Saints 1 Huddersfield 1 - Post Match

[Wes Tender]

As soon as I saw the starting line-up, I knew that it would be difficult to get anything from this match. Watching the first twenty minutes confirmed my worst fears, as Huddersfield controlled possession in midfield, were first to the 50/50 balls and looked to be the only team capable of scoring.

 

Very much against the run of play, Austin scored again and for a while we played a bit better. But their manager made the tactical changes that turned the momentum back to them, and our manager dithered and decided once more that the time to make the changes was after they had equalised instead of before. He made the midfield stronger by replacing Davis for Hojbjerg, who ought to have been on from the start, either him or Romeu. One only had to look at the sheer size of players in Huddersfield's team to recognise that control of the midfield would rely on having some muscle there, not the likes of Redmond, Davis, Ward-Prowse who would be blown off the ball by a strong gust of wind.

 

And what about the defence? So we were deprived of both full backs, but why couldn't we play a five across the back with Pied out wide with Yoshida, Hoedt and Stevens/Van-Dijk? Why wasn't Van-Dijk even on the bench? Surely you play your strongest team when you need to pick up three points against a newly promoted team on your home ground? And once again, why not two up front?

 

Frankly, I've had it with this incompetent oaf and his lack of tactical ability. The football is quite possibly worse than under Puel, who at least had the excuse that he had far more matches to play, so had to rotate the players. Pellegrino could easily play a more settled team comprising our best players in each position, but it is obvious that he doesn't yet know who our best players are, or even what our best formation is.

 

Please Reed, pull the trigger now and get rid of this imposter. He must be the managerial equivalent of Ali Dia. Do it while there is still a chance that somebody with any aptitude could turn this season around whilst there is still half a season to do it in. We have a decent squad of players who at least ought to be capable of beating the poorer teams in the division. All we need is a manager to harness their talents and to inspire them to perform to their potential, somebody who recognises each player's strengths and where to play them, in the right formation. Somebody like Koeman.

 

Just as an aside and of no real relevance to the result, the referee was absolutely dire, pub football standard. I counted four glaring incidents which he either ignored or penalised incorrectly in the space of the first 13 minutes.

 

Now no Austin as well as the other two vital injuries,so as well as a weakened defence, we now have no proven goalscorer either. Long would have been useful today with Austin, but as Pellegrino can't countenance two strikers on at the start of a match, which of ours currently firing blanks will be chosen? Him of Gabbiadini? Spurs could well rip us apart. If Pellegrino hasn't gone by then, perhaps that is what we need to happen for the penny to drop in the boardroom

[Wes Tender]

eh? we were far better in the first half and the goal certainly wasn't against the run of play. .

 

[Pamplemousse]

eh? we were far better in the first half and the goal certainly wasn't against the run of play. Second half we let them get back into it by dropping to deep which lead to their goal after that it was pretty even either side could have nicked it but the best chances in front of goal all belonged to saints today..

 

I’m normally quite positive but we were dreadful in the first half. We only improved AFTER we went 1-0 up!

[OttawaSaint]

He suffered a couple of hammies in the 2015/16 season - the second one caused him to miss 2.5 months.

 

Hammies are a bugger to heal 2-3 months is about right.

[DT]

It was like a lower League One game, only with less passion. Dire beyond words. And a less motivated team I've yet to see. This must be down to the 'manager'

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[davefoggy]

As soon as I saw the starting line-up, I knew that it would be difficult to get anything from this match. Watching the first twenty minutes confirmed my worst fears, as Huddersfield controlled possession in midfield, were first to the 50/50 balls and looked to be the only team capable of scoring.

 

Very much against the run of play, Austin scored again and for a while we played a bit better. But their manager made the tactical changes that turned the momentum back to them, and our manager dithered and decided once more that the time to make the changes was after they had equalised instead of before. He made the midfield stronger by replacing Davis for Hojbjerg, who ought to have been on from the start, either him or Romeu. One only had to look at the sheer size of players in Huddersfield's team to recognise that control of the midfield would rely on having some muscle there, not the likes of Redmond, Davis, Ward-Prowse who would be blown off the ball by a strong gust of wind.

 

And what about the defence? So we were deprived of both full backs, but why couldn't we play a five across the back with Pied out wide with Yoshida, Hoedt and Stevens/Van-Dijk? Why wasn't Van-Dijk even on the bench? Surely you play your strongest team when you need to pick up three points against a newly promoted team on your home ground? And once again, why not two up front?

