Blackpool 3-0 Saints Reaction

[Legod Third Coming]

You sound like a member of the current Conservative government! It will all be alright on the night.

 

I am a Tory but to be fair to DD he sounds nothing like the cretins currently running the country.

 

1. He hasn't mentioned eating a pasty despite to my knowledge living in Plymouth for at least a portion of his life.

 

2. He has actually told you NOT TO PANIC in stark contrast to the feckwit that is Franics Maude and bigger feckwit that is David 'call me Dave' Cameron.

 

3. His plan of doing nothing and things working out ok (which is a Thatcher laissez faire approach and some would say more helfpul) is completely the opposite of the current government's meddlesome approach.

 

So in short DD is actually showing all the hallmarks of successful old fashioned conservatism which served this country well in the boom of the 80s and is nothing like the Bullindgon Club Brigade who could not organise a proverbial in a brewery and but for the fact she is alive would have Maggie turning in her grave!!!!

[THEVMAN]

So we have a bad game,as per usual everyone is ****ing **** negative comments are thrown in all directions.What the **** happens if we go up this forum will be like a slaughter ground because we`re going to lose a good few more than this in a season.

[alpine_saint]

So we have a bad game,as per usual everyone is ****ing **** negative comments are thrown in all directions.What the **** happens if we go up this forum will be like a slaughter ground because we`re going to lose a good few more than this in a season.

 

Let's worry about that once we've got there.

 

We've got 6 games left, and if we carry on like we did yesterday for them its an academic argument anyway because we wont be promoted.

[Thedelldays]

Let's worry about that once we've got there.

 

We've got 6 games left, and if we carry on like we did yesterday for them its an academic argument anyway because we wont be promoted.

do YOU think we will get promoted...?

[Whitey Grandad]

Schneiderlin is the problem, a luxury we can't afford playing in a strolling low tempo, rarely passes forward nearly always turns towards his own goal and usually plays his passes behind the target rarely in front. Oakley of old would be the answer but probably past it now. We need a playmaker that passes to our forward players.

 

It was Schneiderlin who watched Dobbie run away from him for their second. Jos being beaten for the flick-on didn't help either.

[Weston Saint]

So we have a bad game,as per usual everyone is ****ing **** negative comments are thrown in all directions.What the **** happens if we go up this forum will be like a slaughter ground because we`re going to lose a good few more than this in a season.

Have a look ar Derry and UpandAway's posts. Think they both have it spot on.

[Legod Third Coming]

Go back to the first game of the season against Leeds and you saw most of what got us to such an elevated position. We had several players prepared to pass and move the ball quickly to each other. When a player received the ball he would quickly pass the ball on or turn and face the opposition, looking to make forward progress or pass and immediately putting the opposition onto the back foot. Players would cut through defences using triangles or later develop the ball out to the full back coming down the wing. Teams just did not know whether the L/R midfielder was going down the wing, cut in and develop a move or cut in and establish the full back coming down the outside. When you have Lambert, Connolly, Lallana, Guly, Cork, Hammond and the FB's all doing this well, you are unstoppable with that quality of passing.

 

Leicester were the first to show they had figured us out and had two banks of four in front of the goalie denying us space between the lines to get our passing game together. Add to that a tenacity to get in our faces and we found it very difficult to make headway. When things broke down their midfield could step up as a unit and have the freedom to attack at will. But we did come back at Leicester because we were still playing reasonable football that we produced against Leeds, with Sven gaving us a chance by changing his formation.

 

Against Blackpool we were again faced with a midfield and defence that had done their homework and a Saints side with little resemblance to the side that started the season. No movement off the ball so the triangles became totally predictable and static, no tuning to face the opposition once having received the ball and just laying it off in hope or back to someone in defence who then came under pressure. We passed it to ourselves for long periods but only getting ever closer to Kelvin. When the move did break down we had managed to pull ourselves so out of position in defence retaining the ball, that we were totally at 6's and 7's when confronted with most of the Blackpool midfield* bearing down on an out of position defence. Never mind the wings, they had space all over to pick a spot, combined with a defence totally out of position.

