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Post Match Reaction: SAINTS 2-3 Aston Villa


Saint-Armstrong

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Frustrating evening, dominated large parts of it but a combination of poor decisions and a lack of penetration/finishing means we lost.

 

We need to look on this as a valuable lesson. We played better than I thought we would given some of the injuries and the fact Clyne also went off. Thought Fonte played pretty well at right back in fact. All this talk of 'bubble' bursting is just an easy way out... IMO we still have plenty to play for and aim for, and if we continue to work hard on cutting out some of the mistakes that have crept in, and work harder on converting our possession into goals, we can still make a good stride forward this season.

 

The key to remember is that our rise won't be overnight. We're improving on last season by far already, and if we learn these lessons, continue to strengthen the squad and keep the faith then think where we could be in a year or two. Rome wasn't built in a day. Have faith.

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I'm not one to read too much into stats as they can sometimes be misleading, but you can't look at the following from the bbc and not come to the conclusion that we were very unlucky to lose the game.

 

Possession

Southampton 77%

Aston Villa 23%

 

Shots

Southampton 21 9 on target

Aston Villa 6 3 on target

 

That's as one sided a game the prem will see in a while. One of those games. Anyone suggesting otherwise is a troll

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Every side has a rough patch,this is ours.

We dominated,we didn't play poorly....injuries are now taking its toll.

We are not in a privileged position like some other clubs to have a truly superb squad that has quality to come off from the bench and as replacements.

 

Some seem to think,due to our fantastic start and all the plaudits we have recieved,that any slip up is inexcusable and readily point finger at individual players,Christ some of these players were in Lge 1 and championship a short while ago. We gained the plaudits because this was realised by pundits and professional in the game.

Mistakes will be made by the management and players....I don't like it,but we are excelling.

Look at some of the established premier Lge sides this season....

It was a smash and grab by villa. We need a cutting edge and some more pace.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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Scratch the surface below our first XI (even assuming they are all at the top of the game, which they arent currently), we have no squad depth.

 

We are simply not good enough or deep enough to sustain a challenge

 

Really disappointing turn to the season :(

 

I think we all knew that heading into the season, but the moment it happens people are acting a little shocked. If we won in the manner Villa did we'd admit we were incredibly lucky. We had an ok performance unfortunately punctuated by mistakes made by players who are rusty and do not play at the level of the players they replaced. We cannot get too disheartened by this and hopefully neither will the team.

 

That is not to absolve them all of criticism - they have set some high standards and the club talks of ambition and Top 6 finishes so they must bear the burden of that as well.

 

I am frustrated more than worried, if that makes sense.

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Scratch the surface below our first XI (even assuming they are all at the top of the game, which they arent currently), we have no squad depth.

 

We are simply not good enough or deep enough to sustain a challenge

 

Really disappointing turn to the season :(

 

A challenge for what?

 

Freaky game, so much possession but limited threat. For all the possession we also looked vulnerable at the back to their pace and are missing the solidity of earlier in the season. I think if you put Boruc and Wanyama in, we win that game.

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Freakish result... Wonder goal killed it. Played well. Wannt to be gutted but to be honest this result looks far worse with the 2 games before. Just an unfortunate run of fixtures. Probably will lose to city, but nothing to get upset about! Players showed they gave a sh!t at the end as well. no worries, no anger, COYR

 

Sleepwalking to the championship....

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Easy to start blaming Yoshida and Cork but the two of them have played practically no PL football this season players can't not play for months and then just come on and be brilliant. Cork was class last season but has no match sharpness.

 

Injuries, sicknes and changes are ****ing up our once water tight defence I mean Gazza and some kid as our only goal keepers for gods sake.

 

As for Villa 5 at the back what **** plays 5 at the back? (well in this case the **** with 3pts I guess)

 

Need to start converting possession/chances into goals.

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Watching on NBC in the US, with 15 mins to go, the commentator was saying "Surely only one team can win this. It has to be Southampton. They have been utterly dominant... passing fluently... looking very dangerous."

On any other day he'd have been right.

 

PS... don't forget the clear penalty on Oswaldo. On the replays, it was crystal clear he was taken out with a clumsy tackle.

 

Football!!!!@#$!

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Cortese would not see it that way, he also wont like that to compete with the big boys you have to spend millions on a consistent basis, something he wont do or he would have done already.

 

Well in that case he needs a reality check. Anything above the bottom three is success.

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Must be Christmas already in Birmingham.

 

i don't quite know how we ended up losing to a side with 3 shots on target who barely touched the ball other than clearances.... oh yes i do, gifted them 3 goals.

 

Yoshida appalling for the 1st, Cork appalling for the 2nd. Yoshida inviting the shot by backing off way too much (great strike though it was). It was like the Saints of old!

 

Why the **** was Yoshida playing in place of Fonte anyway?

 

 

That said thought we were unlucky and showed good character to come back twice. If we played for another 5 i think we would have equalised. Worrying thing is all the injuries and tough games coming up. Bubble has definately burst but we we still finish no lower than mid-table imo.

