In the preview for this match I said that Mauricio Pellegrino had to do something different, he didn't in fact he regressed and he did the same things and we got the same result.

My preview for this match focused on the fact that Mauricio Pellegrino's tactics did not play to the playing squad he has to hand, I said he needed to realise this and do something different otherwise he would continue to get lacklustre performances from his team and they would struggle, as many know one of my favourite sayings is "If you do the same things, then you get the same results".

If the manager read my piece then he not only chose to ignore it, but show his contempt for it by regressing in his team selections, I am of course not arrogant enough to suggest that Pellegrino takes any notice of anything I write, but his starting line up against Burnley was strange to say the least.

The first bone of contention was dropping Wesley Hoedt and putting in Yoshida, forget for a minute the merits of whether Yoshida is deserving of a place or not, last week at Brighton he was dropped and Hoedt came in and was arguably Saints best player, add to that his skills at passing the ball and carrying it forward, this decision made absolutely no sense whatsoever from a tactical point of view.

Every supporter in the stadium knew how the game would pan out and that Saints would spend a lot of time in possession and that they would need to build from the back, Hoedt is better than Yoshida at this type of game forget the debate about how good or bad the Japanese defender is, Hoedt was the man in the team from the previous week, dropping him was just incredulous given the side we were playing and the circumstance.

Secondly was the fact that brought back Redmond, played two wingers and tried to cross to a 5ft 9 lone striker marked by two big central defenders, this meant that we just carried on with the same old same old from every game this season and we got the same results.

So it was deja vu, plenty of possession, plenty going forward, plenty of shots, but few real chances created and few of them on target, in fairness the Burnley keeper had to make two decent saves, but fro the very start it was clear that this game would follow the same patterns as previous ones.

The Burnley keeper was the man of the match, not only for these saves but for the fact that he did everything well.

But sadly this would not just peter out to another tame draw, Pellegrino's decision to drop Hoedt would perhaps come back and bite him in the rear end, with just about their only attack of note the visitors put in a cross and Sam Vokes found Yoshida losing his concentration and got in front of him to bury what was essentially a free header.

Yoshida did not have a bad game, he had a good shot well saved, but ultimately this game hinged on one key moment and we got caught napping, football is a tough game, difficult decisions need to be made, good managers make them and turn defeats into draws, draws into wins and average seasons into good ones.

Some will say I am being harsh on Yoshida, perhaps I am but the fact remains that the manager dropped a £16 million central defender to the bench, perhaps if he had been on the pitch Hoedt would have won the ball, we will never know that now, but my point is not about Yoshida, it never has been, it is about the manager's failure to make key decisions and this was another one, I expect Hoedt to now replace Yoshida in the next game, because the manager can now justify it afte this goal, my worry about Pellegrino is that he does not seem able to change things unless he has an excuse, he can't seem to make tough decisions.

I do not worry about the quality of our squad, I have always been realistic about what we are doing and do recognise that from time to tme we will have tough times and periods of consolidation, but I do worry about the manager, if we re just going to put out the same formation, the same players week in week out and only change things if someone is injured or suspended then we are wasting our money on employing a manager, there are no decisions being made.

Even the substitutions were predictable, Gabbiadini off and Austin on was essentially like for like, not trying to change the game, not being more attacking, just swapping players, the second substitution was again the same as every other game, yes Long came on to mean we had an extra attacker on the pitch but too little too late.

But the third change made with Saints taking a corner was ludicrous, off went Boufal, probably the one player you would want to hit a shot from the edge of the area if it was headed out and on came Ward Prowse a player whose scoring record is not great.

But why take off an attacking player ? why not take off a defender, with so little time nothing to lose, also if you want to make a change why not bring on Hoedt to offer some height for the said corner, this was a substitution you would have expected if we were 1-0 up and wanting to close out the game, not one that should be made when you have three minutes to save the game, even making it only wasted our time and stopped what little momentum we had.

So I am afraid the issue is the manager and that is worrying, we cannot sack a manager after only 11 games, we should not want to become a club that panics and lurches from one crisis to another, however the issues for our poor results all stem from the managers tactics and decisions, the issues that dogged Puel last season and indeed at the start of this are no longer there, we have a full squad apart from minor injuries here and there, the manager has no excuses.

From this point of view I really can't see where things will improve, I see Pellegrino doing the same things week in week out, I do not see him trying to do anything different and therefore I think continuing with his will mean only one thing and that is my favourite phrase in football.

"Keep doing the same old things and you wil keep getting the same old results "

Photo: Action Images

LondonSaint added 09:53 - Nov 5 Reed (23/06/17): 'Mauricio believes with the quality we have we can play exciting, attacking football, taking the game to our opponents by playing a high-intensity game.' MP (yesterday) 'I will defend our style until the end, because I think playing in this way with this spirit, the results will be coming.' I'm afraid I've lost patience with MP and think it's time for him to go. Puel, whatever you think of his football, chose his playing style. MP, on the other hand, seems to have made no positive impact in his 4 months in charge despite that being his remit and, worse still, seems happy with the job he's done. Gifted forward players take advantage of space. Camping in opponents halves kills the space for forward players. This really is football management 101 and that worries me.