 

What we failed to do on this occasion and several others is to realise what we can achieve when not able to play our pass and move game. Get the midfield behind the ball such we are not giving the opposition the freedom of the park to take us apart at their ease. Go to 4411 or 451 to get control, at least then we can deny the opposition the space they were denying us. Blackpool looked brilliant because that is what we made them look like, but it would have been a totally different story without the space we afforded them. If you look at all the really bad performances such as this, it's because the opposition have put up a fight, denied us space and we were off form. This has been a real weakness for Adkins in how we play when in such poor form. Trying to play in the same manner as when we were top dog just gives the whole game away so easily, whereas I am sure we could have got far more out of these games by not exposing large voids between the defence and attack for the opposition to exploit.Yes that does mean we are no where near that same level of attacking threat and have to try and nick the game from a set piece or chance from Billy. If the worst team in the league can pull that off against us with Billy, there's no reason we could not do the same to Blackpool or at least look good for a point.

 

And yet, if the penalty goes in all of the above becomes purely academic because - like so much in life - the confidence needed to do what you describe would have been with us and not our opponents...

[THEVMAN]

do YOU think we will get promoted...?

I do personally but theirs going to still be the odd ****ty performance on the way,just as other teams will have aswell,we just have to ride the waves.

[Smirking_Saint]

Schneiderlin is the problem, a luxury we can't afford playing in a strolling low tempo, rarely passes forward nearly always turns towards his own goal and usually plays his passes behind the target rarely in front. Oakley of old would be the answer but probably past it now. We need a playmaker that passes to our forward players.

 

You really cant see the wood fir the trees can you ? Morgan and cork are our deep midfielders, morgan more of the playmaker and cork apparantly the ball winner, as far as a can tell but TBH i dont rate cork that much, he just isnt an enforcer and too often his passes find nobody,

 

Anyway

 

When we play with these deep midfielders it allows us to play with two attacking players, lallana primarily but also with chaplows positionally akward energy, generally we dont play with much width, we control the centre of midfield and play our football, morgs is a massive part of that.

 

Anyone who could not see that no matter what the midfield did yesterday the movement upfront was terrible (sharp was static) and neither help ANYTHING of note up.

 

You have never liked morgan, he isnt a luxury, taraabt of QPR was a luxury, morgan rarely misplaces a pass, I dont see that as a luxury we could live without TBH

 

NB - saints primarily get their width from the fullbacks, both were given a torrid time by blackpools wingers and had a poor game, Fox looked to get forward but couldnt and butters, well I dont really know what he was trying to do

Edited 1 April, 2012 by Smirking_Saint

[THEVMAN]

And yet, if the penalty goes in all of the above becomes purely academic because - like so much in life - the confidence needed to do what you describe would have been with us and not our opponents...

Totally agree with that this team is a confidence team and when ahead most times everything falls into place,once the penalty was saved(not blaming Sharp) things started to unravel abit.

[Smirking_Saint]

Let's worry about that once we've got there.

 

We've got 6 games left, and if we carry on like we did yesterday for them its an academic argument anyway because we wont be promoted.

 

Your an idiot

[shurlock]

Schneiderlin is the problem, a luxury we can't afford playing in a strolling low tempo, rarely passes forward nearly always turns towards his own goal and usually plays his passes behind the target rarely in front. Oakley of old would be the answer but probably past it now. We need a playmaker that passes to our forward players.

 

 

Just like Lallana was too, huh

I've been critical of Schneiderlin in the past; but he's been exceptional since Xmas.

[Legod Third Coming]

Just like Lallana was too, huh

I've been critical of Schneiderlin in the past; but he's been exceptional since Xmas.

 

Correct and Morgan only passes backwards and sideways when these are the ONLY options presented.

I fail to see how the guy is supposed to miracle a pass to an attacker when NONE are in space and available to receive the ball?

We have seen Morgan ping 40 yard cross field balls with ease when they are on.

His passing is deliberate because it goes to a bloke in the same coloured shirt 99% of the time. That is the job of a midfielder who sits at the base ofa diamond ahead of the back four.

Yesterday we had no width as a result of Chaplow not being a winger and Lallana coming inside the whole time where he prefers to be....

[captainchris]

The whole team was very poor as we couldn't even do basics. We couldn't pass accurately, beat the first man with crosses/corners and it was a shocker all round barring Davis.

 

I actually thought Guly was one of our better players, he could have scored/assisted for a total of 3 goals yesterday (the early chance which he did well to get to in the first place, winning the penalty and a clever reverse pass to set up Sharp who was denied by a last ditch tackle). I can see why people get on his back but whenever he went within 2 yards of a challenge the referee pinged him for a foul, and completely ignored him getting shoved by the nearest Blackpool player almost any time the ball came out the air towards him (There were a few he didn't bother with granted). Guly reminds me a bit of Rasiak in some ways, hel'll look useless most of the game but always has the potential to provide a useful goal/assist.

