Inter 1-0 Saints - Match Thread (Merged)

[VectisSaint]

JWP not wasteful at all last night

http://www.squawka.com/news/inter-vs-southampton/803838

 

How did he "not create a chance"? Maybe the author has a different idea of chance creation than me. Thought he also slotted into the Romeu position well when needed as well, most of our MFs now samlessly fill in on an as needed basis when Oriol gets forward, Hjojberg and Davis also do this very well. Still think his future is more defensively oriented than creative.

[supersonic]

I understand the fact we need to rotate with the number of games we have this season.

 

When you rotate it's always going to propel some players into contention to start, and some will end up forcing themselves out the door as they don't perform.

 

Austin is a fine example of the first, the games v Sparta really helped boost him and he's not looked back since. Unfortunately, players like Jrod seem to be the latter. I feel sorry for the bloke, nasty injury at a time when he was playing his best football. He's so far off the pace and lacking confidence it's unreal. I don't even think a loan deal will help him, I think we just need to cut our losses and get him off the wage bill sooner rather than later.

 

Midfield was decent, VVD cost us (again) but overall we looked fairly solid. It's the final third that's the problem. I'd like to see Olumola (sp?) given a run out from the bench on Wednesday to see what he can offer, as it can't be any less than what Long and Jrod currently do.

[Saints foreva]

I understand the fact we need to rotate with the number of games we have this season.

 

When you rotate it's always going to propel some players into contention to start, and some will end up forcing themselves out the door as they don't perform.

 

Austin is a fine example of the first, the games v Sparta really helped boost him and he's not looked back since. Unfortunately, players like Jrod seem to be the latter. I feel sorry for the bloke, nasty injury at a time when he was playing his best football. He's so far off the pace and lacking confidence it's unreal. I don't even think a loan deal will help him, I think we just need to cut our losses and get him off the wage bill sooner rather than later.

 

Midfield was decent, VVD cost us (again) but overall we looked fairly solid. It's the final third that's the problem. I'd like to see Olumola (sp?) given a run out from the bench on Wednesday to see what he can offer, as it can't be any less than what Long and Jrod currently do.

 

Easier said than done, he's on a fair wedge and has a pretty long contract.

[John Boy Saint]

What was the overall attendance? Can't see a figure on ssn or bbc? Interested to know what proportion of the crowd was Saints fans.

Mate text me while the game was on "you lot are a third of the gate"!! "Impressive and shameful from the Italians at the same time"

[Micky]

Are you a fan of Jeremy Vine by any chance?

Sorry, well over me I'm afraid.

 

Sent from my Hudl 2 using Tapatalk

[sandwichsaint]

Internazionale still have some ferclucking good players in their team, with the likes of Perisic just sitting on the bench. They obviously have quality, just haven't got into gear at all this season.

 

For us to dominate as we did, with 7000 loud and proud fans, and only sheer bad luck costing us a draw or win, leaves a warm feeling in my heart. As another poster put it, to paraphrase; "If I had chicken for dinner, we'd have won". It really was that close. A gnats scrote away from all three points at the San Siro. It could be worse!

 

Work on our finishing and we're sorted.

 

I actually did have chicken for dinner and we lost, where does that leave me? Just back, fantastico doesn't come close. Lovely city, very chillled, not sure where the horror stories on here came from? Would definitely go back, acoustics from their end (and ours) were awesome, would love to see a game there in front of a full house.

 

 

JWP and Romeou our pick on the day, nothing wrong with the selection, if Jrod/JWP/Long score in the first half we win that game. Maybe naive of us to keep driving forwards at 0-0, hindsight's a wonderful thing but it got very scrappy after they scored; 1-0 to the Italy and they knew enough/did enough to keep their noses (just) in front.

 

Hopefully we will spank them in the return but it won't be easy, free-flowing football that lacks the killer touch v niggly get-the-job done football. 'Patience' is our friend, win 1-0 and we will have one foot in the next round....

