Post-Match Reaction: SAINTS 1-0 West Ham United

[skintsaint]

Elephant in the room: How **** was Mane?

 

Sell him to China for silly money!

[beatlesaint]

The point is the ref ruined the bloody game as a spectacle, and gave us the fans a poor value for our hard earned cash. We should sue the idiot.

 

no, the spectacle you should have been watching was Clattenburg's ridiculous posturing, silly little poses and holding his watch as high in the air as he could to indicate he was adding on time. It's all about him when the cameras are around and of course where he has a history with us - Lallana, the Norwich penalty that Boruc saved, Saints asking for him not to ref our games, the Vic sending off barely six weeks ago - the only surprise was that he didn't give them a penalty near the end.

[angelman]

3 points behind Utd, defended like Lions.....had a great night on the ******. Happys days.

 

Might crawl over to KUMB and lol at their comments.

 

I went over and had a quick peek at KUMB and TBH they are by and larger refreshingly pragmatic. However the one thing that they do, like many others do including "professional" pundits, is say that their toothless performance was down to an off day. I would disagree and say that the back 5 was responsible for that. I watched them quite closely and the seamless way that they covered each other and moved back/forward depending which side the ball was, was both fascinating and impressive.

[Sheaf Saint]

Elephant in the room: How **** was Mane?

 

Very. Contributed nothing to our attack.

[Suhari]

Sat in the Chapel, after the sending off I spotted Bertrand getting instructions from a member of the coaching staff (presumably), who was stood on the Kingsland-side touchline. The guy then legged it back up to the camera gantry at the top of the stand where it looked like he put some sort of earpiece back in. Never seen that before, although the same guy always legs it across the pitch and disappears down the tunnel at half time.

 

Anyway, he comes down again about 10 minutes later to say something to Bertrand, Clattenberg legs it over and tells him to f*** off. Clearly he was getting instructions from the bench for that side of the pitch.

 

Guess there must be some sort of law against coaching from outside of the dugout hence the ref's reaction. Interesting that we've thought to do that though.

 

Yep.

 

 

Watched this too. Never seen that before. Was funny when ****tenberg told him to buggervoff!

[Roger]

Very. Contributed nothing to our attack.

 

Don't agree thought he worked very hard and you say that but it he had a huge part in our goal.

[derry]

Sat in the Chapel, after the sending off I spotted Bertrand getting instructions from a member of the coaching staff (presumably), who was stood on the Kingsland-side touchline. The guy then legged it back up to the camera gantry at the top of the stand where it looked like he put some sort of earpiece back in. Never seen that before, although the same guy always legs it across the pitch and disappears down the tunnel at half time.

 

Anyway, he comes down again about 10 minutes later to say something to Bertrand, Clattenberg legs it over and tells him to f*** off. Clearly he was getting instructions from the bench for that side of the pitch.

 

Guess there must be some sort of law against coaching from outside of the dugout hence the ref's reaction. Interesting that we've thought to do that though.

 

Match analyst.

[Suhari]

Just back.

 

We looked good for 10 minutes, then switched off (attacking-wise) after scoring.

 

 

Very, very solid organisation at the back through.

 

 

Double VD was immense.

Enjoyed Claise.

Romeu is a superb player.

 

 

Last 30 minutes was real nail-biting entertainment.

 

 

Need a beer now.

[Saint-scooby]

Highlights

 

http://www.fullmatchesandshows.com/2016/02/06/southampton-vs-west-ham-united-highlights/

[Guan 2.0]

Ron holding the ball once the five minutes were up was a nice touch.

[Andy Durman]

A very courageous performance today. You have to say momentous defending. However even before the sending off we were just not well coordinated. It was a very disjointed performance and the team selection really was the cause. Three up front (make that two because Pelle is a total passenger just leaves us with light in midfield with no link between defensive midfield and attack....

Koeman has a terrible habit of tinkering and repeating previous mistakes or learning from team selections that work. I know Taggart was injured but there was no need to play Pelle at all and it could and should have cost us.

The worrying thing is that the result will mask the poor performance... By saying that I am not disputing the effort put in, just that the team did not function.....

 

Captain Chris I think you've summarized what I saw. In fact used my words 'tinkering and disjointed'. Mane and Long had to adapt to Pelle playing No. 9 and it didn't work. Playing 3 centre backs was correct, but we were light in midfield and Bertrand doesn't seem to enjoy playing a more forward role.

