Saints 0 Man Utd 0 - Buildup, Match and over-reactions Thread

Did Kenzie call Fellaini, Marijuana Fellaini, when announcing the substitution?

We get plenty of gibberish on here but I nominate this as the most ridiculous nonsense yet.

 

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It's Glasgow, what did you expect. Posted purley to get bites, the guy is a top class troll and a grade a knob.

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Did Kenzie call Fellaini, Marijuana Fellaini, when announcing the substitution?

Something along those lines, yes.

That wasn't too bad. The first half was a bit of the same old, felt like both sides played within themselves and it was very much played at a pace of a pre-season game. Way, way too slow. Penalty surprised me in terms of it was given, but the miss didn't surprise me at all. Why don't we just stick with a given penalty taker? Whenever JWP has been on the pitch he has taken them, he's our best striker from a dead ball and needs to take penalties when he's on the pitch. Need to stop faffing around with the takers.

2nd half was a lot better in terms of it being a watch, we seemed to come alive from around 55mins and put them under some concerted pressure for a period - forced Romero into a couple of good saves, although you could argue that a couple of the shots were straight at him. We played much quicker though and this is what opened the game up, we had the likes of Davis pushing forward and closing the gap to Gabbiadini - who was way too isolated in the first half. My gripe is that we still played a bit too centrally though, Redmond and Tadic seemed to come inside and through the central area's - obviously a tactic to open the flanks and allow the fall backs to push on, but Targett's delivery in particular was garbage so that was a pretty dead avenue for us. I would have liked to see Redmond and Tadic pull out wide to the flanks and take on their full backs.

What is up with Redmond at home by the way? He's a totally different player away from home. At home he seems reluctant to commit, run at players, or penetrate the final third. He seems happy to just sit behind the full back and move centrally, it's very odd and it didn't work at all. To be fair, Tadic did similar, so you do wonder if that's instructions they are following.

Special mention to Stephens, who I thought was great. This is a player who has blossomed as the 2nd half of this season has progressed, and I didn't imagine him to be this composed. I wouldn't be adverse to seeing him line up alongside VVD next season (if VVD is still here that is) - he's impressed me that much that it would seem harsh to drop him.

But overall, another frustrating 0-0, but not a bad game at all. Probably from our point of view a 0-0 where we actually deserved to get the win, as opposed to a backs to the wall effort. Quite clearly Utd didn't fancy it, they weren't even playing in first gear, but with a bit of luck we'd have won it. Would be surprised if we fail to beat Stoke if we play the same way as the 2nd half.

Agree Stephens has flourished with a sequence of games but Yoshida has had a great season and deserves some of the credit for guiding him through it all

All very true. It's a sad reflection but I don't even get excited about going to these sorts of games anymore. There's no pace or intensity to them.

 

One of the saddest sights last night was thirty minutes before kickoff when the United players were warming up. There were about 100 spectators lined up down by the hoardings on the northern Kingsland side taking photos and selfies of their United heroes.

I tried to get tickets for the game but ended up going to the City game a few weeks back instead. Plus Wednesday night.

But was the ground full? Interested to know whether the goal drought has taken a toll on non-ST/one off attendance.

But was the ground full? Interested to know whether the goal drought has taken a toll on non-ST/one off attendance.

Many empty seats. Especially noticeable on the corners.

quite a lot of tourists around last night, but I guess Man Utd brings that out. There was a couple sat in seats in front of me in Kingsland, which I think some company owns as when the big boys come, they are invariably occupied by away supporters. Last night was a mother and son, with the son more interested in taking photos of Utd players on his telephone than watching the game.

Many empty seats. Especially noticeable on the corners.

But attendance was over 31000

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Many empty seats. Especially noticeable on the corners.

Quite a few regular STS missing near me in the central Kingsland. At one stage the whole row behind was empty.

But attendance was over 31000

 

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I can only comment as seen. I would be surprised if there were over 30,000 people there last night.

