Match Day Thread Saints v Diiiiiiiiiiiiiirttttttttty Leeds Saturday 13th August 3pm

Apologies for the language - emotions got the better of me in the heat of the moment!

 

Right, just got back from that emotional rollercoaster. My thoughts:

Negatives first:

Ralph waited too long to change shape. I'm not blind to his faults contrary to what some people think. I got really frustrated when he didn't take a CB off straight after Leeds went 2 up.

We still look suspect at the back, in particular with crosses. Maybe switch to man-to-man marking at set pieces rather than zonal Ralph?

I wasn't pleased at how quickly the atmosphere started to turn. I appreciate the frustration but this is a young team and the crowd will affect them - both positively and negatively.

Positives:

Referring back to my last negative point, the players really responded to the crowd getting behind them after Aribo scored. St Mary's was rocking after KWP scored and that's what we need to hear going forward.

The character shown by the players was just brilliant to see and will give them a massive lift.

Lavia, Bazunu, ABK all impressed. Mara made a big impact after coming on. All new signings. Coincidence? I don't think so.

I thought Adam Armstrong was great when he came on. Got an assist and looked a threat.

Man United defend worse than us.

 

It's football, Tom. If you can't show some passion, anger, ecstasy and all the rest, then what's the point?

 

Our defensive options are not good enough 1:1 against attackers in this division. I understand the logic of moving to a 5. In theory you have a man advantage and greater ability to avoid 1v1 duels. Our CBs are unfortunately, mostly not good enough in any scenario and we could add them all and still look vulnerable. It’s a bit like Benitez and his “short blanket” thing at Newcastle, with the bonus that our attacking options (prior to this window) aren’t good enough to get us out of jail. The summer’s recruitment has helped but it’s clear that there’s still a decent number of our players who are not good enough but it will take time to replace them and get a young squad up to speed. I think it really takes a leap to not see at least some encouraging signs though. The football side of the club are trying to change a pattern of malaise and rot that has been going on for too long. It may be that their plan doesn’t work but I find it hard to muster vitreous fury for n the face of a clear, well-planned intent.

 

Sammy Saint must have lost about 2 stone in that furry suit today.

 

3 goals this season and all from open play is promising.
I think, towards the end of last season, we were overly dependent on goals from set pieces.

 

Just seen a replay of KWP's goal. That pass from Mara was a thing of absolute beauty. Excited.

 

Was Saints fans

 

Quick overview;

Ralph ****ed it for the first 65

 

That's half the story. Yes, he sort of f*cked it. But also, he redeemed himself with the changes he made.

I don't mind mistakes being made as long as they are quickly learned from.

 

Not convinced by either of them, and one or two good performances notwithstanding, I never have been.

Choose a partnership and stick with it, preferably without Bednarek or Salisu. I realise that might mean making Jack Stephens a regular starter but I’m not totally opposed to that; he may not be quite good enough, but you can never imo fault his attitude. Having said that, Jack on for Djeneppo when we have an actual LBon the bench? Bit baffling, that.

 

I think Stephens is the worst out of those three. He’s not a PL standard defender.

 

Stephens is not the answer. I think ABK and Salisu could form a good partnership.

 

Did they allow it? Deathtrap!!

 

If our solution to our defensive problem is Jack Stephens then I’d argue that a good number of our CBs could probably do with replacing in short order. Hopefully they can get it done.

 

What formation did we switch to when the performance improved drastically ? My stream stopped working

It was mentioned on here as 4-2-2-2 but I have also seen mention of Armstrong on the wing and then someone on Twitter mentioned 4-3-3. So how did we set up once Aribo, Armstrong and Mara all on ?

 

It looked like 4-3-3 to me.

 

Cannot disagree with the sentiment CGT, but he got it wrong from the outset that cost us 2 points against a lower EPL side that we need to be beating at home.

Very pleased with the new signings, Lavia is such a quality player, he is so destructive and l thought ABK looks an outstanding prospect, looks like he will become our first choice CB in time. And a shout for Moussa, he worked his socks off today.

 

Here's hoping!