Post-Match Reaction: SAINTS 1-1 FC Midtjylland

[bpsaint]

Les Reed said that all transfer fees would be re-invested in the team so I have no doubt we will bring in some more players.

 

i wish I could believe that but we both know it's utter ********. Seems I was at a different game to a lot of people tonight, I don't think we played that badly they were just very difficult to break down, sort of like a West Ham bus parking performance. Won't be the last time a team comes here this season to waste time and frustrate, I'm fully confident we can go there and get a result next week.

[sadoldgit]

Pathetic management and coaching. Poor choices, coaching is obviously atrocious and as for tactics - we don't have a tactic except hit it long and hope.!

What on earth is going on. It's been like it for last 6 months!

As Koemans influence has come more and more to the fore and it has become his team and methods we have got worse and worse.

 

Koeman out!

[Crab Lungs]

Caulker is painfully slow. Only slower thing on the pitch tonight was our build up play in the 1st half. Too many last ditch saving challenges by fonte for my liking, we really do need a composed cb alongside him. As for their goal, terrible defending, dare I say Tim Sparv waltzed into the Morgan shaped hole and pretty much had all the time in the world to get his shot away. Happy enough were score goals this season, we'll just concede by the bucket load unless we sort our def mid and centre back position.

[Roger]

it goes back to the point. no team ever, in the history of the premier league has lost the amount of players we have in the space of 12 months

 

not sure even Leeds or Pompey did

 

This.

[Crab Lungs]

This.

 

Yup.

[disconnect]

Frustrating game but a few positives.

 

Pelle had a good game, looked keen, good flicks and all round play.

 

Caulker very strong in the air and perhaps unlucky to not get the goal (will need to see replay), but not really tested too much on the ground.

 

Targett better than last couple of matches but obviously not on Bertrands level. He will improve though.

 

Romeu I thought had a decent game, looks keen if not a bit rash.

 

Yoshida best I've seen him at right back but it's not his position.

 

Not sure about the JWP love, some good free kicks and corners aside I thought he offered little and isn't really good enough to be a regular starter at this stage.

[Sour Mash]

I said I had no desire to go to this as was doing other stuff

being at home, watching it is another matter

 

cheers though

 

'Other stuff' being posting page, after page of s**t on here.

[S-Clarke]

Frustrating game but a few positives.

 

Pelle had a good game, looked keen, good flicks and all round play.

 

Caulker very strong in the air and perhaps unlucky to not get the goal (will need to see replay), but not really tested too much on the ground.

 

Targett better than last couple of matches but obviously not on Bertrands level. He will improve though.

 

Romeu I thought had a decent game, looks keen if not a bit rash.

 

Yoshida best I've seen him at right back but it's not his position.

 

Not sure about the JWP love, some good free kicks and corners aside I thought he offered little and isn't really good enough to be a regular starter at this stage.

 

Ward-Prowse was better than he has been recently, but the area he was operating in was just a little too crowded. We seemed to be playing him as more of the AMC type. (along with Mane and Jay by the looks of it).

 

His set pieces were delicious.

[Sour Mash]

To say we have better squad quality is just ridiculous.

 

No it's not, it's probably correct.

[disconnect]

J rod scored which'll be great for his confidence, but should've had at least one more. Needs time to get back up to his usual level.

[SaintSteve]

Ward-Prowse was better than he has been recently, but the area he was operating in was just a little too crowded. We seemed to be playing him as more of the AMC type. (along with Mane and Jay by the looks of it).

 

His set pieces were delicious.

 

1st half Ward-Prowse was a total passenger..we cannot play him just for set pieces.

Targett is out of his depth..and bottles challenges which is very worrying.

Mane had a headless chicken night.

Romeu was our best player by a distance.

We are a shadow of last seasons team at the mo..

[BlakeySFC]

Lacked a cutting edge the first half, then were sucker punched by an undeserved Midgetland goal, came out second half and looked fantastic (albeit defensively frail), if we play like we did in the 2nd half the entire 90 minutes in Denmark next week we'll be ok.

[simo]

Only showed flashes of what we can do IMO, Was slightly miffed about Cedric and the late use of subs but we know now we win on Thursday and we're thru to the group stages ! Simple

[shurlock]

Sure, the draw was disappointing and the first half performance was rather troubling.

 

But do people seriously expect to be viewing the finished product three games into the season - with significant personnel changes and with key players injured? Well, I mean people apart from the urine-soaked one ( "3 weeks in and we've blown this season" ).

