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Saints 2-1 Everton - Reaction

Lighthouse

By Lighthouse,
in The Saints

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Man of the Match  

330 members have voted

  1. 1. Man of the Match

    • McCarthy
      0
    • Valery
      0
    • Vestegaard
      3
    • Bednarek
      101
    • Stephens
      5
    • Targett
      0
    • JWP
      152
    • Hojbjerg
      37
    • Romeu
      5
    • Redmond
      22
    • Ings
      1
    • Cedric
      0
    • Long
      2
    • Armstrong
      2

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wessex saint

wessex saint

Posted
Posted

Thought we were fantastic today.

Felt like the layers were all playing for each other and giving their all.

Rubbed off on the fans as well. Best atmosphere for a long time.

However.. in the system RH prefers we need 2 decent wingbacks. Left hand side I think is ok with Bertie and then targett as 2nd choice.

Right hand side not good enough for right here right now. Valery a good right back but offers nothing going forward. Cedric the same.

If we are to buy 1 player in this transfer window I’d go for an attacking right wing back.

 

This sounds really negative, it’s not meant to be. Thought the boys demonstrated a hunger for the game and a togetherness we haven’t see for 3 or 4 years.

Loved it.

 

 

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shurlock

shurlock

Posted
Posted

We clearly deserved the win -the intensity and pressing across the pitch was outstanding.

 

Still we're very much a work in progress. Its no coincidence that many of our chances came from countering quickly and capitalising on mistakes further up the pitch. When we were asked to control possession or build from the back, we looked pretty ragged and short of ideas at times. This is not the first time.

 

It will be interesting to see how we fare against opponents that look to take away aspects of our game plan -whether it is by pressing us and exposing our limitations in possession, countering us (as West Ham did) or playing more direct so as to limit the number of mistakes and turnovers in dangerous areas.

 

The good news is that while we still look a bit one dimensional in attack, we look much more compact at the back. Yes we look a bit exposed down the flanks but its night and day with the shower that passed for a defense under Hughes.

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Lighthouse

Lighthouse

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Out of interest, and despite his ban now having ended, no Austin on the bench today. Anyone any the wiser?

 

I think he is just the least suited player we have to Ralph’s philosophy. I’m no fan of Long or Gallagher, not by a long way, but they can at least run and press when called upon.

 

Despite what Ralph may have said in the media, Austin is not a good substitute. So many time Hughes sent him on and we lost all intensity and dynamicism as a team.

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OldNick

OldNick

Posted
Posted
Thank God that you can always depend on Everton. A couple of years ago Josh Sims embarassed Koeman. Last year they were so poor that they made MoPe look good. 4 1 then and it would not have been a travesty if that scoreline had been repeated this year.

 

No wonder their fans are always so quiet - definitely amongst the worst to visit SMS. They think they are a big team, spend lavishly and then fail to deliver on the pitch. Why did they out muscle us and other teams and pay Walcott so much if they only put him on the bench ???

 

With Ralph in charge everything looks so much better for us than a few weeks ago. He along with managers like Klopp and Pochettino seem to be a new breed of manager. They seem to actually like their players and encourage a good team spirit. The likes of Mourinho could well learn from their example.

Amazing really as Everton always do the same to us up there. In the 70's and 80s it seemed to me that they did well against us home and away, and everytime we play them I have the negative of Highbury 84
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DT

DT

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Posted
We clearly deserved the win -the intensity and pressing across the pitch was outstanding.

 

Still we're very much a work in progress. Its no coincidence that many of our chances came from countering quickly and capitalising on mistakes further up the pitch. When we were asked to control possession or build from the back, we looked pretty ragged and short of ideas at times. This is not the first time.

 

It will be interesting to see how we fare against opponents that look to take away aspects of our game plan -whether it is by pressing us and exposing our limitations in possession, countering us (as West Ham did) or playing more direct so as to limit the number of mistakes and turnovers in dangerous areas.

 

The good news is that while we still look a bit one dimensional in attack, we look much more compact at the back. Yes we look a bit exposed down the flanks but its night and day with the shower that passed for a defense under Hughes.

 

This is very on the money. Hopefully a full pre-season and a few key players will help

 

 

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Batman

Batman

Posted
Posted

Ralph Reaction....

 

Best game since I have been here

could have scored more, hit the post twice, more chances at 2-0

No clean sheet but we deserved to win, absolutely.