 

Butterfield looked like a Sunday league player, Sharp was invisible and Lallana was awful. Although in terms of outfield players it was a shocker all round. All credit to the fans though, they could be clearly be heard even when we playing abysmally.

 

Almost the perfect time to have a shocker though, NA will be kicking a few arses this week and hopefully Lambo will be back for the Derby. What we need now is the proverbial reaction and I trust NA to be able to get it out the players.

 

Have to say though anyone know how long Richardson will be out for?

You are pinning all the fault on the defeat at the hands of certain players when there wasn't a hairs breath between the lot of em. Obviously they were all really poor. However we should look further into this. The performances for a good while have been well short and in more than a couple of games we have been down right lucky.

Look further, this is a larger issue not just performances of certain players in one game.....

Preparation in away games seems to need attention and certainly tactics which for my money have been well short of the mark too. NA needs to have a good look in the mirror over our away tactics which look predictable and lacking in cohesion considering our strengths and weaknesses with the players we have. Really think it's time for NA get things sorted...!

[alpine_saint]

Your an idiot

 

An idiot with a better grasp of the English language, (and probably of football as well) than you.

[sfc4prem]

An idiot with a better grasp of the English language, (and probably of football as well) than you.

 

Doubt it judging by your previous comments.

[alpine_saint]

Doubt it judging by your previous comments.

 

Opinions are like arseholes; everyones got one.

[shurlock]

Go back to the first game of the season against Leeds and you saw most of what got us to such an elevated position. We had several players prepared to pass and move the ball quickly to each other. When a player received the ball he would quickly pass the ball on or turn and face the opposition, looking to make forward progress or pass and immediately putting the opposition onto the back foot. Players would cut through defences using triangles or later develop the ball out to the full back coming down the wing. Teams just did not know whether the L/R midfielder was going down the wing, cut in and develop a move or cut in and establish the full back coming down the outside. When you have Lambert, Connolly, Lallana, Guly, Cork, Hammond and the FB's all doing this well, you are unstoppable with that quality of passing.

 

Leicester were the first to show they had figured us out and had two banks of four in front of the goalie denying us space between the lines to get our passing game together. Add to that a tenacity to get in our faces and we found it very difficult to make headway. When things broke down their midfield could step up as a unit and have the freedom to attack at will. But we did come back at Leicester because we were still playing reasonable football that we produced against Leeds, with Sven gaving us a chance by changing his formation.

 

Against Blackpool we were again faced with a midfield and defence that had done their homework and a Saints side with little resemblance to the side that started the season. No movement off the ball so the triangles became totally predictable and static, no tuning to face the opposition once having received the ball and just laying it off in hope or back to someone in defence who then came under pressure. We passed it to ourselves for long periods but only getting ever closer to Kelvin. When the move did break down we had managed to pull ourselves so out of position in defence retaining the ball, that we were totally at 6's and 7's when confronted with most of the Blackpool midfield* bearing down on an out of position defence. Never mind the wings, they had space all over to pick a spot, combined with a defence totally out of position.

 

What we failed to do on this occasion and several others is to realise what we can achieve when not able to play our pass and move game. Get the midfield behind the ball such we are not giving the opposition the freedom of the park to take us apart at their ease. Go to 4411 or 451 to get control, at least then we can deny the opposition the space they were denying us. Blackpool looked brilliant because that is what we made them look like, but it would have been a totally different story without the space we afforded them. If you look at all the really bad performances such as this, it's because the opposition have put up a fight, denied us space and we were off form. This has been a real weakness for Adkins in how we play when in such poor form. Trying to play in the same manner as when we were top dog just gives the whole game away so easily, whereas I am sure we could have got far more out of these games by not exposing large voids between the defence and attack for the opposition to exploit.Yes that does mean we are no where near that same level of attacking threat and have to try and nick the game from a set piece or chance from Billy. If the worst team in the league can pull that off against us with Billy, there's no reason we could not do the same to Blackpool or at least look good for a point.

 

I don't totally buy this analysis - you imply that its a case of getting players to play the ball in triangles and pass and move with intent. If we could, we would and would be a Top 4 side. To say that we play less well against teams that get stuck into us again isn't totally surprising. Mom-and-apple-pie stuff.