9

the_saint added 09:59 - Nov 5 The problem we have is mp doesn’t know his best side and all this chopping and changing is not helping as it didn’t last season, the problem is we sold too many players so puel and mp both have had one hand tied behind their back I think puel was harshly treated as I think mp is now I do not blame the managers I blame higher up Mp needs a transfer window to try to address but we would be foolish sacking him as we did with puel we need to root out the cause

4

the_saint added 10:07 - Nov 5 We have two wingers but nobody to get on the crosses so if we changed tactics to play a player that can thread balls through to Gabbi but we haven’t got that either so until we can address that in January then I’m afraid it will carry on
9

mattlegod added 10:08 - Nov 5 Eric Black. What does he bring to the team/squad? Any coincidence he has advised two failing managers?
12

dovif added 10:54 - Nov 5 The biggest problem we have is that we have too many central defenders. And we have them because van dyck do not want to be here and will likely go in December. So we have to sign Houdt and play van dyck every game to keep his value high. Therefore yoshii and Hoedt will not get the time to develope into a future pairing. This is the fault of les. Fact is van dyck want to go and keeping him here only hurts the team on many front. He also should have use the money to buy a striker and an attacking midfielder. Both of their jobs should be on the line over the next 6 games. Where we find out how close to relegation we will get from 13th

3

richardmdcooper added 10:56 - Nov 5 MP has to go. 11 games is enough- this is truly dreadful and he will take us down. I suspect after our next run of games when we’ll probably be in the relegation zone, the board will act. I’d take koeman back at this stage. Graham potter from ostersunds would be my preference though
7

PezzaSaint added 11:13 - Nov 5 Agree with Dovif re Yoshida/Hoedt/Van Dyck debate, Van Dyck being played to keep his value/form up for a move in January and therefore in MP we have a Yes man who is being influenced by other parts of the club (Les Reed?). In my view when players see that their Manager isn't his own man then they lose faith. I reckon Redmond is being played because of some kind of a promise to because he isn't deserving of his place at the moment. As for Tadic................?

5

davepid added 11:26 - Nov 5 Long,Tadic and Redmond have scored 75 premiership between them in 455 games, spread over several seasons and different clubs (for two of them). Davis and JWP have scored 14 premiership goals from over 300 games . These are five key players usually in and around the penalty area who's we expect to score. Given their appalling record under several managers, over many seasons and with different clubs how can any manager get them to shoot and score. Too my mind these stats show me that these 5 key players ,whatever else they offer the team, are useless goal scorers and that our gaols to games ratio will not improve whilst they appear weekly for the Saints.

18

SanMarco added 11:35 - Nov 5 On the game itself we would could all cut and paste our comments from previous games. Nick says "I do not worry about the quality of our squad" - I'm not sure I agree but that is not the biggest issue here. We have serious problems and they are to do with the overall player recruitment strategy for the attacking half of the pitch. Two managers have messed around with the resources they have been given and have found it difficult. I think the likes of Redmond, Boufal and Gabbi were brought in primarily as assets for future sale. With Long and Tadic already here we did not need all of those similar type players. I genuinely believe that Redmond was a mistake on pure quality as well. Tadic I don't know what exactly has happened with. I would sell both those two and Long in order to bring in some round pegs for the gaping round holes in the attacking areas. The biggest concern of all though is Forster. As a born pessimist I always cry relegation after a defeat or two but this year we ought to be strong enough defensively - if the keeper has totally 'gone' though then we need to buy another one in January. As for Yoshi - from a team point of view, rather than a VVD price-tag point of view, if VVD IS going in January (and the cash we will need to sort out the mess we are in would suggest he will - and he is playing like he is already on a promise) it would make sense to play Yoshi and Hoedt as they will be the first choice pair. Has VVD earned us any extra points so far????

13

AirFlorida added 11:36 - Nov 5 Said it before, we can't change our pack of cards so we need a new magician
5

SaintBrock added 11:59 - Nov 5 Yoshida may be your problem Nick but he isn't ours. In many ways he is our best player, he keeps going when others give up and one of a very few who will 'die' for the team.
10

SaintBrock added 12:04 - Nov 5 Some people love re-writing history. Reed had no option but to keep van Dyke here to try to prove to the world and our own fans that we are no longer a selling club. You can't have it both ways dovif and then grumble because we never progress as a club.
10

Chapstick added 12:18 - Nov 5 we cannot sack a manager after only 11 games, we should not want to become a club that panics and lurches from one crisis to another, however the issues for our poor results all stem from the managers tactics and decisions, the issues that dogged Puel last season and indeed at the start of this are no longer there, we have a full squad apart from minor injuries here and there, the manager has no excuses. Wrong. We can and should sack the manager. This would not be panic or lurching from one crisis to another. Simple fact is MP will not change and this will continue. You said yourself, by not changing things and expecting results to change is madness. The same logic applies to the manager. By not changing him we would be mad to expect results to change.