 

We've adjusted well at half time in the last two games, some players are just getting to understand eachothers' styles and tendencies, we have core players to return from injury, we have budget in hand (and a better idea of further needs), and we have proven skill at the top in the form of Koeman and Reed. There's not a doubt in my mind that we'll soon be much better than we've been thus far.

 

Schneiderlin apart, I feel that by the time the window closes we'll better placed in terms of quality squad depth than we were this time last year. Whether that converts into more points or a higher finish will depend on whether Wanyama and Romeu can develop a solid dovetail, how well Clasie can improve us in the link role just in front of them, and whether our peer group clubs (5-10) have strengthened better than us.

 

Actually found the second half more disappointing in certain respects - apart from a few setpieces, we created even less from open play than in the first half, despite having to go for it a bit more.

 

It was suggested at the beginning of the season that our attack was significantly stronger this season; but there has little evidence of that to date. The problem, implicit in your post, is take it for granted that new signings/the return of injured players will change things. They might do but there is no reason to think that Juanmi will step up or Tadic will rediscover the firm he showed over just a handful of games. The only players we can 'bank on', insofar as they have a more consistent track record, are Bertrand who will definitely give us width on the left and Jrod's full rehabilitation, though even that's a wildcard.

 

That said, Jrod's return does little to address the link between midfield and attack where people, again, are putting a lot of faith in Clasie successfully transitioning to a position he's never played before (even assuming Koeman has that role in mind for Clasie).

 

Romeu looks very good and has cultured distribution, though his lack of mobility is also pretty striking. The result is that the two DMs seem camped deeper than ever before. Out of the two, Wanyama probably has more potential to drive forward, though you'll remember Schneiderlin saying it took him and Wanyama a whole season to get on the same wavelength given the natural instinct to take up similar positions.

Edited 20 August, 2015 by shurlock

[melmacian_saint]

Poor result, but really I expected us to beat them in both games, so I don't see why we can't get a win in Denmark.

[obelisk]

Come on chaps. Let's face it. This season is going to be a struggle on the evidence so far.

[Saint IQ]

We had loads of chances missed the target or did a weak shot close to or at the GK for all of them made 2 or 3 defensive errors and 1 cost us. Simples

 

Finishing was so poor tonight.

Edited 20 August, 2015 by Saint IQ

[saint97]

Poor lacklustre performance. Honestly don't want to see Targett be second choice left-back all season. Think he's dreadful. Also think Rodriguez is nowhere near ready to start, so slow. yoshida was surprisingly good at right-back although I think Martina should've played. JWP and Pellè impressive.

[monosaint]

In patches we were good, in patches we were horrifically bad.

For the first goal the 2 defensive mids went completely missing.

Caulker had a goal unluckily chalked off.

We got a penalty, Jrod scored if not imressively.

After that when you think we might have pushed on. We played horrifically badly.

 

Really not impressed by Romeu. Once again could easily have been sent off. Gone backwards in centre mid over recent years. No one in the league of Morgan or Cork to partner Wanyama.

Yoshida doesn't strike me as a right back. Why have 2 right backs on the bench & none on the pitch.

 

There were times last year when Morgan could have been sent off. In fact he was sent off against Chelsea wasn't he.. Give Romeu a chance FFS..

[Crab Lungs]

Targetts positional sense is absolutely terrible as well

[CanadaSaint]

Actually found the second half more disappointing in certain respects - apart from a few setpieces, we created even less from open play than in the first half, despite having to go for it a bit more.

 

It was suggested at the beginning of the season that our attack was significantly stronger this season; but have seen little evidence of that to date. The problem, implicit in your post, is take it for granted that new signings/the return of injured players will change things; there is no reason to think that Juanmi will automatically step up or Tadic will rediscover the firm he showed over just a handful of games. The only players we can 'bank on', insofar as they have a more consistent track record, are Bertrand who will definitely give us width on the left and Jrod's full rehabilitation, though even that's a wildcard.

 

That said, Jrod's return does little to address the link between midfield and attack where people, again, are putting a lot of faith in Clasie successfully transitioning to a position he's never played before (even assuming Koeman has that role in mind for Clasie).

 

Romeu looks very good and has cultured distribution, though his lack of mobility is also pretty striking. The result is that the two DMs seem camped deeper than ever before. Out of the two, Wanyama probably has more potential to drive forward, though you'll remember Schneiderlin saying it took him and Wanyama a whole season to get on the same wavelength given the natural instinct to take up similar positions.

 

Can't argue much with that, although I thought our movement off the ball (a key to our success) improved drastically after half time, so unlocking a better passing game (though still far short of last year's level).