 

Its easy to rewrite history and romanticise our early season form. It was based on us swarming the midfield - both Connolly and Lambert dropping deep to pick up the ball and Guly and Lallana coming inside. With all those bodies, we found it easier to play triangles and defend from the front. Yes it had attractions but with Lambert and Connolly dropping deep, it was also a problem: we didn't stretch or get behind teams enough and it emboldened the opposition to play a high line and squeeze us -something we unsurprisingly discovered first on the road where the attacking onus was on the home team. Even during our halcyon period, we were crying out for a bit of pace to counter these tendencies -check the Barnsley postmatch comments. Chaplow's (unsustainable) run of form definitely helped and the fullbacks partly compensated; but it was never totally resolved.

 

The other problem with our early season 'pass and move game' is that it depended on giving our widemen, Guly and Lallana license to come inside. However, that exposed the fullbacks against width and sometimes overlapping FBs -and our fullbacks aren't the best equipped to go it alone. That's still a problem today -it was on saturday- and inveighing the team to go back to basics is likely to make the problem worse, not better.

 

Our post-blip form is better than our early season form, so if anything, we should continue what we've been doing -namely encouraging the frontmen to stay up top -and being direct with a degree of pace/penetration to stretch oppositions (though we still haven't cracked that one, esp with Lee's injury). Lambert or a proper outlet makes us tick offensively and defensively, so it wasn't a massive surprise we were going to struggle. We've lost three of the four games in which Lambert hasn't started -and performances have been even sh*tter. The good news is that Lambert will be returning...

Edited 2 April, 2012 by shurlock

[Smirking_Saint]

An idiot with a better grasp of the English language, (and probably of football as well) than you.

 

TBH as soon as some of you sad acts start using grammatical mistakes on a web forum as an arguement then its game over, as for footballing opinion I very much doubt that, looking at previous.

 

Opinions are like arseholes ? Yes

 

But clearly you like the sight of yours considering its frieghtening frequency

[itchen_dan]

Just seen this on Twitter

 

SaintsStats: This weekend a year ago, QPR also lost by a 3 goal margin, 4-1 away to S****horpe. They went on to win the league. #positiveomens #saintsfc

 

Don't give up just yet!!

[S-Clarke]

Just seen this on Twitter

 

 

 

Don't give up just yet!!

 

Good stat.

 

Norwich also lost 3-0 that weekend, away @ Swansea.

[Bensfcno1]

Good stat.

 

Norwich also lost 3-0 that weekend, away @ Swansea.

 

So Blackpool to win playoffs?

[Professor]

Last season, 84 points were enough for automatic promotion (that was Norwich, 2nd behind QPR on 88). 84 points may well be enough again this year and to prevent that, WHU have to get 13 points from their last 6 games. They haven't managed an average of 2 points a game all season and have averaged 1.5 per game over their last 10 games so WHU getting to 85 looks very unlikely. Saints need 6 points to get to 84, which with our superior GD, requires 85 points to get above us. We have to get 6 points from the games against Portsmouth, Reading, Coventry, Palace, Peterborough and Middlesbrough. Surely it is unthinkable that we will not win at least 2 of those games. It is more likely that we win 3 or 4 of them.

[dubai_phil]

So we have a bad game,as per usual everyone is ****ing **** negative comments are thrown in all directions.What the **** happens if we go up this forum will be like a slaughter ground because we`re going to lose a good few more than this in a season.

 

Yeah but they've been like that since the year 1890 something.

 

Good interview by Nige after the game. We were bad. It was an awful result. Everyone knows it. It cannot be allowed to happen again. Have to ROFL at how so many on here have absolutely no faith at all. Clearly we need to sack NA tomorrow and bring in King Kenny.

 

What a shame it's been 126 years since we last played badly in a game and lost.

[CanadaSaint]

You really cant see the wood fir the trees can you ? Morgan and cork are our deep midfielders, morgan more of the playmaker and cork apparantly the ball winner, as far as a can tell but TBH i dont rate cork that much, he just isnt an enforcer and too often his passes find nobody

 

If Morgan is "the playmaker" why has he been playing so deep - at the base of the diamond or just in front of the back four? How can we hope to attack with speed, as we did before the end of November, if he has to come from there in order to initiate attacks?