5

saintjf added 12:29 - Nov 5 Several people have asked who is really making the team decisions. There is no point in changing the manager ( I fully understand why) if he does not have complete control on who he can pick. Puel's Leicester looked quite entertaining on MOD highlights although it is early days. Was he in some way restricted in what he could do when managing Saints.
7

vanmans added 12:38 - Nov 5 What a load of shite. Burnley played the same way against Newcastle so we should have been prepared for it. Were in Deep Trouble. With all the easy games we have played so far we should be in the top four now. Looks like we will be in the bottom 3 by Christmas. SOMETHING MUST CHANGE.
16

landerwal added 12:48 - Nov 5 Why blame Yoshida for all our woes. Saints should have been out of sight by the time Burnley scored with the amount of procession. Perhaps we should be looking at VVD as our weakness. Last season, Saints were joint 4th in the Premiership for keeping clean sheets keeping more per game without VVD than with him. This season ,discounting the Man U game, we have played the same number of games against middle order teams with or without VVD and lost only 1 before his his return but 2 after his return. This game also makes you wonder what happened to out "World Class Academy" when there was not a single graduate playing until the very end and the goal scorer was Southampton born, Lymington bred.

9

saintsnutcase added 12:52 - Nov 5 The good news is that Boufal was excellent and may be the No 10 we need.
10

sambat added 12:52 - Nov 5 Q: How many F’s in Fraser Forster? A: At least one every week. Watching Tottenham on TV, and saw Gazzanigga pull off a great save, which would have been a certain goal if it was our keeper. Time for a change until FF gets his mojo back. January: Time to buy a BIG CF as a holding player for the team to run onto. Bring Rickie out of retirement. (Who thought Crouch would still be so effective?

5

1teeminants added 13:40 - Nov 5 After seeing their goal several times I conclude it was a very good header and Forster was not as much at fault as I thought. Yoshida has been excellent last couple of years, definately our most improved player but I would still prefer Hoeldt with Van Dijk . Taking off One striker for another was quite frankly stupid and shows how clueless Pelligrino is. We have almost used up our 'easy games ' and face a run of very tough fixtures over the next couple of months. I am only a bit concerned though as I prefer the championship anyway. Less plastics , better atmospheres and actually a decent chance of winning a league title rather than just existing.

8

montecristo added 14:01 - Nov 5 am gladandexcited to see Boufal coming into his own but he does need need support from midfield and i ofak
4

DPeps added 14:24 - Nov 5 I see that we’ve got a few fundamental problems: 1.) style doesn’t fit the players we have and the manager seems too set in his ways to change 2.) we have no prolific strikers 3.) the academy doesn’t seem to be producing the best players - see U17 England squad 4.) our best player doesn’t want to play for us Those are the problems. Not sure exactly what the solutions are. I don’t know that sacking MP is the way forward, as hastily sacking Claude has partly caused the above problems

1

SaintPaulVW added 14:52 - Nov 5 That was a very good goal, hardly a 'free header'. I just knew despite the P poor performance by everyone special criticism would be reserved for Yoshi. With our next fixtures, we are really up against it now. Agree, MP needs to try a different strategy or we could be in real trouble at Xmas. Fussing about who our CB's should be in a side that can't score is really rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic.

6

legendDave added 15:00 - Nov 5 I must say, I really like you write ups Nick - I don’t necessarily agree with all your opinions, but you do give largely a well thought out perspective. On this one, I don’t believe the fault is with MP. You work with the resources you’ve got, and we all knew in the summer that our forward players were lacking. That existed under Puel also, although given his more cautious style of play it never got that much attention. Much as I like Long for his running, he HAS to score goals- and just doesn’t. Charlie has pedigree that suggests he is capable, but fails to deliver much at all. Nathan is simply not a forward - he’s like a Walcott with no finishing ability. Gabbi has the pedigree and skill, but is lost without a quality playmaker to provide. Dusan - fails to deliver the goods, pretty much every game. Then you look at the under 23’s for the potential, and the only attacking glimmer of hope I see is Sims - currently out injured. So I think the squad doesn’t help things at all. I do think we need to sign a creative midfielder and a pacey forward in the January window- someone different to what our current attackers bring. Do nothing and I fear our current position is where we finish in May.

4

Consigliere added 16:20 - Nov 5 Disappointment rather than outrage was my abiding emotion at the end of that game. I actually thought that the team played with more attacking intent than previously (although STILL too much cross-field and back-passing and too little running at defenders) but the issue is playing with a single centre forward coupled with not enough midfielders getting to the byline down the wings. The reality is that Burnley is a very organised team, hard to break down and hard to score against and their keeper played a blinder. No-one would have been surprised by a nil-nil result nor the result that actually happened, the opposition scoring from more or less then only serious attack they mounted. We needed either another attacking forward or a midfield prepared to push further forwards, and that, as others have rightly complained, is a management decision. As to the great Van Dyke/Yoshida debate I thought that actually, both played well yesterday, and would remind everyone (especially Nick) that Yoshida had the best strike on goal all afternoon.

6

geezershoong1 added 16:25 - Nov 5 Burnley did what we did'nt, brought 2 decent CFs on. Dyce had the vision required to bring on the changes to win the match. We don't do that.
16

Blogs 31 bloggers

Southampton Polls