Didn't hear the away end chant 'You're only here to see United' once.

But attendance was over 31000

 

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Aren't attendance figures the number of tickets sold rather than numbers through the turnstiles? I don't know if it's always been this way, but explains why Arsenal 'sell out' every game with a 60k attendance figure even though there are clearly lots of empty seats.

A boring first half reminiscent of the Hull match, but a much improved second half. Overall, we were the better team and should have had all three points but for inconsistent finishing and good Goalkeeping by Romero, especially and critically the penalty save, when he used his experience of Gabbiadini's play when they were both at Sampdoria to guess correctly and dive to the right.

Overall, we have little to moan about after the match, but I suspect that United Glory Hunters will be spitting feathers at their inability to score against little old Southampton and to be bested by them to boot. If any of them suggest that they had fielded a team of reserves, then equally we were without several of our first choice players too. Any neutral observer would happily admit that their "team of reserves" comprised a team of far greater quality on paper than our first choice team.

So what were the reasons behind United's poor performance, probably the worst I have ever witnessed against us? Were their players already mentally on some exotic beach? Has Mourinho imposed this boring style of play on them, the same boring style that Puel is accused of bringing to us, so that when the two teams come together this can be the only result? Certainly Mourinho appears to have brought a level of gamesmanship to them that is to be deplored, where players crumple to the ground writhing in agony to gain free kicks and yellow cards for their opponents from the slightest of contacts, only to be running around athletically the next minute. The falling to ground feigning injury to break up a head of steam from the opposition is another cynical ploy that Mourinho probably instils in them.

The standard of refereeing seemed to be poor to me. The penalty decision was incorrect, as were some of the decisions from the linesmen, and the ref was inconsistent in awarding United soft decisions on fouls whilst ignoring the similar or worse fouls committed on our players. But it was a shame that the incorrect penalty decision did not result in us gaining the three points, as it is only the likes of the Glory Teams being on the wrong end of such mistakes, and the resultant loss of league position, being knocked out of a Cup match, or failing to qualify for the Champions League, which will get the powerful lobby of their fans, media support and sponsors to exert their influence on Football's governing body to bring in video evidence.

Regarding Saints, our season, and our prospects for the next one, yes, it has been disappointing at times in terms of our style of play. However, that must be viewed in the context that we suffered disruption form departing players and manager and had injuries to key players, on top of a demanding fixture list distorted unreasonably by the demands of the TV scheduling. In the light of those pressures, we did quite well to reach the League Cup final where we should have beaten United, and if we finish 8th, that will also be a creditable result. Lack of European football will enable us to pick a settled first team, but with the strength in depth brought about by blooding several fringe players who can cover for injuries next season with less necessity for them to be rotated.

On balance because of these problems which were beyond his control this season, Puel deserves the chance of at least another half season to state his case, hopefully with a full squad available to him, or with the depth of the team strengthened if Van Dijk leaves and we replace him with two or three good players of Puel's choice.

That was bad. United were just going through the motions for much of the game. Yes I know we had lots of shots but we didn't score and showed a lack of quality several times.

Targett's delivery was poor, same with Pied. The defense had issues at times and to top it all off, another penalty missed.

As already said, you will never get an easier game against United and we just weren't up to it. For that reason, one of the worst and most disappointing performances of the season for me.

I think we could've played 2 up front comfortably, United weren't interested in going forwards for much of the game. I'm not a Puel detractor normally but he really needs to stop playing 1 up front at home.

Anyone who cant see just how isolated Gabbi was clearly has never ever played football at any standard whatsoever............................

Anyone who cant see just how deep we are clearly has never played football at any standard whatsoever...........................

Anyone who cant see just how slowly we move the ball has never played football at any standard whatsoever................

 

These are facts, undeniable. These are the tactics Puel employs & I'm not one of those who says he should go now.

6 efforts on goal last night, with the exception of the penalty the keeper didn't really need to dive for any of them.

