Swansea 0-0 SAINTS // Post-Match Reaction

[Saint Without a Halo]

If we beat WBA and Wigan lose their game in hand I will let myself believe we are safe.

 

We are 300 more times likely to finish 10th or higher than 18th or lower! Relax

[Charlie Wayman]

One of the easiest scoreline predictions of the season with two teams playing similar style football at about the same tempo. Not sure what went wrong today 'though as we never offered a goal threat all afternoon.

[Cabrone]

Decent point and almost there now.

 

One more win will absolutely put it to bed.

 

Looks like a real scrap between Villa and Wigan and looking at their fixtures I can see it going right down to their game on the last weekend.

[Willo]

And Villa have to play United and Chelsea. While Wigan have Spurs, City, and Arsenal.

 

We're not going down.

 

would agree with every single comment and score...

[Glasgow_Saint]

[Willo]

Kraken's player ratings:

 

Boruc: 8. Largely untroubled but superb when needed. Distribution pretty good (though seemed to kick long a bit more often than usual).

Clyne: 7. Good defensive display, got forward well but once again failed to pick the right pass when getting in really good positions.

Fox: 5. Torrid first 20 minutes but got a grip and sorted himself out. Failed to support the play going forwards though, Shaw must come back in next week surely.

Yoshida: 6. Comfortable enough but never really got the idea the defence was fully calm at times.

Hooiveld: 6. As above, lucky that Boruc bailed him out with a great save.

Schneiderlin: 7. Typically good battling display.

Cork: 8.5 MOTM. Second week in a row I've given him MOTM, he was absolutely superb today. If he could just add goals to his game....

Davis: 7. Good display, has definitely added a settling effect to the midfield, especially away from home. Feel like he has improved throughout the season.

Lallana: 5. Poor; a few nice touches but didn't do much at all.

Rodriguez: 7. Good running from JRod without too many chances for him. Has he got quicker? Aboslutely rapid at times.

Lambert: 5. Not at the races today.

 

Ramirez: 5. Pretty poor really, gave it away too much and didn't have an impact coming on.

Puncheon: 5. Looked rusty, also gave it away a bit and didn't offer much going forward.

Mayuka: 6. Looked lively, could have got himself a goal. Would be good if he could turn out to be a genuine sub option up front.

 

would agree with every single comment and score...

[View From The Top]

All I'll add having just arrived home from Wales is that he'd have lost that under Adkins IMHO.

[Dr. Kucho]

Pleased with a point, Swansea looked dangerous everytime they went forward, though we also had some good chances.

 

Once we are mathematically safe, I think we should start resting some first team players and playing some youngsters, Rickie, Morgan and Shaw are starting to look tired.

 

Looking forward to the West Brom game, we should win that one.

[mcjwills]

Well, we're 3 points closer to safety after todays results. One more point and worst case safety has gone down from 47 points to 45.

 

Wigan 31 points - beat Spurs, WBA, Swans, Arsenal - 15 points - 44 points

Villa 34 points - beat Chelsea, Utd, Sunderland - 12 points - 44 points

Wigan and Villa Draw

Norwich 38 points - beat Villa, West Brom, City - 12 points - 47 points

Stoke 37 points - beat Saints, Spurs, QPR, Norwich - 12 points - 46 points

Sunderland 37 points - beat Spurs, Saints, Stoke - 12 points - 46 points

 

Cannot really see spurs losing 3 games as they are chasing europe and have Bale back

[LostBoys]

Just got back edgy performance we dominated at times and then so did Swansea. I thought Lallana was **** poor followed by Ramirez. We need one more win as it looks as though Wigan's luck is running out

[Tamesaint]

Once we are mathematically safe, I think we should start resting some first team players and playing some youngsters, Rickie, Morgan and Shaw are starting to look tired.

 

 

But Shaw is a youngster!!

 

And he has looked pretty sharp in the half time kick abouts during the last 2 matches- which is the only time we have seen him as he has been rested.

