Post-Match Reaction: SAINTS 2-0 Bournemouth

[Saint Without a Halo]

Alps makes a good point re Fonte he is an important player that we need going forward no need to risk him v Sunderland if a risk exists

I guess it depends on the extent of the injury

[alpine_saint]

But if Koeman, the player and the medical team think Fonte is 100% fit and they want to play him, they'd be wrong to do that?

 

I didnt say that. I just think if there is any doubt whatsoever, they should err on the side of caution.

 

And I did say if Koeman thinks we can win without him...

[ErwinK1961]

As good a first half as I had seen us play for some time. Both goals things of beauty. Thought Clasie offered us something different in there and his movement to gain space and then play to feet was excellent. The front four were also excellent - the whole team were to be honest. Was worried about the missed chances as we're nowhere near as solid as last year and there was no way they could be as bad 2nd half...

 

Wanyama on a booking is like carrying a man. The more I see of him, the more £20mil looks like a Lovren-like deal. Can't pass, can't organise...yes he's a presence but as soon as he takes a booking, he is an accident waiting to happen and he loses the one thing that he does do well - the ability to tackle. That sending off has been coming for weeks. Would also rather have players playing who want to be here.

 

Not singling him out, we completely stepped off second half. Tadic and Mane seemed to be in no man's land defensively second half, exposing both fullbacks - Pelle couldn't hold it up or when he did, there was nobody to pass to. Clasie tired and without Fonte, there was no leader. Still, Fonte was there for the Leicester match and it was pretty much the same.

 

Its 3pts, but it should have been a 4 or 5-0 game - Koeman needs to sort that - the obvious sub in the second half was Wanyama for Romeo (and if Clasie was struggling for fitness, then JWP for him) - doesn't leave us exposed with 10 men. Maybe there is a bit of pandering to Wanyama to try and get him to sign a new contract.

 

At the end of the day, somehow we are 7th, with a plus goal difference, unbeaten in 7, plus home qf in the cup - lots to be happy with. I also think there is more to come as well and look forward to seeing it. Pelle (2nd half not included) looks like a man possessed. Oh, and can we keep Tadic on the left please. Would be an interesting stat to see how many assists he has from the left, compared to the right.

 

[Fitzhugh Fella]

He's been proven horribly wrong about Tadic so will have to find another player to dismiss as being useless

 

I stand by what I said re Tadic - great skills and flashes of brilliance like the cross yesterday, but goes missing, is inconsistent and can be very frustrating. Not my sort of player, sorry.

As for Clasie I was being a little sarcastic but I watched him closely in the second half and he was absolutely spent. Koeman should have replaced him earlier because for the final 10 minutes he looked completely out of his depth as the game just totally passed him by. His international pedigree makes him a good player on paper but at present Ward-Prowse must be wondering what it is that Clasie has that he doesn't.

[ALWAYS_SFC]

Because as they said on the radio, with Wilson out they don't have many other attacking options.

 

I heard what was said but the 2 changes gave them so much more pace and movement further up, just felt

he should have started with them but glad he didn't as it could have been a different game

[Give it to Ron]

. Ward-Prowse must be wondering what it is that Clasie has that he doesn't.

The ability to pass the ball accurately forward and thread it through tight spaces - JWP just at the moment plays it too safe sideways backwards.

[Diabolus Ex Machina]

Happy to get the 3 points even though second half performance wasn't very good. Don't seem to handle pressure too well at the mo in terms of ball retention though the defense was solid enough when called upon. Need to learn to take the sting out of games I think.

 

Thought i'd take a quick look at how we are doing compared to last year at this point and we are currently -8 pts from this stage last year. However last year we only picked up 1 point out of our next 15 so if we can win 3 of our next 5 (Sunderland, Man City and Palace away, Stoke and Villa at home) we will be matching our performance from last year which is promising considering where we ended up.

[Saint Without a Halo]

Happy to get the 3 points even though second half performance wasn't very good. Don't seem to handle pressure too well at the mo in terms of ball retention though the defense was solid enough when called upon. Need to learn to take the sting out of games I think.

 

Thought i'd take a quick look at how we are doing compared to last year at this point and we are currently -8 pts from this stage last year. However last year we only picked up 1 point out of our next 15 so if we can win 3 of our next 5 (Sunderland, Man City and Palace away, Stoke and Villa at home) we will be matching our performance from last year which is promising considering where we ended up.

 

Another 8 pts this year would have seen us as joint top with Arsenal and Man C

[VectisSaint]

Ward-Prowse must be wondering what it is that Clasie has that he doesn't.