[Deano6]

Disappointed at not beating Inter Milan away. This is how far we have come.

 

Nutshell

[saintwbu]

I understand the fact we need to rotate with the number of games we have this season.

 

When you rotate it's always going to propel some players into contention to start, and some will end up forcing themselves out the door as they don't perform.

 

Austin is a fine example of the first, the games v Sparta really helped boost him and he's not looked back since. Unfortunately, players like Jrod seem to be the latter. I feel sorry for the bloke, nasty injury at a time when he was playing his best football. He's so far off the pace and lacking confidence it's unreal. I don't even think a loan deal will help him, I think we just need to cut our losses and get him off the wage bill sooner rather than later.

 

Midfield was decent, VVD cost us (again) but overall we looked fairly solid. It's the final third that's the problem. I'd like to see Olumola (sp?) given a run out from the bench on Wednesday to see what he can offer, as it can't be any less than what Long and Jrod currently do.

 

I hope people remember quotes like this when they bemoan a player wanting to leave the club - loyalty should work both ways

[John Boy Saint]

Still baffling how we lost that.

Great stadium, shame the locals had little interest.

Think young Pierre needs a bit more regular game time, as it just wasn't working as he wished, Tadic a pain in the backside with his powder puff passing, then mass waving of hands at everyone else on the pitch when everyone else is defending the attack from his short changed pass (yes he is very good and equally he can be very bad).

Just one of those games overall, that said ref was a total homer Trash a Saints player nothing, breathe on an inter player from 10 feet: foul!??! World championship time wasting masterclass from Inter........... If they could still get away with it they would have had the hordes of photographers just behind the goal line with no film in their cameras but an endless supply of flash bulbs.

Was it just our positioning high up in the stand or did that pitch look a bit bigger than most.

Despite the result a very memorable trip, 7000 Saints fans was impressive, for someone who's first live game as a nipper was v Notts County in 1978 to stand in that stadium watching my team was great........... Bit different to Walsall at the Bescot on a Wednesday night.

We flew into Geneva and drove to Milan through the Alps via the Mont Blanc Tunnel, the scenery was stunning (coming home the other way via the Simplon Pass similar) as we drove down the mountains me and my mate, having been here and there following Saints, just said to each other the drive to an away game at home is going to be bloody dull after this feast for our eyes.

[sammysaint]

Tbf to Jay he was millimetres from scoring a few times and had the ball in the net once too.

 

This.

 

He was not as bad as people are making out or as bad as Redmond or Long is at finishing.

 

Jay Rod I feel is getting back to full fitness now, if he can come off the bench tomorrow for 15-20 and play the 90 on Wednesday vs Sunderland without any injury issues I think we will all see him get back to his former self and score at least 12-15 in all comps ( has 2 already), he is the best finisher we have at the club.

 

Having Jay Rod, Austin, Long, Boufal, Redmond and Tadic on rotation with 3-4 of them starting is great depth to have.

[SaltashSaint]

Well, after an amazing four days in Milan, I am now back in Hampshire with a sense of 'did that really happen?. The build-up to matchday was an incredible experience. Saints fans everywhere, with the majority having a great time whilst representing themselves and the club admirably. Many beers were drunk and many songs were sung, and the anticipation of playing Inter Milan in the San Siro (yes, really, Inter Milan in the San Siro) was building by the hour. On arrival at the ground, it really was a case of having to pinch yourself. The San Siro is an amazing sight which takes your breath away. But, for me, it was a symbol of just how far we have come as a club in recent years. The fans did themselves proud throughout the game and did they all could to help the team record what would have been an historic victory. But, alas, it wasn't to be. However, I sit here now at my laptop immensely proud of my club, my fellow supporters and everyone else connected to Southampton FC. Let's not see this trip to Milan as a defeat, but more of an indication of the progress we have made, and as inspiration for future success in Europe.

[Badger]

This.