[stknowle]

But Shaw is a youngster!!

 

And he has looked pretty sharp in the half time kick abouts during the last 2 matches- which is the only time we have seen him as he has been rested.

 

You spotted his mistake and poured ridicule all over it!!

[BlakeySFC]

Here's my assessment of the game:

 

For the first 25 minutes we played absolute dog-shi*e in my opinion. Swansea pressed us back and we looked nervous, shakey and vulnerable in defense.

 

I honestly thought Swansea would've taken the lead within this period of play but they didn't luckily. Around the 25/30 minute mark something changed (not very good at recognising a tactics/formation change so can't exactly say what for sure) but it looked to me as if the Swansea players got an order to sit back a bit more or they were too knackered pressing non-stop for that 20 minutes.

 

Nevertheless we got back into the game and had a good amount of possession (albeit without any clear-cut chances) to see out the first half.

 

We started the 2nd half much like we finished the first but without any teeth up-front once again. Around the 60/65 minute mark we took our foot off the pedal a bit and let Swansea back into it, during this 20/25 minute spell they attacked us hard, conceding 3 corners and resulting in Yoshida having to make a last-ditch clearance off the line from Dyer and Boruc having to make a few key saves on Ki and Routledge towards the 80th minute.

 

After the 80th it was all us again and we could've scored through our only real chance of the game when Mayuka got clear in the box and took a shot off, but Vorm saved comfortably.

 

A draw is a great result as Swansea probably should've won it to be brutally honest.

 

A great game of football to watch, with the two teams attacking each other throughout and trying to get a winner, not content with getting just a point.

Edited 20 April, 2013 by BlakeySFC

[corky morris]

Don't think we played particularly well today, but winning a point is excellent.

A couple of things, we need to leave someone up for opposition corners, we need some pace, Rickie should have let Fox take the free kick on the right hand side of the box in the first half, Fox did well after a poor first 15 minutes, Rickie looked really slow, if Swansea had a decent striker they would have won, great save from Boruc.

[Tamesaint]

You spotted his mistake and poured ridicule all over it!!

 

Whoops . Sorry Dr Kucho.

[pingwing]

A great game of football to watch, with the two teams attacking each other throughout and trying to get a winner, not content with getting just a point.

 

This! Summed up with whats wrong with most teams in England and what's so good about watching us (and as it seems keeping an eye on Swansea).

 

Shame we didn't find a winner but at the same time reassuring we didn't throw away a good point.

[Dalek2003]

Just got back edgy performance we dominated at times and then so did Swansea. I thought Lallana was **** poor followed by Ramirez. We need one more win as it looks as though Wigan's luck is running out

 

Yep, one more win should do it. However, there are a fair few who are so complacent, they think we are safe as it is !

[Colinjb]

Yep, one more win should do it. However, there are a fair few who are so complacent, they think we are safe as it is !

 

Trolling is as trolling does.

 

You are never right, just accept it, grab a cold one and breathe.

Edited 20 April, 2013 by Colinjb

[mcjwills]

One of the easiest scoreline predictions of the season with two teams playing similar style football at about the same tempo. Not sure what went wrong today 'though as we never offered a goal threat all afternoon.

 

Except the disallowed one that went in !!!

[shurlock]

Just got back - in many respects, our performance was quite disappointing and there's a lot to think about as we plan over the summer.

 

Today was the first game under MP that Lambert truly failed to get in the game. And without his ability to hold the ball further up the pitch, our other creative players struggled. Lallana was particularly disappointing - he provided no real penetration from deeper positions and was a bystander when he should have been supporting our most dangerous attacking player, ironically Clyne.

 

Clyne's threat showed that we're missing genuine width -not just another inside forward, a Lallana, Ramirez or even Jrod who likes to drift inside. Punch ticks some of the boxes, not least because of his understanding with Clyne, though his play is quite sideways. Given MP has opted for discipline and structure, playing Davis in a position that would suit Ramirez and Lallana in a more expansive set-up, it seems that we can't accommodate everyone and our options are pretty samey.

