Saints 2 Fulham 2 - Post Match Reactions

[SuperMikey]

Positives

 

- Had to make lots of changes to the side due to injury (including during the match itself) but still got a point against a good team.

- Schneiderlin added more tenacity and bite in the midfield than there was in his absence.

- Created lots of good goalscoring opportunities.

- Scored 2 goals from set-pieces

- Good performances from Gazza, Fox, Schneiderlin and Davis.

 

Negatives

 

- Lacked pace without Clyne and Ramirez

- Sat too deep in the 2nd half and surrendered the ball to them

- Defensive errors cost us again

- Lack of 'game changers' on the bench

- Sloppy goals to concede

 

Overall not a bad result given we had to make changes, but they were missing some of their best players too. Need to really look at defensive positioning across the team, not just the back 4.

[CHAPEL END CHARLIE]

More interesting than my reaction was the response I saw from numerous other fans on leaving St Marys yesterday. It's been a heck of a long time since I've seen Saints fans quite that angry after a football match - and I have to say most of that was directed at the manager and his substitution decisions.

[Whitey Grandad]

Jos got himself in a bad position. and look at Gazzaniga's reaction, he knew it was going wide as he signaled that before Jos put his foot out - only to look at Jos with disbelief.

 

Own goals can be unlucky, but they can also come from bad positioning. Which was the case yesterday.

 

Jos really had to stretch to get his toes to that ball. What on earth was he thinking? Just blind panic.

[Window Cleaner]

Jos really had to stretch to get his toes to that ball. What on earth was he thinking? Just blind panic.

 

 

Jos has been an own goal or a penalty waiting to happen since day 1 of this season, if we had anyone else available (other than Seaborne or a bunch of spotty kids I mean) then I doubt if he'd even have been on the bench or even anywhere near Southampton.

[sfc4prem]

More interesting than my reaction was the response I saw from numerous other fans on leaving St Marys yesterday. It's been a heck of a long time since I've seen Saints fans quite that angry after a football match - and I have to say most of that was directed at the manager and his substitution decisions.

 

fair to say I was more angry after the Portsmouth 2-2.

[Whitey Grandad]

fair to say I was more angry after the Portsmouth 2-2.

 

I blame that on the substitution in injury time.

[derry]

The Manager- has to think on his feet, we weren't compact enough and left openings which were along with a large slice of luck exploited. The managers problem was that he wanted to tighten things up but any player he brought on from the bench was a compromise. Both Guly and Chaplow tried hard and put in plenty of effort but neither did the job they were brought on to do, tighten it up across the midfield and close out the game. Who could have done that job? Certainly nobody on the bench. The two central midfielders were positive in the first half but conceded space in the second, neither were positive enough for me until we went behind and we pressed up the field and had Fulham hanging on.

 

There has been a lot of unfair criticism of a few players on here. Hooiveld let one ball bounce which Rodellega couldn't get to, he shouldn't have let it bounce but I think he was looking for Gazzaniga to take it. He was done twice by the quicker Rodellega but none of these caused problems. Overall he had a solid game and did little wrong. The two deflections for the own goals, the first there was a Fulham player behind him that may/may not have got to the ball but he didn't know that and Richardson's close range shot just came at him. There is no way on this earth he had time to do anything but react, I defy anybody who has played the game to say they would have left either shot because everybody would have stuck a foot out. The Arsenal own goal was Davis letting the ball through him and hitting Hooiveld goalside on the line, he had no chance. My criticism for the first goal is nobody closed Riise down and the defence didn't come out and press but sat back. The second Lallana was wide but their runner got the drop on Fox and Lallana as they were holding a line and the cross was good.

 

Lallana worked hard all afternoon and on many occasions supported Fox who had a good game and caused Fulham all sorts of problems with his dead ball delivery. Yoshida did his best and his unfamiliarity was evident. I think Gazzaniga is a cracking keeper and probably would have saved the second goal, it's great to have a goalkeeper catching the ball at last. Fonte had his best game to date apart from a couple of desperate sliced clearances. He's been much better since Davis dropped. Puncheon worked hard but we need more than just checking inside and back. Rodriguez looked much better in the middle whilst Lambert had four good chances, the far post header, the shot at the near post, the far post sidefoot and the lofted shot over from Schneiderlin's pass inexplicably he missed the target with three.

 

I fear Ramirez may be out for a while, in the meantime the team set up looked quite good even if the execution sometimes less than ideal. Davis and Schneiderlin have to be more positive as I feel we lose opportunities to cut through defences by playing too safe at times. If the midfield don't deliver the ball, the front men will stop making the runs and we will end up dropping deep like the second half yesterday. I'd like to see Mayuka brought on or started for Puncheon, we could do with the extra pace/goal threat.