It was amazing how some of the players played like that as the 3rd game of the week

We transitioned forward well, mixed it up well

All the players worked very hard with many going to extra time in the week

the players are learning quickly and it is fantastic

JwP is a fantastic player, he works very hard

he scored a fantastic goal, he deserves to play

He works so hard in the week and he had a fantastic game

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ooh it's a corner

ooh it's a corner

Posted
Posted
I wonder if Charlie was playing in the Arsenal game at Highbury, when they were given 9 minutes of extra time......just asking ;)

 

I remember the Chris Nicholl quote, when asked if he was disappointed to concede a 98th minute equaliser, he replied along the lines "Not really, I was pleased, because if they hadn't scored we'd still be playing".

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derry

derry

Posted
Posted
I'd give it to Bednarek, though agree Redmond and Vestergaard were good, as was JWP and many others.

 

Great team performance.

 

Sent from my Pixel using Tapatalk

 

So would I. Won everything in the air. Far better in the air and more determined than 6' 6" Vestergaard. Best centre back display for me since the Fonte, Van Dijk era.

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red&white56

red&white56

Posted
Posted
Bednareks crunching tackle and run 2nd half was superb.

 

Him throwing his body to block the Everton shot in the first half. I thought it was a goal, and then there was Bednarek!! then I knew we were in the game, no flakey stuff from us anymore....

 

Motm - Hoi. He was immense.

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Stud mark of doom

Stud mark of doom

Posted
Posted
I wonder if Charlie was playing in the Arsenal game at Highbury, when they were given 9 minutes of extra time......just asking ;)

 

That was the season Arsenal won the title at Anfield. (Without the extra time for Paul Davis’s punch on Glenda, they wouldn’t have won it.)

 

Charlie left the season before, before they started winning titles.

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Bushey Saint

Bushey Saint

Posted
Posted
The thing that I take most from today was the moment in the 2nd half at 2-0 already and Stephens charged forward and played the ball to Valery, who then very neatly exchanged passes with, I think, Redmond to set up an attack.

 

You could see they were enjoying themselves and playing with a level of confidence we haven't seen since before Koeman left. And the whole stadium was rocking and willing them on.

 

It feels like we've finally turned the corner and shaken off the nervousness and uncertainty that has engulfed the club over the last couple of years. Long may it continue.

 

This. I had no idea that Stephens could be so good on the ball - he actually looked skilful and (fairly) composed striding forward through the middle. Was waiting for a Paul Bennett wonder shot into the top right corner :)

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VectisSaint

VectisSaint

Posted
Posted
This. I had no idea that Stephens could be so good on the ball - he actually looked skilful and (fairly) composed striding forward through the middle. Was waiting for a Paul Bennett wonder shot into the top right corner :)

 

Not watched him much before then. Has regularly done this when he has played. Very composed on the ball and likes to get forward.

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spyinthesky

spyinthesky

Posted
Posted

POSITIVES

 

1. The comprehensive win

2. Decent atmosphere

3. Relatively young average age of team

4. Eight players in the squad who have come through the ranks.

5. Obvious passion from players and management.

 

NEGATIVES

 

5. 'Talent' not involved

Forster/Hoedt/Boufal/Carillo/Claisie/Austin (£73m?) not involved

plus Lemina/Bertrand/Yoshida (£30m) injured or away on international duty

6. Normal concern after conceding a late goal.

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Pilchards

Pilchards

Posted
Posted

Positives:

(1) Other fans and pundits are starting to enjoy watching Saints again.

(2) When we press it’s the greatest feeling ever watching defenders pump it out of touch.

(3) Can’t wait to play 4 at the back as we will be even more attacking.

(4) Love how RH always puts on attacking subs to lift the pressing tempo again.

 

Negatives:

(1) We over commit in corners as the amount of times we scramble back in a panic is not good.

(2) Need to finish games off better.

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Saint Garrett

Saint Garrett

Posted
Posted
5. 'Talent' not involved

Forster/Hoedt/Boufal/Carillo/Claisie/Austin (£73m?) not involved

plus Lemina/Bertrand/Yoshida (£30m) injured or away on international duty

 

Not sure thats a huge negative. None of those would get in the team on current showing. The only thing it does show is the poor recruitment in the last few years bu the club is clearly trying to do something about it by getting rid of Davis / Gabbi, letting Boufal, Carrillo and Clasie go out on loan, trying to move on Forster, and hopefully trying to move Austin on.