 

We got away with this one.

[Patrick Bateman]

Ron holding the ball once the five minutes were up was a nice touch.

 

This. Many seasons have gone by when I've bemoaned our lack of ability to time waste, that was first class. I'm being serious, every other bloody team always seemed to do it to us and we were always utterly inept at it.

[Saint Charlie]

Highlights

 

http://www.fullmatchesandshows.com/2016/02/06/southampton-vs-west-ham-united-highlights/

Never a red, that. Clumsy and silly yes, but should have been a yellow.

 

If it wasn't for his previous reds then surely that would be appealed!

[Toomer]

Yep.

 

 

Watched this too. Never seen that before. Was funny when ****tenberg told him to buggervoff!

 

The chap that came down to the touch line is the stats man you see him come down at half time and run across the pitch with a laptop.

[SNSUN]

Great win. We started brightly but after a decent Yoshida goal got us in front, it looked like we were content to sit back, knowing we're the masters of the clean sheet. Sure enough that's what happened, but not how it should've happened.

 

I thought Wanyama's red was harsh, it was late not malicious. Clattenburg must've thought so too, as he went straight to his yellow pocket. I clocked that straight away. God knows why he changed it, I can only think the West Ham lot had something to do with that. I hope we at least appeal, whatever happens. It did ruin the game as a spectacle though, as not only were we rarely able to attack after that, but West Ham seemingly couldn't!

 

Defensively we were very good. Not outstanding, we rode our luck, especially with the Carroll fluff that went straight to Forster, the Yoshida penalty shout and missed interception, and the Soares clearance, but still very good. We seemed to want the win more than they did. I've seen great things from Payet this season but he was poor. All the West Ham players had an off day, much to our satisfaction.

 

Good job from Koeman, I thought he'd continue not using the 352 when I saw Targett was out, but then slotted the match winner in! I still think we needed an extra midfielder, Pellé was AWOL in the first half. Hey ho, onto the next game! Manager of the month curse? Sky curse? What curses?

 

The way I saw it: (last post of the day so I'm milking it)

 

Forster: solid as ever, great save in the second half. Another clean sheet. Humble in the post match interviews too. 7

Fonte: Solid as ever, goes about his job in the usual fashion if overshadowed by his partner... 7

VVD: MOTM. Just, in front of Clasie. Was dominant, didn't put a foot wrong. 8

Yoshida: Well taken goal and looks better in a back 3, but still made a couple of risky errors that could have hurt us. 7

Soares: Good game, could've done better with the header in the first few minutes. Risky sliced clearance though. 7

Bertrand: Good going forward in the first half, good defensively in the second. 7

Clasie: Thought he was very good. Crisp passing and good defensively too. 8

Wanyama: was dominant until his (IMO) harsh sending off. Thankfully didn't cost us this time. 6

Mané: it's not quite going for him at the moment. Hope he comes good. 6

Long: Worked his nuts off but a lack of quality. 6

Pellé: Awful in the first half, got slightly better in the second. Needs match practice. 5

 

Romeu: good when he came on. Steadied the ship. 7

Austin: perhaps should've taken his chance, but worked hard defensively when he came on. 6

JWP: not much impact.

[saint97]

Clasie, Van Dijk and Wanyama excellent (aside from the red, obviously).

[saintoaks]

I went over and had a quick peek at KUMB and TBH they are by and larger refreshingly pragmatic. However the one thing that they do, like many others do including "professional" pundits, is say that their toothless performance was down to an off day. I would disagree and say that the back 5 was responsible for that. I watched them quite closely and the seamless way that they covered each other and moved back/forward depending which side the ball was, was both fascinating and impressive.

Agreed, it's never us digging in or deserving the win, always the opposition having an off day, saying that just watched a Mark Noble interview who said they should have scored 3 or 4 ? Was I watching a different game ?

[angelman]

Never a red, that. Clumsy and silly yes, but should have been a yellow.

 

If it wasn't for his previous reds then surely that would be appealed!

 

I agree that that should be appealed. The reaction of Payet wouldn't have helped.

[The Cat]

A defensive masterclass. As a unit the back 7 were nigh on incredible.

 

Best moments of the match were Valencia's hilarious free kick that went 50 yards over the bar and the Saints fan throwing the ball the other way to where the West Ham player was waiting to take the throw, at which point Clattenburg held his wrist in the air to indicate he was adding the 3 seconds wasted on. The ****.