Edited 8 October, 2012 by derry

[Cheese on Toast]

The Manager- has to think on his feet, we weren't compact enough and left openings which were along with a large slice of luck exploited. The managers problem was that he wanted to tighten things up but any player he brought on from the bench was a compromise. Both Guly and Chaplow tried hard and put in plenty of effort but neither did the job they were brought on to do, tighten it up across the midfield and close out the game. Who could have done that job? Certainly nobody on the bench. The two central midfielders were positive in the first half but conceded space in the second, neither were positive enough for me until we went behind and we pressed up the field and had Fulham hanging on.

 

There has been a lot of unfair criticism of a few players on here. Hooiveld let one ball bounce which Rodellega couldn't get to, he shouldn't have let it bounce but I think he was looking for Gazzaniga to take it. He was done twice by the quicker Rodellega but none of these caused problems. Overall he had a solid game and did little wrong. The two deflections for the own goals, the first there was a Fulham player behind him that may/may not have got to the ball but he didn't know that and Richardson's close range shot just came at him. There is no way on this earth he had time to do anything but react, I defy anybody who has played the game to say they would have left either shot because everybody would have stuck a foot out. The Arsenal own goal was Davis letting the ball through him and hitting Hooiveld goalside on the line, he had no chance. My criticism for the first goal is nobody closed Riise down and the defence didn't come out and press but sat back. The second Lallana was wide but their runner got the drop on Fox and Lallana as they were holding a line and the cross was good.

 

Lallana worked hard all afternoon and on many occasions supported Fox who had a good game and caused Fulham all sorts of problems with his dead ball delivery. Yoshida did his best and his unfamiliarity was evident. I think Gazzaniga is a cracking keeper and probably would have saved the second goal, it's great to have a goalkeeper catching the ball at last. Fonte had his best game to date apart from a couple of desperate sliced clearances. He's been much better since Davis dropped. Puncheon worked hard but we need more than just checking inside and back. Rodriguez looked much better in the middle whilst Lambert had four good chances, the far post header, the shot at the near post, the far post sidefoot and the lofted shot over from Schneiderlin's pass inexplicably he missed the target with three.

 

I fear Ramirez may be out for a while, in the meantime the team set up looked quite good even if the execution sometimes less than ideal. Davis and Schneiderlin have to be more positive as I feel we lose opportunities to cut through defences by playing too safe at times. If the midfield don't deliver the ball, the front men will stop making the runs and we will end up dropping deep like the second half yesterday. I'd like to see Mayuka brought on or started for Puncheon, we could do with the extra pace/goal threat.

 

This makes me happy

[krissyboy31]

Poor performance against a poor Fulham side on yesterday's performance. I did not understand the substitutions apart from the Richardson one as we lost our shape.

 

There were some individual wretched performances particularly second half.

 

Big improvement needed at West Ham.

Not at all sure I agree with that I thought 2nd half they were much, much better than us and made me think if this is an 'average' Prem team, we are in for a long season.

[Thedelldays]

Not at all sure I agree with that I thought 2nd half they were much, much better than us and made me think if this is an 'average' Prem team, we are in for a long season.

they will probably be the most inept attacking force we will face this season...they were there for the taking and would have been game over had they played a team half decent

[krissyboy31]

they will probably be the most inept attacking force we will face this season...they were there for the taking and would have been game over had they played a team half decent

They've scored 15 goals so far this season, the same as Chelsea and Citeh and more than Spuds an Arsenal.

[S-Clarke]

They've scored 15 goals so far this season, the same as Chelsea and Citeh and more than Spuds an Arsenal.

 

But that was with the likes of Frei, Berbatov, Petric etc. They were as weak in attack as they could be yesterday.

[Thedelldays]

They've scored 15 goals so far this season, the same as Chelsea and Citeh and more than Spuds an Arsenal.

thats nice...but they had more players than us out....and were terrible..

 

that fulham team, on that performance will probably be the most inept we face, home or away all season

leeds will absolutely give us more of a game that than

[rooney]

The Manager- has to think on his feet, we weren't compact enough and left openings which were along with a large slice of luck exploited. The managers problem was that he wanted to tighten things up but any player he brought on from the bench was a compromise. Both Guly and Chaplow tried hard and put in plenty of effort but neither did the job they were brought on to do, tighten it up across the midfield and close out the game. Who could have done that job? Certainly nobody on the bench. The two central midfielders were positive in the first half but conceded space in the second, neither were positive enough for me until we went behind and we pressed up the field and had Fulham hanging on.

