Saints 4 Dugout Pioneers 1 - Post Match

You two seem p issed we won today.. weird

Superb feel good factor style win. Hojburg was simple sensational...covered a massive amount of ground, tackled with conviction, spread play around with superb range of passing and generally bossed midfield...a mature performance beyond his age. Thought JWP, Cedric and Hoedt we’re both much better too. Boufal is starting to show some very promising signs of being more than just a 128 trick pony. Subs were perfect too.

What were the key differences in today’s tactics and team set-up? 1. No Redmond, 2. We moved the ball quicker...in fact many attacks involved several single touch moves. 3. Austin looked fitter and more mobile so he found space.

HOWEVER! We should get too carried away....this was a really awful Everton side...worst we’ve seen at SMS this season IMO. I commented that we needed a big GD to compensate for the arse tear we will suffer a the hands of City.

Why can't you just enjoy a win and a good performance? It's so utterly tiresome to see you chasing people around the forum to be antagonistic.

Hahaha like you do to SOG... Hypocrite...

I loved the win just cant stand idiotic posts like the ones quoted..

Superb feel good factor style win. Hojburg was simple sensational...covered a massive amount of ground, tackled with conviction, spread play around with superb range of passing and generally bossed midfield...a mature performance beyond his age. Thought JWP, Cedric and Hoedt we’re both much better too. Boufal is starting to show some very promising signs of being more than just a 128 trick pony. Subs were perfect too.

 

What were the key differences in today’s tactics and team set-up? 1. No Redmond, 2. We moved the ball quicker...in fact many attacks involved several single touch moves. 3. Austin looked fitter and more mobile so he found space.

 

HOWEVER! We should get too carried away....this was a really awful Everton side...worst we’ve seen at SMS this season IMO. I commented that we needed a big GD to compensate for the arse tear we will suffer a the hands of City.

Not necessarily, they made hard work of Huddersfield, we will probably set up very similar

Hahaha like you do to SOG... Hypocrite...

 

I loved the win just cant stand idiotic posts like the ones quoted..

Self awareness is not his strong point Always. It is also odd that he has a pop at positive people and leaves the bed wetters alone.

at least we went for it but i don't think that game tells us much as everton were soooooo bad - a good solid confidence builder which was refreshingly enjoyable to watch

 

aside from his cross for austins goal I thought bertrand had a pretty bad game - poor passing, slow decision making and failed to close down everton players on a number of occasions. PEH was superb, a more refined version of romeu with a broader range of passes.

 

we looked a bit ragged at the back sometimes and there was too much dithering about before we cleared our lines.

 

city will smash us on weds

Go back and watch a replay - Bertrand was superb all afternoon, and his link up play with Boufal was top shelf.

Go back and watch a replay - Bertrand was superb all afternoon, and his link up play with Boufal was top shelf.

Top shelf or top drawer? Different furniture, very different meaning

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Go back and watch a replay - Bertrand was superb all afternoon, and his link up play with Boufal was top shelf.

Bertrand had one of his best games of the season IMO. Set up the first goal with a beauty of a pass, as well.

good result for us! couldn't help feel a little sorry for spider, left us as one of the best in the league, now......not so much!

good result for us! couldn't help feel a little sorry for spider, left us as one of the best in the league, now......not so much!

He had stopped progressing before leaving us and his demise followed ...

??? We have played well, taken our chances, won comfortably, and people are pleased but they shouldn't be because we could have missed our chances and not won.

No the point is we didn't play better or much differently than we have in previous games the difference being we actually made the most of the chances created and scored.

I VEHEMENTLY disagree (with him, not you). We played and won well today, don't get why people can't just enjoy it.

who didn't enjoy it?

he was great when he left, and i think most of us were gutted about it!!

Phew! Easy win. Pressure off.

We were good pretty much everywhere, but gees Everton were terrible.

Too many fans focus solely on pace. You need a team that can hit on all phases, one is putting the f***in ball in the net. The "thread" here that Austin is too slow is fallacy. He has scored in 50% of the PL matches he's played, and he was our leading scorer last season before getting hurt. If you're too slow you can't do that. Playing a "pacey" striker who never scores because he is "pacey" is nuts. Austin gives the team something it desperately needs. The players know it and seem to perk up the attack, and I hope MoPe sees that. Austin and Gabbi are the only two PL scorers we have. I would still like to see a 4-4-2, or something else with two upfront, where they can both play.

For those as old as me - Austin = Ted MacDougall Enough said!!!