Were we better than in previous games? Yes we were, no doubt, but don't BS people & say that that was an outstanding display of attacking football.

Any team with pace up front creates chances against us. Even Man Utd last night with the ever slowing Rooney did.

17 goals at home says everything.

Only Crystal Palace, Middlesbrough & Sunderland have won less points at home than us. Swansea have the same at 24.

6 hours at home, no goals.

We are currently Southampton NIL.

Bring on Sunday, 3 pts & a couple of goals!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

May I politely point out that these are not FACTS, they are your opinions !

FWIW I agree with 2 of them but disagree that we sat deep, yes we are guilty of sideways and backwards passing a lot of the time but both full backs and centre backs generally held a high line and made many attacking forages last night !

It's like we have a mental block at home to United, should've beaten them in nearly every game we've played them at St Mary's since being back up.

I can only comment as seen. I would be surprised if there were over 30,000 people there last night.

 

Didn't hear the away end chant 'You're only here to see United' once.

That was the official figure. May, of course, have been ST non-attenders

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I'm sure this has probably been covered elsewhere (and I've just missed it) but why was Bertrand not involved last night?

That was bad. United were just going through the motions for much of the game. Yes I know we had lots of shots but we didn't score and showed a lack of quality several times.

 

Targett's delivery was poor, same with Pied. The defense had issues at times and to top it all off, another penalty missed.

 

As already said, you will never get an easier game against United and we just weren't up to it. For that reason, one of the worst and most disappointing performances of the season for me.

 

I think we could've played 2 up front comfortably, United weren't interested in going forwards for much of the game. I'm not a Puel detractor normally but he really needs to stop playing 1 up front at home.

Sorry mate that's just horse ****. I'm calling you out on this one, don't like to do it so publicly but nonsense sentences like that have to stop on this forum.

Two hypotheses:

1. You didn't watch the game.

2. You watched the full 90 mins but don't understand football well enough to make any fair assessment. Your comment on Pied, nonsense. He was excellent down the right hand side, beat 1 v 1 against Darmian several times, played lovely triangle football with Tadic. Targett hardly made any deliveries at all, instead he played quite defensively all game (much less than Bertrand) and didn't overlap with Redmond except maybe once.

Sorry mate that's just horse ****. I'm calling you out on this one, don't like to do it so publicly but nonsense sentences like that have to stop on this forum.

 

Two hypotheses:

 

1. You didn't watch the game.

 

2. You watched the full 90 mins but don't understand football well enough to make any fair assessment. Your comment on Pied, nonsense. He was excellent down the right hand side, beat 1 v 1 against Darmian several times, played lovely triangle football with Tadic. Targett hardly made any deliveries at all, instead he played quite defensively all game (much less than Bertrand) and didn't overlap with Redmond except maybe once.

Thank you for saving me writing exactly that.

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We played at times like a group of unknowns playing their first game together. Short passes going astray, players not where othere expected them to be, a general lack of cohesion. Things picked up in the secondhalf and then Mourinho's nasty gamesmanship took the sting out of the game just as we were starting to build up a head of steam and sorry Eddie, Targett had several opportunities to put in a good cross and mucked it up every time. He got skinned down the wing in the seconf half and had to be reminded of his duties by Redmond and others. Not bad for a return after a long injury but not what was needed on the night.

I'm sure this has probably been covered elsewhere (and I've just missed it) but why was Bertrand not involved last night?

Twinge in his Groin I think I heard when Blackmore asked Puel on Solent post match

I tried to get tickets for the game but ended up going to the City game a few weeks back instead. Plus Wednesday night.

 

But was the ground full? Interested to know whether the goal drought has taken a toll on non-ST/one off attendance.

The fact that the game was moved to a wednesday night has an effect, but I know plenty of season ticket holders who are so turned off my the style of play that they just can't be arsed to make that extra bit of effort this year.

