Mallagroth

Totally saw this coming, uniteds bunch of egos were always going to play at top potential against Liverpool which meant they would have a great chance. They’ll do the same against city and arsenal etc but Will they continue to play as a team when that extra personal motivation isn’t there… that’s my hope at least.

Man Utd likely to have their best chance of winning tonight as their overpaid superegos will all have motivation against Liverpool.

Haha Ralph waits until we are in ascendancy and THEN changes it… rofl

Our attacking midfield is getting completely bossed for last 40 mins. Second to everything. Getting mugged off in the dribble. Passing woeful. Rest of players thankfully doing their jobs acceptably

Kick off set piece 🤣

Hassenhutls major problem is that he is lacking in understanding the psychology of a team and this impacts his leadership skills. When we are playing well we have players capable of competing against best teams in the league and getting fantastic results, we have seen that over the last few seasons. We have also seen that those same players can get into disastrous runs where they capitulate game after game with massive deficits. So much of our woes are caused by player psychology in these moments. Hassenhutl lacks the ability to motivate the team against ‘less exciting’ opponents’ or to keep the psychology of the team at a steady level. Hence these massive fluctuations especially when we are ‘not playing for anything’ or have a bad game that turns into a 15 game disaster. Pochettino as a counter example made average players believe they were world beaters and his psychology work was evident in his ability to get the best out of less obviously able and very inexperienced players at both his prem clubs. (His tactics always burn teams out by the latter end of a season but that’s a different topic).

In summary: there’s signs of life but probably still terminal. urgent treatment required

Djeneppo looking good this second half, a lot coming through him and S.Armstrong

Real life trauma and heartache meant that going today came very much bottom of priority list… just seen result… I’ll take not being able or fit to go as absolute blessing in disguise… forgetting everything else I can’t help but wonder if it’s worth a gamble on the touch line whether it takes us up or down. In the words of someone far more wise than I, ‘the worst place is standing still because you can’t see how far up or down really is’

It’s not the tactics that’s the issue it’s the mentality of the players. Same setup same squad but gone from individuals playing passes like Brazil to playing passes like a pub team. The issue is our players confidence and the inability to overcome doubts and fears once something goes wrong. It’s 100% psychological but it’s frustrating as hell because it hasn’t been addressed over the past 12 months. Once we slump no one gets them out of it quick enough and it takes a large break to do so.

Bednarek gets his usual touch to tap it in 😂

Dare I say it but JWP looks a little laboured, hardly a surprise considering how hard he works every game and was bound to have an off day, but we only need a couple of moments this team is good enough to claw back into it if they can be reinvigorated for second half. fuck it time to be optimistic and go for our old classic score line from the halcyon days of saints 4-2

Unfortunately after the high of the mid week game it’s not unusual to see a drop in energy and Villa clearly really want to win this one more than we did at the outset. to attempt to salvage I think a formation change with 3 CB as we need to counteract The lack of salisu. Elyonoussi off for Valery is my best thought at salvaging something.

It’s taken Ralph two seasons to coach his style of play into our players, he wouldn’t have the time nor the fans have the patience for him to do that with the England team.

Broja goes at end of season if Chelsea want him to move immediately into their starting lineup which is unlikely. But I’m sure either way they will want to keep him on their books (why wouldn’t they with his first season progress) Another loan is a good move for them, costs them very little and they get to watch him continue to develop with a team that is making him a world beater where he is already settled at what is looking like a stable club under Semmens. if they don’t Want him anytime soon then a development sell with contractual buyback is the option as they did with Tino Livramento. Again Chelsea get to know they have the option to bring him back as first refusal if their outlook is a few years or so. Despite what the media believe I think we are still in with a hope of another season despite all the other club and media interest but it will rely on Chelsea not being pressured into taking him immediately into their main setup or already having made decision he is not fit for purpose both of which are unlikely. They are also unlikely to loan to a CL rival which takes out quite a few clubs. At the very least I think Chelsea has also found a new very potentially profitable business partner in Saints and it is going to continue for a few years. There is an element of Chelsea maybe wanting to keep that sweet if the stars align above re:Broja. Also Semmens has basically just announced to the entire elite clubs of Europe; Send us your brightest talents that aren’t ready yet and we’ll make them into superstars for you instead of buying them off us for 70m a la Liverpool. So I’m quite confident we will have our pick of the young talent pool that’s in the wings and on the sidelines if Broja moves on.

Getting better we’ve been a lot more lively in last 10 mins and look more threatening. Think maybe the old Trafford jitters are settling. Keep the score to half time and we can still get something from this

Unfortunately Utd look up for this today need to manage until half time and hope their megastars get complacent

Will be very interesting match. Utd now play the same style of football we do but are a ways behind our core squad in terms of learning a new discipline. We had really rough games at start and were up and down as we learned the system with periods of great wins but really heavy losses depending on how well our players applied the new strategy Hassenhutl brought in. United are going through this now but i suspect with more resistance from one or two superstars in their team who won’t immediately buy the philosophy. When we lost badly it was often to teams who played focused counterattacking football, Leicester, Man Utd at the time to name the two obvious ones, spurs another example of a team that often we struggled with over previous seasons. So I think if we play a more solid defensive game giving us lots of exits to their press and look for pacy counterattacks we could really punish them 4-1 Saints Victory Armstrong - Broja (g) Ward Prowse (g)-DJ/S.Armstrong(fitness) Romeu Perraud (g) -Bednarek (g)-salisu-Stephens - KWP And if the team doesn’t come out exactly like that then it’s the managers fault and you can’t say I was wrong when we get pasted instead 😂 lottery numbers coming up next…

Think we look tired first half felt a bit all or nothing

The minute we switched formation we nullified their attack. Redmond immediately improves attack. Walcott off for a good creative and one of strikers switched for che or broja (latter preferably)

We aren’t allowed enough subs to fix this lineup

Whatever Romeu said must have really got to him over the last few days… https://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/jack-grealish-shaves-trademark-long-26145961

Re: Newcastle: be surprised if Any team in the premier league can buy a lot of strangers whack them together with next to no training and expect them to do better than they currently are immediately. Teams in the past that have done this have struggled badly for at least 1/2 season after, i think I remember West Ham and Leicester both being guilty of something like this in the past.

Yeah of course you are right! I remember all the other players they have highlighted with a random picture and nothing but a star emoji. Don’t be daft. Saints media team full well know that AB is on everyone’s lips at the moment so they are hardly doing this by chance. They want us to read into it and I suspect something has happened, but it may be as simple as Broja making a positive media statement about Saints rather than any advance on a deal.

As disappointed as I would be, If a champions league club comes in for him in summer I would wish him well and even encourage him to take the opportunity. he has been a great servant and chosen to stay when offered moves before but he has earned a realistic shot at some big trophies and a regular England spot. If we get fairly compensated in the process then we can’t really complain.