Saints 1-0 Liverpool — Reaction

[adrian lord]

2 minutes ago, Totton Saint said:

So much for all the folks saying we had a week bench -eat your hats. weldoe the young lads

Indeed. They came on and turned the Liverpool tide back, and nearly added to our goal. 

[redder freak]

Just seen the Ings goal. What a brilliant chip to win the game. Priceless.

[Manuel]

Usual suspects excellent as usual.

Diallo now looks completely settled.  Actually quite liked Valery on the right, was a decent change to make.  Tella and N'Lundudu didn't look out of place.

Fantastic result and, from me, completely unexpected.

[bpsaint]

Minutes silence on Merseyside tonight, their unbeaten run is at an end 🤣🤣

Christ that reminded me of City at home last season, and to an extent that “famous Anfield night” we had under Puel. Massive result and Ralph was basically all of us at the final whistle.

Feared the worst when Yan came on thinking back to that Newcastle game but his arrival turned the game back to  a more even contest for the last 15.

If only we could have got the results against the Arse and Fulham we really should have...still what a fantastic start to the season, and what a shame we’re not there to see it.

 

[Shroppie]

18 minutes ago, badgerx16 said:

How's this for starters;

3 fucking clear pens not given. Not one. Not two. Three! Red card for Walcott not even given as a foul. Conceding from a free kick that wasn’t a foul. Yellow cards given to us like sweets and nothing for them. Absolutely corrupt bullshit from this c*nt of a ref.

They've got a glimpse of how most teams feel against them most weeks

[igsey]

23 minutes ago, hackedoff said:

What a stress fest that was. Off to RAWK for a laugh.

Jesus they are not a fan of the referee. I didn't think I was being biased when I said he had a good game but apparently it was the worst refereeing performance of all time!

[Totton Saint]

So much for all the folks saying we had a week bench -eat your hats. well done the young lads

[Saint Matty 76]

Been a bit of a tough time for Valery but maybe that's not a bad idea moving forwards. He can't defend but I think he's showed plenty of glimpses of being strong dribbling with the ball (Chelsea H?) so maybe we'll see a few more minutes of him at RW.

[VictiAbNonem]

"other teams will get a penalty for it" J.Klopp is a proper comedian.

[trousers]

Klopp saying he doesn't understand why they didn't get two penalties...

[LGTL]

Where on earth did that come from! Diallo was fantastic and Ings is world class. Something lovely to cheer us up in this shit time. 

[Sheaf Saint]

Of course Klopp is complaining about the non penalty decisions.

Of course he is. 🙄

[Chez]

Terrific. Really pleased with the amount of composure we showed on the ball. It was backs against the wall in the second half, and we chucked everything in front of crosses and shot, but when the opportunity arose we put our foot on the ball and did our very best to keep it rather than hoof down the channels. KWP especially shows absolutely n fear on the ball. I thought he was outstanding. Brilliant effort from all players. Perfect timing for the FA cup game to help give one or two a rest, possibly.

[Lighthouse]

Made some good gains on Everton, Leicester, West Ham and Leeds in the battle to win the ‘trendy’ league this season.

[trousers]

2 minutes ago, Totton Saint said:

So much for all the folks saying we had a week bench -eat your hats. well done the young lads

Relatively, it was a weak bench on paper 

[Mikey88]

1. I think Klopp was pretty fair there to be honest. Whilst the penalties were not clear cut, there is a debate to be had about them. He praised our performance and the teams mentality. Said he respects Ralph in a sperate interview as well. Don't know what else we would expect him to say.

[davefizzy14]

What an amazing performance from us tonight.

Wonder goal from Ings who is a special special player. Diallo was ridiculousy good, him and Prowsey ran the midfield. At the back - Jack and KWP were outstanding along with Jan and Ryan. Fraser was very assured and pleased that he got a clean sheet  Tactically Ralph got it spot on with the subs - Tella, N'Lundulu and Valery who was unlucky with that late effort, all put a shift in. Hope Moussa is ok as I thought that he was starting to grow into the game.

Everyone worked their socks off and to top it all off Ralph's celebration at the final whistle was a joy to see - so proud of our club

Edited 4 January, 2021 by davefizzy14

[Saint_clark]

Fuck me, sky sports are micro analysing the penalty that wasn't saying what could of happened to make it a penalty 😂

[redder freak]

You can thank me for captaining Salah in my FF team. Masterstroke.

[Charlie Wayman]

Good result even if a bit lucky. Diallo looks decent. Ref fair. 

[de-Griz]

I had a squeaky bum for 90 minutes and a palpitating heart.

