Sour Mash Posted 27 February, 2016 Share Posted 27 February, 2016 Oh and we allowed ourselves to be well and truly Costa'd in the middle of the 2nd half. Annoying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SonicBoom Posted 27 February, 2016 Share Posted 27 February, 2016 That's not the Chelsea view that's the analytical view without trying to be biased. They dominated that game. We may well have contained them but we couldn't do it over ninety minutes. You cant blame Pelle. He might have played better but there are still nine or ten players behind him. Sometimes you are beaten by a better team. Today that's what happened. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sour Mash Posted 27 February, 2016 Share Posted 27 February, 2016 A lot of us were called "bullies" a few weeks ago for bemoaning the fact Pelle had been bought back into the fold, but **** me I'd like to see anyone try to defend that short but costly display from him today. I don't think anyone called you 'bullies', weird phrase to use in that context. Pellè was poor today, very good at the start of the season. Not a difficult difference to understand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doddisalegend Posted 27 February, 2016 Share Posted 27 February, 2016 @OptaJoe: 128 - Cesc Fabregas made 128 passes against Southampton, the most of any player in a Premier League game this season. Busy. Gave them so much space. It got worse as the game went on losing Long (replacing him with Pelle) and having Davis, Clasie and Bertrand on yellows made pressing them pretty difficult. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wes Tender Posted 27 February, 2016 Share Posted 27 February, 2016 We were the better side in the first half and deserved our lead. The defence looked solid and Chelsea were closed down effectively and forced to shoot from distance, more often than not finding row Q in the process. We held on until the 75th minute and the change came about because Chelsea indulged in cheating tactics to disrupt our flow and therefore our concentration. The main cheating c*nt was Dago Costa, who showed really bad gamesmanship chasing down the ball kicked back to Forster when we kicked it out to gain attention to our injured player. That riled V.V-D and the temperature of the game rose significantly, favouring the Chelsea players who dived all over the pitch to try and gain possession and impetus.Sometimes it is a shame that our players are often too honest, as a bit of gamesmanship in return by way of diving and rolling in fake agony after being brushed by Dago Costa might have ended in him getting the red card that he deserved. The match turned also when Long came limping off and I think Koeman arrived at the wrong decision putting on Pelle instead of Mane. Pelle really was very poor and I wish that he would just cut out the poncey flicks, which gave away possession twice in quick succession. Mane was lively when he came on, but he was hampered partnering Pelle instead of Austin when he was substituted. I had thought that Atkinson had previously been a decent referee, but his performance today was very poor and a couple of decisions he took upon himself against the lino and vice-versa. The first yellow card he gave against us was for an innocuous foul, whereas there followed a very similar one from Chelsea very soon after which didn't even warrant a free kick. Essentially, we had commanded the midfield the first half and closed down their players, whereas in the second half, probably missing Long's energy, we seemed to sit off them, allowing them more freedom to come ever closer to our box and it became almost inevitable that players of the quality of theirs would be able to produce a goal. Why is that we always lose momentum after a two week break? Thank God we have two other matches within a week and if we can get wins from Bournemouth and Sunderland, we can be back in the groove once more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
striker Posted 27 February, 2016 Share Posted 27 February, 2016 austin and mane then, surely anyway, RK reaction to the defeat.... We played well in 1st half. we defended well 2nd half we had problems keeping the ball we still defended well we dropped too much back Their 1st was unlucky for us it was a cross not a shot Linesman flagged for something, i think it was a foul on cedric but the ref disagreed we still dropped further back we started to not keep the ball up top which did not allow defence to get up dunno if was a penalty on austin. could not see it really we have to wait on long, he has a hamstring problems, we will know more tomorrow long is working well, on form and a dangerous player at the mo scored a fantastic goal Austin was working well, made it difficult for chelsea but 2nd half we defended too deep nice for fraser to get the record we were well organised mostly today. we dropped too much, we have to press better and keep the ball better than we did in the 2nd half Absolutely agree with RK on this one: "long is working well, on form and a dangerous player at the mo scored a fantastic goal Austin was working well, made it difficult for chelsea" The two worked very well together and