 

There has been a lot of unfair criticism of a few players on here. Hooiveld let one ball bounce which Rodellega couldn't get to, he shouldn't have let it bounce but I think he was looking for Gazzaniga to take it. He was done twice by the quicker Rodellega but none of these caused problems. Overall he had a solid game and did little wrong. The two deflections for the own goals, the first there was a Fulham player behind him that may/may not have got to the ball but he didn't know that and Richardson's close range shot just came at him. There is no way on this earth he had time to do anything but react, I defy anybody who has played the game to say they would have left either shot because everybody would have stuck a foot out. The Arsenal own goal was Davis letting the ball through him and hitting Hooiveld goalside on the line, he had no chance. My criticism for the first goal is nobody closed Riise down and the defence didn't come out and press but sat back. The second Lallana was wide but their runner got the drop on Fox and Lallana as they were holding a line and the cross was good.

 

Lallana worked hard all afternoon and on many occasions supported Fox who had a good game and caused Fulham all sorts of problems with his dead ball delivery. Yoshida did his best and his unfamiliarity was evident. I think Gazzaniga is a cracking keeper and probably would have saved the second goal, it's great to have a goalkeeper catching the ball at last. Fonte had his best game to date apart from a couple of desperate sliced clearances. He's been much better since Davis dropped. Puncheon worked hard but we need more than just checking inside and back. Rodriguez looked much better in the middle whilst Lambert had four good chances, the far post header, the shot at the near post, the far post sidefoot and the lofted shot over from Schneiderlin's pass inexplicably he missed the target with three.

 

I fear Ramirez may be out for a while, in the meantime the team set up looked quite good even if the execution sometimes less than ideal. Davis and Schneiderlin have to be more positive as I feel we lose opportunities to cut through defences by playing too safe at times. If the midfield don't deliver the ball, the front men will stop making the runs and we will end up dropping deep like the second half yesterday. I'd like to see Mayuka brought on or started for Puncheon, we could do with the extra pace/goal threat.

 

That was a good resume and how I saw it too. However, for the second goal, if you watch the replay ,Lallana was asleep and was not aware quickly enough that the winger had the drop on Foxey.

[Ex Ringwood Saint]

The Manager- has to think on his feet, we weren't compact enough and left openings which were along with a large slice of luck exploited. The managers problem was that he wanted to tighten things up but any player he brought on from the bench was a compromise. Both Guly and Chaplow tried hard and put in plenty of effort but neither did the job they were brought on to do, tighten it up across the midfield and close out the game. Who could have done that job? Certainly nobody on the bench. The two central midfielders were positive in the first half but conceded space in the second, neither were positive enough for me until we went behind and we pressed up the field and had Fulham hanging on.

 

There has been a lot of unfair criticism of a few players on here. Hooiveld let one ball bounce which Rodellega couldn't get to, he shouldn't have let it bounce but I think he was looking for Gazzaniga to take it. He was done twice by the quicker Rodellega but none of these caused problems. Overall he had a solid game and did little wrong. The two deflections for the own goals, the first there was a Fulham player behind him that may/may not have got to the ball but he didn't know that and Richardson's close range shot just came at him. There is no way on this earth he had time to do anything but react, I defy anybody who has played the game to say they would have left either shot because everybody would have stuck a foot out. The Arsenal own goal was Davis letting the ball through him and hitting Hooiveld goalside on the line, he had no chance. My criticism for the first goal is nobody closed Riise down and the defence didn't come out and press but sat back. The second Lallana was wide but their runner got the drop on Fox and Lallana as they were holding a line and the cross was good.

 

Lallana worked hard all afternoon and on many occasions supported Fox who had a good game and caused Fulham all sorts of problems with his dead ball delivery. Yoshida did his best and his unfamiliarity was evident. I think Gazzaniga is a cracking keeper and probably would have saved the second goal, it's great to have a goalkeeper catching the ball at last. Fonte had his best game to date apart from a couple of desperate sliced clearances. He's been much better since Davis dropped. Puncheon worked hard but we need more than just checking inside and back. Rodriguez looked much better in the middle whilst Lambert had four good chances, the far post header, the shot at the near post, the far post sidefoot and the lofted shot over from Schneiderlin's pass inexplicably he missed the target with three.

 

I fear Ramirez may be out for a while, in the meantime the team set up looked quite good even if the execution sometimes less than ideal. Davis and Schneiderlin have to be more positive as I feel we lose opportunities to cut through defences by playing too safe at times. If the midfield don't deliver the ball, the front men will stop making the runs and we will end up dropping deep like the second half yesterday. I'd like to see Mayuka brought on or started for Puncheon, we could do with the extra pace/goal threat.