Give him the service and he will score. Well pleased (obviously) but why on earth just the one forward yet again at home?? Against a hopeless Everton attack at that? (fluck aside)

Very thin paper over very large cracks....

 

Dont know whether to applaud Charlie Austin for his goals or curse him for giving MoPe another months employment and bringing us even closer to relegation...

Are you honestly saying you wanted us to lose today??

Thank you, thank you. I said give PEH a chance and he delivered, but you know what, f*ck that, I'm just pleased for a Saints win. We march on! Xx

I never expected 4 goals! Enjoyed that performance but really enjoyed the two headed goals from Charlie

Self awareness is not his strong point Always. It is also odd that he has a pop at positive people and leaves the bed wetters alone.

Kettle and Pot. You rarely comment on the football but then you rarely make the effort to go!

Self awareness is not his strong point Always. It is also odd that he has a pop at positive people and leaves the bed wetters alone.

He was off his line with ball outside the penalty area, therefore poor positioning and that is why the ball went over his head. Another goal conceded from outside the penalty area. How many more?

Sorry mate absolute rubbish. It was an impossible shot to stop, much like LeTiss's goal against Blackburn all those years ago. Peoples obsession with having a go at Forster when we don't have a replacement is baffling.

good result for us! couldn't help feel a little sorry for spider, left us as one of the best in the league, now......not so much!

What a relief. The bigger club one, lol.

We will not get an easier game than this one . Acres of space in midfield to exploit and we still struggled for possession at times .

Its way too early to think Mopo has suddenly become a decent manager .

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Great result, just what we needed and plenty of goals to boot. Full credit to the management and players for finally delivering, it has been a long time coming.

Really chuffed for Austin, I posted last week that we need him and Gabbiadini on form to get us moving in the right direction. Regardless of the marking it's great to see him score those type of goals.

No the point is we didn't play better or much differently than we have in previous games the difference being we actually made the most of the chances created and scored.

We created virtually nothing in our previous game against Liverpool and had not a single attempt on target.

Other differences - moved the ball quicker, got the ball in the box quicker, Austin who will score given the service, Tadic playing centrally and closer to Austin, PEH, full backs getting forward more which was a major plus, and Everton (unlike so many other teams at SMS) trying to play rather than sit back and they weren't good enough to do it.

Typical that this is the first game I haven't been able to watch in a while! (managed to see the last 10 mins but think the game was done by that point, plus I passed out when Davis scored from the edge of the box).

I'm encouraged by the formation - although I think Boufal is more dangerous centrally, I'm pleased we put JWP out wide instead of Tadic. It sounds like we played quite well, but it's hard to know how much of the result was Everton playing badly. I just hope that Pellegrino picks the right positives from the game. One thing I'd say about the goals, is that they are two fantastic headers from Austin. If he isn't playing, those chances probably don't even fall to someone else, and even less chance of that player taking them. Instead we'd probably be lamenting a lack of good chances despite playing well. It's all very well saying Austin doesn't give you much in terms of an all round game, but it depends how the team go about things. I've seen plenty of games where Gabbiadini has done next to nothing, but mainly because we don't play in a way to get the best out of him.

Two questions from the game, focused on the key reasons why I have been critical and doubtful of Pellegrino's ability:

1) Did we attack with a bit more urgency than usual? I.e. get more men forward, move the ball a bit quicker?

2) Did we continue to lump balls into the box from distance, or did we get round the back of the defence more than we do normally?

People think PEH was man of the match? Seriously?

No way we would have won that match without Austin, nor cedric, not bertrand.

People think PEH was man of the match? Seriously?

Why? controlled the midfield and offered everything Davis doesn't in the deep lying role.

Without Romeu (who's been pretty average this year anyway) we could have easily been over ran and overpowered in the middle and without PEH we would have been. Outstanding performance.

Austin and Tadic very close behind, IMO.

Typical that this is the first game I haven't been able to watch in a while! (managed to see the last 10 mins but think the game was done by that point, plus I passed out when Davis scored from the edge of the box).

 

I'm encouraged by the formation - although I think Boufal is more dangerous centrally, I'm pleased we put JWP out wide instead of Tadic. It sounds like we played quite well, but it's hard to know how much of the result was Everton playing badly. I just hope that Pellegrino picks the right positives from the game. One thing I'd say about the goals, is that they are two fantastic headers from Austin. If he isn't playing, those chances probably don't even fall to someone else, and even less chance of that player taking them. Instead we'd probably be lamenting a lack of good chances despite playing well. It's all very well saying Austin doesn't give you much in terms of an all round game, but it depends how the team go about things. I've seen plenty of games where Gabbiadini has done next to nothing, but mainly because we don't play in a way to get the best out of him.