 

And I'd venture to suggest that Schneiderlin has made as many tackles as Corky ("apparantly the ball winner") in recent games, which - again - takes him away from the playmaking role. And when Hammond plays with those two, which he has - especially during our bad run, we've got a hell of a lot of ball-winning and not much creating going on.

 

My problem is that I'm not sure who our playmaker is, because we're taking an age to get the ball forward and a lot of the attack options are closed-off by then. We get caught in a sideways-and-back blob in the middle of the park - almost waiting for Morgan to get forward in support. It happened against Barnsley and Donny, two weaker sides, and we still won. But it happened again against Blackpool, a much better side, and we got stuffed. It needs sorting before Reading arrive.

[obelisk]

Last season, 84 points were enough for automatic promotion (that was Norwich, 2nd behind QPR on 88). 84 points may well be enough again this year and to prevent that, WHU have to get 13 points from their last 6 games. They haven't managed an average of 2 points a game all season and have averaged 1.5 per game over their last 10 games so WHU getting to 85 looks very unlikely. Saints need 6 points to get to 84, which with our superior GD, requires 85 points to get above us. We have to get 6 points from the games against Portsmouth, Reading, Coventry, Palace, Peterborough and Middlesbrough. Surely it is unthinkable that we will not win at least 2 of those games. It is more likely that we win 3 or 4 of them.

A bit of calm calculation like that makes me feel better. Having supported Saints for near on 50 years I have an in built pessimism that has served me well during that time. If those 6 points could come in the next two games then I'd be most grateful.

[Avenue Saint]

lol, sure your god would approve of such bevahiour, bored of you now, bye, bye xx

 

Yeah thought so.

 

Now feck off!

[brmbrm]

Opinions are like arseholes; everyones got one.

 

....and yours are full of $h!T

[Stubby]

Totally agree with that this team is a confidence team and when ahead most times everything falls into place,once the penalty was saved(not blaming Sharp) things started to unravel abit.

 

But you've got to wonder why a team that clear at the top of the league has such fragile confidence.

[Under Weststand]

God I'm glad I've been to busy to get on here since the game on Saturday, whilst I was extremely disappointed not only with the result. The performance was also shockingly bad. Defensively we were all at sea the full backs were quite simply awful! But offered little protection by our midfield. that was as bad a display as we've put on all season.

Having said all that with a little perspective, we still created & had we taken the three glaring misses we made who knows what may have happened. We didn't and were deservedly beaten.

what I find hard to believe is the lack of belief & tearing the team to bits over one bad loss. We had an off day IT HAPPENS Blackpool had a very good day. Everything happened for them at just the right times. Synchronicity! We miss pen they score within a couple of minutes confidence rises! Jos misses sitter for 1-1 they hit us on the break with a poor goal 2-0 were down they are flying.

Some times in football it all goes wrong as happened on Saturday. We are still the masters of our own destiny West Ham are imploding at present, in my opinion we need to cobble together 7-pts from 6-games to stagger over the line. As I believe that 85-pts will be enough to get us promotion. I still maintain that the Reading game will probably be the championship decider.

We were never going to win all our games, this was bound to happen its football. Always expect the unexpected! Blue line & move on to the DFSCB's

[Noodles34]

Yeah thought so.

 

Now feck off!

 

actually, on second thoughts i can see how much you love the banter.....

[dubai_phil]

283 posts and VERY few giving ANY credit whatsoever to Holloway.

 

He set his team up to play in our faces, he defended from the front not giving our defenders or Morgan any time to get any rythm going. He made sure that the pitch did not suit our passing game.

 

We have praised NA for getting tactics right and yet when we get out thought it is suicide watch. Get over it.

 

We HAVE developed a game to counter these tactics, we have been successful with it. It uses Lee running into channels and Lambert to hold up the longer balls.

 

Well, guess what? Both of them were crocked and so NA had little choice but to use tactics that matched what he could put on the park. It MIGHT have worked if Sharp hadn't done a Claus at Nottarf with his penalty, if Guly had got his foot to the ball a millisecond earlier or if squarehead had a rounded edge.

 

It did not work. We aren't going to sign another Lambert or Lee before the end of the season and we need 7 points from 3 more home games,

 

If you all think it is so bad, go and pretend to be a WHU fan for a day over on their forums.