 

Frankly, I've had it with this incompetent oaf and his lack of tactical ability. The football is quite possibly worse than under Puel, who at least had the excuse that he had far more matches to play, so had to rotate the players. Pellegrino could easily play a more settled team comprising our best players in each position, but it is obvious that he doesn't yet know who our best players are, or even what our best formation is.

 

Please Reed, pull the trigger now and get rid of this imposter. He must be the managerial equivalent of Ali Dia. Do it while there is still a chance that somebody with any aptitude could turn this season around whilst there is still half a season to do it in. We have a decent squad of players who at least ought to be capable of beating the poorer teams in the division. All we need is a manager to harness their talents and to inspire them to perform to their potential, somebody who recognises each player's strengths and where to play them, in the right formation. Somebody like Koeman.

 

Just as an aside and of no real relevance to the result, the referee was absolutely dire, pub football standard. I counted four glaring incidents which he either ignored or penalised incorrectly in the space of the first 13 minutes.

 

Now no Austin as well as the other two vital injuries,so as well as a weakened defence, we now have no proven goalscorer either. Long would have been useful today with Austin, but as Pellegrino can't countenance two strikers on at the start of a match, which of ours currently firing blanks will be chosen? Him of Gabbiadini? Spurs could well rip us apart. If Pellegrino hasn't gone by then, perhaps that is what we need to happen for the penny to drop in the boardroom

 

I agree with everything in this post apart from the bit about Koeman

[Shance]

Redmond on the left, Boufal on the bench, in form players dropped. The manager needs to go. He’s out of his depth.

[Lord Duckhunter]

Puel out

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Shance]

Wish people would lay off Redmond when he’s shunted out on the left as well. It’s not where he plays and he clearly finds it uncomfortable.

[Saint_clark]

Wish people would lay off Redmond when he’s shunted out on the left as well. It’s not where he plays and he clearly finds it uncomfortable.

 

One occasion in the first half where he got out to the right, he played a fantastic one two with someone and got a great cross in which was blocked.

I think that's what makes this squad even more frustrating and depressing than anything we had on our slide down the leagues - the wasted potential.

[DT]

One occasion in the first half where he got out to the right, he played a fantastic one two with someone and got a great cross in which was blocked.

I think that's what makes this squad even more frustrating and depressing than anything we had on our slide down the leagues - the wasted potential.

 

But most of the time he just ran into space, then got a nose bleed realising he was actually in their half, veered off and stopped before turning and misplacing a pass back. He was utter dross. Really appalling.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Saint_clark]

But most of the time he just ran into space, then got a nose bleed realising he was actually in their half, veered off and stopped before turning and misplacing a pass back. He was utter dross. Really appalling.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

I agree. On the left. However, on the two occasions I've seen him out on the right wing this season - briefly today and away to Bournemouth, where he set up a goal for Austin - he's looked much better as he's able to drive at the byline and get the ball in on his stronger foot, instead of having to cut back inside every single time. My point is this - if you're going to keep faith with him and give him a run of games, put him in the position where he's actually looked good for us. He even looked better under Puel playing up front than out on the left.

[stevy777_x]

Wish people would lay off Redmond when he’s shunted out on the left as well. It’s not where he plays and he clearly finds it uncomfortable.

 

Redmond is more confortable on the right, Boufal has always said he likes to play in the middle and Tadic is left footed so play him on the left.

It is not ****ing rocket science. Choose 2 out of Lemina Romeu and PEH to keep the midfield in shape and let Lemina participe in the attacking play when we are putting teams under pressure.

Drop Forster so that he feels under pressure to perform and see what Alex is made of.

And for ffs don't make the players afraid to push forward, half of our attaking problems is due to the fact that Pellegrino tells them to stay defense. The romeu interview a while back was very telling.

 

Pellegrino is not the man and has no idea what his best team is and where to play them.

We as fans can be patient if results don t come provided performances are good and at the moment i see no sign of things improving and it is time for a change.

Accept a cock up was made in the summer, man up and react before it is too late.

There are options out there and we could even tempt in job managers if not satisfied with list of out of work managers.

If teams bully Southampton to get our managers or players, I don t see why we can t do the same.

Let s show some ****ing balls for crying out loud.

[Saint_clark]

Haven't seen many people talking about Forster for the goal - the cross was high and into the 6 yard box, he should have been coming for that every time. ESPECIALLY if he had no intention of diving for the header.

[benjii]

The annoying thing is that everyone outside the top 6 is ****e this year. Could have been a good 7th and a decent cup run but we've gone ****e too.

[OttawaSaint]

Redmond is more confortable on the right, Boufal has always said he likes to play in the middle and Tadic is left footed so play him on the left.

