Southampton (A) Post-Match Thread

[dickie davies]

Maybe not try and dribble past someone as the last man and instead do what any other play on the pitch would do and either pass it back to Laporte or the keeper.

Have you watched it again
The ball was passed into his weaker foot at pace. The return pass to Laporte was cut off and if he'd tried to pass back to Ederson first time we have no idea where the ball would have gone
It's all fallen onto Zinchenko but Laporte should have read the situation

 

[ancoats]

But it is not the first time Zinchenko has been caught in possession, it happens too many times. At LB he is too slow and not good enough.

he is not first choice at left back and really not a left back by trade, so mistakes are going happen but also you have to give credit to the lad for having a go and working on becoming a left back, he gives 100% you can see it in his game and tries hard enough but mistakes are bound to happen

i just don't see the point in going over board the league is done and finished, and we will probably not use him in bigger games and he even maybe leaving in the summer. so yes he is not good enough at left back but a good squad player

 

[Whether or not]

It is Groundhog Day watching our defeats, the same every time. Miss a bucket load of clear chances and then slip up at the back. The likes of Zinchenko, Stones, Nico, Mendy all have big mistakes in them, but for me the bigger issue is the finishing - our overall chance conversion rate is dreadful. In most games we get away with it because we create so many, but recently we are getting punished for missing them. Our best finishers currently are probably Foden and Mahrez, Sergio is not as deadly as he was, but still good, but Jesus and Sterling are so wasteful. It isn’t complicated, we just need to kill teams off.

 

[SatOnTheWall]

What does everyone think Zinchenko should have done with the hospital pass Laporte gave him?
Zinchenko had no "out" ball

Even just twatting it upfield or straight into touch would have been considerably better than what he actually did.

 

[Roachy]

It is Groundhog Day watching our defeats, the same every time. Miss a bucket load of clear chances and then slip up at the back. The likes of Zinchenko, Stones, Nico, Mendy all have big mistakes in them, but for me the bigger issue is the finishing - our overall chance conversion rate is dreadful. In most games we get away with it because we create so many, but recently we are getting punished for missing them. Our best finishers currently are probably Foden and Mahrez, Sergio is not as deadly as he was, but still good, but Jesus and Sterling are so wasteful. It isn’t complicated, we just need to kill teams off.

Good point. Let's not be fooled into thinking that the Saints goalkeeper and defence had the once in a lifetime performance that some may suggest. A couple of decent blocks and routine saves that most teams would make. There was some neat passing from both teams but mainly from City. Not a bad performance, but very poor result. The finishing was woeful, as the scoreline illustrates.

 

[domalino]

It is Groundhog Day watching our defeats, the same every time. Miss a bucket load of clear chances and then slip up at the back. The likes of Zinchenko, Stones, Nico, Mendy all have big mistakes in them, but for me the bigger issue is the finishing - our overall chance conversion rate is dreadful. In most games we get away with it because we create so many, but recently we are getting punished for missing them. Our best finishers currently are probably Foden and Mahrez, Sergio is not as deadly as he was, but still good, but Jesus and Sterling are so wasteful. It isn’t complicated, we just need to kill teams off.

I don't think we created any particularly good chances yesterday.

Getting shots off in the box is good, but if you have to put it straight at the keeper, or around 7 defenders in the box, it's not a great chance.

We had a ton of half chances, and forced some saves/blocks, but never started creating the golden opportunities we usually do.

I don't think people realise how exhausting it is to try and break down a defence like that. It takes so much energy to pass and move quickly enough, with every touch needing to be perfect because there's 3 defenders marking you, to unpick those parked buses, and after the Liverpool game on Thursday we just didn't have it.

 

[SilverFox2]

Typical City, as critics we concentrate on a defensive mistake rather than blaming an inability to accurately get our shots on target.
Used to be if they score one or two no problem because we will score five or six.

Stats say we simply cannot convert our chances into goal attempts that actually would score if allowed to continue. Only 6 out of 26 would be in the category of goal scoring possibilities because the other 20 simply missed the target altogether.

Pep says he does not know why but this is a chronic problem that needs a reliable goalscorer to solve.

 

[HarrytheBlue]

All fair and good post but leagues over if we win games cup and champs league or one of them that’s a double and a cracking season. Next season will depend on who we recruit in the summer we need 3 top players and we will be competing for everything again.

The UK is (or was last time I looked) the worst affected major country on the planet per 100,000 head of population re COVID-19. The Government's performance has been worse than abysmal - they had the chance to learn from the other major countries affected, but it failed all of us. Given that we're the worst affected country on the planet, we should not be playing football. As such, I wouldn't pass much judgement on how we play during this nuts period. We're rusty as hell and for a team like us that plays risky precision passes inches from opposing players and rarely gets it wrong in normal circumstances, any imperfections show more than in any other team. We're hitting more misplaced passes than any of us can remember. Totally understandable. Kevin isn't holding back, and credit to him for that - he's going for it and the normal precision is off centre - when you have the range of passes he has any slight imperfection will show. We've probably hit more misplaced passes in the last two games than in the whole of the season. And even then, it took a self inflicted Southampton goal to sink us.

 

[Big Dave Watson]

This Season is over and has been for some time
We rebuild pending FFP Decision
And go in the Cups
4 trophies out of the last 6,
Its been great Entertainment
But things go wrong
People have to take the rough with the smooth

Point taken but this could have been avoided.

Two problems with yesterday:

1) Pep making too many changes. What’s wrong with keeping a stable team with maybe a couple of changes thus keeping consistency, building a winning mentality ahead of Champions League, following up a fantastic performance against Liverpool? Christ, even the filth over the road are doing this, no tinkering and grinding out wins.

2) I have said this before, but we need to put the ball in the net when dominating or it counts for nothing. It’s all very well scoring 3, 4 & 5 when we win but it’s games like yesterday where we struggle when we really need a goal. We really miss Aguero in games like this, for all the talent we have we don’t have someone to get in the mix and grab a vital goal like he does. We really need a backup for him sooner rather than later.

 

[bluemoon32]

I don't think you know what a dire season looks like.

Seen plenty since i first went to Maine Rd in 73 and maybe dire was the wrong word to use.
With the talent in this squad plus the money we've spent, only winning a cup that most sides bin off by playing their kids would certainly represent a huge underachievement.
Just my opinion of course