 

However, when it comes to the season ahead (and 95% of it is ahead) I'm not saying "take it for granted" - I'm voicing my optimism that it will come to pass, and I'm offering the (IMO) prerequisites for that to happen - the Wanyama/Romeu dovetail, Clasie's ability to provide the link, and how effectively our direct peers have strengthened. The thing I am taking for granted is that we'll strengthen in the middle of our back row - VvD or whoever.

 

I fancy our chances of making those controllable things happen but it's likely than any success in matching last year' achievements will probably (for the "it takes time" reasons you referenced) result from a poorer first half of the season and a stronger second half.

 

But then I'm a "glass half full" kind of guy.

[Roger]

Targetts positional sense is absolutely terrible as well

 

Thought it was good tonight.

[musesaint]

Stop panicking ...we will win next week and all this ranting will be forgotten

[macca155]

1st half Ward-Prowse was a total passenger..we cannot play him just for set pieces.

Targett is out of his depth..and bottles challenges which is very worrying.

Mane had a headless chicken night.

Romeu was our best player by a distance.

We are a shadow of last seasons team at the mo..

 

Seriously? Did you watch the same game as me. JWP had a great game his set pieces are improving every game and they add a massive additional element to our game. What we can all see is that he is struggling to cover the ground quick enough and we have to hope that he adapts his game. However he certainly wasn't a passenger and was involved in most attacks. Way better than Tadic but opinions appear to be divided here on these two.

 

Romeu had a good game but faded towards the end, he has to stop getting early cards as that is killing his game.

 

Mane was mane, he isn't a headless chicken and I bet he is a nightmare to defend against but for me he is playing too deep. Anyway we need him to play rubbish for a while so that Utd go away. He can turn into Ronaldo in September.

 

The problem tonight was that JRod is still a passenger as he isn't match fit. He is improving every game but he is really only effective in the final quarter. For the rest of the match he couldn't get near the ball. He is creating massive gaps behind him and occupies the same place on the field as Pelle. Several times tonight they were standing next to one another. The problem is we have to go through this pain to get him match fit and then we will have a 20 million player on our hands.

 

I thought Saints were ok tonight (no more than that). The team is definitely weaker than last year but losing Clyne and Morgan was always going to be critical and it is going to take time to rebuild. We need that CB in pronto as Caulker is definitely only ever going to be cover. I also think we need a decent right back. If Cedric isn't up to it then play him further forward as he is a real attacking threat.

 

I enjoyed the match and I don't have too many worries about next week. Saints should be able to win quite comfortably as they weren't that good a side.

[Griffo]

I think they looked decent enough to be able to keep us out if we're not at our best next Thursday, and good enough to possibly nick one again themselves. Will be there but not confident. B*llocks to the league this is the only competition that matters this season. We'll still be in the Prem next season but to be in Europe is rare. Let's make the most of it.

[TwoPints]

I was in the Chapel Stand tonight and couldn't see why Caulkers goal was disallowed. Looked a good goal to me. Anyone able to enlighten me?

[Saint IQ]

Targetts positional sense is absolutely terrible as well

 

No is isn't

[Lord Duckhunter]

The full backs just didn't cut it, the past couple of season tour width has come from there . Targett & Maya just don't give us that .

 

The whole build up is too pedestrian and obvious. Victors passing is shocking , sub standard and mane disappears for spells of the game. We were totally dominating when we scored , but seemed to get sloppy , we then just knocked it too long over and over again .

 

Wtf is JWP all about ? What's his job , to run around nearly making tackles, nearly completing passes and nearly influencing the game . What is he , this isn't the NFL with special teams . Steve D is a far superior player . JWP is becoming a myth , young players are inconsistent , brilliant one miniute , average the next . When's he ever played well, when have we ever walked out excited by his performance , it's all hype .

 

Long ran around like a headless chicken , giving away petty fouls that enabled them to waste time . Give ****ing Juanmai ( or whatever his name is) a decent run .

 

I think Caulker will be ok , don't understand the moaning about him .

[VectisSaint]

What a bunch of bed wetters. This place is a joke. Two prem games in, yes, one defeat, and a draw this evening. Get a grip for god sake. Didn't see too many wet sheets when we cruised past Vitesse barely a couple of weeks ago.

 

Yes we're not playing great, but to write the season off now is a rather childish outlook.

 

It does make for some amusing reading, with all the usual suspect bang on cue, like clockwork. At the same time it is somewhat tedious.

So stop reading Alpine's posts. He is the only one. Its quite amusing finding some people who expect to see these sort of posts and even though they don't exist they pretend that they do. No-one other than Alps is writing off the season, but really if you can't see that we have a lot of problems that need to be sorted then that's as bad as those (one) who are supposedly writing off the season.