 

Thought our midfield fought brilliantly today, typified by Cork's battling run in the first half which was my highlight of the game. Both CBs played well. Fox had a tough opening but, otherwise, had an excellent game given most of their play went down our left, they had plenty of 2-on-1 situations and Fox was given very little protection. If there is a criticism of Fox on today's showing, its that he offered nothing going forward. We missed Shaw's pace, power and ability to stretch a game.

 

Don't remember us testing the keeper other than Lambert's free-kick, a Cork effort in the first half and Mayuka at the death. Do wish we gambled more and take a shot on- Lambert passed up a number of good opportunities at the start of the second half. Interestingly our first team no longer practices long-range shooting in the warm-up.

 

Anyway, a point is a point and a decent result all things considered. Swansea, coming off a two week break, were really eyeing up this game as they have Man City, Utd and Chelsea in quick succession. As someone else has said, I dont think we would have got anything from under NA. The commitment to pressing, even when it wasn't firing on all cylinders, is ultimately what helped us stem the tide after a pretty shaky opening and take some of the pressure off the defence. Had we sat back and not been more aggressive, it would have been a long, old afternoon.

Edited 20 April, 2013 by shurlock

[pingwing]

Watching MOTD really not convinced Lallana caught Vorm.

 

At the time I felt the keeper needed protection and seeing the replays I don't see enough contact for Vorm to drop it. Feel a little robbed sadly.

[Colinjb]

Alan Shearer: "Vorm just drops it."

[pingwing]

Didn't realise the linesman flagged for handball! Least Shearer and co call it right and get 30 seconds of bumming potchettino in

[Nigel=God-Poyet=Sod]

Was never a foul at the time when I saw it and it is definitely not now I've seen it again. Maybe we wouldn't have held on to win the game but that was a valid goal. Linesmen just stick their noses in when they are not needed.

[anothersaintinsouthsea]

Never a foul, lino was obviously bored and wanted to get involved in the game.

[Graffito]

Couldn't see anything wrong with Lallana's goal.

[austsaint]

Here's my assessment of the game:

 

For the first 25 minutes we played absolute dog-shi*e in my opinion. Swansea pressed us back and we looked nervous, shakey and vulnerable in defense.

 

I honestly thought Swansea would've taken the lead within this period of play but they didn't luckily. Around the 25/30 minute mark something changed (not very good at recognising a tactics/formation change so can't exactly say what for sure) but it looked to me as if the Swansea players got an order to sit back a bit more or they were too knackered pressing non-stop for that 20 minutes.

 

Nevertheless we got back into the game and had a good amount of possession (albeit without any clear-cut chances) to see out the first half.

 

We started the 2nd half much like we finished the first but without any teeth up-front once again. Around the 60/65 minute mark we took our foot off the pedal a bit and let Swansea back into it, during this 20/25 minute spell they attacked us hard, conceding 3 corners and resulting in Yoshida having to make a last-ditch clearance off the line from Dyer and Boruc having to make a few key saves on Ki and Routledge towards the 80th minute.

 

After the 80th it was all us again and we could've scored through our only real chance of the game when Mayuka got clear in the box and took a shot off, but Vorm saved comfortably.

 

A draw is a great result as Swansea probably should've won it to be brutally honest.

 

A great game of football to watch, with the two teams attacking each other throughout and trying to get a winner, not content with getting just a point.

 

Thanks for the summing up - just one thing, if we are talking about the same Mayuka effort on goal, it seemed to be cleared off the line by a defender at the near post rather than the GK. I think there is more to come from Mayuka.

[for_heaven's_Saint]

Thanks for the summing up - just one thing, if we are talking about the same Mayuka effort on goal, it seemed to be cleared off the line by a defender at the near post rather than the GK. I think there is more to come from Mayuka.

 

No I think Vorm saved it with his foot.