Getting a 0-0 draw against that United team was the bare minimum. Anyone who thinks we will beat stoke is delusional atm, no goal at home in over 6 hours of play, no home wins in the league all season.

He is a dead man walking in my honest opinion. I truly think that any half decent manager would have matched Puel this year. The cup final was the only thing that stood out, and we lost it.... when once again we should have won.

I'll give him time, but not much more.

And no goals and no wins from united and stoke at home will see him gone i think.

Twinge in his Groin I think I heard when Blackmore asked Puel on Solent post match

Ooooh I'd love a twinge in my groin.

I think people watch different games to others.

Some watch and have a understanding of what they have seen and can post it as such

Some watch a version of the game predetermined in their heads (could be confused as an agenda) and then post a poor review of actual events

Some have not idea of what they actually witnessed and post as such

Guess it`s all about opinions however obscure those opinions are

Anyone who cant see just how isolated Gabbi was clearly has never ever played football at any standard whatsoever............................

Anyone who cant see just how deep we are clearly has never played football at any standard whatsoever...........................

Anyone who cant see just how slowly we move the ball has never played football at any standard whatsoever................

 

These are facts, undeniable. These are the tactics Puel employs & I'm not one of those who says he should go now.

6 efforts on goal last night, with the exception of the penalty the keeper didn't really need to dive for any of them.

Anyone who who can't see that their keeper really needed to dive to save JWP's effort has never played football at any standard whatsoever......,

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Anyone who who can't see that their keeper really needed to dive to save JWP's effort has never played football at any standard whatsoever......,

 

That was a great save, has there been any debate about that?

Sorry mate that's just horse ****. I'm calling you out on this one, don't like to do it so publicly but nonsense sentences like that have to stop on this forum.

 

Two hypotheses:

 

1. You didn't watch the game.

 

2. You watched the full 90 mins but don't understand football well enough to make any fair assessment. Your comment on Pied, nonsense. He was excellent down the right hand side, beat 1 v 1 against Darmian several times, played lovely triangle football with Tadic. Targett hardly made any deliveries at all, instead he played quite defensively all game (much less than Bertrand) and didn't overlap with Redmond except maybe once.

I think you are being a bit harsh there. His comment was because United were so poor it was a very disappointing performance. Not saying I necessarily agree about how good/bad we were but United were atrocious by their standards so in the context of opportunities to beat United and have our first win against a top 6 side this season it was very disappointing. If you think that was a good United performance I suggest you read Yoshida's post match comments when he echoes that sentiment and says you could tell that United didn't want to be there and weren't interested especially Bally!

Also Targett says in his post match interview that he wasted good opportunities to deliver crosses. Though I cant remember any incidents obviously he does, so again Id say its fair comment if the player says the same.

I thought Pied was good and made some good runs particularly when slipped in by Tadic inside the fullback, cant remember if he shot or crossed but the run and pass were very good. It was an example of something we don't do often enough.

Gary Neville did a very interesting piece after our recent draw at Anfield about how Liverpool work the ball wide but then because no-one is making runs from deep and getting ahead of the ball carrier they run out of options, the ball end ups getting passed inside and ends back with a deep lying midfielder or central defender. I thought his analysis was equally apt for us, however that run from Pied demonstrated the sort of runs our wide players should be making and if they were made more often would definitely increase our chances of scoring.

I think people watch different games to others.

Some watch and have a understanding of what they have seen and can post it as such

Some watch a version of the game predetermined in their heads (could be confused as an agenda) and then post a poor review of actual events

Some have not idea of what they actually witnessed and post as such

 

Guess it`s all about opinions however obscure those opinions are

n/t

The damage is sadly done and a semi decent 2nd half with no goals (again) against Man United reserves is not going to change that.

 

We allowed United to play at a slow pace and they restricted us to pop shots from 20 yards. Was a dull first 45 minutes on par with Hull at home.

 

United played with zero intent or intensity and yet we still managed to mess it up. Like 4 like subs, give me a break Puel.

