| Southampton At West Browmwich Albion The Verdict on 10:15 - Apr 13 with 1386 views | SonicBoom |
As usual some good points Nick. I have to say that your mantra of "it doesn't matter what we've done, it only matters what we do now" is a little simplistic.
What happens next is often dictated by what you've just done. The value of momentum, confidence and rhythm can't be underestimated. You said yourself you can't just change a bad run into a good run at the click of your fingers - so getting smashed by the 2nd worst team in the division 6 days before a cup semi is hugely significant. We are now having to spend the week trying to fix glaring defensive issues and this is surely not the preparation we wanted to have.
I seem to remember that we got thrashed by Arsenal about 7-1 a few weeks before we played them in the 2003 cup final and I've always been convinced that had a massive impact on Strachan and his tactics, He was terrified of it happening in the final and so we ended up keeping it tight but rarely even having a shot. In the end we lost by a narrow score but we were so tame.
I don't want Ralph out but there needs to be a review at season end. This season we follow one defeat with another often because we are sleepy and lethargic. The last few months have been relegation form.
I do agree about Walcott. I see nothing to suggest we should keep him. He is what he has always been, a nice lad, quick but ultimately lacks ability with the final ball or shot which is very frustrating. Minamino looks to have way more quality to me.
finally what on earth was Ralph doing with subs last night? Adams got ten minutes and then at 3-0 down we make two more subs in the 87th minute! What was the point of that ? I can only think it was timewasting. I didn't understand Ralph's thinking at all last night. |  | |  |
| Southampton At West Browmwich Albion The Verdict on 10:47 - Apr 13 with 1335 views | I_would |
| Southampton At West Browmwich Albion The Verdict on 10:15 - Apr 13 by SonicBoom |
As usual some good points Nick. I have to say that your mantra of "it doesn't matter what we've done, it only matters what we do now" is a little simplistic.
What happens next is often dictated by what you've just done. The value of momentum, confidence and rhythm can't be underestimated. You said yourself you can't just change a bad run into a good run at the click of your fingers - so getting smashed by the 2nd worst team in the division 6 days before a cup semi is hugely significant. We are now having to spend the week trying to fix glaring defensive issues and this is surely not the preparation we wanted to have.
I seem to remember that we got thrashed by Arsenal about 7-1 a few weeks before we played them in the 2003 cup final and I've always been convinced that had a massive impact on Strachan and his tactics, He was terrified of it happening in the final and so we ended up keeping it tight but rarely even having a shot. In the end we lost by a narrow score but we were so tame.
I don't want Ralph out but there needs to be a review at season end. This season we follow one defeat with another often because we are sleepy and lethargic. The last few months have been relegation form.
I do agree about Walcott. I see nothing to suggest we should keep him. He is what he has always been, a nice lad, quick but ultimately lacks ability with the final ball or shot which is very frustrating. Minamino looks to have way more quality to me.
finally what on earth was Ralph doing with subs last night? Adams got ten minutes and then at 3-0 down we make two more subs in the 87th minute! What was the point of that ? I can only think it was timewasting. I didn't understand Ralph's thinking at all last night. |
We've lost, get your ins bets on and watch something else. |  |
| |
| Southampton At West Browmwich Albion The Verdict on 10:59 - Apr 13 with 1314 views | SaintNick |
| Southampton At West Browmwich Albion The Verdict on 10:15 - Apr 13 by SonicBoom |
As usual some good points Nick. I have to say that your mantra of "it doesn't matter what we've done, it only matters what we do now" is a little simplistic.
What happens next is often dictated by what you've just done. The value of momentum, confidence and rhythm can't be underestimated. You said yourself you can't just change a bad run into a good run at the click of your fingers - so getting smashed by the 2nd worst team in the division 6 days before a cup semi is hugely significant. We are now having to spend the week trying to fix glaring defensive issues and this is surely not the preparation we wanted to have.
I seem to remember that we got thrashed by Arsenal about 7-1 a few weeks before we played them in the 2003 cup final and I've always been convinced that had a massive impact on Strachan and his tactics, He was terrified of it happening in the final and so we ended up keeping it tight but rarely even having a shot. In the end we lost by a narrow score but we were so tame.
I don't want Ralph out but there needs to be a review at season end. This season we follow one defeat with another often because we are sleepy and lethargic. The last few months have been relegation form.
I do agree about Walcott. I see nothing to suggest we should keep him. He is what he has always been, a nice lad, quick but ultimately lacks ability with the final ball or shot which is very frustrating. Minamino looks to have way more quality to me.
finally what on earth was Ralph doing with subs last night? Adams got ten minutes and then at 3-0 down we make two more subs in the 87th minute! What was the point of that ? I can only think it was timewasting. I didn't understand Ralph's thinking at all last night. |
I agree with a lot of your points, especially about the substitutions, Ings being vital to us scoring and paying well should have been straight off at 3-0 down to conserve him.
But we have to look at the bigger picture, this wont have been a great season, but we are in the league in what is our par position and that is 14th, perhaps we can pull up a place or two.