[trousers]

Fair play to Carragher calling 'no penalty' in his analysis of the KWP / Mané incident

[woodsaint1]

Superb result. Diallo, KWP and Stephens immense but everyone had a great game (although Forster was largely untroubled). Stephens proving the doubters wrong again. Hes not our best CB option, but he is a PL quality CB without doubt

[LGTL]

Where on earth did that come from! Diallo was fantastic and Ings is world class. Something lovely to cheer us up in this shit time. 

[lambtiss]

Magnificent team performance, with everyone playing their part and giving 100%. Great collective defence led from the front and always dangerous on the break. Diallo's best performance yet for Saints and demonstrated tonight why Ralf has claimed that he is the future of Saints. JWP and Ings pure inspiration for the world class goal. KWP was excellent against Mane.  Ralf's pure, uncontrolled show of passion at the end was the icing on the cake. Happy New Year Saints ... you have lit up a gloomy day.

[qwertyell]

43 minutes ago, Wade Garrett said:

Diallo was excellent.

He was immense. Great first touch, ability to spin away from close challenges, acceleration to drive forward with the ball, and defensively disciplined and focused.

If he can deliver a better final ball, he'll be amazing.

Really liked what I've seen from him so far. Looks a genuine talent in the making. Hopefully this gives the manager confidence that he can rotate his midfielders a bit to keep them fresh. I worry Prowse is going to wear his legs down to stumps.

 

[badgerx16]

13 minutes ago, saintwbu said:

Am I right in saying that Stephens hasn’t conceded a goal since he came back into the team? 3 clean sheets on the bounce.

Obvious weak link, and not up the PL standard.

[Wes Tender]

 

[austsaint]

Very hard to watch that final 45 minutes, but what a win - made all the sweeter with the replacement Saints and subs all playing their part in keeping out such an expensively assembled opposition.       Diallo confirmed what a lot of people could see from his cameos; he's going to be a very good player and once again KWP showed he is right up in the top echelon of right backs.

[Nordic Saint]

51 minutes ago, igsey said:

Amazing win, felt a lot like the Man City game last season.

 

Jack Stephens was the common factor. His last ditch blocks and clearances were key.

[S-Clarke]

You'd think Liverpool lost to Liverpool based on the coverage tonight.

Shocking, Sky should be ashamed. But what do you expect when their entire pedantry team is made up of Liverpool people.

[qwertyell]

Gutted for Djenepo. He'd started the game well too. The boy loves his football but just can't get the body right.

Chin up, kid. 

[S-Clarke]

Just now, qwertyell said:

Gutted for Djenepo. He'd started the game well too. The boy loves his football but just can't get the body right.

Chin up, kid. 

Good post - glad someone mentioned Moussa. I thought he was full of life at the start as well, but he just cannot shake these muscle injuries. You've got to wonder if he will ever be able to and that's a massive frustration for us and Moussa.

Could be more truth then ever in the Demari Gray rumours.

[saints1988]

Always like the way Andre Marinner referees. Let’s the game flow and normally gets it right.

[davefizzy14]

3 minutes ago, S-Clarke said:

Good post - glad someone mentioned Moussa. I thought he was full of life at the start as well, but he just cannot shake these muscle injuries. You've got to wonder if he will ever be able to and that's a massive frustration for us and Moussa.

Could be more truth then ever in the Demari Gray rumours.

I mentioned Moussa above

[Portugalsaint]

17 minutes ago, VictiAbNonem said:

"other teams will get a penalty for it" J.Klopp is a proper comedian.

Typical of the “top clubs” just can’t take it on the nose that they lost fair and square and credit where credit is due.

 

[Kingsland Codger]

Tonight confirmed why I am a fan of VAR. For years, decades even, we have heard managers, players, pundits and fans say  “ I’d like to have another look at that” and now that wish has been granted they don’t like the decisions. The only obvious error by the ref tonight was the neck-high tackle by Stephens that wasn’t given.

[Wes Tender]

 

[Wes Tender]

15 minutes ago, saints1988 said:

Always like the way Andre Marinner referees. Let’s the game flow and normally gets it right.

My heart sank when I heard that Mariner was refereeing. He's usually awful where we're concerned. Naturally, I'm not complaining about him tonight. 😄

[Baird of the land]

8 minutes ago, Kingsland Codger said:

Tonight confirmed why I am a fan of VAR. For years, decades even, we have heard managers, players, pundits and fans say  “ I’d like to have another look at that” and now that wish has been granted they don’t like the decisions. The only obvious error by the ref tonight was the neck-high tackle by Stephens that wasn’t given.

The ball was already out of play before Stephens neck hold.

[aintforever]

What a great performance, thought Diallo was class.

[Ivan Katalinic's 'tache]

Bloody marvellous, particularly with a bench full of kids (and all 3 that came on doing so well). Standout performances everywhere but mentions have to go to KWP and Diallo. Ask an outsider who was England's best right back and it's not Trent on that evidence. Just a second start for Diallo and he looked just a class above. Enjoy him whilst he's here. Stephens too has given everything since replacing big Jannik and even Fraser looked solid if a bit rusty at times. It'll be a while before I lose my current inane grin...