The ability to tackle and defend, to see and complete a pass, pace, he can even head the ball well, despite his diminutive size. Haven't seen yet what he can do with a dead ball, but then Prowsey's ability in this department is over-hyped.

It was amusing yesterday to consider yesterday our much-vaunted Academy and ability to bring young players through. For most of the game there was only one Academy player on the pitch, and he was playing for Bournemouth. Only Prowsey on the bench as well. Only one English player in our team (Bertrand), how things have changed since 2013/4, when we were seen as the model for English football and youth development.

[Saint_Ash]

Happy to get the 3 points even though second half performance wasn't very good. Don't seem to handle pressure too well at the mo in terms of ball retention though the defense was solid enough when called upon. Need to learn to take the sting out of games I think.

 

Thought i'd take a quick look at how we are doing compared to last year at this point and we are currently -8 pts from this stage last year. However last year we only picked up 1 point out of our next 15 so if we can win 3 of our next 5 (Sunderland, Man City and Palace away, Stoke and Villa at home) we will be matching our performance from last year which is promising considering where we ended up.

 

Not really a fair comparison as playing different teams at different grounds. Probably better to match the matches played to their corresponding ones last season to get a better idea and even then the line ups are different and it's at differing times of the year.

[St_Tel49]

I stand by what I said re Tadic - great skills and flashes of brilliance like the cross yesterday, but goes missing, is inconsistent and can be very frustrating. Not my sort of player, sorry.

As for Clasie I was being a little sarcastic but I watched him closely in the second half and he was absolutely spent. Koeman should have replaced him earlier because for the final 10 minutes he looked completely out of his depth as the game just totally passed him by. His international pedigree makes him a good player on paper but at present Ward-Prowse must be wondering what it is that Clasie has that he doesn't.

You can't have liked Le Tissier much!

[Roger]

You can't have liked Le Tissier much!

 

Le tiss scored 20-30 goals a season so was a tad different. Tadic is a brilliant player tho when he's on form and he's done well this season IMO. He also tracks back a lot more than people realise. Give clasie time. Jwp has had loads of chances and IMO not produced the goods.

[Diabolus Ex Machina]

True you can't directly compare seasons but it was just an observation that while we may not be playing at the same high level we were last year to this point, we could still see us matching our points total of our best ever prem season over the first 16 games if we do pick up those few wins.

 

Considering player losses and other teams strengthening i'd think matching what we had at that point would be a good sign. Still, was just an observation and not some sort of prediction of how the rest of the season will go.

[hasper57saint]

One word which describes why Clasie is better than JWP - Tenacity! I didn't see him shirk a challenge yesterday.

[beatlesaint]

I stand by what I said re Tadic - great skills and flashes of brilliance like the cross yesterday, but goes missing, is inconsistent and can be very frustrating. Not my sort of player, sorry.

As for Clasie I was being a little sarcastic but I watched him closely in the second half and he was absolutely spent. Koeman should have replaced him earlier because for the final 10 minutes he looked completely out of his depth as the game just totally passed him by. His international pedigree makes him a good player on paper but at present Ward-Prowse must be wondering what it is that Clasie has that he doesn't.

 

Re Tadic - as someone has already said you couldnt have rated Le Tiss much, and aren't you describing virtually every winger or flair player that has ever pulled on a football shurt for any club ?

 

Re Clasie - yes he's been out injured, his fitness needs building up (yesterday was the first match I thought Bertrand looked back to his attacking best in all honesty after his injury) and RK should probably have taken him off at around Lallana time but there are signs of whats to come I believe and he does already offer more than JWP in tackling, forward passes and skill. Thats not knocking JWP who has improved a lot these past few weeks before anyone starts !

[lloydie]

A small point on VVD, apologies if noted elsewhere, but does anyone else think he should calm it down a bit with the "hollywood" balls? A few times Tadic or Mane had to struggle to keep them in play.

[shurlock]

Le tiss scored 20-30 goals a season so was a tad different. Tadic is a brilliant player tho when he's on form and he's done well this season IMO. He also tracks back a lot more than people realise. Give clasie time. Jwp has had loads of chances and IMO not produced the goods.

 

Tadic track back?

 

[The9]

Firstly credit to Bournemouth, a great second half performance, secondly Vic needs his head bitten off and thirdly good win guys.

 

I'd love to know how you think they were "great" when they had one shot which might have beaten Stekelenburg in the entire second half, despite us playing in exactly the same lacklustre way as against Leicester (who scored twice), and with one fewer player than them for 20 minutes.