 

Two questions from the game, focused on the key reasons why I have been critical and doubtful of Pellegrino's ability:

 

1) Did we attack with a bit more urgency than usual? I.e. get more men forward, move the ball a bit quicker?

 

2) Did we continue to lump balls into the box from distance, or did we get round the back of the defence more than we do normally?

I'm finding it hard to read too much into the game given how utterly abject Everton were, but there were some notable differences in our approach for sure.

We moved the ball quicker, quick one time passes to get players in behind quicker. Everton afforded us the opportunity and space to do that, but we did try and play at a very high tempo I felt.

Very few lumped up balls, we had the ball on the deck and passed it around well for the majority of the game - however, this was also aided by Everton not getting close to us.

One of the key things I noticed was our full backs and how they pushed on much higher than I have seen for a while, tactically they seemed to have the assurance of either PEH or JWP dropping back in at full back to cover them. It was quite a well coached setup in that aspect. We played well, quickly and at a high tempo - Everton being as crap as they were helped, but at the end of the day you can only beat what's in front of you.

We will not get an easier game than this one . Acres of space in midfield to exploit and we still struggled for possession at times .

 

Its way too early to think Mopo has suddenly become a decent manager .

 

 

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Don't think anybody has said that on this thread. Relax and enjoy the win, you will have tons of opportunity to pour yet more scorn on him, I'm sure.

But for now - we won, enjoy.

Can't believe anyone blames Forster for the goal. It came off the underside of the crossbar bounced on the line and in off the post. Sig should never have been able to get the shot off.If we'd clear our lines quicker just before the ball went out of play we'd have been better set.Great goal by them .for once not one we can blame the keeper for.

I'm finding it hard to read too much into the game given how utterly abject Everton were, but there were some notable differences in our approach for sure.

 

We moved the ball quicker, quick one time passes to get players in behind quicker. Everton afforded us the opportunity and space to do that, but we did try and play at a very high tempo I felt.

 

Very few lumped up balls, we had the ball on the deck and passed it around well for the majority of the game - however, this was also aided by Everton not getting close to us.

 

One of the key things I noticed was our full backs and how they pushed on much higher than I have seen for a while, tactically they seemed to have the assurance of either PEH or JWP dropping back in at full back to cover them. It was quite a well coached setup in that aspect. We played well, quickly and at a high tempo - Everton being as crap as they were helped, but at the end of the day you can only beat what's in front of you.

Ok thanks for the summary, certainly sounds encouraging! Strange that it's taken so long to get to this point, but maybe there is light at the end of the tunnel after all.

People think PEH was man of the match? Seriously?

 

No way we would have won that match without Austin, nor cedric, not bertrand.

Were you even there? If so, then I would call into question your judgement. Certainly Austin, Cedric and Bertrand all had good games, but without the contribution made by Hojbjerg in midfield with his tackling, closing down, interceptions and passing, those other three players might not have made as much contribution to the end result as they did.

Yeah, PEH was awsome yesterday by the way. Best game he's had for us, he was the complete midfielder in there and set the tempo for the rest of the side. Very tidy player, have always liked him.

We will not get an easier game than this one . Acres of space in midfield to exploit and we still struggled for possession at times .

 

 

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This claim is simply not true, and I do not understand how you can even possibly suggest it might be. I've just watched the first half again, and it is clear that all the moaning on the match thread about us sitting back after scoring the opener was garbage. It didn't happen. We controlled the ball even more in fact.

And while their equaliser came from a defensive lapse, it was in no way a result of us ceding the initative to them.

Not once in the first 45 did they establish any sort of run of possession. When we coughed it up we got it back generally pretty quickly.

Yeah, PEH was awsome yesterday by the way. Best game he's had for us, he was the complete midfielder in there and set the tempo for the rest of the side. Very tidy player, have always liked him.

Ditto

This claim is simply not true, and I do not understand how you can even possibly suggest it might be. I've just watched the first half again, and it is clear that all the moaning on the match thread about us sitting back after scoring the opener was garbage. It didn't happen. We controlled the ball even more in fact.

 

And while their equaliser came from a defensive lapse, it was in no way a result of us ceding the initative to them.

 

Not once in the first 45 did they establish any sort of run of possession. When we coughed it up we got it back generally pretty quickly.

This is completely spot on but some have stupid agendas and have decided what they will post after the game before they`ve seen it and some

don`t even watch at all before spouting off.. very odd

Great result. Everton look a complete shambles.