 

That was the golden ticket to end the jinx against the top 6.

 

12 league games - ZERO wins! Unprecedented

 

Puel is finished here and think even he knows it.

 

Anyone else clock R&R (Reed and Ralph) looking unimpressed in the stands?

I sat near enough to R&R as you call them to have seen their reactions last night and it seemed all rather jovial up there to me, Les because he has just got promoted to Deputy Mr Big Knob and Chairman Big Knob himself because he has found a dumb sucker to take the fall when the proverbial hits the fan very soon. Didn't see any signs of disapproval 'though so not sure where that came from.

Let's be real, this is all going to get glossed over and there will be no changes and why not, simply because no way have they got any cash too pay Puel off and they can't do him for gross misconduct.

Black is a different kettle of fish, don't like the look of that bloke at all and nor does Susan Tadic judging by their touchline spat last night which was very undignified. That behaviour surely must have been noticed upstairs and will likely see the end of Black or Tadic? I do hope it's Black, who strikes me as an arrogant opinionated bully boy.

I think people watch different games to others.

Some watch and have a understanding of what they have seen and can post it as such

Some watch a version of the game predetermined in their heads (could be confused as an agenda) and then post a poor review of actual events

Some have not idea of what they actually witnessed and post as such

 

Guess it`s all about opinions however obscure those opinions are

Yep. Guess that's why so often when I come on the forum after a game I get very confused since it seems half the posters have been watching a different game.

You are definitely right that some only look for things that support their prejudices rather than actually watching the game.

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Yep. Guess that's why so often when I come on the forum after a game I get very confused since it seems half the posters have been watching a different game.

 

You are definitely right that some only look for things that support their prejudices rather than actually watching the game.

 

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Yes it's amazing what some people will make up to try and make a point. Still, they get caught out in the eventually and end up looking rather silly.

Nice right up here

 

http://www.msn.com/en-gb/sport/football/southampton-0-manchester-united-0-stand-in-romero-shines-in-de-geas-absence/ar-BBBflDf?li=AA572I&ocid=spartandhp

 

interesting stat at the end

 

Southampton had six shots on target – only Tottenham (7 on Sunday) have had more in a match against United this season in all competitions.

Did Spurs play Man United 1st team or 2nd team like we did ?

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Did Spurs play Man United 1st team or 2nd team like we did ?

 

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Pretty sure it was`nt their u23 side so first team i reckon

Black is a different kettle of fish, don't like the look of that bloke at all and nor does Susan Tadic judging by their touchline spat last night which was very undignified.

Is that his mother or wife?

I think you are being a bit harsh there. His comment was because United were so poor it was a very disappointing performance. Not saying I necessarily agree about how good/bad we were but United were atrocious by their standards so in the context of opportunities to beat United and have our first win against a top 6 side this season it was very disappointing. If you think that was a good United performance I suggest you read Yoshida's post match comments when he echoes that sentiment and says you could tell that United didn't want to be there and weren't interested especially Bally!

 

Also Targett says in his post match interview that he wasted good opportunities to deliver crosses. Though I cant remember any incidents obviously he does, so again Id say its fair comment if the player says the same.

 

I thought Pied was good and made some good runs particularly when slipped in by Tadic inside the fullback, cant remember if he shot or crossed but the run and pass were very good. It was an example of something we don't do often enough.

 

Gary Neville did a very interesting piece after our recent draw at Anfield about how Liverpool work the ball wide but then because no-one is making runs from deep and getting ahead of the ball carrier they run out of options, the ball end ups getting passed inside and ends back with a deep lying midfielder or central defender. I thought his analysis was equally apt for us, however that run from Pied demonstrated the sort of runs our wide players should be making and if they were made more often would definitely increase our chances of scoring.

Worth reading, imho.

Sorry mate that's just horse ****. I'm calling you out on this one, don't like to do it so publicly but nonsense sentences like that have to stop on this forum.