kept Chelsea under pressure. Once Pelle came on all attacking stopped and put too much pressure on the D. Long played really well and Austin was a threat (his runs kept the pressure on). I think they compliment each other very well. The difference with Pelle, and then Mane, was very noticeable. If Long can't go please play Mane, not Pelle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sour Mash Posted 27 February, 2016 Share Posted 27 February, 2016 Thank you for the Chelsea view. They have good players, but we were containing them. Sent from my D6503 using Tapatalk Pellè was poor, but he didn't cost us the game, we'd been having the same problem whole 2nd half - we were clearing the ball and it was coming straight back at us. Mane wasn't much better. We should have taken off Targett, who I thought was poor, and brought on jwp, extra body in midfield to help with ball retention. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derry Posted 27 February, 2016 Share Posted 27 February, 2016 The five at the back allowed us to defend but light in midfield. Clasie and Romeu were great but Davis didn't help them one iota when we needed a more combative player rather than a player that neither tackled or was dynamic enough to get up quickly to help the two strikers. Consequently we were over run. I'd like to see Wanyama play with Romeu and Clasie and go back to 4-3-3 etc with Mane alongside Austin and Long. Pelle was a disgrace for an international. Back heels and flicks without a target were the easy option just giving the ball away time and time again. Mane should have come on for Long and JWP for Davis. Pelle plays like a traffic cone, his lack of movement has got worse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
northam soul Posted 27 February, 2016 Share Posted 27 February, 2016 I maybe alone in this but we are far too negative in the way we set up. Chelsea won because they have the better players but we are in danger of boring everyone to death. It's great that we haven't conceded for ages but we are relying on that rather than any intent to go at teams, how much have we created lately. I do expect a little entertainment and excitement watching saints but there is little of that at the moment. Maybe we can't have that and expect to stay in this league but we have completely abandoned our so called attacking philosophy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bpsaint Posted 27 February, 2016 Share Posted 27 February, 2016 I don't think anyone called you 'bullies', weird phrase to use in that context. Pellè was poor today, very good at the start of the season. Not a difficult difference to understand. http://www.saintsweb.co.uk/showthread.php?56032-Swansea-vs-Saints-Build-Up/page4#.VtHuPEXfXCQ see post #167 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sour Mash Posted 27 February, 2016 Share Posted 27 February, 2016 I maybe alone in this but we are far too negative in the way we set up. Chelsea won because they have the better players but we are in danger of boring everyone to death. It's great that we haven't conceded for ages but we are relying on that rather than any intent to go at teams, how much have we created lately. I do expect a little entertainment and excitement watching saints but there is little of that at the moment. Maybe we can't have that and expect to stay in this league but we have completely abandoned our so called attacking philosophy. How does that fit with the first half hour of today's game. I'd have changed things up early 2nd half, but our set up has worked very well for us the last few months. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonnyboy Posted 27 February, 2016 Share Posted 27 February, 2016 I can type about 40+ wpm Missed your calling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sour Mash Posted 27 February, 2016 Share Posted 27 February, 2016 http://www.saintsweb.co.uk/showthread.php?56032-Swansea-vs-Saints-Build-Up/page4#.VtHuPEXfXCQ see post #167 One post? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bpsaint Posted 27 February, 2016 Share Posted 27 February, 2016 One post? Yeah and? You said nobody called us bullies, that link states otherwise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sour Mash Posted 27 February, 2016 Share Posted 27 February, 2016 Yeah and? You said nobody called us bullies, that link states otherwise. Don't let it upset you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simo Posted 27 February, 2016 Share Posted 27 February, 2016 Everything about us apart from Clasie and Long was slow and sluggish , Even first half there were plenty of opportunities to play the quick pass or a quick throw in but we dwelled on the ball or took the safe options ! Always the same after we have a break between games Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saint_clark Posted 27 February, 2016 Share Posted 27 February, 2016 From the moment Fabregas played Costa through when they should have given the ball back, it was like a switch had been flicked with the Chelsea players and they were cheating as much as possible. First thing that happened after that was Costa went down screaming and flinging himself everywhere, with the rest of the players surrounding the ref and getting him to produce a yellow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Portugalsaint Posted 27 February, 2016 Share Posted 27 February, 2016 Chelsea deserved it lets be honest. I disagree. Ivanovich, Costa and William all over the ref if something THEY thought they should have. This should be a bookable offence. We were denied a penalty (I was up the other end so some may disagree). Their ball went out then they scored, it was definitely out and over the line. The ref and liner let this go. The liner over by us in the Itchen had a crap game and so did the ref. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DT Posted 27 February, 2016 Share Posted 27 February, 2016 Very quiet stadium today I thought. Bad sub by Ron cost us but our tactic of keeping it tight and then countering fails a bit against teams with their passing ability. Willian even better in the flesh than on tv. Shame he rolls around and is as pathetic as the rest of their lot when it comes to play acting. Don't get me started on Costa. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doddisalegend Posted 27 February, 2016 Share Posted 27 February, 2016 Pellè was poor, but he didn't cost us the game, we'd been having the same problem whole 2nd half - we were clearing the ball and it was coming straight back at us. Mane wasn't much better. We should have taken off Targett, who I thought was poor, and brought on jwp, extra body in midfield to help with ball retention. Woeful with the ball to day just kept giving back to Chelsea every time he got it in a defensive area. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DT Posted 27 February, 2016 Share Posted 27 February, 2016 Yes Targett just tended to hoof it anywhere when under pressure. Very impressed with Cedric again though. And of course van Dijk. Majestic. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saint Charlie Posted 27 February, 2016 Share Posted 27 February, 2016 And of course van Dijk. Majestic. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Apart from when he lost Ivanovic at the crucial moment. Unfortunately. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DT Posted 27 February, 2016 Share Posted 27 February, 2016 True. Good point well made Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david in sweden Posted 27 February, 2016 Share Posted 27 February, 2016 with the referee discussion going on in another thread... ..it could be said that another referee might have booked Ivanovic a couple of times in the first half for his ongoing battle with Long.... ......so why do we have assistant referees run the line, if "the man in the middle" simply ignores them? These days they have radio communication, too. Why ignore the decision of someone only 3 yards away?. First half ....we looked better than Chelsea despite their possession stats. with Shane Long giving his " typical Shane Long " display. we lost a lot when he went off, and became toothless after Charlie Austin's departure...for all the good Pelle and Mane did ..we might as well have played with 9 men. Clasie and Romeu looked good in the first half....so did Cedric and Matt Targett. Nice that FF got his record, but what came afterwards was rubbish in comparison. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DT Posted 27 February, 2016 Share Posted 27 February, 2016 Surprised the ref didn't swap shirts with one of their players at the end. Looked starstruck all game Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommy Mulgrew Posted 27 February, 2016 Share Posted 27 February, 2016 Romeu MoM; Classy v good. Davis (except for one covering tackle in our pen area), Targett and Pelle contributed little. FF could have saved both goals. Ultimately beaten by a better team but we gave them too much space just outside our pen area. But they are a bunch of cheaters. Mane and JWP should have been on earlier and Pelle not at all. Let's hope for wins against Bournemouth and Sunderland. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saints foreva Posted 27 February, 2016 Share Posted 27 February, 2016 Just seen the goals, Forster should do a lot better with that first imo, too slow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saint Charlie Posted 27 February, 2016 Share Posted 27 February, 2016 True. Good point well made Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk More of a shame because he was majestic for most of the game! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ericb Posted 27 February, 2016 Share Posted 27 February, 2016 On my way home so here's my thoughts not having seen the highlights. Good game in general, Chelsea are close to getting back to the level they should be at but we're better than I've sometimes given us credit for too. Costa is dirty, cheating and niggling, but also turned the game in Chelsea's favour today through his own sheer will. A sign of a truly world class player. First half we were the better side, second half Chelsea upped a gear and tore us a new one. Three acts of cheating - rolling around on the floor, diving and ignoring us putting the ball out of play - ended up with us throwing it away. Either due to yellow cards for our central midfielders or winding up our most composed centre back to make mistakes. It wasn't a penalty, but was a very, very good tackle (I may be proved wrong on this). Long is currently our most important player and bringing on Pelle to replace him was a huge mistake. Clasie could be a great signing and my early worries have been proven wrong. Still, onwards and upwards. We're not a bad side and lost to a better one, it happens in football. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ADutchSaint Posted 27 February, 2016 Share Posted 27 February, 2016 Apart from when he lost Ivanovic at the crucial moment. Unfortunately. **** happens, he hesitated. Makes one little step backwards and gets beat. Good ball in tho from William, ill give them that. Shame for Virgil tho, had a pretty damn good game again with good passes forward and interceptions but its kinda the same what happened with Forster, had great games, breaks a record and then such a stupid ball goes in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saints foreva Posted 27 February, 2016 Share Posted 27 February, 2016 Clasie could be a great signing and my early worries have been proven wrong. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk With you on this one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
70's Mike Posted 27 February, 2016 Share Posted 27 February, 2016 slightly disappointed but then again i would have taken 3 points from last seasons champions at the beginning of the season only worry is bring Pelle on, we look so much better with mobile forwards makes it so much easier for rest of team when under pressure, once Pelle and Mane were on the movement stopped Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cabrone Posted 27 February, 2016 Share Posted 27 February, 2016 TBH if you'd have offered me at the start of the season 3 points from our games against Chelsea I'd have taken it. Shame about today but I'm not entirely surprised, they are in a false position and will climb the table. Need to get our focus back and kick start another run starting with Bournemouth (a). Still all to play for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dalek2003 Posted 27 February, 2016 Share Posted 27 February, 2016 The difference between wining and losing is often a very thin dividing line. We have been on the right side over recent weeks, today we were on the wrong side. A draw would have been a great result, but we just lost against a Chelsea side that are much better than their league position would suggest. If we bounce back and win or draw against Bournemouth, we can go on another little run. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sad saints fan Posted 27 February, 2016 Share Posted 27 February, 2016 I am very disappointed with all the very reasonable comments on here . Best team won .Bring on Bournemouth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leicestersaint Posted 27 February, 2016 Share Posted 27 February, 2016 I thought Davis looked slow and out-of-sorts today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vince Posted 27 February, 2016 Share Posted 27 February, 2016 The five at the back allowed us to defend but light in midfield. Clasie and Romeu were great but Davis didn't help them one iota when we needed a more combative player rather than a player that neither tackled or was dynamic enough to get up quickly to help the two strikers. Consequently we were over run. I'd like to see Wanyama play with Romeu and Clasie and go back to 4-3-3 etc with Mane alongside Austin and Long. Pelle was a disgrace for an international. Back heels and flicks without a target were the easy option just giving the ball away time and time again. Mane should have come on for Long and JWP for Davis. Pelle plays like a traffic cone, his lack of movement has got worse. The relatively early booking (19mins) for Davis didn't help in that respect I thought, and once Clasie got one (65min) I thought we'd struggle in the middle. Still, the next two are winnable and may go a long way to determine if the season peters out with a wimper or not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hasper57saint Posted 27 February, 2016 Share Posted 27 February, 2016 Just got back after our 400 miles round trip. So disappointed.We didn't lose this match.Atkinson made sure of that. OK Chelski passed the ball around but Atkinson made sure we wouldn't win. Pelle appears to have lost it.Four back flicks and every one to a Chelsea player.Charlie Austin deliberately pushed over in the penalty box and play continued.Lino vigorously waves flag which Ref ignores.Inconsistency is the norm with these Refs these days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sour Mash Posted 27 February, 2016 Share Posted 27 February, 2016 Woeful with the ball to day just kept giving back to Chelsea every time he got it in a defensive area. The thing is, he's only playing as he has to for our 5 at the back to work. No-way is he near to being one of our best XI players. If we'd been planning on playing 5 at the back from the start of the season, we should maybe have invested in a proper first choice for that position, but lots of