| Southampton V Brighton The Verdict on 09:37 - Mar 15 with 902 views | saintwizzler |
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| Southampton V Brighton The Verdict on 10:22 - Mar 15 with 832 views | Sadoldgit |
The first half wasn’t too bad apart from nearly conceding at the end but for a fine save from Forster. It looked like we would go on to win it but all that changed, yet again, in the second half when there was little reaction after they carved us open all too easily. I can understand why Ralph sat down and looked bemused. When things aren’t quite going to plan you can tweak things here and there. When virtually the whole team is flat, what can you do? Even the substitutions failed to help raise the energy of the team. There were so many disappointing aspects of our game. Tella, who has been a bright spark of late, hardly had a sniff yesterday and we failed to get him in positions where he hurts people. Stuey looked off the boil. Bednarek looks like he is running in treacle. We have seen it so many times before, but this bunch of players seems to leak confidence when they get a set back. Will changing the manager change anything? I doubt it. Ralph worked miracles last year and got a tune out of them but it’s hard to see the likes of Howe getting much more out of a group that don’t seem to be able to put 90 minutes in. I think that Ralph is a decent manager and I would stick with him, but somehow the finances must be found to overhaul the squad so that we have better strength in depth for next season. |  | | |
| Southampton V Brighton The Verdict on 10:26 - Mar 15 with 822 views | SonicBoom |
Well fair play to you Nick for coming up with one!
I think you are about right for what happened on the day. I think what most fans want to understand (and I don't mean it's your job to explain) is how we are so crap.
Why did we pass the ball around aimlessly?
When our passing game isn't working, why don't we try and mix it up?
Why were we so poor when Ralph clearly made this game a priority.
Where does Ralph now stand after losing 10 of the last 12 games?
How was Dunk allowed virtually a free header from 10 yards from a corner when he is the only player they have that can head it?
Personally I think any team can have a bad day but there is no excuse for not wanting it as much as the other team. Players like Bertrand just don't seem motivated at all. |  | | |
| Southampton V Brighton The Verdict on 10:30 - Mar 15 with 816 views | Sadoldgit |
Bertrand was motivated enough to get up to the penalty area for the assist, but I agree that he was the wrong person to be marking Dunk. | | | |
| Southampton V Brighton The Verdict on 11:05 - Mar 15 with 766 views | SonicBoom |
Bertrand is odd. I often think he is the best player we have. But he seems to be 80% now. Occasionally he overlaps but not that often and his final ball is careless.
It's not his fault he was marking Dunk albeit zonally I do agree.
There was a time that with him one side and Clyne the other we looked brilliant down the flanks and even scored goals. Now he looks like a man who knows he's under no pressure for his place so does just about enough but no more.
As for second halves don't get me started. There is a stat that we have scored something like 2 goals past the 55 minute mark in the last 15 games (or something similar) where we've conceeded loads. That can't be right. I really should have looked that up !! | | | |
| Southampton V Brighton The Verdict on 11:19 - Mar 15 with 753 views | Bicester_North |
| Southampton V Brighton The Verdict on 11:05 - Mar 15 by SonicBoom |
Bertrand is odd. I often think he is the best player we have. But he seems to be 80% now. Occasionally he overlaps but not that often and his final ball is careless.
It's not his fault he was marking Dunk albeit zonally I do agree.
There was a time that with him one side and Clyne the other we looked brilliant down the flanks and even scored goals. Now he looks like a man who knows he's under no pressure for his place so does just about enough but no more.
As for second halves don't get me started. There is a stat that we have scored something like 2 goals past the 55 minute mark in the last 15 games (or something similar) where we've conceeded loads. That can't be right. I really should have looked that up !! |
It was almost funny as were supposedly chasing the game, think it was 3 times in a row it came to Bertrand in the opp half, and each time he just stopped, passes it backwards and ended up putting our defence under pressure and losing all momentum.
Whilst also looking completely unmotivated to do anything about it. His body language is terrible and if I was an opposing player I’d want to see that. |  |
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| Southampton V Brighton The Verdict on 12:13 - Mar 15 with 713 views | saint22 |
| Southampton V Brighton The Verdict on 11:05 - Mar 15 by SonicBoom |
Bertrand is odd. I often think he is the best player we have. But he seems to be 80% now. Occasionally he overlaps but not that often and his final ball is careless.
It's not his fault he was marking Dunk albeit zonally I do agree.
There was a time that with him one side and Clyne the other we looked brilliant down the flanks and even scored goals. Now he looks like a man who knows he's under no pressure for his place so does just about enough but no more.