 

Agree with the comment above about lacking width. Clyne was getting some joy out if attacking down the wing but we didn't do it enough. I was hoping Puncheon would play wide when he came on but he was fairly central.

[Viking Warrior]

We are Southampton fans we love to ave a moan .

I was worried about thus game but a point is a good point

[AussieDog]

One of the easiest scoreline predictions of the season with two teams playing similar style football at about the same tempo. Not sure what went wrong today 'though as we never offered a goal threat all afternoon.

 

Apart from Lambert's free kick. And Cork's shot. And Lallana's "goal". And Mayuka's shot at the death. I think Rodriguez might have had an effort saved too. Apart from that you're right.

[Saint Fan CaM]

Good point - Lallana's goal looked fine to my eyes. Think the teams kinda cancelled each other out. Ramirez was not looking very great. Nice to see Mayuka beat Guly to the bench and subs appearance.

[St Jim]

Would have taken a draw before the game but it was frustrating to watch at times.

 

Have to say was surprisingly impressed with Swansea, never really gave them credit before but they looked a very good outfit, just missing a final ball.

 

Thought the midfield 3 were excellent barring the opening 220 mins, particularly Davis, seemed to be everywhere. Boruc played well and Fox did surprising well to recover from the opening 20 mins where Dryer tore him to peices.

Edited 21 April, 2013 by St Jim

[SaintBobby]

Cannot really see spurs losing 3 games as they are chasing europe and have Bale back

 

It wouldn't matter if thye lost 3 games, as long as they lost the 4th game to us too.

[SaintBobby]

Yep, one more win should do it. However, there are a fair few who are so complacent, they think we are safe as it is !

 

Why would we want one more win. With 39 points, we are already in danger of screwing up the yo-yo "strategy".

 

Surely, such a strategy now needs us to start scoring own goals with alacrity. Starting next week v WBA.

[Reynoldson!!]

No I think Vorm saved it with his foot.

 

Yep, 100% it was Vorm.

 

Just wanted to say I though Davis was awesome. Watching on the tellymachine here in Oz, he seemed to he everywhere! He is just so good at holding onto the ball as well, always finds space for himself.

[david in sweden]

One of the easiest scoreline predictions of the season with two teams playing similar style football at about the same tempo.

Not sure what went wrong today 'though as we never offered a goal threat all afternoon.

 

match commentator I listened to suggested that RL had been sick......or was carrying a small injury, and went off as a precaution.....best not to push our luck.

[Tamesaint]

Just got back - in many respects, our performance was quite disappointing and there's a lot to think about as we plan over the summer.

 

Today was the first game under MP that Lambert truly failed to get in the game. And without his ability to hold the ball further up the pitch, our other creative players struggled. Lallana was particularly disappointing - he provided no real penetration from deeper positions and was a bystander when he should have been supporting our most dangerous attacking player, ironically Clyne.

 

Clyne's threat showed that we're missing genuine width -not just another inside forward, a Lallana, Ramirez or even Jrod who likes to drift inside. Punch ticks some of the boxes, not least because of his understanding with Clyne, though his play is quite sideways. Given MP has opted for discipline and structure, playing Davis in a position that would suit Ramirez and Lallana in a more expansive set-up, it seems that we can't accommodate everyone and our options are pretty samey.

 

Thought our midfield fought brilliantly today, typified by Cork's battling run in the first half which was my highlight of the game. Both CBs played well. Fox had a tough opening but, otherwise, had an excellent game given most of their play went down our left, they had plenty of 2-on-1 situations and Fox was given very little protection. If there is a criticism of Fox on today's showing, its that he offered nothing going forward. We missed Shaw's pace, power and ability to stretch a game.

 

Don't remember us testing the keeper other than Lambert's free-kick, a Cork effort in the first half and Mayuka at the death. Do wish we gambled more and take a shot on- Lambert passed up a number of good opportunities at the start of the second half. Interestingly our first team no longer practices long-range shooting in the warm-up.