[BlakeySFC]

Come on chaps. Let's face it. This season is going to be a struggle on the evidence so far.

 

Come on chaps, let's face it, making a prediction about the teams chances for the season after 3 Europa League games and 2 Premier League games whilst having the same amount of points as Chelsea in the Premier League at the same stage of the season makes you look like an absolute cretin.

[Sour Mash]

I'd like to know where you get that optimism, I've seen us play 4 competitive games this season and we have been poor in all four.

 

Which 4?

[John Boy Saint]

Turned round to Mrs JBS in the second half, having watched Bake off in the week, and said we just need another 10 minutes in the oven.

 

The Danes have always been good at manufacturing players and selling them round the world, and having read a bit about Midtylland I entered the stadium not expecting it to be a walk in the park. They are Champions of their national league in a country with pretty much the same population as Scotland, because they are not on the TV every week for us to peruse some folks seem to have viewed this game as a cake walk considering them tin pot, if we played Celtic tonight we would have been given the runaround too. They weren't a team of household names but they played to their system as a unit, which goes a long way.

Their goalkeeper wasn't too shabby when called into action.......... great at running down the clock too for his team mates, which was shabby.

 

Many folks have a pop at Yoshida but he has been punted around the back 4 in every position bar Jose's the guy is a defender who does read the game well, I think he has trouble when danger is building and other players have not seen the danger and he gets caught between the devil and the deep blue sea, that said he isnt as bad as many make out. By comparison Caulker defended like he had been playing for teams in relegation trouble for the last 2 seasons ball into the box just clear it out anywhere forwards, when he had time to control and release a bit more effectively.

Wanyama needs to hold and let Romeu go forwards because his countless wayward sliced shots are no longer amusing even the simple ones are shanked repeatedly, whereas already Romeu looks to have the vision and ball play that Morgan would give to the team going forwards.

Pelle should be fined everytime he tries to do one of those pointless flicks with the outside of the boot because 99 times out of 100 they don't bloody work mate, and more often than not we concede possession because of it................ and its no good getting all Mama Mia hands with your team mates because they haven't read your mind and are standing 3ft away, you are the holding player, suck the defenders in give the ball quickly to the player you sucking the defenders in has created the space for.

 

Thought J-Rod started looking close to where he left off for pace. Targett had a solid game despite having a speed merchant with legs made out of elastic bands to deal with. Also thought JWP played well in a style similar to Steven Davies where he did the running and chasing under the radar, very nice deliveries at set pieces which is what he has missing from his game for a while. Mane is just Mane he is like a box of random fireworks someone has thrown a lit match into, many fizz pop and bang making the crowd ooooh and aaaaah but there is the odd damp squib in there.

 

At the end of the day when you are a team like us you cant expect to steamroller every team that is put in front of you. If we breezed into the league stage at a canter we wouldn't have learned a thing about these foreign Johnnies hopefully if we get through the lessons learned from tonight and no doubt next week will hold us in good stead.

 

Hopefully Paul and Mary wont be looking at our under cooked dough and soggy bottoms for much longer.

[Polaroid Saint]

BBC report gets it spot on. Points out FCMidtiylland are a better side than Vitesse, that we improved second half, that their keeper made two great saves and that we had a goal disallowed. JWP their MOM.A balanced and correct report. Forget the nonsense spouted on here by, (mostly) well-meaning, but ignorant fans.As you are fellow Saints I can't help but love you all; but, really, some of you are right d!cks, la. Keep the faith, UTS.Southampton 1-1 FC Midtjylland - http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/33994069

[Whitey Grandad]

I was in the Chapel Stand tonight and couldn't see why Caulkers goal was disallowed. Looked a good goal to me. Anyone able to enlighten me?

 

Caulker was climbing. Both hands on the defender's shoulders. I'm just watching the recording now. It was Jose's sloppy diving header that sets up Tim Sparv for his goal.

[Saint IQ]

Caulker was climbing. Both hands on the defender's shoulders. I'm just watching the recording now. It was Jose's sloppy diving header that sets up Tim Sparv for his goal.

 

Ah that's it sell him to Villa! Might as well, he's **** now

[CanadaSaint]

It was Jose's sloppy diving header that sets up Tim Sparv for his goal.

 

I'm more inclined to blame our failure to defend that vital space on the edge of the area, "the D". Half-clearances often seem to end up there, game after game, inviting someone to smack 'em and hope.

 

It's been a problem of ours for a while. But we are equally inept at attacking the opposition D.