ifs, buts and maybes there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S-Clarke Posted 27 February, 2016 Share Posted 27 February, 2016 The thing is, he's only playing as he has to for our 5 at the back to work. No-way is he near to being one of our best XI players. If we'd been planning on playing 5 at the back from the start of the season, we should maybe have invested in a proper first choice for that position, but lots of ifs, buts and maybes there. Bertrand is probably the best fit for that position - without question. But we don't have a third centre half who is reliable enough to play every week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sour Mash Posted 27 February, 2016 Share Posted 27 February, 2016 Very quiet stadium today I thought. Few decent loud moments, but petty we couldn't get the same as the West Ham game going, similar backs to the wall effort from the side would have been appropriate. Still amazes me how many people leave early, but that's been done to death many times before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sour Mash Posted 27 February, 2016 Share Posted 27 February, 2016 Bertrand is probably the best fit for that position - without question. But we don't have a third centre half who is reliable enough to play every week. Yep, fair shout. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shurlock Posted 27 February, 2016 Share Posted 27 February, 2016 Other than an eye-catching track back and tackle in the first half, thought Clasie was pretty anonymous and struggled to impose himself on the game. Easily overshadowed by Romeu in CM. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leo_ARG Posted 27 February, 2016 Share Posted 27 February, 2016 A draw would have been fair. There were some flaws but VVD, Fonte and Bertrand were great again. Forster didn't have a lot to do. The defensive shape was great. And the idea of forcing them to shoot from the outside was the right one. One goal was a mental mistake, not playing until the whistle and the other one was a set piece. But there were some waknesses. When you play 5 3 2 the key is to have the WBs to attack constantly and get decent crosses in. Cedric managed to do the the former, and Targett failed to do both, and to make things worse he was also in poor position. He was getting too narrow, allowing too many crosses. Also gave away the ball far too cheaply. The other key is to have pace up front if one of those 3 at the middle isn't a natural playmaker, so you can play the long ball from the back often. So I wonder why does Koeman keep going back with Pelle. It clearly doesen't work. He doesen't win enough headers and everybody knows he is too slow. Mane should have replaced Long. The next two games are against lesser teams, will Koeman keep trying to win every game 1-nil or maybe show a little more ambition? I want to see Tadic and Mane back in the lineup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sour Mash Posted 27 February, 2016 Share Posted 27 February, 2016 Just watching the game back now on Sky, 100% that was a penalty, Cahill on Austin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Batman Posted 27 February, 2016 Share Posted 27 February, 2016 Other than an eye-catching track back and tackle in the first half, thought Clasie was pretty anonymous and struggled to impose himself on the game. Easily overshadowed by Romeu in CM. I thought he and rom were very good but is that my rose tinted specs on. Their opposite number had the most passes per game this season Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yorkshire Saint Posted 27 February, 2016 Share Posted 27 February, 2016 Watching sky re run. I'm not sure how we lost this. A lot of the criticism on here seems unfair my only comment was we did not utilise Cedric enough on the right hand side in the second half. Personally 100% not a penalty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corky morris Posted 27 February, 2016 Share Posted 27 February, 2016 Just back in. You could see we had gone too deep in the second half & we kept giving the ball away. Ref was inconsistent all the way through. Same last week. We seem to get yellow cards that other teams don't. Kennedy kicked out at Cedric before their first goal. Free kick, clear as day. Pelle was poor. Long is the best nuisance in the PL. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tractor_Saint Posted 27 February, 2016 Share Posted 27 February, 2016 So, the referee: a) overruled his linesman from 30 yards away when the linesman gave a goalkick to Chelsea but ref said it was a corner (wasn't going to argue) b) called an offside from 20 yards away when his linesman didn't raise the flag c) waved play on when Classie was fouled and the linesman called the foul. Chelsea broke and scored. These refs need to be held to account. Well, there was definitely a huge count in the shape of Costa on their side. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Batman Posted 27 February, 2016 Share Posted 27 February, 2016 refs have been mostly shyte this season. this was just another Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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