 

He was not as bad as people are making out or as bad as Redmond or Long is at finishing.

 

Jay Rod I feel is getting back to full fitness now, if he can come off the bench tomorrow for 15-20 and play the 90 on Wednesday vs Sunderland without any injury issues I think we will all see him get back to his former self and score at least 12-15 in all comps ( has 2 already), he is the best finisher we have at the club.

 

Having Jay Rod, Austin, Long, Boufal, Redmond and Tadic on rotation with 3-4 of them starting is great depth to have.

 

Not sure how you draw that conclusion about him. Even at his peak, 2013-14 before his injury , he aways seemed to need about four chances before one came off for him.

 

Plenty of attacking options, but Austin is the only real goalscorer amongst them (Boufal may of course prove otherwise).

[Golden Balls]

 

The sort of quote the skates would cling to for a decade.

We really have come a long long way.

[Sheaf Saint]

5 years ago today.

What a superb away trip that was. Disappointing result but we gave them a good game.

I was slightly late arriving and only got there just before kick off. I will never forget the feeling of walking up towards one of the most iconic sports stadiums in the world and hearing OWTS booming out from inside it.

[John Boy Saint]

A mate we went with tagged me in a memory on Facebook, when it popped up on the iPad I had a look - I was greeted with "memories from this day". Just looking at my posts the over riding thought was "What a fantastic away day" - and our superb road trip from Geneva and back just added lustre to it all.

Yes it would have been nice to have won - but anyone who was there (and not stupidly drunk to have obliterated recall) must hold it up there as one of best away days ever - just for the sheer adventure 

[Saint Garrett]

Yeah, what a fantastic trip. I think the majority of us fully well knew it was not going to happen again for a long time....

That side...

 Forster 6; Martina 6.5, Yoshida 6, Van Dijk 6, McQueen 6.5; Hojbjerg 6, Romeu 6.5, Ward-Prowse 6.5; Tadic 6 (Boufal 73 6); Rodriguez 6.5 (Davis 78), Long 6 (Austin 48 6.5).

Not the strongest...can't remember who else we had that season but Cedric, Bertrand and Fonte were missing, can't remember whether that's because we were playing the "squad game" or whether it was just our strongest team at the time? (Fonte I know had gone "awol" and left out of european games run)

 

[HnycS]

7 hours ago, Saint Garrett said:

Yeah, what a fantastic trip. I think the majority of us fully well knew it was not going to happen again for a long time....

That side...

 Forster 6; Martina 6.5, Yoshida 6, Van Dijk 6, McQueen 6.5; Hojbjerg 6, Romeu 6.5, Ward-Prowse 6.5; Tadic 6 (Boufal 73 6); Rodriguez 6.5 (Davis 78), Long 6 (Austin 48 6.5).

Not the strongest...can't remember who else we had that season but Cedric, Bertrand and Fonte were missing, can't remember whether that's because we were playing the "squad game" or whether it was just our strongest team at the time? (Fonte I know had gone "awol" and left out of european games run)

 

Interesting I guess a few went on to play some more European games, guess Van Dijk the most, closely followed by Tadic, then Davis and Forster a little while on loan?

[Whitey Grandad]

Why didn’t Fonte feature in any of the games?

[Lighthouse]

5 hours ago, Whitey Grandad said:

Why didn’t Fonte feature in any of the games?

Because he was 33 and we needed to balance the games with everyone else and rotate the squad.

[benjii]

I flew out to Italy... the next day on a holiday booked before the fixtures were out. Ball sacks!

I did go to Prague and to Israel though.

Both performances were diabolical. But still a good laugh.

[Hatch]

It still makes me chuckle,  the number of people ,  getting more and more drunk on the 'non alcoholic' beer they were selling inside the stadium.

 

[Whitey Grandad]

7 hours ago, Lighthouse said:

Because he was 33 and we needed to balance the games with everyone else and rotate the squad.

Even if it meant not qualifying for the next stages?

