Saints 1-2 Brighton - Match Thread

[Chez]

4 minutes ago, OttawaSaint said:

Just conserve energy in the first and wait for us to give them the ball and win in the second. Easy easy win for BHA today.

We often come out of the blocks and force teams back, but that wasn't the case today. They played very well. Tactically and defensively they were solid. We just had no answer.  By and large we are not good enough to break teams down. 

[Lighthouse]

The Indian fielding is as bad as our defending.

[stknowle]

22 minutes ago, captainchris said:

Ralph is now taking us backwards fast...

so many glaring tactical and coaching mistakes. 
Poor. 

I'm afraid it really is starting to look like he's been found out. One way of playing, a combination of tiredness and other teams sussing how to play against it has stopped it working and he hasn't got a clue how to respond.

[geoffnut]

We are definitely in a relegation battle now, can't see us winning another game this season. These players should be ashamed of themselves as should the manager.

[OttawaSaint]

We will stay up but I fear for next season. With no real investment and many of top wage earners on loan at other clubs how do we avoid the drop?

GK. We have 3 players who are all error prone and don’t inspire confidence

FB: KWP is class, Bertie is finished, no legs left, liability. JV is still young.

CB: JV, JB, JS, MS all look like carthorses, frequently ball watch, dive in, turn their backs, stand off. No real leader back there.

CDM: OR, ID, JWP. Romeu too slow, ID too raw, JWP too nice. Obviously JWP helps with the free kicks but he’s not a leader.

MIDs: Only Armstrong looks decent, and he often has stupid moments. MD, NR, TW are all the same player. Just constantly give away possession.

For: DI head turned, injured too often. CA gets some goals but doesn’t ever seem to gain confidence, misses some shockers.

Probably forgotten a few, forgettable players anyway. Tella, Obafemi, Lundulu, all shit.

Doesn’t look like a very bright future.

[skintsaint]

2 minutes ago, OttawaSaint said:

JV is still young.

stopped at this point...he is 28 lol

[badgerx16]

3 minutes ago, skintsaint said:

stopped at this point...he is 28 lol

Jan Valery is not 28.

[OttawaSaint]

3 minutes ago, skintsaint said:

stopped at this point...he is 28 lol

Jake Vokins is 28??

[skintsaint]

ignore me too many Rums..😁

[Lighthouse]

4 minutes ago, skintsaint said:

stopped at this point...he is 28 lol

Jacques Villeneuve is 28?

[badgerx16]

1 minute ago, badgerx16 said:

Jan Valery is not 28.

 

Just now, OttawaSaint said:

Jake Vokins is 28??

Maybe we could find another centre back with the initials JV, and play a whole back 4.

[hypochondriac]

This was the game where I have started to lose some faith in Ralph. 

[Lighthouse]

1 minute ago, badgerx16 said:

 

Maybe we could find another centre back with the initials JV, and play a whole back 4.

JV defended pretty well against us today.

[cambsaint]

I thought Saints looked mentally and physically exhausted today. Armstrong usually so reliable and many of our good things was either off form or marked out of the game. Ward Prowse looked tired, as did Bednarek. Ralph doesn't seem to be able to alter tactics successfully. Overall an average performance in the first half and abysmal in the second. We hardly won any fifty-fifties were bundled off the ball countless times and too many passes went astray. Another sign of exhustion. I'm not sure about Ralph,can he can really cope with the intensity of the Prem and the tactical awareness of other managers. Very disappointing indeed and absolutely no excuses, they aren't a better team, the ref was good, wew were at home and had both full-backs back,. I think Potter completely out-thought Ralph on this one as well particularly in the second half.

[Teddeer]

That was as bad as it gets and we were awful for the whole game. We looked lethargic and disinterested and hardly won a 50/50 ball. It was very clear that Brighton wanted it more and if you don't match the opponent's effort you are nowhere. We allowed them to totally dictate the game on their terms. When they won throw-ins we marked nobody - at one point in the second half they threw the ball into our area to a player who was completely unmarked and got a shot away - at this level that is just not acceptable. We did not once attempt to get our receiving players between the lines and I was yelling at the tv for them to do it - Ralph should have sorted that out. Tella is not suited to our tip tap football - he needs balls played over the top to run onto but all he got was scraps. Brighton weren't great but we let them coast to an easy 3 points in an important match. Ralph needs to sort this mess out and quickly because as we saw yesterday, Burnley will be no pushovers. Play like that today and we can also forget about beating Bmuff next week.