We should of course aspire to be in the top 10 but that is a hard ask these days especially when the likes of Leeds are back in the top flight.
I look at things in perspective, 14th and an FA semi final is something that has rarely happened in the last 35 years and indeed our history, 14th and a cup final would be one of our best ever seasons and if we finished 14th and won the FA Cup it would be our best ever season.
As you say the time to review it is when it is finished |  |
| Satisfying The Bloodlust Of The Masses In Peacetime |
| |
| Southampton At West Browmwich Albion The Verdict on 11:06 - Apr 13 with 1305 views | saint22 |
| Southampton At West Browmwich Albion The Verdict on 10:59 - Apr 13 by SaintNick |
I agree with a lot of your points, especially about the substitutions, Ings being vital to us scoring and paying well should have been straight off at 3-0 down to conserve him.
But we have to look at the bigger picture, this wont have been a great season, but we are in the league in what is our par position and that is 14th, perhaps we can pull up a place or two.
We should of course aspire to be in the top 10 but that is a hard ask these days especially when the likes of Leeds are back in the top flight.
I look at things in perspective, 14th and an FA semi final is something that has rarely happened in the last 35 years and indeed our history, 14th and a cup final would be one of our best ever seasons and if we finished 14th and won the FA Cup it would be our best ever season.
As you say the time to review it is when it is finished |
IF we finish 14th - that remains to be seen
I still have no clue why Minamino didn't play last night given he cant play Sunday
Walcott is a busted flush and we dont need another underperforming winger win our books
Time to try Salisu at the back again last night but RH didnt
Its a season full of ifs buts and maybes
Summer will be interesting, as long as we don t drop | | | |
| Southampton At West Browmwich Albion The Verdict on 11:55 - Apr 13 with 1253 views | Sadoldgit |
I think that Ralph was right to give what he thinks is his strongest team a run out last night in preparation for the SF. The fact that the players did not respond is hardly his fault. He did have an opportunity to shake things up at half time though and l’d be interested to know why he didn’t at 2-0 down with the second half to play. I feel sorry for the defence. They don’t get a great deal of protection the way Ralph plays and even when we were keeping clean sheets we were gifting teams space and chances. I like Ralph as a manager but do wonder if he would be better off at a bigger club with better quality players. Players like Armstrong are with us for a reason. On their day they produce quality performances but they aren’t consistent enough for a top six team. If it is true and there has been some kind of collective mental team switch off against WBA to preserve themselves for the Leicester game, I expect to see a massive improvement on Sunday! |  | | |
| Southampton At West Browmwich Albion The Verdict on 12:15 - Apr 13 with 1237 views | Gennaro_Contaldo |
| Southampton At West Browmwich Albion The Verdict on 10:59 - Apr 13 by SaintNick |
I agree with a lot of your points, especially about the substitutions, Ings being vital to us scoring and paying well should have been straight off at 3-0 down to conserve him.
But we have to look at the bigger picture, this wont have been a great season, but we are in the league in what is our par position and that is 14th, perhaps we can pull up a place or two.
We should of course aspire to be in the top 10 but that is a hard ask these days especially when the likes of Leeds are back in the top flight.
I look at things in perspective, 14th and an FA semi final is something that has rarely happened in the last 35 years and indeed our history, 14th and a cup final would be one of our best ever seasons and if we finished 14th and won the FA Cup it would be our best ever season.
As you say the time to review it is when it is finished |
I'm wondering if most people's annoyances come from the fact that post lockdown in 2020 and then at the start of this season, Saints were incredible. Incredible to watch and winning! The collapse is alarming.
14th and an FA Cup semi is decent by Saints' standards of the last couple of decades - but it's still nothing like winning promotion from div 3 and div 2 and the Koeman years. I think the team looked like it had that promise at the start of this season and it's been taken away from us.
That's how I feel anyway. |  |
| |
| Southampton At West Browmwich Albion The Verdict on 12:34 - Apr 13 with 1217 views | TimSaint |
| Southampton At West Browmwich Albion The Verdict on 10:59 - Apr 13 by SaintNick |
I agree with a lot of your points, especially about the substitutions, Ings being vital to us scoring and paying well should have been straight off at 3-0 down to conserve him.
But we have to look at the bigger picture, this wont have been a great season, but we are in the league in what is our par position and that is 14th, perhaps we can pull up a place or two.
We should of course aspire to be in the top 10 but that is a hard ask these days especially when the likes of Leeds are back in the top flight.
I look at things in perspective, 14th and an FA semi final is something that has rarely happened in the last 35 years and indeed our history, 14th and a cup final would be one of our best ever seasons and if we finished 14th and won the FA Cup it would be our best ever season.
As you say the time to review it is when it is finished |
Looking at things in perspective, as you put it....
We finished 11th last season
We were top of the league after 8 games this season
Not so long ago, You were talking about taking games in groups of 3 and taking 5 points from these groups
Now a few months later, 14th is Par for us ?