[Lallana's Left Peg]

Bournemouth's second half reaction reminded me of the ones Saints would have most away games during our Championship relegation season. Only when the game was over did the rally begin, and it rarely yielded anything positive. And that is the problem with Bournemouth - when they aren't 'on it' they ship goals like its going out of fashion and when they are they aren't scoring goals. When you play well and don't score it's a huge problem and it is why they are going down.

 

As for Saints we did what was required of us and it is nice to see the team settle down and get back into things in a way we're accustomed to these days.

[The9]

What's with us getting dominated in the second half when cruising lately? First Leicester now Bournemouth.

I know it's still 3 points but why change the way we are playing ?

 

We don't change the way we play, we only change the side in reaction to the level of performance on show - it's human nature to ease off when leading compared to a side that's chasing the game and it's a difficult thing to control, no matter how much you can point at the need to continue to work hard.

 

Obviously yesterday Fonte went off which didn't help but it was the lack of effort in midfield early on (and Bournemouth having the chance to knock long balls into King who actually ran for them as opposed to Murray who didn't) that allowed them to have so much ball early in the second half, and we then reacted to THAT by putting Romeu on for Clasie to shore up the defensive side of the midfield to try and stop them threatening. Lucky for us they were terrible at creating chances and we kept a clean sheet despite barely stringing together 4 passes at a time all half.

[The9]

They don't have Vardy up front. They got through our defence several times in the second half but when they needed someone to pull the trigger of finish the move they had no quality at all.

 

There was one move where their players played right through our left hand side with some nice one-twos. One of their players then heads into our area and just needs to put it on a plate for several of his team mates queuing up to take a shot somehow he instead ends up belting it right across the pitch to no one. It was like that all second half.

 

It was from a corner routine which involved a backheel - he then smashed it across the box, and it went through a corridor of the 10 outfield Saints players in the box who were the only people remotely near getting to it.

[farawaysaint]

I'd love to know how you think they were "great" when they had one shot which might have beaten Stekelenburg in the entire second half, despite us playing in exactly the same lacklustre way as against Leicester (who scored twice), and with one fewer player than them for 20 minutes.

 

Because they played well? Game of opinions and all.

[John Boy Saint]

Very weird how for the last 2 home games we have been 2-0 up and then come out of the dressing room like we have had a slap up meal at half-time which included Wine then Port with the cheese! As has been said already, its a good job Bournemouth are missing their Jamie Vardy, dont think Steklenburg actually had to make a save until 86 minutes!!!. Mrs JBS said we looked complacent, I think Eddie Howe just said you are 2-0 down with nothing to lose just go for it, which they did.

Still bagged the 3 points went up the table, what more can you ask.

Edited 2 November, 2015 by John Boy Saint

[The9]

Because they played well? Game of opinions and all.

 

They created one good chance and barely got the ball anywhere near our area the rest of the time. It would have been a great performance if they were 2-0 up like we were and didn't desperately need to score goals, but they were abysmal at creating chances. All we needed to do was keep our shape and they couldn't create anything.

 

Tomlin was the only player who gave us any problems at all - by running at us around the box, and he didn't even get on until near the end. The rest of it was them passing it around without a clue of how to get through us, us sticking 10 players between them and the goal, and them playing awful balls around the area which posed us no problems. Now Leicester, that was a great second half - genuine threat and lots of opportunities for decent chances which tested us. All Bournemouth had was a right winger who won them throw-ins.

[positivepete]

Not really a fair comparison as playing different teams at different grounds. Probably better to match the matches played to their corresponding ones last season to get a better idea and even then the line ups are different and it's at differing times of the year.

 

Using the corresponding fixtures method we are on course for 58 points as opposed to 60 last year. After four games we were on course for 53 points, after the Chelsea game, 59 points. It supports the fact that we are only just getting back to the form we showed last season, which I think most would agree with.

[Trumush]

Good to see Andrew Surman applauding the Saints fans at the end of the game and also good to see the Northam end fan's applauding and chanting his name.

 

Once a Saint.......

[Saint_Jonny]

Good to see Andrew Surman applauding the Saints fans at the end of the game and also good to see the Northam end fan's applauding and chanting his name.

 

Once a Saint.......

 

Tell that to Lallana.

[Leicestersaint]

Poor second half by saints - defending far too deep and midfield overrun. Two very good goals.

