Chelsea 4-2 Saints: Reactions

[Roger]

What a bunch of utter, utter t***s on here. Saints gave it a good go but Chelsea are just a far stronger side (lets not forget they beat Spurs by the same score at the weekend).

 

Defensively we were poor (although thought Stephens was pick of the bunch back there), Boufal was awful second half after a promising first half and I thought Romeu had a poor game giving the ball away in dangerous areas (not for the first time this season). We looked fairly dangerous going forward and JWP played some fantastic balls in. I really think davis slows our play down and gives the ball away cheaply.

 

Any team (including Chelsea) would miss VVD in the center - I actually think a Stephens/VVD pairing could be very, very strong as Stephens is classy on the ball and his reading of the game is improving all the time.

 

But what a surprise....the hysterical tarts on here claiming the sky is falling in.

 

Utter, utter w*****s.

 

Looks like you need to go and have lie down.

[Batman]

thought we were very good 1st half. Very unlucky to go in behind

2nd half, not as good but still decent

 

they are obviously going to win the league so no real surprise we lost

what is a concern, is how soft we on in the middle of our defensive area.

tonight in isolation, it is what it is. Throw that in with the amount of goals we let in these days, either the players are crap or the set up/coach is off

 

lose to chelsea, meh

[ALWAYS_SFC]

Looks like you need to go and have lie down.

 

Why?

He is right

[sandwichsaint]

Unfortunately we are neither fish nor fowl. We played some lovely stuff tonight, particularly first half, but we are way too easy to play against/score against. To go to Chelsea and play 4-3-3 and hope to score more than them is a big ask, but it made for an entertaining watch. If we put in 38 of those performances a season then there is no way we would threaten the top 6/7 and no way we would go down, the table doesn't lie, Chelsea are top for a reason and we are where we are.

 

If we do Hull by 3 or 4 all will be forgiven (we probably will, I can't go which usually equals a decent result).

[S-Clarke]

it was a typo, Gabby

 

Yeah, well he's not going anywhere is he.

[Winnersaint]

Looks like you need to go and have lie down.

 

Nah it's melts/trolls/k-u-n-t-s like you that need to lie down. Washsaint, nail on head!

[hasper57saint]

We played well against a better,more physical team.Cahills goal was catchable if Fraser had moved off his line.Afraid we are way too soft against more physical sides.

[simo]

Give me a 4-2 entertaining loss against a top team than a defensive 3 nil loss , we've moaned about Puel setting up not to lose rather than attack them so gotta give him some credit

[shurlock]

We played well against a better,more physical team.Cahills goal was catchable if Fraser had moved off his line.Afraid we are way too soft against more physical sides.

 

Back from the game. Thought Mason let them get away with murder. A number of players should have been booked early on -Kante and Luiz being among the worst offenders.

[Heisenberg]

Give me a 4-2 entertaining loss against a top team than a defensive 3 nil loss , we've moaned about Puel setting up not to lose rather than attack them so gotta give him some credit

 

Agreed. I'd prefer we throw a few punches - at least go down with some pride.

 

If we went at all 9 games (against the BIG 6 in league) same as tonight i'd happily bet we'd have a win by now.

 

Hopefully Puel saw enough positives in that performance to setup same vs Liverpool, Arsenal and United

[kermitsaint]

I'm not unhappy with that performance, at times we played some good football "taters" gave us some credit throughout the game and baring in mind our 2 cb's were our 3rd and 4th centre backs Claude's time on the training field is showing promise!

Why do people keep insisting that they are our 3rd and 4th choice ?

 

After Reed sold Fonte they became 2nd and 3rd choice . This isn't an accident .

 

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[mrfahaji]

Unfortunately we are neither fish nor fowl. We played some lovely stuff tonight, particularly first half, but we are way too easy to play against/score against. To go to Chelsea and play 4-3-3 and hope to score more than them is a big ask, but it made for an entertaining watch. If we put in 38 of those performances a season then there is no way we would threaten the top 6/7 and no way we would go down, the table doesn't lie, Chelsea are top for a reason and we are where we are.

 

If we do Hull by 3 or 4 all will be forgiven (we probably will, I can't go which usually equals a decent result).

 

In the Premier League I never expect to win by 3 or 4. I'd take a win however it comes but I'd be happy with a win and a good performance, even if it's a narrow victory.