 

Oh and by the way i wish the usual suspects would just get the **** off the forum. Worst kind of trolls and in no way supporters of this f.c.

 

The admin of this forum have been letting them get away with murder for a couple of years now. I have been a paid memebr of SF and TSF for years and always like to contribute a little in terms of full membership. Until this **** changes they will get jack from me which is a shame.

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You see how successful the season is at the end of it.

Some would think you want saints to lose so you could big yourself up and be the font of all fortune. It does not take Einstein to realise that you need to spend big and have a massive squad to compete for the top 4. You also have to remember that there are people on this forum who are quite young and only see Saints as all conquering heroes. There is nothing wrong in having a few dreams and the start of the season did instill a confidence we have not seen for a long time.

I would be interested to see your posts re us playing a weakened side in the. League cup. A few were pragmatic to realise that being knocked out of that was not a bad thing, especially as we have lack of depth in our squad

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If it was because Cork and Yoshida were rusty that they didn't get to the speed of the game, it's up to the manager that they get more game time. A bit more rotation and sub appearances and they may have been better prepared.

 

Still, 7th place and that can also be a fine position to finish the season and achievable.

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Freak result. Sort of thing that makes me hate football when it happens to us, and love football if we get the win. Probably a cracking game for a neutral.

 

Might have been all different if Ozzie had been given the blatant penalty and we'd gone ahead. If refs want to stamp out diving then they're going to need to start giving legitimate penalties when players don't hit the ground.

 

Other than that - actually a decent performance let down by some moments of madness in defence.

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We got mugged by a style of football that is physical hoofball with pacy front runners breaking quickly. Unfortunately we've been undone that way by several teams - even Chelsea showed a bit of that on Sunday. Even with a full strength back 5 we'd have struggled against that sort of play. Our press in midfield leaves the defenders open to the ball over the top and we need to sort out a way of countering it.

 

In attack, we are just not direct enough. Yes we had 23 shots on goal, but usually with about 7 or 8 defenders in the way. Too many times we're trying to walk it in for the 'perfect' goal. Look at Villa's goals and shots on target - most hit with power and pace from distance. We hardly ever try that, and when we do (Jack Cork twice) it's kicked like a rugby penalty. Someone please teach our boys how to shoot accurately.

 

Gazzaniga not at fault for the goals. Weak links were Cork and Yoshida - but then they're bound to be rusty through lack of match practice.

 

Don't know where I'm going with this. Just bloody frustrated.

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Poor result and a poor performance. We monopolised possession but it was all too slow and a number of our players looked hesitant with the ball.

 

Gazzaniga - 4 -Poor distribution and his bungled attempt at a save for the second left a lot to be desired

 

Clyne - 6 - Very quiet, perhaps injured from the start. Didn't get forward much.

Yoshida - 4 - Shocking defending for the first and pretty much let Delph score the winner.

Lovren - 6 - Did OK, clearly plays better with Fonte though.

Shaw - 6 - disappointing going forwards, did plenty of it but his passing and crossing was not what it should be.

 

Wanyama - 6 - Did nothing wrong and IMO would never have let Delph shoot for the winner.

JWP - 6 - Struggle to see what he did wrong either to warrant the early sub, has more quality on the ball than Davis

 

Davis - 5.5 - lacks the quality of pass to break down defensive sides and it really showed tonight

Lallana - 7.5 - Was our best player, tried to drive the team on and create chances.

Rodriguez - 6.5 - Good goal, poor 1st half but at least tries to get beyond the last man

 

Lambert - 5.5 - The more I watch him this season, the more I worry that he's not cut out for this style of football. Can't play 1 up front, if the one is not capable of getting in behind. Second half he played up top with Osvaldo, but apart from the moment for the second, they did not click.

 

Subs: Osvaldo - 6 - Scored a goal, had some neat touches, but also had moments where he made the wrong decision and wasted possession, doesn't look like he can play with Lambert.

Cork - 5 - Poor, helped the ball move a bit quicker at the start of the second half then faded and offered no real difference. Lost the ball for the second, tried to over elaborate and ended up being brushed off the ball, generally offered lousy protection of the back four.

Fonte - 6.5 - Not a right back, but deputised quite well and was probably our best crosser on the night.

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Some would think you want saints to lose so you could big yourself up and be the font of all fortune. It does not take Einstein to realise that you need to spend big and have a massive squad to compete for the top 4. You also have to remember that there are people on this forum who are quite young and only see Saints as all conquering heroes. There is nothing wrong in having a few dreams and the start of the season did instill a confidence we have not seen for a long time.

I would be interested to see your posts re us playing a weakened side in the. League cup. A few were pragmatic to realise that being knocked out of that was not a bad thing, especially as we have lack of depth in our squad

They are for all to see, I stated I would rather we finished 17th and won a trophy, others wanted to be higher up the table, some did not even know the European qualification rule.

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Lallana and osvaldo our best attacking players, Lovren was still our best player, despite mistakes.