[The9]

Poor second half by saints - defending far too deep and midfield overrun. Two very good goals.

 

Not defending too deep and midfield not overrun. We kept a clean sheet and they had one decent shot.

[shurlock]

Not defending too deep and midfield not overrun. We kept a clean sheet and they had one decent shot.

 

Not defending too deep

 

Keep plugging away with that one. Just because we didn't concede or they had one decent shot had less to do with our solidity, organisation and deliberate control than their downright ineptitude. There were plenty of half-opportunities that any moderately better team would have capitalised on. Fonte acknowledged as such.

 

Given your thing for Yoshida, there was one instance where a Bournemouth player had him squared up just inside the box, having got behind us and instead of driving at him, the prize a one-on-one with Stek, he hesitated and actually took the ball out to the touchline. Also recount a dangerous ball fizzed across the six yard box, among various things.

 

Next you'll be spouting strawman b*****ks that we can't expect to beat every team 8-0.

[SaintSteve]

Not defending too deep and midfield not overrun. We kept a clean sheet and they had one decent shot.

Nonsense...we defended far too deep and our midfield was non-existent.. A better team would have taken us apart.

[The9]

Nonsense...we defended far too deep and our midfield was non-existent.. A better team would have taken us apart.

 

But we weren't playing a better team. Had we been playing a better team they probably wouldn't have let their levels drop so much in the first place. They kept a clean sheet and only once even looked like possibly conceding despite looking completely unbothered for 45 minutes.

[shurlock]

But we weren't playing a better team. Had we been playing a better team they probably wouldn't have let their levels drop so much in the first place. They kept a clean sheet and only once even looked like possibly conceding despite looking completely unbothered for 45 minutes.

 

Like Leicester and United (who were no great shakes)?

[Verbal Kint]

But we weren't playing a better team. Had we been playing a better team they probably wouldn't have let their levels drop so much in the first place. They kept a clean sheet and only once even looked like possibly conceding despite looking completely unbothered for 45 minutes.

 

It doesn't matter who we're playing. It only takes one set piece, a free kick (they had a few in very dangerous positions), a mistake (like a dodgy back pass maybe like against United), a crap refereeing decision to give them a penalty (villa midweek) and suddenly it's very much game on.

 

Score the third, kill the game and then sit back and let them play their propaganda football. Don't do it at 2 nil when they're still in the game

[The9]

It doesn't matter who we're playing. It only takes one set piece, a free kick (they had a few in very dangerous positions), a mistake (like a dodgy back pass maybe like against United), a crap refereeing decision to give them a penalty (villa midweek) and suddenly it's very much game on.

 

Score the third, kill the game and then sit back and let them play their propaganda football. Don't do it at 2 nil when they're still in the game

 

Absolutely agree a third would have ended it, but people were only worried because of the Leicester game, and there were a pile of recent Bournemouth games showing they were extremely unlikely to threaten. 2-0 was fine for letting them pass it around uselessly with us having 10 behind the ball. Their lack of class showed in every 5 yard pass slightly behind the target.

 

Once we'd started the second half so poorly Koeman made a smart move to make us as solid defensively as possible with the 2 DM shield (and then even with Wanyama gone not long after Bournemouth still didn't look like scoring). I quite enjoyed how bad they were because of how badly we were playing, in a weird way.

[Cosmic]

Absolutely agree a third would have ended it, but people were only worried because of the Leicester game, and there were a pile of recent Bournemouth games showing they were extremely unlikely to threaten. 2-0 was fine for letting them pass it around uselessly with us having 10 behind the ball. Their lack of class showed in every 5 yard pass slightly behind the target.

 

Once we'd started the second half so poorly Koeman made a smart move to make us as solid defensively as possible with the 2 DM shield (and then even with Wanyama gone not long after Bournemouth still didn't look like scoring). I quite enjoyed how bad they were because of how badly we were playing, in a weird way.

 

Disagree. It doesn't matter how much better you are than the oppo or how good/bad your/their recent form has been, if a team scores to get get back within one goal with 5-10 mins to go, everything goes out the window. The Villa game showed that tonight - all it would have taken was for Gestede's header to go the other side of the post. A game is never dead at 2-0. It usually is at 3-0.

[St_Tel49]

Not defending too deep and midfield not overrun. We kept a clean sheet and they had one decent shot.

Are you trying to argue that the second half performance was remotely acceptable just because Bournemouth failed to score??