It is not ****ing rocket science. Choose 2 out of Lemina Romeu and PEH to keep the midfield in shape and let Lemina participe in the attacking play when we are putting teams under pressure.

Drop Forster so that he feels under pressure to perform and see what Alex is made of.

And for ffs don't make the players afraid to push forward, half of our attaking problems is due to the fact that Pellegrino tells them to stay defense. The romeu interview a while back was very telling.

 

Pellegrino is not the man and has no idea what his best team is and where to play them.

We as fans can be patient if results don t come provided performances are good and at the moment i see no sign of things improving and it is time for a change.

Accept a cock up was made in the summer, man up and react before it is too late.

There are options out there and we could even tempt in job managers if not satisfied with list of out of work managers.

If teams bully Southampton to get our managers or players, I don t see why we can t do the same.

Let s show some ****ing balls for crying out loud.

 

I don’t suppose you could take over from MoPe could you?

[Whitey Grandad]

Haven't seen many people talking about Forster for the goal - the cross was high and into the 6 yard box, he should have been coming for that every time. ESPECIALLY if he had no intention of diving for the header.

 

Give it a rest. That goal was down to Yoshida. Him and failing to cut out the cross.

[wild-saint]

I guess I’m the only one who thought it was a good result today. I was full expecting us to get beat today when I took my seat this afternoon. A little tongue in cheek maybe, but only a little.

[Appy]

Does anyone think any of our team are up for a relegation battle?

 

Whole squad is soft as ****.

[Saint_clark]

Give it a rest. That goal was down to Yoshida. Him and failing to cut out the cross.

 

Sorry, but having just seen it I totally disagree. The ball was high and into the 6 yard box - regardless of anything else, those should ALWAYS be claimed by the keeper. Especially one of the tallest in the league.

[Appy]

Give it a rest. That goal was down to Yoshida. Him and failing to cut out the cross.

 

Don’t criticise Yoshida, he’s a nice bloke.

[Kingsland Codger]

Give it a rest. That goal was down to Yoshida. Him and failing to cut out the cross.

 

Why Yoshida in particular rather than Stevens? As I saw it, it was a peach of a cross that should have been stopped at source.

[Appy]

Why Yoshida in particular rather than Stevens? As I saw it, it was a peach of a cross that should have been stopped at source.

 

Because it was his man, Stephens was right back.

[woodsaint]

Give it a rest. That goal was down to Yoshida. Him and failing to cut out the cross.

 

Agreed. Im no fan of Forster but wouldnt be pointing the finger at him for the goal. Yoshida lost his man and zero pressure on the cross

[John Boy Saint]

Just watched MOTD, and you can blame The defence until the cows come home for not being closer or snuffing out the chance , but Fraser Forsters body language looks like he's on the training pitch at Staplewood. There is zero readiness or anticipation in his demeanour.

[Saint_lambden]

Agreed. Im no fan of Forster but wouldnt be pointing the finger at him for the goal. Yoshida lost his man and zero pressure on the cross

 

3 part problem with the goal:

 

1) Too much time to cross (hideously common from us this year)

 

2) No marking

 

3) Forster static as usual

[washsaint]

what a bunch of cockles......trying to blame Forster for the goal when there was nothing he could do.

 

mistake from Yoshi but Austin should have buried his chance a few minutes before.

 

Players who were atrocious today were Davis and Tadic....and neither should have started but then MP is a total clueless muppet.

 

Considering Targett has barely had a chance with the 1st team this season I thought he did pretty well. Certainly not as bad as some of the posters on here think.

[Graffito]

The way I saw their goal in real time, though it didn't come across on MoTD so I could be mistaken, was the Belgian, whose name I can't remember, took one step forward then one step back to lose Yoshida and make space for a simple header. One of the oldest CF manoeuvres in the book, and Yoshida fell for it. Nothing to do with Forster.

[Lord Duckhunter]

I haven’t seen match of the day or any highlights, but my gut feeling at the time was forester should have come and collected it. I maybe biased against the Mummy , because I think he’s **** poor and cost us about 5 points this season. Maybe it wasn’t his fault, but his body language is ****ung atrocious, he’s a ****ing big lump of Shiite. Shocking keeper. Get rid. No personality, he’s like a 6ft 7, James Milner. Too ****ing soft, too ****ing nice.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Edited 24 December, 2017 by Lord Duckhunter

[Saint_clark]

The way I saw their goal in real time, though it didn't come across on MoTD so I could be mistaken, was the Belgian, whose name I can't remember, took one step forward then one step back to lose Yoshida and make space for a simple header. One of the oldest CF manoeuvres in the book, and Yoshida fell for it. Nothing to do with Forster.