[Micky]

1 minute ago, hypochondriac said:

This was the game where I have started to lose some faith in Ralph. 

When I see the sort of shit show that I saw today, I lose faith in the manager and the players.  Woeful display all over the park. 

[nta786]

Ralph’s interview (for anyone who missed it):

 "It's a combination of a lot of things, the second goal was a mentality killer but we had players coming in from the bench, they were fresh and they would give us a lift.

"The way we tried to play was far away from what I wanted. You could see, it was chaotic. There was no plan and no clear idea during the final 30 minutes."

"We have to. We have to work on this. We have shown in the past that when we have time to work on things we can come back to the highest level," he added.

"We need to work on a few things, a few parts of our game. This is the challenge for next week."

"[It was] Not good to be honest. It was very disappointing what we showed today, especially in the second half.

"In the first half it was also the feeling that the opponent wants it a little bit more. We came back after the first goal, which was far too easy to concede.

"Then we especially had problems with the second balls that were falling down. They played a lot of long balls in the first half, we struggled a little bit and then in the second half we changed. The goal we conceded we were in a normal shape, everybody is in his position and it cannot happen that easy. We are defending far too sloppy in that moment."

"You can see that some automatism are going away because of no training in the past weeks or months. Then bad things are going dominant then it looks like this.

"After 2-1 it was simply not convincing enough that we could turn the table again. In the end we had only one or two good chances. Che has a big one I think where he has to score normally.

"But in total we did not deserve to get something today because we haven’t been good enough to be honest.”

[Jeremy Corbyn]

Confidence and fitness aren't good enough to play the current system, so change it FFS! 

[Chapel End]

2 minutes ago, nta786 said:

Ralph’s interview (for anyone who missed it):

 "It's a combination of a lot of things, the second goal was a mentality killer but we had players coming in from the bench, they were fresh and they would give us a lift.

"The way we tried to play was far away from what I wanted. You could see, it was chaotic. There was no plan and no clear idea during the final 30 minutes."

"We have to. We have to work on this. We have shown in the past that when we have time to work on things we can come back to the highest level," he added.

"We need to work on a few things, a few parts of our game. This is the challenge for next week."

"[It was] Not good to be honest. It was very disappointing what we showed today, especially in the second half.

"In the first half it was also the feeling that the opponent wants it a little bit more. We came back after the first goal, which was far too easy to concede.

"Then we especially had problems with the second balls that were falling down. They played a lot of long balls in the first half, we struggled a little bit and then in the second half we changed. The goal we conceded we were in a normal shape, everybody is in his position and it cannot happen that easy. We are defending far too sloppy in that moment."

"You can see that some automatism are going away because of no training in the past weeks or months. Then bad things are going dominant then it looks like this.

"After 2-1 it was simply not convincing enough that we could turn the table again. In the end we had only one or two good chances. Che has a big one I think where he has to score normally.

"But in total we did not deserve to get something today because we haven’t been good enough to be honest.”

Thanks for that and it shows its not playing out as per his instructions 

[Jeremy Corbyn]

1 minute ago, nta786 said:

Ralph’s interview (for anyone who missed it):

 "It's a combination of a lot of things, the second goal was a mentality killer but we had players coming in from the bench, they were fresh and they would give us a lift.

"The way we tried to play was far away from what I wanted. You could see, it was chaotic. There was no plan and no clear idea during the final 30 minutes."

"We have to. We have to work on this. We have shown in the past that when we have time to work on things we can come back to the highest level," he added.

"We need to work on a few things, a few parts of our game. This is the challenge for next week."

"[It was] Not good to be honest. It was very disappointing what we showed today, especially in the second half.

"In the first half it was also the feeling that the opponent wants it a little bit more. We came back after the first goal, which was far too easy to concede.