 

Two hypotheses:

 

1. You didn't watch the game.

 

2. You watched the full 90 mins but don't understand football well enough to make any fair assessment. Your comment on Pied, nonsense. He was excellent down the right hand side, beat 1 v 1 against Darmian several times, played lovely triangle football with Tadic. Targett hardly made any deliveries at all, instead he played quite defensively all game (much less than Bertrand) and didn't overlap with Redmond except maybe once.

2 and I play Saturday league football.

I would like to see how many crosses Pied and Targett made that actually found a Saints player. I think if you go back and look, you see that while they might've got into decent positions, there was no end product 90% of the time. And that is what I meant by lack of quality.

It was such a poor performance because of the team we were up against. They treated it almost like a training game and we still couldn't score.

First off have to say as someone who grew up with Man Utd dominance of the 90s and early 2000s how odd it is to see a Man Utd team play like that. If you didn't know who was playing you'd think West Brom had come to town for a clean sheet.

First half was dire, no tempo, wasn't a pen as it was outside but JWP should have taken it.

Second half we clearly upped the temp, some link up play was there and the players actively looked like there were trying to get closer to Gabbiadinni/Jay Rod.

We were still too deep most of the time, the commentators said it several times and it made us sluggish when turned over possession. Though most people did ok, felt sorry for Gabbiadini first half as he was so isolated and he still worked hard but had nothing to work with. Then when we started to get going he got taken off.

Sadly aside the penalty, our best chance fell to Stephens who fluffed it but overall had a decent game. Was good to see him bringing the ball out of defence and he looked to have a good turn of pace, drifting past players with the ball and getting back to tackle on the few occasions Man Utd broke.

If we'd played like we did from about 55 mins to 85mins for the whole game I'm pretty sure we would have won, the first half was very lazy from our players.

Don't get the booing of JWP going off, he'd done ok but not amazing, he'd been caught in possession several times and on the right he offers little because he can't get down the outside or run at people. I thought Boufal looked decent when he came on, he actually ran out people with pace and committed defenders, which oddly Redmond hadn't really done all game and Tadic doesn't do over long distances, he seems to prefer slowing his man down before trying to beat him.

Boufal's attitude though seemed pretty poor, couple of times he just gave up, threw his hands in the air and stood in the middle of the pitch as Utd countered, plus there was a spell down on the right wing where he laid of to Tadic and then seemed annoyed he didn't get it back, so just stood there rather than trying to make another run into the box. He seemed to brighten up nearer the end of game as he actually started closing people down and tracking back, at one point getting Utd on the counter after he stole the ball off someone. Dunno, seemed in a bad mood, maybe it was the booing?

Targett looked exactly like a player who hasn't played very much in a long period, very rusty, some poor deliveries.

Overall poor first half, better second half, a bit frustrating but their keeper was man of the match and it was Man Utd, so difficult to be critical.

People should remember their forward 3 cost £100 million, so 'reserves' is a funny comment.

2 and I play Saturday league football.

 

I would like to see how many crosses Pied and Targett made that actually found a Saints player. I think if you go back and look, you see that while they might've got into decent positions, there was no end product 90% of the time. And that is what I meant by lack of quality.

 

It was such a poor performance because of the team we were up against. They treated it almost like a training game and we still couldn't score.

Fair enough, I don't even play Saturday league haha.

I agree Targett was poor, he was cautious and I think had we had Bertrand playing, perhaps we'd have created a bit more opportunities. Pied though I felt played most of the time along the ground, that's the thing I really noticed/liked about his play. He didn't just hoof it like Cedric does often, he actually tried to play 1-2's with Tadic/Romeu and it worked most of the time. His ability to beat a man far exceeds the ability of Cedric or Martina in that area.

I would have said that we didn't get down to the touchline enough. There were some opportunities where a shot fizzed across the box but oftentimes it met a Man Utd player rather than a Saints player. But I don't blame the target man or the guy who delivered the ball for that. I blame it on the fact that Man Utd had so many players in the box that it was almost impossible to get through. I swear that at the end of the game, there were often 6 utd players in the box, that I had the feeling they were genuinely playing for a draw, it was that defensive.

