Watford 2-1 Saints - Match Thread

[obelisk]

Jeez! Cleared the danger and then gave it back to them. Another corner to defend.

[Lighthouse]

Stephens showing everyone he can be a top quality defender. Unfortunately it was whilst attacking one of our free kicks.

[sockeye]

With the right subs we will rescue this for a 2-2

[Lee On Solent Saint]

Must because we are wearing blue that we are playing so shite

[saintant]

Dobbin having another mare. Azaz must come on at half time.

[Saint Gifford]

Stephens has always been non league level so what do we expect from the bloke. You can’t blame him, he is nowhere the level. 
 

Question the people behind the scenes, this is a complete amateur job. From top to bottom. 

The transfer window closing will say everything. This will not be our squad for the for coming season. 

Tonda proved last season a good not great manager but had to go, to much baggage and in the first 45 it shows.
 

 

 

[Saint NL]

Jander is a huge miss for us. We don't have a midfield atm

[saint michael]

4v 4 every attack they have. Midfield missing just playing over us

[OttawaSaint]

Forgot my old Saints motto.

"If you want to enjoy watching Saints...forget it!".

[Costa del Solent]

Football for beginners (page 1)

Rule 1. Never play the ball across your own box, in particular if you’re being pressed and never, under any circumstances, as a blind pass.

Rule 2. When defending, If playing a central role, peel out to cover wide players out of position to slow down attacking play. 
 

 

[washsaint]

Dobbin looks like a terrible buy.  First two games, offered absolutely nothing.

Mind you, the whole team has played terribly.  Hopefully Azaz and the new striker on at half time

[Swaythling Saint]

Changes needed at half time and a thumping team talk

[obelisk]

My fears about overconfidence and a more likely return to mid-table mediocrity are so far well-founded. 

[Saint Matty 76]

Just now, washsaint said:

Dobbin looks like a terrible buy.  First two games, offered absolutely nothing.

Mind you, the whole team has played terribly.  Hopefully Azaz and the new striker on at half time

Chill out haha

[saintant]

Huge gaps on our midfield.

[Saint NL]

Watfords plan worked, kick Leo until he gives up. 

[Osvaldorama]

Turns out playing one or two German farmers wasn’t enough of a preseason.  
 

Who’d have thought it 

[whelk]

4 minutes ago, AlexLaw76 said:

Our wide players have been terrible, both in attack and supporting defence

i much prefer Leo wide left.

What did you think about Boro’s performance yesterday?

[obelisk]

Bragg not doing himself any favours.

[die Mannyschaft]

6 minutes ago, Saint_clark said:

I mean you can never tell if we have a chance or not, who would have given us a chance when 3-0 down away to Leicester at half time?

Your right I was there, is this 1st half as bad as Leicester? Not score wise just completely disorganised and run ragged.

Commentry kept saying Saints players not matc fit, how's that possible after pre season, are we just not interested in anything with a burst of pace.

 

[OttawaSaint]

1 minute ago, Osvaldorama said:

Turns out playing one or two German farmers wasn’t enough of a preseason.  
 

Who’d have thought it 

Just thinking the same thing. A bunch of German pub teams. How is that preparation for this level?

[SaintlyAnd]

Well that was shite. Zero intensity on or off the ball. Defenders running away from the ball, lazy passing and cannot handle Watford’s pressure. Huge spaces between our midfield and defence that Watford just walk into. 
 

Not a fan of Dobbin on the left - far better central.

[whelk]

It’s shit but FFs it is one half of football 

[trousers]

This is pretty much the same team that played auto-promotion form for the second half of last season... So, what's the difference? We seem well off the pace compared to Watford, so that surely comes down to an inadequate pre-season, doesn't it? A team that goes 20 odd games unbeaten and almost beats Man City in an FA Cup semi-final doesn't suddenly become shite, surely...?

[Lighthouse]

2 minutes ago, sockeye said:

With the right subs we will rescue this for a 2-2

It’s still possible. I’d say Azaz and Fellows on at HT are a must. Matsuki can come off and Dobbin or Leo depending on the latter’s injury.

[Costa del Solent]

Don’t worry, we’ll bring on Shea, sure up the midfield, get Stewart on to bolster the attack.

[RedArmy]

Can’t pick out anyone that has had a good half there 

 

 

[OttawaSaint]

Powderpuff shooting too. Fuck off Saints.

Fucking disgrace!