[VectisSaint]

Absolutely agree a third would have ended it, but people were only worried because of the Leicester game, and there were a pile of recent Bournemouth games showing they were extremely unlikely to threaten. 2-0 was fine for letting them pass it around uselessly with us having 10 behind the ball. Their lack of class showed in every 5 yard pass slightly behind the target.

But they did threaten. They had 16 shots during the game (guessing that 14 of them were in the 2nd half). They had plenty of chances as we let them come on to us. We were very fortunate in that they are a team at the moment who can't hit a barn door, hence only 2 were on target. If one of those chances had been converted then we would probably have been in big trouble. Leicester had an amazing 27 shots against us in the previous home game, with 7 on target. For all of the hype about Vardy and the leicester attack, they actually had a very poor shots to goal ratio in that game. Bottom line is that our second half performances have been appalling in these last 2 home games, sitting back, inviting the opposition on, panic in defence, forgetting our passing game. I really find it hard to believe that anyone seriously thinks these performances were acceptable in any way.

[sadoldgit]

A match is played over 90 minutes or so and matches are often won and lost in a few moments here and there. If we had gone in at 0-0 I suspect it would have been a very different second half. If we had gone in 2-0 down I am positive that it would have been a very different second half. I agree with Jose, it is a state of mind thing and although it needs to be sorted out, we won 2-0 and that is the most important thing.

[VectisSaint]

A match is played over 90 minutes or so and matches are often won and lost in a few moments here and there. If we had gone in at 0-0 I suspect it would have been a very different second half. If we had gone in 2-0 down I am positive that it would have been a very different second half. I agree with Jose, it is a state of mind thing and although it needs to be sorted out, we won 2-0 and that is the most important thing.

OK then, lets not worry about how crap we played and how we seem to be consistently now playing like this when we have a lead. It will all be alright on the night.

[Max]

Tadic track back?

 

 

To be fair I can't remember Le Tiss ever tracking back! But when you're the most talented player of your generation you could forgive him that!

Tadic drifts in and out but can provide the cutting edge which we lack as we don't play a creative playmaker in Davis' role. Ideally we should, but we need workers in this high tempo style so it's tricky. I'd like to see Honda in Jan but not sure he'd be the fix. I'd always go for a Le Tiss, Frank Worthington, Gazza, even Trundle (!) player over a workhorse because I love the excitement they bring, but we probably wouldn't win so much.

[shurlock]

To be fair I can't remember Le Tiss ever tracking back! But when you're the most talented player of your generation you could forgive him that!

Tadic drifts in and out but can provide the cutting edge which we lack as we don't play a creative playmaker in Davis' role. Ideally we should, but we need workers in this high tempo style so it's tricky. I'd like to see Honda in Jan but not sure he'd be the fix. I'd always go for a Le Tiss, Frank Worthington, Gazza, even Trundle (!) player over a workhorse because I love the excitement they bring, but we probably wouldn't win so much.

 

Tadic is no Le Tiss. Nor is he a game-changer. Like you, I have no problem with giving creative players certain 'freedoms', though I'd rather accommodate them in more central areas. Playing on the wing is a different matter where there's a greater expectation that the fullback will be given cover (did you see Cedric giving Tadic an earful on Sunday). In our case, it's even more important now we no longer have a mobile DM partnership like Morgan and Wanyama. Mané works hard, albeit he's sometimes reckless and he's a much greater threat than Tadic.

[The9]

Are you trying to argue that the second half performance was remotely acceptable just because Bournemouth failed to score??

 

Nope, just that they were still much worse than us over the 90 minutes, and despite us being utter garbage in the second half they still only looked like scoring once.

[Max]

Tadic is no Le Tiss. Nor is he a game-changer. Like you, I have no problem with giving creative players certain 'freedoms', though I'd rather accommodate them in more central areas. Playing on the wing is a different matter where there's a greater expectation that the fullback will be given cover (did you see Cedric giving Tadic an earful on Sunday). In our case, it's even more important now we no longer have a mobile DM partnership like Morgan and Wanyama. Mané works hard, albeit he's sometimes reckless and he's a much greater threat than Tadic.

 

Agree 100%. Good to see Cedric has that about him too. Shame we can't combine a bit more flair with hard work though, someone to pull the strings (forgive the cliche).

P.S. Never my intention to compare Tadic to Le Tiss, no-one can, or will ever, compare to him. Best player we have ever had, and if El Tel had the balls to pick him for Euro 96 we would have won the tournament. In what universe were Wise, Rob Lee or sick note better options in that squad?