[notnowcato]

What a performance from Diallo. Great engine, good tackler, so composed for such a young player playing the hardest position on the pitch. He’s only going to get better too. 

[hasper57saint]

We ain’t frit any more. Up yours Lawro,Carragher,Smith et al. We beat you fair and square.

[Teddeer]

Superb performance from everyone of the team plus subs. All contributed to get that win over the line. A special shout out for Diallo. Considering his limited game time that was an unbelievable midfield performance. He was everywhere, read the play superbly, tackled and harried, popped up in defence for vital interceptions and was brilliant when turning his opponent and driving forward. To think he is only going to get better and gives Ralph a tough decision when Oriel is fit again. 

[Harry_SFC]

Diallo was the best player on the pitch tonight, looked so assured and won almost every second ball. Very disciplined off the ball too.

I thought N'Lundulu looked good when he came on - held it up well and showed some neat footwork. He's impressed me more than Tella so far.

With so many injuries it'll be interesting to see what our team looks like against Shrewsbury!

[sydney_saint]

43 minutes ago, Shroppie said:

They've got a glimpse of how most teams feel against them most weeks

This is to give an idea of their level of injustice

Yes you have that right. They are complaining about this, even though it went clearly out for a throw in. 

[tajjuk]

Very very special, up to 6th and only 4 points off top nearly half way through a league season, beating the champions and deservedly so, Ings getting his 50th PL goal against his former club as well, with Forster in goal,  loads of key players out.

Just astounding stuff by our club all round, fair play to the Ralph, the coaches, all the staff behind the scenes and the players, everyone is doing a top top job right now. 

[Ivan Katalinic's 'tache]

Erm... who the hell awards the player marks on Sky??? Diallo - 6??? 🤦‍♂️

[SNSUN]

What a win - somebody mentioned it just now, it felt a lot like the Man City game after the first lockdown last season with the early Che goal and a brilliant backs to the wall performance. We were the better team in the first half but Liverpool came at us in the second half, but they just ran out of ideas as our defence held firm.

I must admit I was one that thought we were in for a hiding today with no McCarthy, Vestergaard, Romeu and Che - the entire backbone of our first XI missing, but what a performance from the boys that stepped in. Even the subs did well. Ratings below. How emotional was Ralph at the end! Nearly made me go.

 

Ratings as I saw it (although I missed a couple of minutes in both halves.)

 

Forster: 6 - didn't have anything to do really, but could have been rusty and didn't really show it. Kicking was iffy but he punched the ball confidently and claimed it bravely a few times at the end to buy us some seconds. He wanted to stay with us this season - well now he has his chance to show what he can do.

 

KWP - 9 - My MOTM (and Skys I see) Was brave, comfortable in position, rarely ever panics, is two footed and kept Sadio quiet. I've been a fan of his since the day I first saw him play but this was one of his best performances. All our defenders were brilliant though, but he was best.

Bednarek - 8 - I thought Stephens was marginally better but still a calm and composed performance from him.

Stephens - 9 - a great ballsy performance from the stand in. Some key blocks including one where I genuinely thought Liverpool were about to score.

Bertrand - 8 - Composed and make some key challenges.

 

JWP - 8 - Not his best game but a well worked free kick for the goal, and he still leads the team brilliant. Never shys away from the ball, always looking for the next pass.

Diallo - 9 - Close to MOTM. This lad is some player - another who doens't panic. We did not miss Romeu and that is high praise indeed.

 

Armstrong - 8 - one of his better games for ages. Found space well and passing was decent. Intelligent play.

Djenepo - 7 - started brightly so was a shame to see him come off. Definitely suffers from knocks this lad.

 

Ings - 8 - Such an intelligent player - he meant that lob and placed it perfectly. In fact it was so subtle, I didn't even celebrate straight away! Another that worked his arse off defensively.

Walcott - 7 - Frustrates me so much as he is obviously talented, but so often runs into blind alleys or gets easily knocked off the ball. Still with no Che, he was probably our best bet up top as pace against their makeshift defence was a good idea.

 

SUBs:

Tella - 7 - I cheered because I thought his shot had gone in, it was certainly close. Showed he could be an asset for us going forwards.

N'Lundulu - 7 - I thought maybe we'd start him tonight as a big forward against their makeshift defence could have worked, but Ralph got it right in the end. I'm excited by this guy, he seems to have good feet for a big lad.

Valery - 8 - Came on and actually helped out on the right, giving us an outlet. If only his nutmeg had gone in! Even if this is one of his last appearances for us, he'll remember this game fondly.

 

Ralph: 9 - Put out the best team he could, made decent subs, got the result he probably doubted he could get. Cried. What a man.