 

Anyway, a point is a point and a decent result all things considered. Swansea, coming off a two week break, were really eyeing up this game as they have Man City, Utd and Chelsea in quick succession. As someone else has said, I dont think we would have got anything from under NA. The commitment to pressing, even when it wasn't firing on all cylinders, is ultimately what helped us stem the tide after a pretty shaky opening and take some of the pressure off the defence. Had we sat back and not been more aggressive, it would have been a long, old afternoon.

 

Some interesting points.

 

I think that Swansea's half time substitution of Routledge stopped Clyne attacking so much in the second half. Within the first 3 minutes of the second half Routledge almost created a goal. From then onwards Clyne had to keep an eye on him rather than attack as much as he had done in the first half.

[View From The Top]

Looking back on the game this morning I must say I was very impressed with Swansea. Excellent football and lovely to watch.

 

Our central 3 will never have a tougher game than that but it just goes to show how fit they are that they kept up their work rate for 90mins.

 

Whilst we had chances, & Lallana's goal should obviously should have stood, Michu missed an absolute sitter of a header so honours even, to me, was the correct result.

 

According to my nipper SD was MOTM and it was the loudest away ground he's been to this season.

[Griffo]

Starting to wonder what's happened to our support. Silent for huge periods today. Me and a few others were singing on our own it seemed most of the time. Why do half our support travel all that way to want to sit/stand there in silence? We also have other songs than OWTS. It seems some people need to remember this when trying to start it 28 times during a game.

[red&white56]

Just looked at the stats on the BBC and there were no cards - was the ref lenient or did both teams manage to play their games without the need for more aggressive tackling?

[red&white56]

Starting to wonder what's happened to our support. Silent for huge periods today.

 

Is this linked to the fact that we sold out our allocation to season tickets holders - I love to join in the singing, wanted to go but couldn't get a ticket? Perhaps too many fans ticking off the ground rather than wanting to vocally support the Saints?

[VectisSaint]

Good point - Lallana's goal looked fine to my eyes. Think the teams kinda cancelled each other out. Ramirez was not looking very great. Nice to see Mayuka beat Guly to the bench and subs appearance.

Good to see someone having an ill informed pop at Guly. Mayuka and Guly were on bench last week and Guly was ill yesterday so not available.

[Wes Tender]

A couple of posters mention that in their opinion this is a game that we would have lost under Adkins. And yet I'm not utterly convinced that Pochettino's tactics were spot on and the impression I gained was that Laudrup had employed the better tactics. For a team under Pochettino which has gained a reputation for the high pressing game, that wasn't much in evidence during the first twenty minutes, except from Swansea. Most of their attacks were down their right wing, probably exploiting our weaker flank with Fox at LB and utilising the pace of Dyer, who ought to have got them a goal or two had his finishing been better. Results against the good passing teams have given an indication that our high pressing game is effective, whereas the hoofers and those who park the proverbial bus in front of their goal are much harder to break down. So because Swansea play decent passing football, why were we so ineffective against them and what became of our high pressing game?

 

I also harbour a niggling doubt about Pochettino's reputation for the hard regime of fitness preparation. It has become clear that the seemingly bizarre substitution of Lambert so early in the match was because he had taken a knock, but that he had been below par these past couple of weeks fitness wise. Also that Lallana had trouble shaking off a groin strain. I just have a sneaking suspicion that Adkins with his background as a physiopherapist might have gone a bit easier with players carrying injuries and that the current fitness regime could be detrimental to some players' recovery. Just an opinion.

 

As for anything else, I wonder why Fox gets the nod over Shaw? Isn't Shaw fully fit? Surely if he was, he would have been the much better option against the pace of Dyer? And I also have the feeling that there is no room in the team for playing Lallana and Ramirez together either.