 

Christ people - we lost matches with Keegan & Channon and two International CB's playing in front of the World's best Goalkeeper. Perhaps you should have all topped yourselves back then when we so glaringly failed to win the old First Division and saved us some grief

Edited 2 April, 2012 by dubai_phil

[badgerx16]

This weekend last season : Blackpool were 17th in the Premiership, Saints were 3rd in League 1. Both teams have many of the same players in their squads, and BFC have the advantage of the parachute payments, plus were playing in their own sandpit, ( sorry, pitch ). Even after Saturday we are still top of the Championship, and still don't have to rely on anybody else to achieve promotion.

 

Roll on the massacre of the DCFSBs

 

COYR.

[Charlie Wayman]

My other half who usually avoids football on TV like it was an incubator for the Black Death observed quite astutely that Saints looked completely knackered on Saturday, she didn't actually say knackered but there you go but it set my mind thinking about what Billy Not-so-Sharpe said last week that Saints were much fitter than any other team in the league and that was their success story.

 

Well if it is true that they are much fitter than anybody else ergo they must work harder in training than anybody else and must use up more energy than anybody else in a match. So, maybe Mrs Wayman has spotted the reason why we played so poorly because if they were physically knackered at the end of a long season than it follows that they must also be mentally knackered, which would explain why we passed and moved so slowly and with very poor accuracy and why we the full backs were so slow at tracking back on Phillips and Ince in the first half leading to their goals.

 

Oh dear! If this is the case they won't recover until the end of the season so we face the grim prospect of our lads completing the vital remaining six games on 3/4 empty tanks.

 

This may not be the run-in we had hoped for and if we slip to the play-offs how could we expect to win it then having to play three extra matches in two weeks

[Thedelldays]

My other half who usually avoids football on TV like it was an incubator for the Black Death observed quite astutely that Saints looked completely knackered on Saturday, she didn't actually say knackered but there you go but it set my mind thinking about what Billy Not-so-Sharpe said last week that Saints were much fitter than any other team in the league and that was their success story.

 

Well if it is true that they are much fitter than anybody else ergo they must work harder in training than anybody else and must use up more energy than anybody else in a match. So, maybe Mrs Wayman has spotted the reason why we played so poorly because if they were physically knackered at the end of a long season than it follows that they must also be mentally knackered, which would explain why we passed and moved so slowly and with very poor accuracy and why we the full backs were so slow at tracking back on Phillips and Ince in the first half leading to their goals.

 

Oh dear! If this is the case they won't recover until the end of the season so we face the grim prospect of our lads completing the vital remaining six games on 3/4 empty tanks.

 

This may not be the run-in we had hoped for and if we slip to the play-offs how could we expect to win it then having to play three extra matches in two weeks

love it...you think reading will win the league as jason roberts is a good chap on telly

 

yet, we will blow it because we dare lose a game.....did you think reading would blow it when they lost to lowly peterbro'...?

 

what an idiot you are

[Liquidshokk]

My other half who usually avoids football on TV like it was an incubator for the Black Death observed quite astutely that Saints looked completely knackered on Saturday, she didn't actually say knackered but there you go but it set my mind thinking about what Billy Not-so-Sharpe said last week that Saints were much fitter than any other team in the league and that was their success story.

 

Well if it is true that they are much fitter than anybody else ergo they must work harder in training than anybody else and must use up more energy than anybody else in a match. So, maybe Mrs Wayman has spotted the reason why we played so poorly because if they were physically knackered at the end of a long season than it follows that they must also be mentally knackered, which would explain why we passed and moved so slowly and with very poor accuracy and why we the full backs were so slow at tracking back on Phillips and Ince in the first half leading to their goals.

 

Oh dear! If this is the case they won't recover until the end of the season so we face the grim prospect of our lads completing the vital remaining six games on 3/4 empty tanks.

 

This may not be the run-in we had hoped for and if we slip to the play-offs how could we expect to win it then having to play three extra matches in two weeks

 

Hasn't it been mentioned that a lot of the players have colds at the moment. Could this not be why people have mentioned that Lallana looked like death warmed up and the players looked tired?!

[alpine_saint]

I think some of you lot should lay off Billy Sharp. He still has demons he needs to fight, and it doesnt surprise me if he is very up-and-down at the moment. Maybe NA saw his mind wasnt right on Saturday but had no choice but to play him considering RL, DC and TL are injured and LB is lacking matches.

[Wade Garrett]

If we had pace elsewhere in the side, Morgan would play more forward passes.