 

The cross should have been stopped and Yoshida lost his man, yes. But Forster also should be commanding the 6 yard box (ffs, most keepers talk about commanding their 18 yard box!).

The difference being that our fullbacks have proven themselves capable of stopping crosses and Yoshida has proven himself capable of marking well, so these aren't common events. But Forster being static, refusing to move to try and claim a cross, is a regular occurrence.

[skintsaint]

But Forster also should be commanding the 6 yard box (ffs, most keepers talk about commanding their 18 yard box!).

 

Thought their keeper gave a good example of how it iss done, he was out punching balls near the pen box from crosses from the wing, cuts out a lot of danger.

 

Austin should have buried the chance for 2-0 after Redmonds good run, always knew it would cost us. Watched game with a few mates who hadn't watched us much this season - couldn't believe how poor we looked with the players we have at our disposal.

[kermitsaint]

The cross should have been stopped and Yoshida lost his man, yes. But Forster also should be commanding the 6 yard box (ffs, most keepers talk about commanding their 18 yard box!).

The difference being that our fullbacks have proven themselves capable of stopping crosses and Yoshida has proven himself capable of marking well, so these aren't common events. But Forster being static, refusing to move to try and claim a cross, is a regular occurrence.

Yoshida is one player who is always just a few minutes from making a mistake . He just isnt very good .

 

Sent from my SM-G925I using Tapatalk

[kermitsaint]

Thought their keeper gave a good example of how it iss done, he was out punching balls near the pen box from crosses from the wing, cuts out a lot of danger.

 

Austin should have buried the chance for 2-0 after Redmonds good run, always knew it would cost us. Watched game with a few mates who hadn't watched us much this season - couldn't believe how poor we looked with the players we have at our disposal.

The ball from Redmond was poor . Had he placed it nicely then Austin wouldn't have had it bobble up . This cost him time and the keeper shut him down .

Redmonds run was great but the pass was poor

 

Sent from my SM-G925I using Tapatalk

[Alain Perrin]

Thought their keeper gave a good example of how it iss done, he was out punching balls near the pen box from crosses from the wing, cuts out a lot of danger.

 

Their keeper is an accident waiting to happen. If FF had sliced that clearance and almost got lobbed he'd be roasted. Goalkeepers make mistakes and with the exception of a few like De Gea, alll have strengths and weaknesses. I thought FF had a good game and zero he could realistically do about the goal.

[stknowle]

what a bunch of cockles......trying to blame Forster for the goal when there was nothing he could do.

 

mistake from Yoshi but Austin should have buried his chance a few minutes before.

 

Players who were atrocious today were Davis and Tadic....and neither should have started but then MP is a total clueless muppet.

 

Considering Targett has barely had a chance with the 1st team this season I thought he did pretty well. Certainly not as bad as some of the posters on here think.

 

The goal was a defensive cluster**** but for Forster to be beyond criticism for his part in it then it has to be acceptable for a keeper to stand and watch a cross into the six yard box and make no attempt to cut it out, and then make no attempt to save the resultant free header. It isn't.

[70's Mike]

to much rotation and looking at next game rather than winning. players will not be tired if winning.

where are the young uns to challenge this shower, that is the question that should be asked of uncle les

[beatlesaint]

to much rotation and looking at next game rather than winning. players will not be tired if winning.

where are the young uns to challenge this shower, that is the question that should be asked of uncle les

 

apart from Sims who is just coming back from injury there aren’t any. When Koeman stated that he was heavily criticised. He didn’t have any issue with introducing youngsters at Everton in his first full season after all.

 

Reed and Gallagher are on loan, Hesketh ? Might be worth a go but I’m not holding my breath on him making it.

This is the thing with Academies, you can gave three or four really fruitful years but you are almost certain to have a couple of years of average.

[Pamplemousse]

The ball from Redmond was poor . Had he placed it nicely then Austin wouldn't have had it bobble up . This cost him time and the keeper shut him down .

Redmonds run was great but the pass was poor

 

Sent from my SM-G925I using Tapatalk

 

There is no way Redmond can be blamed. Austin should have scored, it’s as simple as that.

[Whitey Grandad]

Why Yoshida in particular rather than Stevens? As I saw it, it was a peach of a cross that should have been stopped at source.

 

That’s a fair point. Having watched it again on MOTD I agree with you. There was a bloody great gap between Stephens and Yoshida that Depoitre couldn’t resist. At the time I thought it was Yoshida who should have covered him. All part of the big muddle that comes from having three centre halves and telling one of them to play out of position.