[Dig Dig]

A couple of posters mention that in their opinion this is a game that we would have lost under Adkins. And yet I'm not utterly convinced that Pochettino's tactics were spot on and the impression I gained was that Laudrup had employed the better tactics. For a team under Pochettino which has gained a reputation for the high pressing game, that wasn't much in evidence during the first twenty minutes, except from Swansea. Most of their attacks were down their right wing, probably exploiting our weaker flank with Fox at LB and utilising the pace of Dyer, who ought to have got them a goal or two had his finishing been better. Results against the good passing teams have given an indication that our high pressing game is effective, whereas the hoofers and those who park the proverbial bus in front of their goal are much harder to break down. So because Swansea play decent passing football, why were we so ineffective against them and what became of our high pressing game?

 

I also harbour a niggling doubt about Pochettino's reputation for the hard regime of fitness preparation. It has become clear that the seemingly bizarre substitution of Lambert so early in the match was because he had taken a knock, but that he had been below par these past couple of weeks fitness wise. Also that Lallana had trouble shaking off a groin strain. I just have a sneaking suspicion that Adkins with his background as a physiopherapist might have gone a bit easier with players carrying injuries and that the current fitness regime could be detrimental to some players' recovery. Just an opinion.

 

As for anything else, I wonder why Fox gets the nod over Shaw? Isn't Shaw fully fit? Surely if he was, he would have been the much better option against the pace of Dyer? And I also have the feeling that there is no room in the team for playing Lallana and Ramirez together either.

 

Nice bit of Poch bashing. Especially like the made up bit about fitness and injuries. As if you would have even the slghtest clue about how we manage training when players have a knock. Subbing Lambert, resting Shaw and not starting Rodriguez last week kind of shows that he'll manage a players fitness mostly the same as anyone else, physio degree or not.

[Roger]

Nice bit of Poch bashing. Especially like the made up bit about fitness and injuries. As if you would have even the slghtest clue about how we manage training when players have a knock. Subbing Lambert, resting Shaw and not starting Rodriguez last week kind of shows that he'll manage a players fitness mostly the same as anyone else, physio degree or not.

 

We've had loads of horrid viruses about the club the last two weeks and lambert is suffering from that. Same with shaw and j rod!

[ART]

As for anything else, I wonder why Fox gets the nod over Shaw? Isn't Shaw fully fit? Surely if he was, he would have been the much better option against the pace of Dyer? And I also have the feeling that there is no room in the team for playing Lallana and Ramirez together either.

 

Think this must be a leading question for most fans. Could be that the club want to sell fox and are putting him in the shop window in order to get a better price or maybe we're about to cash in on Shaw and Pochettino wants to see if Fox can cut the mustard or we need to spend to replace him too. Selling Shaw would be a disaster and send out all the wrong signals to other Academy players who we hope to develop long term.

[ART]

We've had loads of horrid viruses about the club the last two weeks and lambert is suffering from that. Same with shaw and j rod!

Playing Swansea at this time wasn't the best moment, what with the measles epidemic. It's those of the age of the players who are most viable due to that generation not being vaccinated.

[Dig Dig]

We've had loads of horrid viruses about the club the last two weeks and lambert is suffering from that. Same with shaw and j rod!

 

Wes has been harbouring a pro-Adkins, anti-Pochettino agenda from day one. As with most agendas, trying to interpretate a situation to best fit your agenda just makes people sound ridiculous in the most part.

[Turkish]

Would have taken a draw before the game but it was frustrating to watch at times.

 

Have to say was surprisingly impressed with Swansea, never really gave them credit before but they looked a very good outfit, just missing a final ball.

 

Thought the midfield 3 were excellent barring the opening 220 mins, particularly Davis, seemed to be everywhere. Boruc played well and Fox did surprising well to recover from the opening 20 mins where Dryer tore him to peices.

 

Wy on earth not? They're a decent side, play good football and have done it all without spending a fortune and maintained it despite having lost their manager.

[Turkish]

We've had loads of horrid viruses about the club the last two weeks and lambert is suffering from that. Same with shaw and j rod!

 

That'll explain Lamberts poor performance for the last few weeks.