 

On Saturday, we didn't create any space for ourselves, and Morgan had nothing to pass to. He did lose his man for one of the goals though.

 

Billy Sharp looks as if he's trying too hard. He should just go back to enjoying his football and playing with a smile on his face. He is a natural goalscorer.

[Window Cleaner]

Hasn't it been mentioned that a lot of the players have colds at the moment. Could this not be why people have mentioned that Lallana looked like death warmed up and the players looked tired?!

 

According to Nigel's interview on Lambert the players went by coach,thought we'd done away with 250 + mile coach trips of late.

Even though they went on Friday that's still 5 or 6 hours cramped up in a restricted space.As it would seem to me that they've not been on a long bus ride for a fair old while (Leeds+Hull thet went by plane I think) it probably affected them.Strange decision to suddenly start bussing it again.

[up and away]

I don't totally buy this analysis - you imply that its a case of getting players to play the ball in triangles and pass and move with intent. If we could, we would and would be a Top 4 side. To say that we play less well against teams that get stuck into us again isn't totally surprising. Mom-and-apple-pie stuff.

 

Its easy to rewrite history and romanticise our early season form. It was based on us swarming the midfield - both Connolly and Lambert dropping deep to pick up the ball and Guly and Lallana coming inside. With all those bodies, we found it easier to play triangles and defend from the front. Yes it had attractions but with Lambert and Connolly dropping deep, it was also a problem: we didn't stretch or get behind teams enough and it emboldened the opposition to play a high line and squeeze us -something we unsurprisingly discovered first on the road where the attacking onus was on the home team. Even during our halcyon period, we were crying out for a bit of pace to counter these tendencies -check the Barnsley postmatch comments. Chaplow's (unsustainable) run of form definitely helped and the fullbacks partly compensated; but it was never totally resolved.

 

The other problem with our early season 'pass and move game' is that it depended on giving our widemen, Guly and Lallana license to come inside. However, that exposed the fullbacks against width and sometimes overlapping FBs -and our fullbacks aren't the best equipped to go it alone. That's still a problem today -it was on saturday- and inveighing the team to go back to basics is likely to make the problem worse, not better.

 

Our post-blip form is better than our early season form, so if anything, we should continue what we've been doing -namely encouraging the frontmen to stay up top -and being direct with a degree of pace/penetration to stretch oppositions (though we still haven't cracked that one, esp with Lee's injury). Lambert or a proper outlet makes us tick offensively and defensively, so it wasn't a massive surprise we were going to struggle. We've lost three of the four games in which Lambert hasn't started -and performances have been even sh*tter. The good news is that Lambert will be returning...

 

Not saying this at all. My major point being that when we are playing badly is to recognise that fact and to adapt to a type of game where we can be more effective. Don't go throwing the midfield in support of the forwards when you are having little success, you only expose the defence on the break by doing so.

When you are commiting so many forward without success and equally exposing the back four, you can do something about your predicament. Get men behind the ball and set up more defensively. At least you can be more difficult to beat and have you really lost anything attack wise when you were making little head way?

 

We have lost a few games this season because of this problem, some deliberately where we have tried to force the issue in the last 15 minutes. I don't have such a problem where it is done in the last 15 minutes where you are risking 1 point against a possible 3, but the weakness in judgement still applies, what is practical with the resources and form at that particular moment. Away to Brighton was another example when we had to deal with Ricky getting sent off. What we should have done is kept the midfield which gave us the domination in the first half and brought on Forte as a lone striker and see how things developed. Trying to keep Forte and Connolly playing upfront just loaded all the eggs into one basket, without a midfield now to support them. The game just turned in that instant and we were never a threat again. It's all about being practical when we find we don't have the best hand.

[Legod Third Coming]

But you've got to wonder why a team that clear at the top of the league has such fragile confidence.

 

Players are not daft. We miss a penalty, two minutes later they score one. We miss a chance, two minutes later they bury one... it's now 2-0 and yet we haven't really done a great deal wrong, other than two schoolboy errors.

The players can try to remain confident but the opposition now have their tails up and are a yard quicker and at us... We try to get back in the game after half time and we look positive and hungry. A few minutes later the opposition has a third from another schoolboy error we would not normally make.

 

That's sport. Some days you walk off the pitch wondering how things unfolded they way they did.