"Then we especially had problems with the second balls that were falling down. They played a lot of long balls in the first half, we struggled a little bit and then in the second half we changed. The goal we conceded we were in a normal shape, everybody is in his position and it cannot happen that easy. We are defending far too sloppy in that moment."

"You can see that some automatism are going away because of no training in the past weeks or months. Then bad things are going dominant then it looks like this.

"After 2-1 it was simply not convincing enough that we could turn the table again. In the end we had only one or two good chances. Che has a big one I think where he has to score normally.

"But in total we did not deserve to get something today because we haven’t been good enough to be honest.”

At least he appreciates how bad it was.  Though he says the 2nd was a mentality killer, it was well overdue after the first 10 minutes of the 2nd half where we were atrocious.  

Thanks for posting though.

[rallyboy]

That was fucking dreadful.

Summed up by Bertrand just passing the ball backwards a hundred fucking times.

Flat, negative, toothless.

 

[stknowle]

7 minutes ago, hypochondriac said:

This was the game where I have started to lose some faith in Ralph. 

I don't think you are alone there Hypo.

[OttawaSaint]

There was definitely automatism. Automatically passing back and sideways with shoulders slumped and heads down. Need a software update or a reboot up the arse.

[cambsaint]

Everything Ralph said is within a manager's remit. We'll have to see how things go in a much less pressuriesd game against Bournemouth and less midweek games. No point playing a system that exhausts your players.

[Saint86]

Southampton manager Ralph Hasenhuttl speaking to BBC Sport:

"In the second half the opponent wanted it more and we have to be self-critical about it because it was by far one of the worst games we have played this season.

"It is time to work on a few basic fundamentals in the next weeks. The second goal gave them a lift. Afterwards, we did not have a solution, only one chance at the end.

"We see that our game is far away from what is has been this season. I can remember we were one of the best home teams at the beginning of the season. What has happened in the second half, we have to ask the question ourselves.

"We are not hungry enough and the basics are missing at the moment which makes it very difficult to win games."

2 minutes ago, cambsaint said:

Everything Ralph said is within a manager's remit. We'll have to see how things go in a much less pressuriesd game against Bournemouth and less midweek games. No point playing a system that exhausts your players.

Yeah i tend to agree. Not much time to really reverse this though. Could be a very worrying end to the season!

[stknowle]

8 minutes ago, Saint86 said:

Southampton manager Ralph Hasenhuttl speaking to BBC Sport:

"In the second half the opponent wanted it more and we have to be self-critical about it because it was by far one of the worst games we have played this season.

"It is time to work on a few basic fundamentals in the next weeks. The second goal gave them a lift. Afterwards, we did not have a solution, only one chance at the end.

"We see that our game is far away from what is has been this season. I can remember we were one of the best home teams at the beginning of the season. What has happened in the second half, we have to ask the question ourselves.

"We are not hungry enough and the basics are missing at the moment which makes it very difficult to win games."

Yeah i tend to agree. Not much time to really reverse this though. Could be a very worrying end to the season!

......

Edited 14 March, 2021 by stknowle

[SaintZamboni]

Ralph’s assessment seems fair. Subs brought us no impetus and we clearly aren’t playing to a style or system, we’re just showing up.

I don’t think it’s a coincidence that when things get tough our players revert to this bland, no style football. Too many of them have been around too long and shown they’re not what we need.

we’re so hamstrung by finances. Bertrand isn’t what we need anymore, he offers none of the dynamism and progression that KWP does and we know his attitude can be off when things aren’t going our way. Trouble is we can’t guarantee the funds to secure another LB. His new contract is not signed because he is surely feeling out other offers but giving him a contract is cheaper than finding a new first choice full back for us.

If players aren’t executing the style then I’d say drop them, but for who? 
 

Hopefully the break gives Ralph a chance to reset and we finish the season a bit more effectively. I think we’ll stay up but I don’t care to watch and find out anymore

 

 

[Fan The Flames]

We were a bit shit today.

[East Kent Saint]

A classic , on live terrestrial TV , playing a team that can’t win , we were bound to play them back into form from our past history !

Brighton aren’t that bad , they set up after half time and defended well , saw redmond / Bertie were the main plan of attack and doubled up on it , to cap it all Lala finally played a good 90 mins for them !