 

Been a long time coming and first game I've enjoyed for ages

Agree Everton were abject - a performance as bad as Sunderland (8-0) and Aston Villa (6-1) I've seen in recent times. But we can only beat what's in front of us. Hoj was a revelation.

He was off his line with ball outside the penalty area, therefore poor positioning and that is why the ball went over his head. Another goal conceded from outside the penalty area. How many more?

Forster has had his mistakes but yesterday wasn't one of those days. The ball went over his head because of exactly that reason, it went way over his head. Out of interest, where do you hink he should have been standing? Just inside the far post hanging onto the bar with his fingertips I suppose.

We won convincingly and scored four goals. As Thatcher would have said, just rejoice at that news! Rejoice!

Bertrand had one of his best games of the season IMO. Set up the first goal with a beauty of a pass, as well.

I think Bertrand started to tail off in the last 15-20mins. Up to that point, brilliant, but the standard of his passing and the effort seemed to thin out a little bit. But then, complacency is a cruel mistress!

Were you even there? If so, then I would call into question your judgement. Certainly Austin, Cedric and Bertrand all had good games, but without the contribution made by Hojbjerg in midfield with his tackling, closing down, interceptions and passing, those other three players might not have made as much contribution to the end result as they did.

Spot on. Yesterday Højbjerg was the player we glimpsed when he first arrived in pre-season 2016. I find it impossible to criticise Romeu, after so many one-man midfield performances, but he has been a little off-form this season compared to last (perhaps he is a Samson-oppose and needs to cut his hair...). The one thing Højbjerg did less well than Romeu was to win the ball back immediately after losing it, although this action can often backfire on Romeu, resulting in a yellow card.

Is there any formation that would allow Romeu, Højbjerg and Lemina (who is clearly the most complete and exciting player of the three at present) to start together?

Spot on. Yesterday Højbjerg was the player we glimpsed when he first arrived in pre-season 2016. I find it impossible to criticise Romeu, after so many one-man midfield performances, but he has been a little off-form this season compared to last (perhaps he is a Samson-oppose and needs to cut his hair...). The one thing Højbjerg did less well than Romeu was to win the ball back immediately after losing it, although this action can often backfire on Romeu, resulting in a yellow card.

 

Is there any formation that would allow Romeu, Højbjerg and Lemina (who is clearly the most complete and exciting player of the three at present) to start together?

You'd have to drop Davis, a scenario many fans seem incapable of imagining.

People think PEH was man of the match? Seriously?

 

No way we would have won that match without Austin, nor cedric, not bertrand.

PEH provided the foundation that allowed the rest to happen.

Lol, so the dugout pioneers, having originally wanted Simeone and Silva, interviewed Big Sam today

Lol, so the dugout pioneers, having originally wanted Simeone and Silva, interviewed Big Sam today

Crazy that they haven't gone for Adkins really. Without a club, from Merseyside and a better manager, according to some.....

All jokes aside, sensible appointment. They're in a relegation battle and he will keep them up. Simeone was always a ridiculous suggestion.

Can't believe anyone blames Forster for the goal. It came off the underside of the crossbar bounced on the line and in off the post. Sig should never have been able to get the shot off.If we'd clear our lines quicker just before the ball went out of play we'd have been better set.Great goal by them .for once not one we can blame the keeper for.

So so SO much better all round by all 11 in the TEAM. TEAM I stress not 11 ego driven individuals, so bye bye Redmond, hope he learns from that. As with any win you need a bit of luck, like Dusans dodgy scuffed finish…and the build unto goal 3, but you earn that through hard work. Such a satisfying 24 hours now glowing in a haze of red wine

You'd have to drop Davis, a scenario many fans seem incapable of imagining.

Lol, so the dugout pioneers, having originally wanted Simeone and Silva, interviewed Big Sam today

Disappointing, as he'll keep them up. Unsworth's done a great job there.

Forster has had his mistakes but yesterday wasn't one of those days. The ball went over his head because of exactly that reason, it went way over his head. Out of interest, where do you hink he should have been standing? Just inside the far post hanging onto the bar with his fingertips I suppose.

 

We won convincingly and scored four goals. As Thatcher would have said, just rejoice at that news! Rejoice!

Charles Buchan's Football Monthly Goal Keeping Manuel Christmas edition:

Goalkeepers should not move off their line until the opposing player with the ball moves into the penalty area to strike. He then maximises his height and can move out to narrow the angle. He should always try to put himself in a position to move forward for the ball and never have to move or jump backwards.