Match Thread | Southampton vs Man City (11/01/23)

[balotelli's back pocket]

Absolutely pathetic performance to be honest.

Jack the only one who looks like he even wants to be out there.

Cole needs a loan - not a slight on him or his quality but you need to be seriously special and lucky to force your way in here and I think badly timed injuries robbed him of that chance last season. Getting minutes in games like this are doing nothing for his development.

Cancelo, a joke. At least it seems Pep has finally lost patience with him.

Gomez, feel sorry for him but he's way out of his depth. Looked a top prospect in Belgium but you can never tell how it'll translate to the top level.

Phillips hasn't been great positionally but it is his first start after all.

Ortega has been great for us so far, but that was an absolute howler.

I expect so much more from Gundo.

 

[applejuice]

I can never understand playing Cancelo right back, It's like asking Oscar Pistorius to wax his legs.

Cancelo is fabulous out on the left, He's obviously more comfortable on that side. Hopefully he goes left back in the second half, Take Gomez off and put Akanji on.

Cuz Pep wants to give Gomez a last chance....

 

[Revolver]

We simply need to run more and play quicker. It may not win us the game but it will help.

 

[Saddleworth2]

Not quite sure what we were trying to do there. Back to inverted FBs and back to slow build-up play, sloppy passing and poor decision making. I can hardly remember Alvarez touching the ball. They scored two very well taken goals but really all stemmed from our mistakes.

Not really creating anything. I hope we try traditional FBs 2nd half and a bit more measured passing and movement.

Even at 2-0 down, I don't really feel the game is over. Buck our ideas up and there's still something in this game for us.

Unless something changes I can see us shipping more goals. Cancelo and Gomez are causing us more problems than any Saints players.

 

[Akiva]

And if we lose the derby ?

That's the spirit.

I'm saying he's right to prioritise it. People in here suggesting we bring on KDB and Haaland are mental and if Pep did that and they underperformed against the rags (or got injured) they'd rightly criticise him for risking them in this Micky Mouse trophy

 

[OrigamiNinja]

We used to win games by starting fast and scoring 2 or 3 early, those days seem a distant memory…the same as a team with pace

Good days them.

 

[Wanchope n me Dickov]

Wider concerns than the performance tonight. We seem to have generally lost our mojo.

Is this the point where players stop responding to Pep’s methods?

 

[Txiki Txiki Bang Bang]

Boll

Bollox he’s on it all the time. :-)

I really hope that's true, at least he would get to see how we really feel about Gomez.

 

[Lavinda Past]

Alarm bells ringing all season. Struggling this year.

We've flattered to deceive in all but two or three games this season.

The whole season may well hinge on our performance on Saturday.

 

[01cravend]

Why is Walker at Cb anyway? Pep needs a new assistant, needs reeling in

 

[JWCH-99]

Found Palmer unmarked in the box - our best chance of the half

yes but also wasted a few more on that side…

 

[tolmie's hairdoo]

It definitely does start with Pep. He’s not making the right calls a lot recently and I’m starting to think he’s his own enemy at the moment.

I fear Pep is missing a proper right hand man this season, someone honest?

 

[Brewster's millions]

It set alarm bells ringing in my head when Pep said a few weeks ago there was a possibility of him leaving his contract early if he wasn't getting through to the players.

We've been here before with a poor run of performances but this particular run coupled with the comments made could be different. Sorry to be a bedwetting doom merchant, really hope he proves everyone wrong again.

All he has to do is play people in their proper positions and we’d beat 70, 80% of teams.

Getting a team to play as badly as they have done in that first half takes some serious fucking about.

 

[hammocity]

Pep has brought more success to City than we could ever have dreamed, but he can't win with some of you lot.

Playing this side to prioritise the derby was the right decision and the people suggesting we bring on Haaland and KDB early are out of their fucking minds.

Nobody wants to go out in this game, but the Rags game is vastly, vastly more important and Pep was right to rest our best for it.

Yep, the team Pep picked have just not performed but we can’t play the same players for every game with the insane schedule coming up. Last years defeat to the Dippers in the FA Cup contributed to our PL win as we were running on empty especially with all the defensive injuries. We take this on the chin and move on.

 

[paulchapo]

Ward-Prowse trademark free kick this half then it's damage limitation.

 

[Kippax77]

9/2 City win.
Straight on it with £20

 

[inchy14]

We have 1 centre half,and 2 pretend fullbacks.It throws the shape of the team completely.

You build a team from the back,on solid foundations.....im fucking sick of this false fullback shite,and why when we have 4 world class centre haves available is only 1 on the pitch ?

Because 2 are injured and we can’t risk Ake as he’s our left back on Saturday.

 

[jimmygrimblesboots]

I’m having to watch it on my phone and it is hard to tell who is who. Our red and white tops are novel and to be 2-0 up away at half time is good

Fuck me I cannot believe we’re making Southampton look good

Your best hope is that your battery goes flat.

 

[chaddblue]

3 changes..

 

[journolud]

Can’t read all the comments, life’s too short but does anyone think we’ll win?