[The9]

But they did threaten. They had 16 shots during the game (guessing that 14 of them were in the 2nd half). They had plenty of chances as we let them come on to us. We were very fortunate in that they are a team at the moment who can't hit a barn door, hence only 2 were on target. If one of those chances had been converted then we would probably have been in big trouble. Leicester had an amazing 27 shots against us in the previous home game, with 7 on target. For all of the hype about Vardy and the leicester attack, they actually had a very poor shots to goal ratio in that game. Bottom line is that our second half performances have been appalling in these last 2 home games, sitting back, inviting the opposition on, panic in defence, forgetting our passing game. I really find it hard to believe that anyone seriously thinks these performances were acceptable in any way.

 

They didn't threaten us, they had lots of long range shots that didn't go anywhere near the goal.

 

Vardy's finishing isn't particularly good, but he's getting a lot of chances - and Leicester created much better chances that they put off target as well as a lot more on target.

 

I'm not saying it was acceptable that we put that little effort in and certainly against better sides we'd have conceded, I'm saying that we still looked like we weren't going to concede against Bournemouth even without looking anywhere near the top of our game, and that's how poor Bournemouth were (and also how well-drilled we are defensively).

[Pancake]

Yo The9, question for you regarding keeper kit and how Stek clashed with the Ref. I assume the correct answer is that the ref should have worn black or green? My son was bugging me during the match about it.

[VectisSaint]

They didn't threaten us, they had lots of long range shots that didn't go anywhere near the goal.

But the point is, they did threaten us, but their threat was woeful because they could not get any of their shots on target. We were just very fortunate that we played so badly, letting them overrun us and giving them opportunities that even a moderately decent team would have taken advantage of, but we got away with it not because of any great stuff from us but because they were so poor in front of goal. Letting a team like Bournemouth have 16 attempts on goal is amazingly inept. It would only have taken a lucky deflection or something to have put us in trouble.

[Lallana's Left Peg]

But the point is, they did threaten us, but their threat was woeful because they could not get any of their shots on target. We were just very fortunate that we played so badly, letting them overrun us and giving them opportunities that even a moderately decent team would have taken advantage of, but we got away with it not because of any great stuff from us but because they were so poor in front of goal. Letting a team like Bournemouth have 16 attempts on goal is amazingly inept. It would only have taken a lucky deflection or something to have put us in trouble.

 

I think the truth is somewhere inbetween. A better team would have scored at least one, but then again a better team may have evoked a different reaction from the players on the field. When you are defending a two goal lead against a poor team it is only natural to sit back a little and soak up the pressure as you don't feel like you would be punished for doing so - you can play within yourselves and defend diligently enough to see the game out.

 

I think Saints will be disappointed that they didn't do more when they had the ball (as they invited more pressure which was unnecessary) but managing games and adapting the way you play to the situation is an important part of the professional game.

[shurlock]

I think the truth is somewhere inbetween. A better team would have scored at least one, but then again a better team may have evoked a different reaction from the players on the field. When you are defending a two goal lead against a poor team it is only natural to sit back a little and soak up the pressure as you don't feel like you would be punished for doing so - you can play within yourselves and defend diligently enough to see the game out.

 

I think Saints will be disappointed that they didn't do more when they had the ball (as they invited more pressure which was unnecessary) but managing games and adapting the way you play to the situation is an important part of the professional game.

 

The original nonsensical claim is that we didn't drop too deep.

 

Not sure what you mean by doing more with the ball? When leading against a side like bournemouth, I don't expect us to push for a third or even necessarily create more chances; however, I do expect us to retain possession better and maintain a better shape. That's the definition of game management. Conceding rash free-kicks on the edge of the box or going down to ten men, among other things, isn't. Even on the narrowest definition, we could have done much better in managing the game. Process matters, even if the outcome turned out OK.

[Lallana's Left Peg]

The original nonsensical claim is that we didn't drop too deep.

 

Not sure what you mean by doing more with the ball? When leading against a side like bournemouth, I don't expect us to push for a third or even necessarily create more chances; however, I do expect us to retain possession better and maintain a better shape. That's the definition of game management. Conceding rash free-kicks on the edge of the box or going down to ten men, among other things, isn't. Even on the narrowest definition, we could have done much better in managing the game. Process matters, even if the outcome turned out OK.

 

When I said do more with the ball I did indeed mean keep possession. Give us a chance to get up the field and reset etc. We definitely made mistakes in the second half and those you highlighted are big ones - we needed to do better but overall our second half approach was not bad - just that the execution of much of it was. I have no issues with the premise of it.