[Whitey Grandad]

Hasn't it been mentioned that a lot of the players have colds at the moment. Could this not be why people have mentioned that Lallana looked like death warmed up and the players looked tired?!

 

According to Nigel's interview on Lambert the players went by coach,thought we'd done away with 250 + mile coach trips of late.

Even though they went on Friday that's still 5 or 6 hours cramped up in a restricted space.As it would seem to me that they've not been on a long bus ride for a fair old while (Leeds+Hull thet went by plane I think) it probably affected them.Strange decision to suddenly start bussing it again.

 

If they had colds could that be why they didn't fly?

[toofarnorth]

If we had pace elsewhere in the side, Morgan would play more forward passes.

 

On Saturday, we didn't create any space for ourselves, and Morgan had nothing to pass to. He did lose his man for one of the goals though.

 

Billy Sharp looks as if he's trying too hard. He should just go back to enjoying his football and playing with a smile on his face. He is a natural goalscorer.

 

Agreed and that is where Chung had been so good. As good as Lallane is he is not quick so we need a pacey right mid or 2nd striker to make the runs down the lines/get in behind defences.

 

We didn't have that at all yesterday meaning no easy outlet, leading to short passes, the centre getting congested and the ball being given away too often.

[saint1977]

Agreed and that is where Chung had been so good. As good as Lallane is he is not quick so we need a pacey right mid or 2nd striker to make the runs down the lines/get in behind defences.

 

We didn't have that at all yesterday meaning no easy outlet, leading to short passes, the centre getting congested and the ball being given away too often.

 

Too true. Lee provided that in some key away games including Watford and if those reports are true about his long-term absence it is certainly a blow. People are having a go at Sharp but he and Guly got very little service at all. Our midfield was atrocious but Morgan has been so consistent since Xmas I think we can forgive a poor game. Chaplow is more of a concern, should probably have loaned him out last month before the deadline to get him fit for our run in, ditto Barnard as well. Exeter have been desperate for a goalscorer down here and a short loan would have helped us, them and Barnie in getting sharp (no pun intended!). We definately need more penalty practice other than Lambert though. Would have thought Guly might be a better reserve penalty taker with his ability.

 

The back 4 have generally been very solid but I'd rather we played Jack Stephens than Butterfield when Frazer is not fit. I thought Danny was only 33 or so but perhaps my memory has gone up the spout, he played like a 40 year old that hadn't come out of the pub for many years.

[Dig Dig]

According to Nigel's interview on Lambert the players went by coach,thought we'd done away with 250 + mile coach trips of late.

Even though they went on Friday that's still 5 or 6 hours cramped up in a restricted space.As it would seem to me that they've not been on a long bus ride for a fair old while (Leeds+Hull thet went by plane I think) it probably affected them.Strange decision to suddenly start bussing it again.

 

They flew to Manchester on Friday after training and then got a coach from there.

[Window Cleaner]

They flew to Manchester on Friday after training and then got a coach from there.

 

How long does that take then? Difficult to understand the 'not wanting him sitting around on a coach" comment.

[Professor]

Just seen the All Angles Covered on Saints Player.. Seems to me that both penalties came from cheating. First Guly, then Taylor-Fletcher.

[Avenue Saint]

actually, on second thoughts i can see how much you love the banter.....

 

Lol... You sad sad needy attention seeking, little pri.ck....

 

Hope its just grown men you stalk on Internet forums and God FORBID not anyone else.......

[keithd]

Theirs wasnt a penalty, 3rd goal from a corner that wasnt. So we lost 1-0 really. But still lost.

 

Onwards and upwards, as Cork has said who wouldnt want to be in our position.... If we get di(ked or even beaten Saturday then I shall get concerned. For now, take it on the chin like a pro and not let it get me down

[Window Cleaner]

Agreed and that is where Chung had been so good. As good as Lallane is he is not quick so we need a pacey right mid or 2nd striker to make the runs down the lines/get in behind defences.

 

We didn't have that at all yesterday meaning no easy outlet, leading to short passes, the centre getting congested and the ball being given away too often.

 

Lallana is a good player but he really really needs to work on his shooting,wasted at least 2 chances on Saturday.He gets into great positions but the final gesture is often woeful.It's about the only weak point in his game.If he could improve the shooting so that say 1 out 2 efforts at least forces a save instead of nigh on every one going high,wide and certainly not handsome he'd get the plaudits he deserves and maybe even an England call up.