[RedWillie]

We were shite. I don't want to be shite. 

[BotleySaint]

As people have said, Ralph's assessment is right. But it's the same every week and he often sees the game as we do.. the lack of energy and a sense of foregone conclusion about when the other team goes in front. Does he simply feel he does not have the resources to change that? 

[DT]

29 minutes ago, stknowle said:

......

Tell you what. Why doesn’t he work on this anyway? Like at the start of the season? Starting to irritate me now. You don’t motivate them by purring about how we played in the last loss to City. Why doesn’t he get angry? Animated? Bit wet. Going down at the moment (still)

[eelpie]

57 minutes ago, OttawaSaint said:

We will stay up but I fear for next season. With no real investment and many of top wage earners on loan at other clubs how do we avoid the drop?

GK. We have 3 players who are all error prone and don’t inspire confidence

FB: KWP is class, Bertie is finished, no legs left, liability. JV is still young.

CB: JV, JB, JS, MS all look like carthorses, frequently ball watch, dive in, turn their backs, stand off. No real leader back there.

CDM: OR, ID, JWP. Romeu too slow, ID too raw, JWP too nice. Obviously JWP helps with the free kicks but he’s not a leader.

MIDs: Only Armstrong looks decent, and he often has stupid moments. MD, NR, TW are all the same player. Just constantly give away possession.

For: DI head turned, injured too often. CA gets some goals but doesn’t ever seem to gain confidence, misses some shockers.

Probably forgotten a few, forgettable players anyway. Tella, Obafemi, Lundulu, all shit.

Doesn’t look like a very bright future.

There is no logical reason why we can stay up. Just look at other lowly club's recent results. We are bottom level with Sheffield. While relegation rivals scrape draws, we don't. Our trouble is an exceptional mentality. Get real Players. Get real fans.  If we can't dig out six drawers, we're down.

[Chapel End]

16 minutes ago, DT said:

Tell you what. Why doesn’t he work on this anyway? Like at the start of the season? Starting to irritate me now. You don’t motivate them by purring about how we played in the last loss to City. Why doesn’t he get angry? Animated? Bit wet. Going down at the moment (still)

How do you know he doesn't but behind closed doors.

Guess you think screaming at the players, calling them c#### ala warnock is the answer

[Saint Billy]

I don't mind a loss if Ralph learns from it, but he just keeps on repeating the same failing tactics time after time and seems clueless in being able to turn things around in a game. 

Ings kept us up last season not Ralph, and now Ings has his mind elsewhere along with his injury problems we are a very poor side who seem to have very little to offer in a relegation dogfight. We might avoid relegation but if there aren't any changes this will only continue into next season and probably get much worse. 

[VectisSaint]

1 hour ago, badgerx16 said:

 

Maybe we could find another centre back with the initials JV, and play a whole back 4.

and Valery is not JV. 

[Micky]

45 minutes ago, Fan The Flames said:

We were a bit shit today.

A bit...!?!?!?

[OttawaSaint]

The confidence of the players is so fragile. They don’t expect to score when alone with the keeper, don’t expect decisions to go our way and won’t even appeal for decisions.

When the opposition get a break like the ball coming off the post straight to an unmarked striker, instead of saying “they were lucky, we’ve got this, let’s keep trying” we just throw our hands up and go “oh well, not our day, best stop trying if everything is against us”. 

2-1 down about 40 minute to play (incl. stoppages) and our lot have binned this game off. Not good enough!

Edited 14 March, 2021 by OttawaSaint

[captainchris]

28 minutes ago, BotleySaint said:

As people have said, Ralph's assessment is right. But it's the same every week and he often sees the game as we do.. the lack of energy and a sense of foregone conclusion about when the other team goes in front. Does he simply feel he does not have the resources to change that? 

No. He doesn’t have the ability to improve things. Christ, we don’t even mark up for throw ins!!!! It’s pathetic what Ralph is not noticing or appearing capable of recognising... 

 

[SaintTex]

2 hours ago, Wallington Saint said:

Why did we wait for injury time to start pushing forward!!??

 

Did we even do that in injury time? When the whistle blew we were in the process of completing another back pass. 