[The Cat]

Agreed, it's never us digging in or deserving the win, always the opposition having an off day, saying that just watched a Mark Noble interview who said they should have scored 3 or 4 ? Was I watching a different game ?

 

They barely had a shot on target in the second half so no idea where he got that from.

[Andy Durman]

Clasie, Van Dijk and Wanyama excellent (aside from the red, obviously).

 

Have a word with Koeman! Wanyama excellent? wanyama gave away silly free kicks, misplaced passes and Koeman was absolutely furious with him by the end of the first half.

 

Clasie and VVD excellent

[saintpat]

Was ia classy performance? No. Did we play good, exciting, attractive football? No. Did we play a gritty, team performance, full of heart, passion & commitment? Hell yes!

These last two games shows that the team are finally together as a group and will in to do whatever is necessary to get the win.

Clasie was excellent but it was 'team' that won this game.

[corky morris]

****tenburg is a very poor referee. I have seen him make so many mistakes it's quite shocking.

Thought the Byram challenge was worse than Wanyama's yet He only gives a yellow.

Noble & Reid were disgusting. Hope they get some of their own back soon!

Excellent from Saints. Thought Fonte was back to his best too.

[Katalinic]

Ron holding the ball once the five minutes were up was a nice touch.

 

I had to laugh at the bloke on 90+4 in the Kingsland who pretended to give the ball back and launched it halfway to the Northam - top work.

[austsaint]

Have a word with Koeman! Wanyama excellent? wanyama gave away silly free kicks, misplaced passes and Koeman was absolutely furious with him by the end of the first half.

 

Clasie and VVD excellent

 

Cannot agree Andy - Vic was very good prior to the red card. Two other observations; judged on what we saw of young Byram probably just as well we weren't in for him and well done to Bilic who was very gracious in defeat and took the trouble to congratulate many Saints players as they left the pitch. What a contrast to Wenger, Mourhino, Van Gaal etc.

[Katalinic]

Thought pelle and long were really poor today though, nowhere near enough threat but vital 3 points.

 

Long was immense when we went down to 10 men, work rate as usual second to none, he even popped up at left back near the end to make an important block.

[Goatboy]

Cannot agree Andy - Vic was very good prior to the red card. Two other observations; judged on what we saw of young Byram probably just as well we weren't in for him and well done to Bilic who was very gracious in defeat and took the trouble to congratulate many Saints players as they left the pitch. What a contrast to Wenger, Mourhino, Van Gaal etc.

 

True dat.

[saintoaks]

Will be interesting to see if Pelle or Austin starts again the swans ?

[Patrick Bateman]

****tenburg is a very poor referee. I have seen him make so many mistakes it's quite shocking.

Thought the Byram challenge was worse than Wanyama's yet He only gives a yellow.

Noble & Reid were disgusting. Hope they get some of their own back soon!

Excellent from Saints. Thought Fonte was back to his best too.

 

Definitely agree with this. He wasn't at his best earlier this season, no one can deny that, but over the last couple of months, he's stepped back up.

[Goatboy]

Definitely agree with this. He wasn't at his best earlier this season, no one can deny that, but over the last couple of months, he's stepped back up.

 

He's been very good in the last 3 or 4 games. I think VVD/Fonte/Bertrand are an excellent back three and will get better.

[Spoonman]

Super team effort today. Defensively we are back to last season's levels. If we can just click in the final third we will be very very strong.

Red card was a joke. That clattenburg is a proper knob.

[Baird of the land]

Yoshida definitely not motm. People get very carried away on here. Great that he scored but he still had too many typical Yoshi moments with clumsy challenges and poor clearances straight to the opposition. It would cost us on another day.

 

VVD was immense, Fonte very good. Romeu did an excellent job when on. Wanyama stupid challenge given the ref, but a yellow card all day long. From the side, on the ground, one footed, seems crazy to me but there we go.

 

Thought pelle and long were really poor today though, nowhere near enough threat but vital 3 points.

 

Yeah i'm glad he made a decent contribution and think he's a good squad player for a club our size to have. That said i thought he wasn't as impressive positionally in that role as Bertrand was in previous games.

[angelman]

He's been very good in the last 3 or 4 games. I think VVD/Fonte/Bertrand are an excellent back three and will get better.

 

Do you think it would have been better to swap Bertrand and Yoshida around today?

