednarek Vest Bertrand Armstrong JWP Romeu Minamino Ings Adams Surprised at so many people wanting Salisu to start. He was OK last night, but still raw and should be eased in slowly. Let's not over-hype him after one 6/10 performance. Don't get me wrong I think he showed glimpses, but not enough to take the shirt from Vestegaard just yet. There's an argument for Forster to start, but otherwise the team pretty much picks itself. KWP and Armstrong have to start if fit, they're our most direct and creative players at the moment. And having Djenepo, Redmond and Tella on the bench finally gives us some decent impact options.

What I can’t get my head around is the fact we’ve made pacy, dynamic, attacking fullbacks our most important tactic, when we’ve only got one of them in the squad. KWP is so vital to how we play but you can’t rest everything on one RB. Bertrand is a good fullback but he was being asked to do the lions share of attacking today and he’s just not that sort of player. oh and Jesus we’re so SLOW. Without Armstrong, we just don’t have anyone in CM or the 10s who will just fucking RUN forward. That game was there to be won after the free kick but it was like we just played for the -1 goal difference. Just create some fucking chances and stop congratulating yourself for winning a corner, it was pathetic.

Well if the roles were reversed things would be completely different. If it had been Utd down to 10 men after a minute we’d be smashing them 0-0.

Oh my god, you have to laugh 😂

I think there's a really important point here. Players, clubs and agents all knew we were looking for someone to act as second fiddle to RB and KWP. You can imagine for a short term loan that's a really hard sell. If players are coming in for half a season they need to be getting games, and Saints just couldn't promise that.

I agree to a point about being unlucky tonight, but in that first half we were dominant in terms of possession etc. but never tested the keeper. Everything seems to slow when we get to the edge of the box. I don't think this is a new thing either. We've scored a high percentage of low xG goals this season, and a high proportion of goals from outside the box for a while. These were all naturally going to dry up and even out. In terms of clear cut chances, they're few and far between. I feel pretty livid tonight, shocking decisions and more injuries doesn't help. Just need to get a bit of momentum back.

Ralph sounds pissed off that we can't bring players in. "We don't have money". Can't blame him.

VAR shitshow aside, I'm concerned by how toothless we are. The amount of times we are running forward in a promising looking attack, only for the ball to end up with Stephens is infuriating.

To be fair, he IS cover. As a third choice CB he’s fine. He’ll never be a world beater, and he’s prone to the odd mistake, but he’s playing against the top attacking players in the world every week. If they weren’t getting the better of him every now and again he wouldn’t be playing for us! JS is a decent PL player. Nothing more, nothing less. I think people need to get off his back.

Can't think of a weaker/less experienced Saints XI than the one that finished the game tbf. I don't blame Ralph who's just working with what he's got, but the double change completely ended the contest. Not much else to say. We need players back and quickly. I thought going forward we were decent and created some chances, but not quite clinical enough (again). We looked weak defensively but that's what happens to teams of our resources when you lose 3 of your first choice back 4. One thing that really pisses me off is how slow and ponderous we are in the last 20 minutes of games. We never look like getting back into it when were behind, or stretching a lead when we're winning. Diallo is immense. What a player.

Nobody has forgotten that, he’s also scored a a hat trick against us more recently too. What’s held him back from becoming a top, top player isn’t bad finishing, it’s completely erratic finishing. The beautiful finish against Arsenal away and the missed sitter against Wolves highlights my point. That said I think he works well in this system. He chases and harries all game, and he isn’t afraid to drive at the defence. Yes he loses it sometimes, and maybe doesn’t keep the ball as well as Redmond for example, but he still makes things happens. I hope his wage demands don’t scupper a chance of him staying another season.

Vokins will be 21 in a matter of weeks, and has always looked capable to me when he's played. If Ralph ends up playing Stephens, KWP or even Diallo at LB on Tuesday as you say, I'd really question Vokins' long term future at the club even at this early stage. If he really is a viable replacement for Bertrand in the future then he needs to be trusted to start in his absence. Hope he does, and hope he does well 👍

I actually think the biggest improvement in Romeu’s game this season has been his forward passing and contribution to attacking play. Diallo has undoubtedly been outstanding, but I think the OP’s assessment of OR is a little harsh. He’s far more of an all round CM these days. I agree that Diallo has earned the shirt for now. Up to Romeu to win it back. Great to have some decent competition in there, just need some more of that in other areas.

Leicester are where we want to be, and IMO where we were before the Puel appointment. Their squad is strong and deep, they’re established at the top end of the table and they have definitive style. We are getting back there, but we’re a few years away at the moment. negatives for me are the lack of cutting edge we have now we seem to have stopped consistently out scoring our xG, and the lack of depth in the squad. The former can be worked on, the latter will take a few good windows to get right, and maybe longer in the current climate. However, in the mean time we’re tough to beat, organised, exciting, and would have won that game without injuries to key players. Enjoy the ride people! We’re good again!

I’ve heard we’ve had another positive COVID test from a key player since Liverpool... anyone else heard anything? If true I suppose it depends how long ago the test was and how many other players it might have spread to 😬