[JRM]

11 hours ago, benjii said:

I flew out to Italy... the next day on a holiday booked before the fixtures were out. Ball sacks!

I did go to Prague and to Israel though.

Both performances were diabolical. But still a good laugh.

Thousands of miles travelled without a goal scored, classic Puel. 

People like to be reminiscent about Milan but for me Hapeol Beersheeva away was the best trip, set a record for furthest ever distance for a competitive Saints fixture , doubt that will be beaten unless the Premier league start playing league games in America and Asia. 

[The Cat]

2 hours ago, JRM said:

Thousands of miles travelled without a goal scored, classic Puel. 

People like to be reminiscent about Milan but for me Hapeol Beersheeva away was the best trip, set a record for furthest ever distance for a competitive Saints fixture , doubt that will be beaten unless the Premier league start playing league games in America and Asia. 

Still annoyed I didn't go to that but could only afford 2 and Prague and Milan were the easier options.

Think I enjoyed Prague most out of all the European trips although Arnhem was interesting in the square before the game.

[bpsaint]

On 21/10/2021 at 06:29, Lighthouse said:

Because he was 33 and we needed to balance the games with everyone else and rotate the squad.

 Not sure it was that at all - genuinely thought the fact that he didn’t feature in any of the European games whatsoever was some sort of punishment from higher up for him wanting to leave that summer whilst his stock was so high post Euros.

This quote from Alpine was pretty nail on the head though 

"We have blown this bigtime

 

Puel was an awful choice and Uncle Les lost the plot this summer"

 

Its nice watching that highlights video further up the thread, don’t remember it being such a one sided match. Can’t say I remember much of the game at all after that day by the canal to be fair.

[John Boy Saint]

On 22/10/2021 at 23:06, bpsaint said:

 Not sure it was that at all - genuinely thought the fact that he didn’t feature in any of the European games whatsoever was some sort of punishment from higher up for him wanting to leave that summer whilst his stock was so high post Euros.

This quote from Alpine was pretty nail on the head though 

"We have blown this bigtime

 

Puel was an awful choice and Uncle Les lost the plot this summer"

 

Its nice watching that highlights video further up the thread, don’t remember it being such a one sided match. Can’t say I remember much of the game at all after that day by the canal to be fair.

I thought it was with his stock supposedly high - we were considering him being off Jan so why lessen the ticket price with him European cup tied.

[OttawaSaint]

And Heisenberg pretending he went but getting rumbled when someone spotted that his photos were stolen from a hotel website. Good times...

[Football Special]

Puel Out 

[RedArmy]

Ah yes the season we scored 0 goals away in Europe because the league was more important. 
 

A real missed opportunity to not get a once in a lifetime win in the San Siro. Even if by some miracle we get back there before they knock it down, we’ll never play an inter or AC team as average as that. 

[Turkish]

5 minutes ago, RedArmy said:

Ah yes the season we scored 0 goals away in Europe because the league was more important. 
 

A real missed opportunity to not get a once in a lifetime win in the San Siro. Even if by some miracle we get back there before they knock it down, we’ll never play an inter or AC team as average as that. 

We dominated the game and missed about 5 good chances. Not winning wasn't anything to do with prioritising the league. 

[Colinjb]

A brilliant away day.

And sad in reflection, I went with two people. One was a season ticket holder who sat by us. The other was my Dad.

Both of those gentlemen have passed away now. Mark was the season ticket holder, really nice guy who was claimed by cancer a few years ago. Dad left us just over six months ago.

I'm cherishing the experience and the memories. It was an adventure, it was more then just football.

 

[Noodles34]

great stadium, absolutely rubbish city

 

[trousers]

My son and I did it as a day trip... Flew out from Bournemouth at c.5am and got back c.1am.... same time as the team plane arrived back... Best day trip ever!

 

[Colinjb]

@trousers Did bloody well to get back by 1am.