[broken spoke]

You have no idea who is leaving or likely to ....None at all but you are right about the forum but tbh some are a bit silly

 

i do agree, no one knows, from the press point of view, they seem to be the likely lads. I want this team to stay together, so they are better next season.

[simo]

Why do people keep insisting that they are our 3rd and 4th choice ?

 

After Reed sold Fonte they became 2nd and 3rd choice . This isn't an accident .

 

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"Were"

[The Cat]

Smashed City at home under Poch.

 

We smashed double winning Man Utd at home under Dave Merrington. What's your point?

 

As for tonight's game we played pretty well but were undone by slack defending and their world class players. Nothing to get upset or bothered by.

[Saints foreva]

We smashed double winning Man Utd at home under Dave Merrington. What's your point?

 

As for tonight's game we played pretty well but were undone by slack defending and their world class players. Nothing to get upset or bothered by.

 

Thing is the slack defending has become a regular thing.

[The Cat]

Thing is the slack defending has become a regular thing.

 

If by regular you mean the last 2 games when we've had to play against some of the world's best strikers then yes, you are right. In the 4 games before that we let in a total of 2 goals.

[Mr Saints]

Beaten by a better team.

 

We have gone backwards this season, not surprising given the previous 2 league campaigns, turnover of players and manager.

 

VVD is a massive whole. Big summer ahead.

[wessex saint]

In short.. beaten by a more physical, and cynical team. Hazard and costa are world class.

 

Boufal... what an enigma. Directly at fault for just jogging about when they scored from a short corner, but showed glimpses of what he can do

At least we tried to take the game to them.. they were just better.

Edited 25 April, 2017 by wessex saint

[lickierambert]

Thought we gave them a good game, they just had Costa/Hazard on top form and that's very hard to stop - even more so when you have reserve CB's.

 

I'm a bit frustrated with Boufal, I thought he had a great first half - I can only hope he felt a tweak or something and he didn't just wimp out, that's not exactly going to make it work for him here.

 

Romeu had a great game, in one stage he bossed that midfield, but we were just too meek defensively. Too nicey, nice.

 

Still doesn't feel as if this season has ever really started for me, nothing has got going. Let's just get to the summer and regroup, big summer - we can go two ways.

 

 

Couldn't put it better myself. Such a weird season

[eelpie]

Souness nailed it just now:

 

"Southampton are a great watch but they are easy to play against".

 

Whatever happened to the Ale House Boys?

[wessex saint]

Oh.. and if puel has any ****** then he'll start boufal again against hull. Would be good to see what's he's capable of when up against a weak team...

 

 

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[James]

Thought we gave it a good go but ultimately you can't concede four goals away against the best team in the league and expect to get anything out of the game. An enjoyable enough game but it was, in my eyes, a bit of a procession for Chelsea in the second half but the last minute Bertrand goal gave the game a slightly fairer reflection (albeit at a time when Chelsea had almost completely switched off). I never really thought we were truly in the game as I expected Chelsea to click through the gears and go through us which ultimately they did. Souness made a good point in that we are easy on the eye but ultimately not too hard to play against. We aren't a very physical side and players like Davis and Stephens get outmuscled relatively easily by the top players.

 

I can take losing and especially to a team like Chelsea but I thought that irrespective of how good they were we were pretty poor defensively - every time they came forward I thought that they were going to test us and with Fraser almost incapable of making saves we were always likely to be under a bit of pressure. The first goal especially was far far too easy for me. You can't give good players that much space.

 

No disrespect to Maya and Stephens as I do think they've done a decent job in the circumstances but they just aren't good enough as a pair against top class players like Costa and Hazard (to be fair though, few can stop them when they are in the mood).

 

We played some nice stuff going forward but we just aren't decisive enough and still don't take enough chances even with Gabbiadini. We can't expect him to score every game so we do need the others to chip in a bit more and I think we need to improve our finishing coaching ideally.

 

I think this summer will be a bit of a cross roads for us because, although we as fans have been completely spoiled by our recent successes, it does feel as though we are on the decline. If we want to push on then we can't suffer another season of mass exodus and relatively slim investment - this season has shown how easy it is to get sucked in although thankfully we were never particularly close. We really have paid for a summer of poor business, the delay in getting Gabbi in (would have been excellent had he come in the summer and by all accounts we were in for him then as well) and the failure to replace Fonte once VVD was injured.