 

have to feel sorry for Gazzaniga, when he last played it was behind a dodgy defence that left him exposed and it ended up being too much for him. He finally gets another chance just as our mighty defence starts to crumble. He wasn't particularly good tonight, but he wasn't particularly bad either, sadly the record will simply show that on his return, we let in three at home. That'll probably be enough for many to write him off again, but I still feel I haven't seen enough to judge his potential. I am fairly certain Davies wouldn't have conceded fewer though, but nobody's saying Davis is good enough either.

 

lambert is fading as the goal threat he was and, despite the goal, I really don't feel JRod is as clinical as he should be either. I think osvaldo should be the future, but his price tag is too much of a barrier to most people's patience. Trust us to get a player from Italy who doesn't go down theatrically when he's clearly fouled in the area.

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In attack, we are just not direct enough. Yes we had 23 shots on goal, but usually with about 7 or 8 defenders in the way. Too many times we're trying to walk it in for the 'perfect' goal. Look at Villa's goals and shots on target - most hit with power and pace from distance. We hardly ever try that, and when we do (Jack Cork twice) it's kicked like a rugby penalty. Someone please teach our boys how to shoot accurately.

 

Not sure about this - only one goal was scored from distance tonight and we probably had more efforts from distance than in any other game this season. Rodriguez, Lambert, Osvaldo, Cork and Davis all had shots and a couple of them were decent efforts.

 

Plus point for me today was that Osvaldo got a goal and looked threatening. Silly to get himself booked but otherwise a bit more promising.

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Cannot believe trolls like you. Why don't you just **** off. It's boring. I can live with Saints losing, god knows I've had enough practice at learning to accept it, I just cannot explain how ............. **** it I cant be arsed to argue anymore. Mods get rid of these trolling tossers!

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What most people seem to forget is that our early form was built on our excellent defensive record, not our attacking. Now that has gone to rat sh it as well, we are pretty ineffective at both ends of the pitch. Only going one way from here on in as far as I can see.

 

Sent from my HTC One S using Tapatalk

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Freakish result in many respects (3 shots on target for Villa, 3 goals) but we were the architects of our own downfall. We played well, dominated possession, created good chances but made catastrophic mistakes at the back. This was the Saints we saw for the large part of last season - playing well but not getting the result.

 

It's harsh to criticise Yoshida given the amount of games he played this season but he always seems to have a mistake in him. For all the time during the match he plays well there is always a huge error of judgement just around the corner. His anticipation seems so poor sometimes - miss timing jumps or missing interceptions - too often the ball and the man get past him.

 

Can't agree with the criticism of Cork though - thought he did a good job in the middle of the park.

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It's all well and good creating loads of chances, but on the training ground they need to learn how to bury those bloody chances and turn that into serious goal hauls on the pitch. Villa were ripe for a big spanking tonight and we could and should have obliged. Rant over! Other than that lots to be happy about and really looking forward to the tough Xmas fixture pile-up!

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Cannot believe trolls like you. Why don't you just **** off. It's boring. I can live with Saints losing, god knows I've had enough practice at learning to accept it, I just cannot explain how ............. **** it I cant be arsed to argue anymore. Mods get rid of these trolling tossers!

 

I'm not trolling, if you actually think about it I actually want to protect my team from this crap, I stated the other the day the external comms at the club need to be slapped and I stand by that, the media will turn and this will have a double negative on our players.

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Not sure about this - only one goal was scored from distance tonight and we probably had more efforts from distance than in any other game this season. Rodriguez, Lambert, Osvaldo, Cork and Davis all had shots and a couple of them were decent efforts.

 

Plus point for me today was that Osvaldo got a goal and looked threatening. Silly to get himself booked but otherwise a bit more promising.

 

On reflection you may be right. It's just that every time Villa attacked, which I know wasn't often, they ran at us with pace. Each attack seemed to end with a powerful first-time shot or header, usually on target. We just don't seem to do that. Every attack is measured and slow-paced, with the ball being threaded through small gaps or played in tight triangles around the penalty area. Just 'possession' football taken to the extreme. Significant that both our goals came from well-delivered crosses in the old-fashioned style.

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55% possession at the Emirates and we lose!

77% possession @ home to Villa and we lose!

 

Top teams play sh*t and still win, while we play well but lose.

If Villa beat Fulham and we lose to city, we are 11th.

Not panicking, just saying.

 

Feels like the roller coaster ride is coming to an end :(

Unless Osvaldo & Rickie starts scoring more regularly I can't see this changing.

At least Rickie is providing the assists, but even after today, 2 in 11 is not enough.

And our defence has been world class, but clearly aren't capable of maintaining that form over a season.

Suppose I should just be glad that I haven't looked down once this season........

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This game really reminded me of how we played at the start of last season. Lots of good attacking play, shocking defending. I thought Yoshida was woeful. Why he started baffles me, he just couldn't deal with the long balls most of the night.

 

And as we knew already Gazzaniga is no where near a Premier League keeper. If Davis is fit Saturday I would have him in goal.

 

We could be in for a thrashing against City, but then again it wouldn't suprise me if we won.

 

Oh well, good job we have points on the board early.

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