What I did notice was that on the counter attack we didn't break that quickly. When Bailly or Smalling came forward, and we gained posession, we ran all the way down the pitch and then just....stopped. And Utd regrouped, and then the attack has lost all it's pace. that was a real shame, and I think had we had Long or Rodriguez on instead of Davis, maybe we might have got something out of those runs.

But I wouldn't say it was there for the taking. Romero had a ****ing blinder in goal (a lot of our shots were straight at the keeper, but still), but other than that no Utd player stands out as being particularly good, I agree. However the way they set up , which was essentially counter attacking, is difficult to break down. And we had the majority possession, something like 60% for the first half if I recall.

First off have to say as someone who grew up with Man Utd dominance of the 90s and early 2000s how odd it is to see a Man Utd team play like that. If you didn't know who was playing you'd think West Brom had come to town for a clean sheet.

 

First half was dire, no tempo, wasn't a pen as it was outside but JWP should have taken it.

 

Second half we clearly upped the temp, some link up play was there and the players actively looked like there were trying to get closer to Gabbiadinni/Jay Rod.

 

We were still too deep most of the time, the commentators said it several times and it made us sluggish when turned over possession. Though most people did ok, felt sorry for Gabbiadini first half as he was so isolated and he still worked hard but had nothing to work with. Then when we started to get going he got taken off.

 

Sadly aside the penalty, our best chance fell to Stephens who fluffed it but overall had a decent game. Was good to see him bringing the ball out of defence and he looked to have a good turn of pace, drifting past players with the ball and getting back to tackle on the few occasions Man Utd broke.

 

If we'd played like we did from about 55 mins to 85mins for the whole game I'm pretty sure we would have won, the first half was very lazy from our players.

 

Don't get the booing of JWP going off, he'd done ok but not amazing, he'd been caught in possession several times and on the right he offers little because he can't get down the outside or run at people. I thought Boufal looked decent when he came on, he actually ran out people with pace and committed defenders, which oddly Redmond hadn't really done all game and Tadic doesn't do over long distances, he seems to prefer slowing his man down before trying to beat him.

 

Boufal's attitude though seemed pretty poor, couple of times he just gave up, threw his hands in the air and stood in the middle of the pitch as Utd countered, plus there was a spell down on the right wing where he laid of to Tadic and then seemed annoyed he didn't get it back, so just stood there rather than trying to make another run into the box. He seemed to brighten up nearer the end of game as he actually started closing people down and tracking back, at one point getting Utd on the counter after he stole the ball off someone. Dunno, seemed in a bad mood, maybe it was the booing?

 

Targett looked exactly like a player who hasn't played very much in a long period, very rusty, some poor deliveries.

 

Overall poor first half, better second half, a bit frustrating but their keeper was man of the match and it was Man Utd, so difficult to be critical.

 

People should remember their forward 3 cost £100 million, so 'reserves' is a funny comment.

Claude was going ballistic in the first half urging them all to get further upfield.

The booing was not at JWP but because he was being taken off, as I understood it.

Claude was going ballistic in the first half urging them all to get further upfield.

 

The booing was not at JWP but because he was being taken off, as I understood it.

Yeah, it was because of the sub. Seemed to be as if people were chomping at the bit for a reason to boo, but as a substitution it actually worked for us as Boufal made a positive impact.

just an observation but the last 5 penalties taken in Saints games have all missed or been saved - Gabbiadini, Long, Milner, Tadic and Arter...

just an observation but the last 5 penalties taken in Saints games have all missed or been saved - Gabbiadini, Long, Milner, Tadic and Arter...

Was there any between Kane's & Arters?