 

If the club's ambition is to improve then we need to give Puel the tools he needs to make it work, at the moment he hasn't got them at the back and it really shows. Unfortunately I expect VVD and at least one significant other to leave (probably Cedric) so we'll have another grand redesign on our hands in defence at least.

[Graffito]

Back from the game. Thought Mason let them get away with murder. A number of players should have been booked early on -Kante and Luiz being among the worst offenders.

 

Agree. Add Fabregas. Costa for diving, as fcking usual.

[James]

Agree. Add Fabregas. Costa for diving, as fcking usual.

 

Unreal that Costa didn't get booked for diving. They almost scored when Mason allowed them to play on in that phase instead of awarding us the free kick for the dive which would have been a complete travesty.

[Saint Benali]

Went to this game. They are a very good team. Our tactics were bad and we played like ****e at times. However they have world class players and we don't. I didn't expect **** all from this one.

[saintwbu]

One of the least disappointing defeats i've ever experienced, knowing that we haven't helped Spurs get back in reach of the title.

 

We played well, but we let ourselves down defensively. Boufal showed more of the good elements to his game than the bad for the first time in quite a while.

 

Why why why does it seem like whenever a ball is played into a promising area for us, it falls to Davis?

[Kingsbridge Saint]

We looked good the whole game and scored two nice goals. The last one would have stung Conte as well as we kept the ball for about three minutes beforehand, absolutely battered them in stoppage time, they were chasing shadows. They are really shaky at the back, Cahill is a liability. wouldn't get in our side ahead of Yoshi or Stephens. Vastly overrated, and one of the reasons England lost to Iceland, and were crap in Brazil before that.

[ericb]

Beaten by a better side yesterday, simple as that. Chelsea are the best team i've seen in the league, both at St Mary's and Stamford Bridge, and we're absolutely leagues behind them.

 

No shame at all in how we played either, came out strong and i didn't think we deserved to be 1 down to begin with. Romeu and Cedric were superb, Cedric especially i thought had one of his best games for us, he seemed to be everywhere and showed why there's so much interest in him.

 

Boufal was interesting, one thing i noticed about him is that he shouldn't play on the left. Every time him and Tadic switched so that Boufal was on the right he looked far more dangerous and far less likely to make mistakes. I genuinely think we have a very good player there but have a feeling it'll take another half a season before we really see it as he needs a decent run of games in the league to learn it which he hasn't had due to injury etc. this season.

[Saints foreva]

If by regular you mean the last 2 games when we've had to play against some of the world's best strikers then yes, you are right. In the 4 games before that we let in a total of 2 goals.

 

Look at our goals against since VVD got injured.

[Daft Kerplunk]

Thought we gave it a good go but ultimately you can't concede four goals away against the best team in the league and expect to get anything out of the game. An enjoyable enough game but it was, in my eyes, a bit of a procession for Chelsea in the second half but the last minute Bertrand goal gave the game a slightly fairer reflection (albeit at a time when Chelsea had almost completely switched off). I never really thought we were truly in the game as I expected Chelsea to click through the gears and go through us which ultimately they did. Souness made a good point in that we are easy on the eye but ultimately not too hard to play against. We aren't a very physical side and players like Davis and Stephens get outmuscled relatively easily by the top players.

 

I can take losing and especially to a team like Chelsea but I thought that irrespective of how good they were we were pretty poor defensively - every time they came forward I thought that they were going to test us and with Fraser almost incapable of making saves we were always likely to be under a bit of pressure. The first goal especially was far far too easy for me. You can't give good players that much space.

 

No disrespect to Maya and Stephens as I do think they've done a decent job in the circumstances but they just aren't good enough as a pair against top class players like Costa and Hazard (to be fair though, few can stop them when they are in the mood).

 

We played some nice stuff going forward but we just aren't decisive enough and still don't take enough chances even with Gabbiadini. We can't expect him to score every game so we do need the others to chip in a bit more and I think we need to improve our finishing coaching ideally.

 

I think this summer will be a bit of a cross roads for us because, although we as fans have been completely spoiled by our recent successes, it does feel as though we are on the decline. If we want to push on then we can't suffer another season of mass exodus and relatively slim investment - this season has shown how easy it is to get sucked in although thankfully we were never particularly close. We really have paid for a summer of poor business, the delay in getting Gabbi in (would have been excellent had he come in the summer and by all accounts we were in for him then as well) and the failure to replace Fonte once VVD was injured.