Yes it has been a strange season for every team and most have had their fair share of injuries, but honestly, the way we have nosedived since Xmas is utterly ridiculous and totally unacceptable. Nobody expect us to finish in the top 6, but the more optimistic thought we had a chance of building from last season and pushing on to maybe 8th or even7th, especially after we beat Liverpool.
I seriously question the motivation of our players and why they are allowed to under perform so often. Then I realised that our squad is so weak that even if you are not on your game, there is no real competition for places, (apart from perhaps the 2 wide slots) so you get picked regardless.
I very much doubt we will continually flourish under RH (the odd game excepted), until he has 'HIS' players playing 'HIS' way, but in order to do this, we will need a few more transfer windows and a transfer budget that we simply don't have. Let's see what the summer window brings. |  |
| |
| Southampton At West Browmwich Albion The Verdict on 13:37 - Apr 13 with 1144 views | stmichael |
Personally I think Ilack of effort and application should be called out.
There are no ifs buts or maybes it is the minimum we should expect and it has happened too frequently. | |
| |
Login to get fewer ads
| Southampton At West Browmwich Albion The Verdict on 14:30 - Apr 13 with 1095 views | dirk_doone |
To solve the defensive problems we are currently experiencing on our right flank, it might be worth swappping Walker-Peters and Ward-Prowse round. I think they'd work well together with Ward-Prowse as defensive cover for Walker-Peters, who is a faster, more creative attacker. Ward-Prowse would then have a similar role to the one Stuart Dallas has at Leeds and we've seen how effective he's been this season. |  |
| |
| Southampton At West Browmwich Albion The Verdict on 15:22 - Apr 13 with 1046 views | saints__fan__73 |
| Southampton At West Browmwich Albion The Verdict on 14:30 - Apr 13 by dirk_doone |
To solve the defensive problems we are currently experiencing on our right flank, it might be worth swappping Walker-Peters and Ward-Prowse round. I think they'd work well together with Ward-Prowse as defensive cover for Walker-Peters, who is a faster, more creative attacker. Ward-Prowse would then have a similar role to the one Stuart Dallas has at Leeds and we've seen how effective he's been this season. |
JWP doesn't play on the right. He's a central midfielder. |  |
| |
| Southampton At West Browmwich Albion The Verdict on 15:47 - Apr 13 with 1003 views | Saintsforeverj |
It's just become so predictable for me. West Brom had to win, we didn't want to get injured. It was an uninspiring Monday evening game the players probably would rather not be playing. Our players as we know, don't always give blood sweat and tears if they don't have to. I guessed we would probably lose.
Just as predictably, fans are questioning the manager. But again, we have been there too haven't we, time and time again. We change the manager, have a little bounce and then back to going wrong again as clearly, every manager we get, just doesn't have the required resources. Again, it's all so predictable.
Predictably, we will be much better next Sunday. Whether that will be enough, we shall see. But it will be 100 % effort next Sunday. [Post edited 13 Apr 2021 15:49]
| |
| |
| Southampton At West Browmwich Albion The Verdict on 18:49 - Apr 13 with 883 views | Slacker |
My two penneth! He can't play both Walcott and Redmond in a games where you have to compete to win the ball in order to play. Surely Jankewitz for Walcott would have made us more competitive, particularly given Diallo's lack of ball winning edge. Walcott goes missing when play runs against us.
Or, to have played Salisu as a sweeper in from of the back four who has demonstrated his capacity to read and anticipate well. Plus he has the pace and physicality. Lemina was brought in because we were to lightweight in midfield. Slattery and Reed were not considered up good enough. I am not saying Lemina brought back is the answer for other reasons well stated on here. But without Romeu we have no defensive midfielders.
In addition I agree with Nick that we still have not found a centre back pairing that is good enough consistently for Prem standard. I also think it appears we have a rigid adherence to 4222. Other teams have worked us out and are adapting agin us very well. I hope we can just put it down to pre cup nerves. | | | |
| Southampton At West Browmwich Albion The Verdict on 09:42 - Apr 14 with 735 views | SonicBoom |
| Southampton At West Browmwich Albion The Verdict on 15:47 - Apr 13 by Saintsforeverj |
It's just become so predictable for me. West Brom had to win, we didn't want to get injured. It was an uninspiring Monday evening game the players probably would rather not be playing. Our players as we know, don't always give blood sweat and tears if they don't have to. I guessed we would probably lose.
Just as predictably, fans are questioning the manager. But again, we have been there too haven't we, time and time again. We change the manager, have a little bounce and then back to going wrong again as clearly, every manager we get, just doesn't have the required resources. Again, it's all so predictable.
Predictably, we will be much better next Sunday. Whether that will be enough, we shall see. But it will be 100 % effort next Sunday. [Post edited 13 Apr 2021 15:49]
|
The issue for me is that we don't get any consistency. The best teams play the same way each week and you know what you are going to get in terms of performance.
We played our best team and frankly it was pathetic. Now we are expecting those same players to flick the switch and be better this weekend against a better team - why? Because it's the cup and magically it will all click?
As someone clever once said "hope is not a strategy". | | | |
| |
By continuing to use the site, you agree to our use of cookies and to abide by our Terms and Conditions.