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A boring first half reminiscent of the Hull match, but a much improved second half. Overall, we were the better team and should have had all three points but for inconsistent finishing and good Goalkeeping by Romero, especially and critically the penalty save, when he used his experience of Gabbiadini's play when they were both at Sampdoria to guess correctly and dive to the right.

 

Overall, we have little to moan about after the match, but I suspect that United Glory Hunters will be spitting feathers at their inability to score against little old Southampton and to be bested by them to boot. If any of them suggest that they had fielded a team of reserves, then equally we were without several of our first choice players too. Any neutral observer would happily admit that their "team of reserves" comprised a team of far greater quality on paper than our first choice team.

 

So what were the reasons behind United's poor performance, probably the worst I have ever witnessed against us? Were their players already mentally on some exotic beach? Has Mourinho imposed this boring style of play on them, the same boring style that Puel is accused of bringing to us, so that when the two teams come together this can be the only result? Certainly Mourinho appears to have brought a level of gamesmanship to them that is to be deplored, where players crumple to the ground writhing in agony to gain free kicks and yellow cards for their opponents from the slightest of contacts, only to be running around athletically the next minute. The falling to ground feigning injury to break up a head of steam from the opposition is another cynical ploy that Mourinho probably instils in them.

 

The standard of refereeing seemed to be poor to me. The penalty decision was incorrect, as were some of the decisions from the linesmen, and the ref was inconsistent in awarding United soft decisions on fouls whilst ignoring the similar or worse fouls committed on our players. But it was a shame that the incorrect penalty decision did not result in us gaining the three points, as it is only the likes of the Glory Teams being on the wrong end of such mistakes, and the resultant loss of league position, being knocked out of a Cup match, or failing to qualify for the Champions League, which will get the powerful lobby of their fans, media support and sponsors to exert their influence on Football's governing body to bring in video evidence.

 

Regarding Saints, our season, and our prospects for the next one, yes, it has been disappointing at times in terms of our style of play. However, that must be viewed in the context that we suffered disruption form departing players and manager and had injuries to key players, on top of a demanding fixture list distorted unreasonably by the demands of the TV scheduling. In the light of those pressures, we did quite well to reach the League Cup final where we should have beaten United, and if we finish 8th, that will also be a creditable result. Lack of European football will enable us to pick a settled first team, but with the strength in depth brought about by blooding several fringe players who can cover for injuries next season with less necessity for them to be rotated.

 

On balance because of these problems which were beyond his control this season, Puel deserves the chance of at least another half season to state his case, hopefully with a full squad available to him, or with the depth of the team strengthened if Van Dijk leaves and we replace him with two or three good players of Puel's choice.

A good summary I think

Maybe it just the way I see it but I don't consider a shot off target as an attempt on goal.

 

There's a lot of talk about poor finishing but I don't remember any instance last night where we got anywhere near close to 'finishing'. JRod's snatched shot from the edge of the area maybe but apart form that their goal was well protected and we never got really close in.

So you don't count JRod's near miss as an attempt on goal?

So you don't count JRod's near miss as an attempt on goal?

This is how Trump got in. Dismiss chances as not included as not a real chance. Not like Poch's chances which were real.

So you don't count JRod's near miss as an attempt on goal?

This is the problem with bare statistics. A shot that just misses the post is weighted the same as an attempt from 30 yards that goes ten feet over the bar. I think the word we used was 'effort' and that was a very poor effort.

For those who believe we were playing a lesser Manchester united team last night, I was talking to one of my customers this afternoon who is a United season ticket holder with his son (believe it or not he actually has a Manchester postal address too). They both said that was a much stronger team than even they were led to believe Jose was going to put out against us. Think the BBC website only mentioned 4 changes.

Still the fact remains that we should have beaten them last night even if it was only 1-0 from a generous penalty decision.

Totally agree with Lord Duckhunter's post. But for the penalty save and some other good saves we would have won that game. I couldn't believe it when I heard booing at the final whistle.

You cannot build a world around "What If's" and "If Only's"

Pretty much this.

Good post.