[VectisSaint]

Appalling display today, apart from a few minutes after they scored. We were hopeless, complete La k of energy and ideas. Our inability to keep the ball was absolutely shocking, winning the ball and then giving it away immediately. Worst culprit today was one of my favourite players, Armstrong, but Bertrand, JWP, Minamino, Bednarek, KWP all shocking. Expected it from Redmond but then he hardly touched the ball anyway so didn't get the opportunity. I've hardly ever criticised Ralph, but it is beginning to look as though he is unable to motivate this team any longer. I still don't think we will go down but it's diffi ult to see where points are going to come from if we play like that. Really hope that Bertrand doesn't sign a new contract based on today's display, he was very poor. 

[BotleySaint]

20 minutes ago, captainchris said:

No. He doesn’t have the ability to improve things. Christ, we don’t even mark up for throw ins!!!! It’s pathetic what Ralph is not noticing or appearing capable of recognising... 

 

Yes, I think that's the problem. Even if he feels we don't have enough quality to change the players, there is always little things that can be improved upon such as your example. He needs to start taking the blame upon himself too. But perhaps just thinks it is nothing he is doing wrong.. troubling if so. It does mean we need a new person to come in and change the "vision".

But can't see it happening unless things get a lot worse and we slip into the bottom 3. Even then I reckon they'll stick with Ralph and hope he can get us back up again.

Edited 14 March, 2021 by BotleySaint

[Appy]

Same predictable shite. 
 

They change their shape at half time, we do nothing to react other than make the three substitutes we always bring on, absolute waste of time again bringing on N’Lundulu, just constantly getting five minute cameos, where he has no chance to influence it. 
 

Bednarek is useless, has been for ages, just looks constantly surprised by everything that happens.

[Teddeer]

The concern for me is that I watched that game today and at hardly any stage did I think we were going to win. I expect that when we play the likes of Man City but not fecking Brighton.

[Jonnyboy]

2 hours ago, Chez said:

I always think we will beat Burnley, they are pretty shite, but they looked bloody excellent against Everton so fear for us. I cant see where the next win is coming from. Are WBA playing poorly? I've not watched them. 

WBA don't seem to be picking up many points. Actually that probably means we are perfect for them to get all 3.

[Jonnyboy]

1 hour ago, Lighthouse said:

JV defended pretty well against us today.

Sign him up! 

[Viking Saint]

Am struggling to find any positives from today, and equally struggling to say anything nice, so am going to say nothing and just hope something changes between now and the next game... 

[S-Clarke]

17 minutes ago, Appy said:

Same predictable shite. 
 

They change their shape at half time, we do nothing to react other than make the three substitutes we always bring on, absolute waste of time again bringing on N’Lundulu, just constantly getting five minute cameos, where he has no chance to influence it. 
 

Bednarek is useless, has been for ages, just looks constantly surprised by everything that happens.

Bednarek is an oddity, isn't he.

When he's on form I think he's a decent, solid, no nonsense centre back. He's nothing spectacular and he's never going to be playing in the CL, but he's decent.

However, when he's off form then christ on a bike he's beyond bad. Not just a little bit bad, but it's like he forgets how to play football, forgets how to defend, loses his head. He is a proper liability for us right now, bad enough that I'd drop him.

[Teddeer]

6 minutes ago, S-Clarke said:

Bednarek is an oddity, isn't he.

When he's on form I think he's a decent, solid, no nonsense centre back. He's nothing spectacular and he's never going to be playing in the CL, but he's decent.

However, when he's off form then christ on a bike he's beyond bad. Not just a little bit bad, but it's like he forgets how to play football, forgets how to defend, loses his head. He is a proper liability for us right now, bad enough that I'd drop him.

Have to agree. Might as well give Salisu a run because Bednarek was all over the place today against average opponents.

[beatlesaint]

2 hours ago, OttawaSaint said:

Romeu too slow

Absolute tosh, did you see that saving tackle he made against Leeds before he got injured? He sprinted back and showed in that one passage of play more balls than the rest of them. We’ve got headless chickens already thanks very much.

JWP isn’t as effective without him, we are missing him big time. I’d take Romeu “slow” over virtually anything else in that team at the moment.