 

If the club's ambition is to improve then we need to give Puel the tools he needs to make it work, at the moment he hasn't got them at the back and it really shows. Unfortunately I expect VVD and at least one significant other to leave (probably Cedric) so we'll have another grand redesign on our hands in defence at least.

 

Agree

[DT]

We need a Wanyama type in the middle to help Oriel protection r the back four and a goalkeeper who isn't a big, motionless lump. Spend the VVD money on that and perhaps a CB and we have the makings of a very good side.

 

 

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[igsey]

I don't think any of us were expecting any point from this game, I'm pleased we scored two goals - any other game and Bertrand's goal would have been excellent, full-back to full-back.

 

We're lacking a leader in defence (VvD or goalie - let's face it, Fraser's never going to be a vocal leader) and we're playing too many similar players - Davis/JWP, Tadic/Boufal - only one of those pairs should be in the line up. I'm normally a big fan of Davis but he's been poor recently, too cautious when he plays deeper as he's more concerned about keeping possession than starting attacks.

 

I thought Boufal looked decent, showing glimpses of what he can do but needs more discipline when defending around our box, I'd start him over Tadic next game.

 

They're going to win the league, we've got nothing to play for, we were never going to get anything out of that. Bring on Hull, hopefully Barry can bump up his goals-to-games ratio a bit more.

[Appy]

If by regular you mean the last 2 games when we've had to play against some of the world's best strikers then yes, you are right. In the 4 games before that we let in a total of 2 goals.

 

We let in 3 against Watford and West Ham.

[rooney]

We looked small yesterday and whilst we had plenty of defenders in the box for each of he Chelsea's goals, we seemed mesmerised and unable to clear the ball. First half we played well but poor defending cost us. How we miss VVD and a comparable centre back for Fonte.

[saintadam]

We had a go at it yesterday, unfortunately poor defending and a poor ref cost us. With the injuries we have and a superb title-winning Chelsea team it would always be hard to get something out of the game. Boufal first half was very promising but he was disappointing in the second half. I hope he gets a run in the team the last games to prove himself.

[Saint Billy]

We are safe for another season, nothing play for, just another game out of the way from the top 6. Before the exodus... who will it be this year? I hope spuds get raped of their players this year

 

Surely the higher up we finish the bigger the cash reward.

[warsash saint]

We looked good the whole game and scored two nice goals. The last one would have stung Conte as well as we kept the ball for about three minutes beforehand, absolutely battered them in stoppage time, they were chasing shadows. They are really shaky at the back, Cahill is a liability. wouldn't get in our side ahead of Yoshi or Stephens. Vastly overrated, and one of the reasons England lost to Iceland, and were crap in Brazil before that.

 

Are you sure???

[sandwichsaint]

We looked small yesterday and whilst we had plenty of defenders in the box for each of he Chelsea's goals, we seemed mesmerised and unable to clear the ball. First half we played well but poor defending cost us. How we miss VVD and a comparable centre back for Fonte.

 

TBF I think most teams in the country would look small against Chelsea. Their side is packed with big athletes, it has been for years.

[Window Cleaner]

Surely the higher up we finish the bigger the cash reward.

 

There's a predicted 11 million £ difference between 8th and 13th I think.

[Tom & Gerry]

When assessing that we have gone backwards this season you have to take in to account that the top teams have improved and are a notch above the previous few seasons. Next seasons Champions league will prove this.

[S-Clarke]

When assessing that we have gone backwards this season you have to take in to account that the top teams have improved and are a notch above the previous few seasons. Next seasons Champions league will prove this.

 

That's true, you cannot ignore that. All of the 'natural' Top 6 have improved either with players, management etc. Ourselves, Leicester, West Ham etc shook them up last year, and in the end Leicester winning the league didn't level the playing field, it just forced the big clubs to wake the hell up - hence that they're all performing better. Arsenal haven't even been hugely different from previous years, but they're actually quite a bit adrift of the top 4, which says a lot. Also, everton are now performing as you'd expect them to after underachieving for a couple of seasons, so the long and short of it - if we can finish 8th this year on 50 odd points, then we can be pleased with the work we've done in my opinion. Gives us a decent platform to build on and we can see where we go next year.