[Edmonton Saint]

Every time he says Maama , I start singing Bohemian Rhapsody in my head 

[SambaMaverick]

Would be good for us to lose the arrogance of the unbeaten run early I guess

[obelisk]

That lackadaisical pre-season certainly showing itself in this game. 

[Micky]

A footballing 'masterclass' by Cap'n Jack has us firmly up shyte creek without a paddle. Woeful display. 

[die Mannyschaft]

3 minutes ago, Costa del Solent said:

Football for beginners (page 1)

Rule 1. Never play the ball across your own box, in particular if you’re being pressed and never, under any circumstances, as a blind pass.

Rule 2. When defending, If playing a central role, peel out to cover wide players out of position to slow down attacking play. 
 

 

These basics are not coached, I see it all the time in my sons leaque. Especially number 1.

[Zorba]

Did we have a shot on target?

[Bobsmith]

Dobbin looks rubbish to me. Either a poor touch, poor pass or he goes backwards. Most of the team looked out of sorts but playing Dobbin instead of Azaz and moving Scienza central seems a mistake

[SNSUN]

Season over. Build for next season. 🤪

[OttawaSaint]

Just now, trousers said:

This is pretty much the same team that played auto-promotion form for the second half of last season... So, what's the difference? We seem well off the pace compared to Watford, so that surely comes down to an inadequate pre-season, doesn't it? A team that goes 20 odd games unbeaten and almost beats Man City in an FA Cup semi-final doesn't suddenly become shite, surely...?

We probably sent spies to every team and only got caught by Boro.

[Lee On Solent Saint]

Probably the worst half of football we've had since the Leicester game. Not caused them any problems at all. 

[Patrick Bateman]

Zero shots in that half is unforgivable. Stephens back to his shit best. Azaz on please.

[Baird of the land]

That was abysmal. 

cm has been awful, cowardly on the ball and offering little screen defensively.

Few times we’ve got forward we are overplaying it too much.

overall sense of us being a soft touch, which is a complete contrast to end of last season.

[westmidlandsaint]

1 minute ago, Edmonton Saint said:

Every time he says Maama , I start singing Bohemian Rhapsody in my head 

Glad I'm not the only one 

[whelk]

1 minute ago, RedArmy said:

Can’t pick out anyone that has had a good half there 

 

 

Azaz 

[sadoldgit]

As someone else said earlier, we started well but they kicked everything that moved and from then on we have been second best. Two poor goals to give away and they always look a threat on the break. Eckhert will need to earn his wages big time in the half time team talk.

[Disco Stu]

Larin looks sharp. Scienza looked lively before he was clattered. Besides that, everyone else has been poor.

[obelisk]

Thank goodness I'm away on me hols for the next 3 games.

[Baird of the land]

1 minute ago, Lee On Solent Saint said:

Probably the worst half of football we've had since the Leicester game. Not caused them any problems at all. 

We don’t have Charles anymore to bring on and salvage it like we did then.

[StrangelyBrown]

Awful half. It seems preseason was a complete waste of time.

Matsuki has been really poor; weak as piss, out of the game for long periods, crap touch, crap positioning, ...

Scienza has been really poor - far too selfish - just needs to release the ball much earlier and stop needlessly overcomplicating everything.

Dobbin has been very poor too.

Bragg looks out of his depth.

Bree looked pretty iffy.

But a special mention for Stephens doing what he does best i.e. needlessly messing up.

[saint michael]

Dreadful lazy incompetent half. Let’s see how they respond to that shit 

[Holmes_and_Watson]

We had the brighter start. But once Watford got a lead, they held a comfortable shape.

We're very slow in getting it forward. So, on the occasions Watford push up for a counter, we allow them to get back too easily.

Stephens most at fault for the two goals. Elsewhere, if Downes is to be the defensive midfielder, Bragg has to be the link. He's not been able to do that. We miss Jander today.

We've not shown anything to suggest we're getting back into this. Watford look more likely to get a third. Tonda team talk turnaround needed.

[BARCELONASAINT]

1 minute ago, OttawaSaint said:

Just thinking the same thing. A bunch of German pub teams. How is that preparation for this level?

I said this last week and got laughed at. We are nowhere near ready and the arrogance by some that we would steamroll Watford is laughable.

Stepens awful, Bragg absent, Dobin poor, Matsuki knocked off the ball too easily, we are just not ready for the start of the season and its criminal preparation!