[Saint_clark]

I'm more inclined to blame our failure to defend that vital space on the edge of the area, "the D". Half-clearances often seem to end up there, game after game, inviting someone to smack 'em and hope.

 

It's been a problem of ours for a while. But we are equally inept at attacking the opposition D.

 

Yep, watch Wanyama during their goal, what the feck is he doing. He really seems to be out of sorts this season, his performances are up and down, his passing has regressed to what it was two seasons ago.

[kermitsaint]

When we have a full strength team out there we'll be top 7 again. First half was very poor but completely bossed the second, we'll bring in a decent defender and when the back line has Bertrand back in and some cohesion we'll go on a decent run. We'll win the second leg easily.

 

The time wasting was pretty disgusting.

Top 7 ? You're having a laugh !

None of the new players have shown they are capable of that level and its dragged the whole team down a level also .

We talk about depth but just a couple of injuries and we are a shadow of last years team

[SaintTex]

15 minutes of highlights..

 

didn't see the game, but it looks like we had our chances. No way Caulker's goal should have been disallowed.

 

[skintsaint]

Didnt see the game as it was a 3am kick off, but reading the comments I thought we had a mare. Then saw the highlights, seems with a bit more composure and luck we could have had 3 or 4.

 

Caulkers goal should have stood, if he was penalised for that, then his header with the good save should have a been a foul too as it was exactly the same, in his hands where on the defender.

 

Oh, foul throw after 50secs...don't see them given in pro football for whatever reason!

[70's Mike]

Isn't it odd how two of the most prolific posters on this site are responsible for starting and posting early on this thread, suggesting that once again they are sat on their backsides at home pontificating as

opposed to actually coughing up and getting behind the team at St Mary's?

 

4000 POSTS thought you would have got that fact by now

[Toomer]

They had a game plan and it worked nick an away goal which they did and you new it was going to be Sparv and then break the play and frustrate us again which they did and we did not have the cutting edge to break them down. The only good thing to come out of the night was Ronalds post match comment was that no more players would be leaving the club this transfer window.

[scotty]

I was a bit concerned by the shots of RK at the end. Looked a beaten man to me.

 

Give him a break, he's carrying an injury.

[Saint_Tony]

Another poor performance. But once Bertrand and Clasie return plus hopefully VVD, this team will be looking a lot different. I don't think we have brought in as much quality as last year, but realistically we were never going to improve on last seasons overall performance. Still, I really don't see us winning on Sunday, we look desparately short on confidence.

 

Sent from my D5803 using Tapatalk

[Convict Colony]

1st half Ward-Prowse was a total passenger..we cannot play him just for set pieces.

Targett is out of his depth..and bottles challenges which is very worrying.

Mane had a headless chicken night.

Romeu was our best player by a distance.

We are a shadow of last seasons team at the mo..

 

yeah i'm down with this view. All I want for christmas is a proper attacking midfielder not someone "doing a job" there.

[jawillwill]

15 minutes of highlights..

 

didn't see the game, but it looks like we had our chances. No way Caulker's goal should have been disallowed.

 

 

From watching that you could almost be forgiven for thinking Saints didn't play quite as badly as people on here are making out.

[Pilchards]

That Caulker is a slow starter, a good team would punish his first 10' minute performances.

[Shanghai Saint]

From watching that you could almost be forgiven for thinking Saints didn't play quite as badly as people on here are making out.

 

Must admit, that's what i thought when i saw the highlights.

[trousers]

From watching that you could almost be forgiven for thinking Saints didn't play quite as badly as people on here are making out.

SaintsWeb reactionary founts of knowledge in not quite matching reality shocker....

Edited 21 August, 2015 by trousers

[Cabrone]

They came defensive and organised, inviting us to break them down and we lacked the guile to be able to do it. To be fair I thought they were a decent enough team and this tie is on a knife edge at the moment.

 

Our shooting was not very good and too many times players were snatching from distance.

 

We need to up our passing speed, especially when attacking as we are just too slow at times.

 

I'd like to see us use the wings properly and get in some decent crosses, JRod and Pelle could score quite a few with some decent service but we hardly produced anything atall.

 

I'd also like to see some intelligent through balls played to Mane to exploit his pace, see if he can get past defenders.

 

I didn't think we were terrible but we definitely need to wake up a bit and get a bit more speed and intelligence into our attacking.

 

I'd put Tadic and Juanmi in the team for the away leg if available, we need as may pickpockets as possible against this robust Danish side.

 

My overall feeling was that they look like they haven't brushed off their holiday cobwebs yet, we'll get better but will it be too late for this competition?