The9 Posted 2 October, 2016 Share Posted 2 October, 2016 Imagine flying all the way out there to watch this. Bloody hell. I don't have to, and FWIW everyone had a fantastic time. The game was exactly what I was expecting, and I was very impressed with us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The9 Posted 2 October, 2016 Share Posted 2 October, 2016 A point isn't exactly a bad result but that was an abysmal performance, really wish we put out our strongest lineup and went for the win. Roll on Sunday I guess. It was a superb performance. We completely controlled the game and only looked threatened on about 3 occasions over the 90 minutes. It was 30 degrees in the stadium and aside from a few dodgy touches everyone did their jobs perfectly. No one was over committing and we rarely sent enough forward to trouble to goal but the entire point was to kill the game and not concede, which we did brilliantly (except immediately before half time when the not-putting-the-ball-out shenanigans got the crowd back into it for a couple of minutes). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The9 Posted 2 October, 2016 Share Posted 2 October, 2016 Long can't have had many games worse than that in his career. Strikers aren't often to blame for a lack of opportunities and he worked his balls off closing down in front of their defence. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The9 Posted 2 October, 2016 Share Posted 2 October, 2016 watching Saints for nearly 50 years a 0-0 away is a cracking result. Most of you have been spoilt, we were always easy pickings away in the past. Feel sorry for those fans who went spent their money and went to the game Please don't, we had a fantastic time, including at the match. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benjii Posted 2 October, 2016 Share Posted 2 October, 2016 It's completely fantastical to say we were "superb". We were adequate. Plenty of players had poor matches with lots of sloppy moments and we made an enforced tactical change after half an hour. It was mid 20s tops by kick off with a pleasant breeze. We were OK and deliberately cagey in the first half. "Superb" is a massive exaggeration. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The9 Posted 2 October, 2016 Share Posted 2 October, 2016 In the end a point is a decent result especially considering how poorly we played. We can consider ourselves very lucky we weren't one of the 300odd who made the journey. That's a couple of days they'll never get back. They deserved more than that performance. We played very well, I'm gobsmacked about what people actually expect from us tbh. We were always going to go and kill the game and minimise effort in that situation. No-one going was expecting a 5 goal smashing and the first team haring around for 90 minutes in the middle of the desert and it was an excellent performance overall (with a few dodgy moments individually) for which the club should be proud. As for "never getting those days back", the trip itself (from which I'm not home yet) was an absolutely fantastic experience and it's a shame not more than 350 or so got to experience it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The9 Posted 2 October, 2016 Share Posted 2 October, 2016 I dont think that is why we took him off. He was getting beaten up but did OK when he found space. But the tactical change turned the game in my view (to an even game from a one sided one...) He took Hesketh off because he wasn't getting near their two big players in his area (the number 30 and the centre back who was stepping up) and was getting eased off the ball every time it came near him. Switching Redmond to the middle where he could get hold of the ball and feed the wings to keep the ball away from their central midfielders and putting Tadić on to threaten out wide hugely improved us immediately and was a masterstroke by Puel (somewhat tempered by the mistake of putting Hesketh there in the first place having only seen him against an underperforming Palace side). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The9 Posted 2 October, 2016 Share Posted 2 October, 2016 the point made several times by the TV commentators. Two good crosses into the box (Austin "scored " from similar efforts at SMS) but last night those in the box were ball-watching and had no striker's instinct to go for it. If we continue to use that ploy, it'll only work if there is someone at the far post. Those in the box made runs but were not found - a completely different issue. Though tbh we also didn't want to overcommit the midfield so it was only ever Redmond and Long in there, and the ball was still in front of the defence, which means far lower expectations than when you're crossing to a breaking runner and retreating defenders. Our game plan of staying goalside and keeping possession hugely reduced the likelihood of us being able to find a Saints player in the box when we did attack. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The9 Posted 2 October, 2016 Share Posted 2 October, 2016 They were waiting in the airport. Just heard they're boarding now. Been at airport since at least 11:00am BST. On the bright side, got to have a bunch of selfies with them (well, Martina, Clasie, Van Dijk, Reed and Romeu - also saw Stephens, McQueen and Olomola but they were staying a bit more out of the way). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The9 Posted 2 October, 2016 Share Posted 2 October, 2016 Hope you enjoy your trip ! How was the atmosphere Pretty loud in places, though a bit too organised for my liking, not an organic response to what was happening on the pitch, but then we were trying our best to quieten you down anyway. I'd like to have seen what you were like without a drum and loud hailer... Nice tifo (though if you are around to explain it to us that would be nice as I didn't recognise the people). A great experience though, your "... is on fire" was really good! Oh and tell your club they REALLY need a shop at the ground and for the away fans, we had to send people into the home end to buy souvenirs of the visit and it was a surprising oversight when you consider the South Ultras managed to set up a table to sell their t-shirts and scarves but the official club only have a shop in the city and not at the stadium. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The9 Posted 2 October, 2016 Share Posted 2 October, 2016 Not at all. As stated earlier, the only problem was the price of beer. Did find a bar that had 6.5% Israeli "cloudy". That was almost worth the £7 to £8 we were paying. As well as some stunning barmaids. When The Magic Bingo Buses got within sight of the stadium, we turned off the highway and went along an unmade winding track for about a 1/2 mile before reaching an equally unmade car park some 100 yards from the away section. I remarked on arrival that we had stumbled onto the film set of a new "Mad Max" movie. Others thought it was where The Joshua Tree was photographed. The fact that we were staring at a gleaming new stadium was completely bizarre. Nothing worth saying about the game, but I can only speak highly about Tel Aviv and its people. I have a couple of awesome sunset photos just as we arrived, that dirt track and the armed escorts casually hanging out at the Yellow service station pretty much made the trip for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The9 Posted 2 October, 2016 Share Posted 2 October, 2016 I'm sitting at the airport to finally head home. Not one regret at traveling so far. A friendly welcome from everyone in Israel. A very interesting country with many contrasts. Not wanting to get into politics but, whatever Manji says, there are faults on all sides. Toured Jerusalem yesterday which was well worth it and you see Jews, Arabs and Christians living side by side peacefully. The history is overwhelming. I'm sure you wouldn't have to dig too deep to find issues but would be impolite to your hosts to ask questions. Met some great Saints fans at Mike's Place - a few characters from here. Wish I could make Milan but too much to do this again so soon. The9 - which bus were you on? 2, near the front with my wife. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The9 Posted 2 October, 2016 Share Posted 2 October, 2016 It's completely fantastical to say we were "superb". We were adequate. Plenty of players had poor matches with lots of sloppy moments and we made an enforced tactical change after half an hour. It was mid 20s tops by kick off with a pleasant breeze. We were OK and deliberately cagey in the first half. "Superb" is a massive exaggeration. It was 30 degrees and we did exactly what was expected of us without overexerting ourselves. We need 10 points to get out of the group and this means if we win at home we'll go through. It was spot on as far as I'm concerned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sour Mash Posted 2 October, 2016 Share Posted 2 October, 2016 It's completely fantastical to say we were "superb". We were adequate. Plenty of players had poor matches with lots of sloppy moments and we made an enforced tactical change after half an hour. It was mid 20s tops by kick off with a pleasant breeze. We were OK and deliberately cagey in the first half. "Superb" is a massive exaggeration. Exactly that. Job done and it's a tough place to go, but average opposition and we did just about enough without doing anymore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sour Mash Posted 2 October, 2016 Share Posted 2 October, 2016 Was surprised how many Israelis were in our end, must have been a good 50 odd. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoswellSaint Posted 2 October, 2016 Share Posted 2 October, 2016 2, near the front with my wife. I was on same bus but at the back Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benjii Posted 2 October, 2016 Share Posted 2 October, 2016 Was surprised how many Israelis were in our end, must have been a good 50 odd. Yeah, I noticed quite a few. Was a surprise to see an IDF uniformed member in there as well belting out "Oh When the Saints"! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John D Posted 2 October, 2016 Share Posted 2 October, 2016 2, near the front with my wife. Number 2 was the fun bus!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brazzer Posted 2 October, 2016 Share Posted 2 October, 2016 Pretty loud in places, though a bit too organised for my liking, not an organic response to what was happening on the pitch, but then we were trying our best to quieten you down anyway. I'd like to have seen what you were like without a drum and loud hailer... Nice tifo (though if you are around to explain it to us that would be nice as I didn't recognise the people). A great experience though, your "... is on fire" was really good! Oh and tell your club they REALLY need a shop at the ground and for the away fans, we had to send people into the home end to buy souvenirs of the visit and it was a surprising oversight when you consider the South Ultras managed to set up a table to sell their t-shirts and scarves but the official club only have a shop in the city and not at the stadium. They build now a bar in the stadium outside the gates and another fans shop also in the stadium .. The tifo was about the wolf of wall street "the show goes on" with the dollar inside of it the UEFA symbols In Israel we use drums to beat on the fans it really helps . I heard you guys at the finish very nice ! I also used my flash from my phone to say hello [emoji6] don't know if you noticed hahah. And I took one of your fans to his hotel he was very lost I kinda saved him Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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