 

Best report out of all the other dross in this thread......

[Jonnyboy]

More interesting than my reaction was the response I saw from numerous other fans on leaving St Marys yesterday. It's been a heck of a long time since I've seen Saints fans quite that angry after a football match - and I have to say most of that was directed at the manager and his substitution decisions.

 

The return of the lunatic fringe.

[Dalek2003]

The return of the lunatic fringe.

 

The Lunatic fringe of 2004

[sperm_john]

was a very average performance, again felt we were too light weight on the ball, puncheon lallana and rodriguez especially, spurs is going to be a challenge, would take the same result again

[Ohio Saint]

Can't help but feel this is the sort of game people used to enjoy. Evenly matched sides, good and bad performances in patches, swinging one way then the other, and a dramatic late equaliser. Now it's become bitter disappointment and worry. Perhaps people need a little more respect for other clubs and not assuming 'we'll win this game or that game'. There will be many games that can go either way and we'll pick up some surprise wins I'm sure. Home or away we'll only get points if we play well. I'm not going to worry about a few home draws as I'm not giving up on the return fixtures for these teams.

 

This is the sort of balanced opinion we need to get back to. Sure, I had my more optimistic aspirations before the start of the season, but now I'm settling down with reality. We should have won this game, but later on in the season we will win one that we should have lost. All we need to do this year is stay up.

[VectisSaint]

they will probably be the most inept attacking force we will face this season...they were there for the taking and would have been game over had they played a team half decent

As an attacking force they were far far better than Wigan, but admit that is not saying very much.

 

On a slightly different note having watched the match tonight (recorded on Sky) and after all the controversy about Suarez (and Bale) and their diving, Schwarzer should be awarded an Oscar for his dive which resulted in our 2nd goal being disallowed - no-one usually accuses keepers of diving but Tom Daly would have been proud of that effort.

[itchen_dan]

Some good stats from yesterdays game.

 

SaintsStats: Morgan Schneiderlin made five successful tackles yesterday, the most in the match #saintsfc

 

SaintsStats: Two Saints players made the most succesful attacking passes - Maya Yoshida made 13 and Jay Rodriguez 12 #saintsfc

 

SaintsStats: Guly was the only player yesterday to be successful every time he attempted to take a player on (twice) #saintsfc

 

SaintsStats: Adam Lallana created five chances yesterday, the most in the match #saintsfc

 

SaintsStats: Special mention for former Saint Chris Baird: he made the most interceptions (9), blocks (2) and was the best passer (62/74) #saintsfc #ffc

 

SaintsStats: Paulo Gazzanigga had a 71% pass distribution success rate (5/7) #saintsfc

 

SaintsStats: Some stats on our passing - We attempted 365 passes with a completion rate of 75%, our lowest rate in the league this season #saintsfc

 

SaintsStats: Of those 365 passes, 88% were short (322) and 12% long (43) #saintsfc

 

SaintsStats: 53% of those 365 passes were forward (193), 27% were backwards (100) and 20% were square (72) #saintsfc

[Saint Fan CaM]

Some good stats from yesterdays game.

 

SaintsStats: Morgan Schneiderlin made five successful tackles yesterday, the most in the match #saintsfc

 

SaintsStats: Two Saints players made the most succesful attacking passes - Maya Yoshida made 13 and Jay Rodriguez 12 #saintsfc

 

SaintsStats: Guly was the only player yesterday to be successful every time he attempted to take a player on (twice) #saintsfc

 

SaintsStats: Adam Lallana created five chances yesterday, the most in the match #saintsfc

 

SaintsStats: Special mention for former Saint Chris Baird: he made the most interceptions (9), blocks (2) and was the best passer (62/74) #saintsfc #ffc

 

SaintsStats: Paulo Gazzanigga had a 71% pass distribution success rate (5/7) #saintsfc

 

SaintsStats: Some stats on our passing - We attempted 365 passes with a completion rate of 75%, our lowest rate in the league this season #saintsfc

 

SaintsStats: Of those 365 passes, 88% were short (322) and 12% long (43) #saintsfc

 

SaintsStats: 53% of those 365 passes were forward (193), 27% were backwards (100) and 20% were square (72) #saintsfc

 

All very interesting, however perhaps the most meaningful stat is this - only 1 point at home from a weak Fulham side. Or how about 4 points from a possible 21? Relegation beckons for certain unless something gets sorted out - either the defence or Adkins learns from his substitution mistakes.