As for second halves don't get me started. There is a stat that we have scored something like 2 goals past the 55 minute mark in the last 15 games (or something similar) where we've conceeded loads. That can't be right. I really should have looked that up !! |
Yep he is a good player but he has no competition so he sits back on his laurels now, plus i would say he looks like he is off come the summer
He was all over the place positionally Sunday god knows why as he usually isnt that bad
As for him marking Dunk, useless. Its happened so many times that the oppositions main threat a la Kane for Spurs is unmarked at corners | | | |
| Southampton V Brighton The Verdict on 12:16 - Mar 15 with 711 views | Sadoldgit |
| Southampton V Brighton The Verdict on 11:05 - Mar 15 by SonicBoom |
Bertrand is odd. I often think he is the best player we have. But he seems to be 80% now. Occasionally he overlaps but not that often and his final ball is careless.
It's not his fault he was marking Dunk albeit zonally I do agree.
There was a time that with him one side and Clyne the other we looked brilliant down the flanks and even scored goals. Now he looks like a man who knows he's under no pressure for his place so does just about enough but no more.
As for second halves don't get me started. There is a stat that we have scored something like 2 goals past the 55 minute mark in the last 15 games (or something similar) where we've conceeded loads. That can't be right. I really should have looked that up !! |
That’s an awful stat but no surprise. I do wonder if we burnt ourselves out in that initial period when we were flying. We struggle against pack defences and we are easy to score against on the counter. I know that Ralph likes us to be brave on the ball but when we lose it we get carved open very easily in midfield and then we have to rely on a poor finish or a good save. Even when we playing well we frequently gave up some relatively easy chances. Ralph’s preferred way of playing looks great when it works, but we haven’t got the quality of players or the depth of squad to keep it going for any length of time. It is probably time for a complete change of tactics from now until the end of the season. We need to protect the keeper and the back four more and mix up the tempo a bit. We have got the pace to trouble teams but as has been said so often, all too often we turn round and the ball ends up back with the keeper. I wonder how long it will be before the high press becomes a tactic of the past? Teams are working out how to play against it and it can often be a liability. | | | |
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| Southampton V Brighton The Verdict on 12:21 - Mar 15 with 710 views | Berber |
| Southampton V Brighton The Verdict on 10:26 - Mar 15 by SonicBoom |
Well fair play to you Nick for coming up with one!
I think you are about right for what happened on the day. I think what most fans want to understand (and I don't mean it's your job to explain) is how we are so crap.
Why did we pass the ball around aimlessly?
When our passing game isn't working, why don't we try and mix it up?
Why were we so poor when Ralph clearly made this game a priority.
Where does Ralph now stand after losing 10 of the last 12 games?
How was Dunk allowed virtually a free header from 10 yards from a corner when he is the only player they have that can head it?
Personally I think any team can have a bad day but there is no excuse for not wanting it as much as the other team. Players like Bertrand just don't seem motivated at all. |
Good post. Too often, players in advanced positions chose to pass backwards when there were one or two forward passes that were "on". It appears that they have all caught the Redmond virus. |  | | |
| Southampton V Brighton The Verdict on 12:55 - Mar 15 with 681 views | dirk_doone |
| Southampton V Brighton The Verdict on 12:21 - Mar 15 by Berber |
Good post. Too often, players in advanced positions chose to pass backwards when there were one or two forward passes that were "on". It appears that they have all caught the Redmond virus. |
I posted this on the match thread before the game. Unfortunately, not all of my hopes were met:
"Let's hope the lesson has been learned not to make crossfield passes in front of our own goal, that Diallo, especially, has been working a lot on his passing in training, and that the whole team has been practising how to defend against high crosses and corners.
Passes need to go forwards quickly and into the opposition half as soon as possible. Slow sideways and backwards passes in our own half should be an absolute last resort, not the first passes our players look to make."
I'd add to that one other thing we need to do more: shoot. We pass the ball sideways in front of the opposition's packed penalty area, without taking a shot at goal, until they eventually force us back into our own half. This happened several times in yesterday's game, the same as it does in all of our matches nowadays.
Our players have obviously been instructed not to shoot until they get the perfect opportunity with a clear sight of goal, which almost never happens. A very high percentage of goals in the Premier League come from deflections but we're not getting them because we're not shooting. There is also the possibilty of getting a penalty when a shot hits a defender's arm. Basically shots raining in on goal cause panic; passing sideways doesn't.
I like Walker-Peters. He has been one of our best players this season but he is one of the players who needs to shoot more. His end product yesterday was nearly always just a sideways pass in front of Brighton's defence, which didn't unsettle them in the least. [Post edited 15 Mar 2021 13:20]
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| Southampton V Brighton The Verdict on 15:38 - Mar 15 with 573 views | Centurion |
Agree with above post.
If you keep whipping in crosses to your opponents defence, they will eventually make a mistake through luck, lack of concentration or tiredeness.
Brighton and other teams are man than content to let us have possession if it is outside the danger area and going nowhere. | | | |
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