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Saints 3 - Arsenal 2 - I should start threads more often


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What a difference a manager makes.

 

The same team that I (we all) berated a couple of weeks ago were suddenly FIRST to every ball, got stuck in at challenges, weren't fouling so much (out of frustration) and putting in a huge amount of effort. The style of play was so different and I was gripped from start to finish - haven't felt like that in ages. I'll even forgive the nerves of the last 5 minutes as it was good to feel that again.

 

Valery is going to be an excellent player and unless Soares suddenly improves as well, he could be hard to displace from the team.

 

Bednarek was excellent, I am still confused as to why he was over-looked before, but whatever, fair play to him for doing a great job.

 

Well done Saints, brilliant!

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Early ball - goal, early ball - goal, early ball - goal. Ralph has certainly cut out the tippy-tappy in cul-de-sacs that hasn't created anything in two years.

 

Bednarek excellent, Yoshi much improved (accounting for a better Vestergaard), and Valeri defended really well along 50 yard corridor. He's going to be tough to leave out for Cedric.

 

With a bit more luck Yoshi could have scored ten in the past three years.

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Win, lose or draw that was much better. A clear identity again. Managed to nick the game and who could say we didn’t deserve it.

 

Hard to pick a motm as a great shift from the lot of them, but ings provided a couple of great goals and makes such a difference when he plays.

 

A couple of dodgy moments & 2 poor goals again, but something to build on and more importantly DID NOT IMPLODE.

 

Huge result, players will be buzzing this week & hopefully display same qualities vs hudders. Mooy a massive miss for them

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Great energy from all the lads, kept their heads up after being pegged back twice. Vest was immense today and put the Cardiff shocker well behind him. Long and Chas put in a shift, pleased Chas got the winner, and called the team over at the end for the celebratory huddle. Redmond looked like the player we all hoped he could be, hope his injury not too serious. Targett much improved with good ball delivery. Romeu did Ok despite getting caught for their 2nd equalizer, he will improve I'm sure. We did lose possesion at times and need to move the ball quicker in congested areas, so lots to work on but we finally got a result. Maybe this is the catalyst for a Saints revival..?

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Every Saints player played well today. Very impressed by Vestergaard who still had confidence after his error last week. Ings excellent. Target and Long's crosses for the goals were superb. We suddenly have team spirit. Looking forward to MOTD as I have no idea how our second goal was not saved. No replays in the stadium today.

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Rome was terrible though.

 

Well it wasn't built in a day you know.

OR wasn't terrible, he made one awful mistake which could have cot us, but otherwise was very good.

Targett was good today, but 2 absolute howlers we got away with. Valery did well, but sometimes he looks like he is miles away, I think he will be good once he becomes more confident.

Redmond was excellent today, why has he not ever played like that before, partly I suspect because Ralph gave him the freedom to roam, and especially so on the right.

Most disappointing performance today was Armstrong, looked ineffective, gave the ball away, did very little (and I'm a fan of his). Also ran out of legs.

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The better team won. Their two goals came from defensive errors from us, (one of them from a wicked deflection), ours came from good open attacking play. We had several shots on target that required their keeper to gather them in. McCarthy hardly had anything to do. We were winning the 50/50 midfield battles because we wanted it more.

 

It was exactly the way to play Arsenal, to get in their faces, deprive them of the space to pick out the passes, close them down in their own half. They have a team full of World class players, but they aren't allowed to show their skills if they don't have the space to dictate play. It was something rare at St Mary's not only as a home win, but also a very entertaining game of football. We can be proud of our team today, because all of them gave their all for the cause. It is far too early to be over optimistic about our new manager and what he can do for us, but at least it looks like a statement of intent, a glimpse of what we might possibly have to look forward to.

 

Ralph Hasenhuttl, thank you for coming here to manage us. It was a dangerous step in your career, a real challenge taking us over following our decline over the past couple of managers. But if you enhance your reputation here sufficiently to warrant one of the best jobs in World football, we will logically be considerably improved ourselves as a result. It seems that your positive attitude might already have rubbed off on some of our players and it is clear that some were out of favour with Hughes and relish the chance to impress you. Also good to see the few minutes cameo of Tyreke Johnson. It nicely highlighted Ralph's ethos of introducing talented youth players into the team. It would meant a lot to the lad and given him a real boost.

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ok Romeu made a mistake on the second goal but how many blocks interceptions and breaking up play did he do.

This is a guy who was destroyed under Hughes considering hiw little he has played give him a break.

Vestergaard was excellent to recover from last weeks howler shows good management too.

Chuffed tonight.

 

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

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Also good to see the few minutes cameo of Tyreke Johnson. It nicely highlighted Ralph's ethos of introducing talented youth players into the team. It would meant a lot to the lad and given him a real boost.

 

Also he presumably wanted to keep a bit of pace and energy as an outlet just in case, rather than sticking ward-prowse or davis on to stodge us up defensively. Don't think any of our past three (probably four) managers would've made that choice if they'd a chance to stick on a 'seasoned pro'.

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His interview on Sky Sports afterwards was a breath of fresh air. I know interviews aren't everything but he really comes across as the kind of guy you would want to play for. Great stuff on and off the pitch.

 

https://www.skysports.com/watch/video/sports/football/11583255/hasenhuttl-hails-unbelievable-moment

 

Check out the interviewers comments about Charlie Austin, Ralph looked a bit perplexed.

 

 

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Every Saints player played well today. Very impressed by Vestergaard who still had confidence after his error last week. Ings excellent. Target and Long's crosses for the goals were superb. We suddenly have team spirit. Looking forward to MOTD as I have no idea how our second goal was not saved. No replays in the stadium today.

 

Redmond's cross not good?

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His interview on Sky Sports afterwards was a breath of fresh air. I know interviews aren't everything but he really comes across as the kind of guy you would want to play for. Great stuff on and off the pitch.

 

https://www.skysports.com/watch/video/sports/football/11583255/hasenhuttl-hails-unbelievable-moment

 

Really good stuff. He loved Ings workrate, beyond the goals said he was doing a lot out there. Brought Long on for pace, hoping Arsenal was getting a little tired, and like Austin's spirit and finishing. I think he has a pretty good hold on our players capabilities, which is really quick since he's only been here a short time.

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So, only watched about 10 mins of the game. How were we? Or just lucky?

 

Fought for every inch. Worked the ball into the box early very well. Clinical with our chances. Tad shaky at the back at times but very hard to criticise the performance today.

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So, only watched about 10 mins of the game. How were we? Or just lucky?

 

You missed the best Saints performance since Koeman left, basically.

 

We played with intensity, commitment and confidence.

 

Looked to play the ball forward quickly instead of the sideways passing we have become accustomed to in recent times.

 

Didn't retreat into our own half after taking the lead and never let heads drop after conceding.

 

It was a very entertaining game, and the crowd seemed really up for it. The atmosphere sounded a world away from what it has been like.

 

We weren't lucky - quite the opposite. Arsenal's second goal came from a fluke deflection leaving McCarthy with no chance. But we still persevered and won anyway.

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