[Baird of the land]

Starting to get rather fed up of Puel, the positives such as the opportunities given to youngsters are being overweighed by his sheer tactical ineptitude. The set up yesterday was only ever going to lead to one outcome and that was defeat. I couldn't care less about how gallant we were in defeat, what i want is a manager who has a plan to get results against the top teams & not one who expresses how satisfied he is at getting beaten.

 

Amazed it took them so long to sub Boufal too, he appeared to be a complete passenger for quite a time before he finally demanded they sub him.

 

A league cup run doesn't mask how desperately poor we've been in the league as far as i'm concerned.

 

Very worried some of our better players are going to be looking at the current set up and thinking it is going nowhere fast.

[DT]

Spot on

 

 

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[Graffito]

Starting to get rather fed up of Puel, the positives such as the opportunities given to youngsters are being overweighed by his sheer tactical ineptitude. The set up yesterday was only ever going to lead to one outcome and that was defeat. I couldn't care less about how gallant we were in defeat, what i want is a manager who has a plan to get results against the top teams & not one who expresses how satisfied he is at getting beaten.

 

Amazed it took them so long to sub Boufal too, he appeared to be a complete passenger for quite a time before he finally demanded they sub him.

 

A league cup run doesn't mask how desperately poor we've been in the league as far as i'm concerned.

 

Very worried some of our better players are going to be looking at the current set up and thinking it is going nowhere fast.

 

What were Puel's tactics and set up and what should he have done differently to beat Chelsea?

[shurlock]

Starting to get rather fed up of Puel, the positives such as the opportunities given to youngsters are being overweighed by his sheer tactical ineptitude. The set up yesterday was only ever going to lead to one outcome and that was defeat. I couldn't care less about how gallant we were in defeat, what i want is a manager who has a plan to get results against the top teams & not one who expresses how satisfied he is at getting beaten.

 

Amazed it took them so long to sub Boufal too, he appeared to be a complete passenger for quite a time before he finally demanded they sub him.

 

A league cup run doesn't mask how desperately poor we've been in the league as far as i'm concerned.

 

Very worried some of our better players are going to be looking at the current set up and thinking it is going nowhere fast.

 

What setup was that? Being too open (which some suggest was the case yesterday) or too conservative (which some suggest was the case against the City). I suggest you don't have a clue - other than being able to moan after the fact.

 

FWIW I dont think we lost yesterday because we were too open - their goals and chances came from setpieces or from passages of play where we had plenty of bodies in position, just that individuals didnt do their jobs and/or lost their one-on-one battles.

[kitch]

Hard to think you have no real complaints after a defeat, but I'm not really sure I have any. When Chelsea hit the boost button, they're almost unplayable - breathtaking at times. To come away having stuck two past them is something to be proud of. This isn't the Chelsea that were at rock bottom last season, who we tonked 3-1, this is them actually firing on all pots.

 

Puel went for it, and I think most fans would applaud him for that. We know sitting back and being patient isn't working this season, and Chelsea are the masters of doing that anyway, which they did to perfection last night. I think JWP was a bit anonymous, and Davis had a bit of a stinker too, but otherwise we played well. Boufal had a good first half, for my money, and a really hope he starts against Hull (though personally, at the expense of Tadic rather than Redmond, but that's just me). Defenders did what they could, but Chelsea move it around so fast I think even with VVD we'd have been in trouble. My main gripe here is that our midfield don't bully enough. Romeu's the only ball winner we've got, though I think Hojbjerg will come good.

 

Positives to take from it: Boufal's first half; The fact we went and attacked the league leaders, away; The fact we put two past them, and though we lost, we played well.

 

Negatives going forward: Boufal needs to put in more of a shift generally (I noticed JWP was barking at him a lot to mark a man); I have little confidence in FF in goal at the moment; Midfield's a bit too lightweight; Not enough service to Gabbi

 

On to Hull, which is a no-excuses must win IMO.

[simo]

People moaned that against city we set up too defensively this week they're moaning he set up too attacking !

[ALWAYS_SFC]

People moaned that against city we set up too defensively this week they're moaning he set up too attacking !

 

Its called "never satisfied" and any excuse to beat the club who they claim to support and i have serious doubts that several of them actually do

[Charlie Wayman]

Back from the game. Thought Mason let them get away with murder. A number of players should have been booked early on -Kante and Luiz being among the worst offenders.

 

So it's the refs fault that we are crap in defence and toothless in attack and Puel has about as much tactical nous as Edna Savage?