[The9]

Yoshida definitely not motm. People get very carried away on here. Great that he scored but he still had too many typical Yoshi moments with clumsy challenges and poor clearances straight to the opposition. It would cost us on another day.

 

Indeed. Would also have conceded a penalty had Clattenburg not bottled it. Van Dijk negating Carroll at the end was probably the most significant thing. Thought Byram did well actually, but he had loads of space as we lined up something akin to 3-4-2/3-5-1/5-2-2 with nothing in front of the full-backs in the hope we could make play predictable and they'd launch crosses from deep which we could deal with. Bringing Carroll on basically played into this.

[SaintTex]

Highlights

 

http://www.fullmatchesandshows.com/2016/02/06/southampton-vs-west-ham-united-highlights/

I hadn't noticed it during the match but VvD got literally thrown down to the pitch by Collins during the attempted header at the 65th minute.

 

I hope the they appeal the red card.

 

01) Wanyama was clearly going for the ball. It got away a bit from Payet and squirted right in front of Wanyama who saw an opportunity to take a clumsy stab at it.

02) Payet slides over the top of Wanyama

02) Wanyama's knee hit the back of Payet's leg.. nothing egregious

04) Wanyama's boot never touches him

05) Payet literally thrusts his body off the pitch like it is electrified

06) Nobel in Clattenburg's face, screaming for the red.

 

That being said: 13 points from 15 with 3 of those coming from the 4th, 5th and 6th place teams is brilliant. Getting our defence in order has made all the difference in the world. You build off that. You get that right and everything else works itself out. It doesn't even matter if your offense is sputtering a bit. The results prove that.

 

We are also fortunate that Bertrand can play either CB or Left Wing in the 5-3-2, as Targett's injury could have forced Koeman into a different formation if not for Bertrand's ability to play both. Which begs the question, if Cedric is injured, could we still play a 5-3-2? Yoshida/Cuco on the wing?

 

Also, fair play to Yoshida.. I am of the opinion he is usually the kiss of death when he is on the pitch, but he played well today. His instinct to move toward the 6 yard box in the run up to the goal was excellent.

[SaintTex]

Do you think it would have been better to swap Bertrand and Yoshida around today?

good question..

 

in a 5-3-2.. what is a the better back 5 starting lineup?

 

 

Cedric--VvD--Fonte--Bertrand--Targett

 

or

 

Cedric--Yoshida--Fonte--VVD--Bertrand

 

I think we could agree that Bertrand is more effective on the wing than Targett, but moving Bertrand out of CB, means inserting Yoshida at CB; which is probably a weaker 3 CB lineup defensively.

 

Tough choice.

[The9]

good question..

 

in a 5-3-2.. what is a the better back 5 starting lineup?

 

 

Cedric--VvD--Fonte--Bertrand--Targett

 

or

 

Cedric--Yoshida--Fonte--VVD--Bertrand

 

I think we could agree that Bertrand is more effective on the wing than Targett, but moving Bertrand out of CB, means inserting Yoshida at CB; which is probably a weaker 3 CB lineup defensively.

 

Tough choice.

 

No choice at all, Targett has been excellent in the LWB position, Yoshida is guaranteed an error a game. The first option is streets ahead of the second.

[Heisenberg]

Shane Long has been superb last 2 months.

 

Fair play to the kid.... He's become a key player in our team and finally shaking off that £12m transfer fee. Looks a bargain just now.

[Roger]

Very. Contributed nothing to our attack.

 

Don't agree thought he worked very hard and you say that but it he had a huge part in our goal.

[TwoPints]

Shane Long has been superb last 2 months.

 

Fair play to the kid.... He's become a key player in our team and finally shaking off that £12m transfer fee. Looks a bargain just now.

Blimey, I'm agreeing with Glasgow! Even with the sending off (and possibly because of it) I thought it was a cracking game today and showed how good we are even with ten men. Long had another great game although be fair I've never been one to slag him off. Just needed a good run in the team and I'd pick him over Pelle any day now.

[CLOTH EARS]

I was chuffed with the desire and heart of the players. We were extremely disciplined and kept an excellent shape. I also felt that the crowd helped the players massively, they really got behind the side after Wanyama got sent off.

[Sour Mash]

Blinding atmosphere, can Wanyama get sent off every week?