[Whitey Grandad]

Just watched MOTD, and you can blame The defence until the cows come home for not being closer or snuffing out the chance , but Fraser Forsters body language looks like he's on the training pitch at Staplewood. There is zero readiness or anticipation in his demeanour.

 

He’s got three centre halves in front of him. Their job is to mark attackers and win headers from crosses into the box, or at the very least make it difficult for attackers. A good defence needs a settled set of personnel playing to a well-drilled system but what we had yesterday was a complete muddlefook.

 

Forster would not have got to the ball. He was, quite rightly, on his line.

[OldNick]

The ball from Redmond was poor . Had he placed it nicely then Austin wouldn't have had it bobble up . This cost him time and the keeper shut him down .

Redmonds run was great but the pass was poor

 

Sent from my SM-G925I using Tapatalk

your dislike of Redmond has addled your brain. He did brilliantly to dissect the Udders players to leave CA by himself

Redmond is blamed for everything, it pleases me that a proper judge of a footballer rates him eg Pep

[beatlesaint]

The ball from Redmond was poor . Had he placed it nicely then Austin wouldn't have had it bobble up . This cost him time and the keeper shut him down .

Redmonds run was great but the pass was poor

 

Sent from my SM-G925I using Tapatalk

 

Yeah, I’m no fan of Redmond but that’s harsh, he did everything right there, unfortunately it was down to Charlie screwing his shot wide, simple as that.

[Micky]

He’s got three centre halves in front of him. Their job is to mark attackers and win headers from crosses into the box, or at the very least make it difficult for attackers. A good defence needs a settled set of personnel playing to a well-drilled system but what we had yesterday was a complete muddlefook.

 

Forster would not have got to the ball. He was, quite rightly, on his line.

Agree. I was at the game yesterday and the guy had the freedom of St Mary's to bury header, it was an absolute Christmas present. People can sit and slag off Maya, Jack or Fraser, but the guy that should (and probably would) have dealt with it was sitting in the stand with his family. Blame him, not the guys giving their all on the pitch.

 

Sent from my SM-T580 using Tapatalk

[LGTL]

Yoshida is a disgrace really. Has never been good enough and has a mistake in him every.single.game. We're not allowed to criticise "Yoshi" because he's a nice guy and has never wanted to move away. ****ing wake up you idiots, he's never wanted a move away because no other PL team think he's good enough. Much like JWP.

[Saints futch]

Manager must go,

4 wins in 19, we demand more than this, no sorry we expect more than this.

 

Nothing changes every week we do the same things and expect different results,

 

What was the most disappointed thing yesterday was that we where trying to hit Huddersfield on the break, we were the home team and it was Huddersfield, not one of the top six it was Huddersfield I'm not going to even say with all due respect, it was Huddersfield and we played like that, a joke

 

Get him out, now make Les Reed the manager it got to be better than that

[Saint-Fred]

Manager must go,

4 wins in 19, we demand more than this, no sorry we expect more than this.

 

Nothing changes every week we do the same things and expect different results,

 

What was the most disappointed thing yesterday was that we where trying to hit Huddersfield on the break, we were the home team and it was Huddersfield, not one of the top six it was Huddersfield I'm not going to even say with all due respect, it was Huddersfield and we played like that, a joke

 

Get him out, now make Les Reed the manager it got to be better than that

 

TBF to MP, I think he does try different things, every single week, so I don't think that your criticism is fair.

[Crab Lungs]

Oh good, we’re sending out w4nky promo cartoons again.

[Micky]

Yoshida is a disgrace really. Has never been good enough and has a mistake in him every.single.game. We're not allowed to criticise "Yoshi" because he's a nice guy and has never wanted to move away. ****ing wake up you idiots, he's never wanted a move away because no other PL team think he's good enough. Much like JWP.

A disgrace. Really, in what way? If you really want to know what's a disgrace looks like, check the mirror. Idiot.

 

Sent from my SM-T580 using Tapatalk

[LGTL]

A disgrace. Really, in what way? If you really want to know what's a disgrace looks like, check the mirror. Idiot.

 

Sent from my SM-T580 using Tapatalk

 

Like I said, nobody had dare criticise Yoshi.

[shurlock]

Like I said, nobody had dare criticise Yoshi.

 

He was principally at fault yesterday; but has otherwise been very good for the past season and a half. The mistake every game jibe is just hysterical, lazy nonsense. Hope Santa’s got you an extra mattress protector pal.