We just about managed to get back to our digs in Lambrate by 11. Was annoyed as we had found a great sports bar the night before and we had promised to call back in. The landlord, a Sicilian, had us trying Cazu Marzu. So, friendly. 

Never did get back. But that was one of the best nights.

Edited 3 hours ago by Colinjb

[Appy]

Great trip, crap city. 
 

Such a shame we didn’t manage to get through or even score a goal. 
 

Felt like Puel was fighting a losing battle with most fans as soon as we got knocked out. 

[franniesTache]

On 21/10/2021 at 18:30, JRM said:

Thousands of miles travelled without a goal scored, classic Puel. 

People like to be reminiscent about Milan but for me Hapeol Beersheeva away was the best trip, set a record for furthest ever distance for a competitive Saints fixture , doubt that will be beaten unless the Premier league start playing league games in America and Asia. 

Be'er Sheeva was hands down the best away of that lot, i did them all over both seasons and Be'er Sheeva was a proper adventure. Think i was only out of england for 78 hours in total for that one but it was worth every second. Also Be'er Sheeva is hands down the loudest football ground i've ever been to, and the customs looking totally fucking baffled as to why a bunch of lads from a city he'd never heard of had turned up to watch a game 20miles from Gaza was hilarious.

5 hours ago, Noodles34 said:

great stadium, absolutely rubbish city

 

Probably didn't help that we didn't exactly make friends with the locals by one of our grouping bring up italian knife crime 🤣 The canals pre game were class though and the van trying to re-stock the bars and just getting robbed blind was superb.

Can't help but think those woods back after Prague could've been properly sketchy if we'd won too, surrounded by robocops outside who all just disappeared as you enter the woods ffs 

[TheAlehouseBrawlers]

52 minutes ago, franniesTache said:

Can't help but think those woods back after Prague could've been properly sketchy if we'd won too, surrounded by robocops outside who all just disappeared as you enter the woods ffs 

We had similar in Limerick (81 I think), height of the Bobby Sands protests so they were never happy with all the Union flags on display. They refused to play the National Anthem before as they should customarily do so we gave a full-throated rendition.

After, we came out of the ground the OB penned us against the wall of the ground, moments later a big mob came piling out of the estate opposite and the OB just melted away. We had some decent lads there who started giving it back which coincided with the local constabulary’s reappearance and nipped a potential dodgy situation in the bud. Good trip though.

 

[John Boy Saint]

My Facebook memories was full of posts from our “Road trip” Geneva to Milan 10 years ago - still remains to be a memorable trip. 
I often recall it to mates supporting other teams having made it to Europe just trying to encourage them to go away at least once. Other footie friend are envious that we made the trip to Milan and Prague - I guess the magic is that we haven’t gotten to do it every year 

[CB Fry]

Got conned into buying the non alcoholic beer in the stands. Dreadful. 

 

[bpsaint]

21 minutes ago, CB Fry said:

Got conned into buying the non alcoholic beer in the stands. Dreadful. 

 

Same, fucking 9 euro a pint if I remember rightly. Wankers.

[whelk]

Remember drinking a bar dry by the canal as they were selling the 660ml Moretti for piss all. Great trip and definitely one ticked off the bucket list

[suewhistle]

Stayed with a friend in Torino the night before to take advantage of cheaper flights, then train over and a hotel in Milan and a free meal in a Swedish restaurant from another friend. After the game ended up at the Birrificio Lambrate (I think), a brew pub where a Saints fan I know by sight - possibly called Tubby (he was) had done his research well, and the bar was crowded with us. Some Russian drunk on the bus was going on about how great Putin was, although he looked like the desperate conscript type to me, so may no longer agree. But it was that sort of night. Public transport strike in the morning but luckily still managed to get my flight home. 

1 hour ago, CB Fry said:

Got conned into buying the non alcoholic beer in the stands. Dreadful. 

 

Were you one of the nippers who acted as if they were tipsy?