[Pass the Dutchie]

The people complaining about Mane and/or Wanyama should have a look at the goal again. It's easy to criticize and yes, Mane didn't have his best game, and no, Wanyama shouldn't have made that tackle. But they did win us the game.

[shurlock]

Indeed. Would also have conceded a penalty had Clattenburg not bottled it. Van Dijk negating Carroll at the end was probably the most significant thing. Thought Byram did well actually, but he had loads of space as we lined up something akin to 3-4-2/3-5-1/5-2-2 with nothing in front of the full-backs in the hope we could make play predictable and they'd launch crosses from deep which we could deal with. Bringing Carroll on basically played into this.

 

Which pen did the ref bottle? Yoshida also made some important blocks and clearances which you'll never acknowledge because you're a biased numptie. Of course, if you had your way, you'd also have Stek ahead of Forster and Long in the no.10 creative role

Edited 6 February, 2016 by shurlock

[Leicestersaint]

Well done Saints. Showed some real guts. Delighted to see Yoshida score but he is still a defensive mistake waiting to happen. Wanyama should not have got a red - ridiculous. What a difference Forster has made - 5 clean sheets - fantastic!

[Lord Duckhunter]

Vic has got rocks for brains and so have some of our supporters judging by the way they clapped him off and some defending him on here . You have to use a little bit of brain playing in the modern game , you can't go diving in like that and not run the risk of getting a red . I don't care whether he got the ball or didn't catch the guy , he gave the ref a decision to make , when he didn't need to . First off , he should have controlled the ball , but when he didn't , he needed to show some restraint instead of lunging in . People can cry all day long about ****enburg or the West Ham reaction , but he's now been sent off 3 times . Add that to the fact that he's refused to play once this season it becomes clear that his unprofessional behaviour is costing us . 9 times out of 10 we'd have lost that game , but even though we didn't , we've now got to rely on Classie ,a man who for all his talents doesn't seem capable of putting a 5 match run together .

 

Everybody worked so hard when we had 10 , but I thought Long was superb . Wholehearted is an understatement when it comes to that guy . We are so much better without Pelle lumbering around , I thought he was really average today .

[Saint_clark]

Yoshida definitely not motm. People get very carried away on here. Great that he scored but he still had too many typical Yoshi moments with clumsy challenges and poor clearances straight to the opposition. It would cost us on another day.

 

VVD was immense, Fonte very good. Romeu did an excellent job when on. Wanyama stupid challenge given the ref, but a yellow card all day long. From the side, on the ground, one footed, seems crazy to me but there we go.

 

Thought pelle and long were really poor today though, nowhere near enough threat but vital 3 points.

 

Nonsense, Yoshida intercepted an incredible amount of passes today as well as winning almost all of his headers.

[The9]

The thing with Yoshida is about 90% of what he does is sound, but he ALWAYS screws up in a way which could easily lead to the opposition scoring. Today it was both a trip in the box, and passing the ball straight to the striker when he intercepted a through ball (by virtue of being out of position in the first place). Great that he scored, but he's not going to do that as often as he offers a chance at the other end.

 

Long bust a gut today and has deserved his run in the side - you get what you expect from him, occasionally dodgy touch when running with the ball, a lot of closing down and surprisingly good in the air. He's not massively creative and you wouldn't want him in a side without creative players around him but he works hard and when you're down to 10 you need plenty of that. Pelle looked off the pace, but made sense to leave him on in those conditions with his ability to hold the ball up and lay it off, though he didn't actually do it as well as he has done before.

 

Interesting to see the reaction to Austin seems to be expectation that he'll score every time he touches the ball, that's going to be a difficult reputation to uphold!

[Kingsbridge Saint]

Jamie Redknapp on Sky spending a good 60 seconds showing Clattenberk going for the yellow and how the West Ham players' reaction changed his mind. Good to see that highlighted.

 

Agreed

Refereeing like that will lead us back to the bad old days of referees being surrounded every 5 minutes.

[The9]

Just watched the red card again, Wanyama clearly swung at and missed the ball before collecting Payet, and Payet's rolly-rolly and Collins and Noble running at Wanyama/Clattenburg plus starting general pushing and shoving clearly influenced the card.

 

For the record, Yoshida also got out of position for the free header Emunike should have scored from, got too close to the ball deliverer without either closing him down or being able to defend the cross, was taken out by the cross and Fonte couldn't get across to cover in time. But anyway, we still won with a bit of luck.