Southampton (A) | PL | Post Match Thread

[Penworthamblue]

Just got back from Soton, shit game, awful performance and as for kingfisher lager sold in the ground, wtf is that shite.

 

[Dax777]

Fell asleep watching the game, just woke up, who won?

Southampton won a point. We lost 2 points.

 

[BlueRockape]

Shit performance against a load of gutless nobody's.
That performance annoyed me as much as the cup final talking of which if we play like that next week we will get fukin smashed

 

[Dax777]

3 more points will be enough to scrape in.

I Hope so too. So we have to win at least one if the final 2 games. :(

 

[Ethan23]

Ederson
Nunes... Dias..Gvardiol... O'Reilly
...............Kova.....Gonzo..........
...............Kev.......Gundo/Bernado.,...
.....Foden/Mcatee.........Marmoush....

First subs
Doku, Haaland and whichever of Bernie/Gundo didn't start. But if you were hell bent on starting our superstar striker, Haaland, it should have been for the other striker position ( i.e Foden/Mcatee) and not for Marmoush.

Its the personnel that has produced the best football and the best chance creation.

Pep believed what you believe, that any 11 we choose in any formation should have been enough. Sadly, he and you are not wrong, it should have been historically. But not this season... And we have ample evidence of it. The 0-0 at United showed we can be as bad as the worst team in the League this season.

We've only excelled in a very narrow band of formation/personnel this season. We don't have the usual latitude we've jad in years past, but somehow its not registering with Pep and many it seems.

We are not that good. But in certain orientation, we play our best football. We should IMHO stick to that narrow orientation as best we can :(

Fair enough , I get your point

So are you saying lewis, Akanji, Kdb and Mcatee are not at level we need ?

 

[East Level 2]

This is the gripe I have with Pep in that he thinks he can shoehorn players into positions that they were not signed for or out of their fields of technical competence or football intelligence. In reality its back to poor recruitment planning

Because pep shoe horns players in.

Seems to play a lot of players out of their natural positions for some reason I can’t fathom

Because it's worked occasionally to great effect. However in order for it to work the rest need to be at the top of their games and this season that just hasn't been the case.
It's the same with his tactics; they are so complex that they only work when everybody is playing well.

 

[East Level 2]

Haaland should be nowhere near the starting 11 in the final after that

But you know he will be, don't you?

 

[St Helens Blue (Exiled)]

Didnt watch the game luckily but from from all reports it was dire.
Who does that lay with? Pep for me however has 12 months to sort it out.
Viana best not fuck up summer recruitment because we are light years behind PSG, Arsenal right now.
Biggest mistake today was bringing Haaland in and not playing wingers as he offers literally nothing up top in games like that.
I cant even be arsed going on about this season anymore. Best thing about it will be the end of it.
Play like that and forget next week...
See you there.

 

[LevyBee76]

could've been worse, a few months ago we would've lost that.

I think the lineup was more aimed at getting minutes in the legs of those that have been out of the team before next weekend, we created enough to win the match, and should have scored towards the end.

Today just summed up the season, the players that haven't been up to it all season, were still not good enough.

On a positive note, its 10 unbeaten and should reaffirm the lineup for next weekend

 

[SWPISHOME]

I'm still sitting here waiting for one of our corners to miss the first man or avoid the keepers hands.

We must be the only team in the league to be disappointed in getting corners, More chance of the opposition hitting us on the break and scoring than us heading one in ffs

 

[Dax777]

Fair enough , I get your point

So are you saying lewis, Akanji, Kdb and Mcatee are not at level we need ?

Not entirely.

We can start all 4. But not in place of certain players. Lewis for Nunes is almost a push. Slightly less adventurous but better at decision making ( our best game this season by the way included Lewis)

Akanji in place of Dias would work too. Both are defensively suspect ( even though Diaz is better tackling but Akanji is faster and a superior forward passer)

KDB works when the other mids and attackers are active... So he is fine with Gonzo and Kova playing with him

And Macca has better positioning instincts than anyone else on the team, even though his finishing is below par.

You could start all 4 and have a similar outcome if they sub in for the specific players and don't upset the balance.

But, i wouldn't have started 3 of them personally. Kev, i would have.

The key players are Ederson, Gvardiol, O'Reilly, Kova, Gonzo and Marmoush playing in their best position for the team.

The others can fit around them in the box 4 mid with 2 strikers system.

 

[cleavers]

could've been worse, a few months ago we would've lost that

To lose, they would have to have gone in our half (or even get out of their own box).

 

[Kinkladze 1]

But you know he will be, don't you?

I do

 

[we are really here]

I'm still sitting here waiting for one of our corners to miss the first man or avoid the keepers hands.

We must be the only team in the league to be disappointed in getting corners, More chance of the opposition hitting us on the break and scoring than us heading one in ffs

Always amused me. Someone earning 5 to 6 figures a week cannot put a ball in a dangerous area for a big meat head to attack. Or cause chaos.

I hate them for how they get away with so much but the torquing have their corner deliveries on point

 

[heslops barnet]

Pep will be putting his team out next week based on who trains best in the week…..& Gundog

 

[r.soleofsalford]

The problem today was Peps team selection and tactics.

 

[SWPISHOME]

Always amused me. Someone earning 5 to 6 figures a week cannot put a ball in a dangerous area for a big meat head to attack. Or cause chaos.

I hate them for how they get away with so much but the torquing have their corner deliveries on point

You've hit the nail on the head.

I'm not expecting us to score from every corner, What I am expecting is for a player to deliver a cross in to cause chaos or give us something to attack. Its really not that difficult.

 

[Dax777]

I'm still sitting here waiting for one of our corners to miss the first man or avoid the keepers hands.

We must be the only team in the league to be disappointed in getting corners, More chance of the opposition hitting us on the break and scoring than us heading one in ffs

Marmoush should take every Corner!!! How is this not registering with Pep?

Designate Marmoush the indirect dead ball taker. I believe he is probably the best direct free kick taker too. But I'd even accept seniority on that one. As success raye on Direct kicks ate low.

But on ALL indirect kicks it shouldn't even be a discussion:(

 

[Pingu the Penguin]

We tried high risk football earlier in the season e.g., at home to Spurs and got cut to pieces.

We play slow possession football because we don't have Rodri and KDB is 34 next month.

We endured about 3 months of having 9 men in the opposition half and then conceeding the same breakaway goal week in and week out. Things are marginally better now!

 

[oakiecokie]

Stat from the first half was 300 passes and 2 shots that’s poor. Don’t know what’s happened to us

Too many players not wanting to get hurt with the fear of missing out on next Saturdays Final perhaps ?