 

Personally I think it's more likely that Gallagher will go back out on loan, and Austin will fight with Obafemi for a place on the bench. In an ideal world, we'll find a home for Austin and keep Gallagher, and get his wages off the books.

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tajjuk

tajjuk

Posted
Posted

Biggest positive for me is Ward-Prowse, I don't think I have ever seen him play like ever, he seems to have beefed up a bit, for his goal he drove forward with the ball and shrugged off a challenge, does anyone ever remember him doing that? I feel like under previous managers he would have either got muscled off the ball or just passed it off sideways to someone.

 

We all know that technically he is a very sound player, good range of passing, can cross, can shoot, can take pens, corners, free kicks, has decent vision.

 

We also know that he always works hard.

 

But the question marks have been over his physicality, hes not the biggest, strongest or quickest, that plus never really being able to find a settled position have been his biggest weaknesses.

 

I really hope this game is the start of a good run for him and we maybe start to see him really fulfilling his potential.

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iansums

iansums

Posted
Posted
Positives:

(1) Other fans and pundits are starting to enjoy watching Saints again.

(2) When we press it’s the greatest feeling ever watching defenders pump it out of touch.

(3) Can’t wait to play 4 at the back as we will be even more attacking.

(4) Love how RH always puts on attacking subs to lift the pressing tempo again.

 

Negatives:

(1) We over commit in corners as the amount of times we scramble back in a panic is not good.

(2) Need to finish games off better.

 

You need to find yourself a woman mate!

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spyinthesky

spyinthesky

Posted
Posted
Not sure thats a huge negative. None of those would get in the team on current showing. The only thing it does show is the poor recruitment in the last few years bu the club is clearly trying to do something about it by getting rid of Davis / Gabbi, letting Boufal, Carrillo and Clasie go out on loan, trying to move on Forster, and hopefully trying to move Austin on.

 

You picked upon the point I was trying to make ie very poor recruitment.

If you add in Elonouyssi(?) (who I missed from the list) then the non involved wasted 'talent' is increased to £88m plus the expected £5m loss on Gabbiadini

I suppose the non involvement of Lemina, Bertrand and Yoshida could be looked upon as a positive as the team performed well against Everton despite the non appearance of these three good players due to various circumstances.

Personally I think it's more likely that Gallagher will go back out on loan, and Austin will fight with Obafemi for a place on the bench. In an ideal world, we'll find a home for Austin and keep Gallagher, and get his wages off the books.

 

I agree with you here too. I think Charlie has had his day as a Premiership player and is on very decent wages which could be used more productively elsewhere.

Personally I would like to see Gallagher be given more time as I think there is a decent player in there somewhere (in comparison to dear old Shane Long) and he has been hampered by injury

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supersonic

supersonic

Posted
Posted
Yes as far as I recall this this the 7th time this season that we've taken a 2-0 lead (Brighton H, Man Utd H, Huddersfield A, Leicester A, Derby A&H and today) and every single time we've put pressure on ourselves by then conceding a goal. At least we still went on to win in the 3 PL games since Ralph took over.

 

We've also gone 2-0 up in our last 4 games (only winning twice)

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tajjuk

tajjuk

Posted
Posted
We've also gone 2-0 up in our last 4 games (only winning twice)

 

I think yesterday though was important for the squad's mentality to hopefully get over this losing leads thing.

 

The ref tried pretty much anything to give Everton a way back into the game and draw, but though we conceded one we held out strong and got the win.

 

I feel like its mentally one of those things the team needed to get over, holding a narrow lead deep into injury time. Hopefully such instances should become less common.

 

Also with less games, less injuries, less suspensions, and more time for Ralph to work with the squad, should see us having the depth and fitness to last better deep into injury time and keep the fitness/concentration levels up.

 

Its become very clear that under Hughes the team was not not elite level fit, and tiredness leads to lapses into concentration.

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DT

DT

Posted
Posted
Biggest positive for me is Ward-Prowse, I don't think I have ever seen him play like ever, he seems to have beefed up a bit, for his goal he drove forward with the ball and shrugged off a challenge, does anyone ever remember him doing that? I feel like under previous managers he would have either got muscled off the ball or just passed it off sideways to someone.

 

We all know that technically he is a very sound player, good range of passing, can cross, can shoot, can take pens, corners, free kicks, has decent vision.

 

We also know that he always works hard.

 

But the question marks have been over his physicality, hes not the biggest, strongest or quickest, that plus never really being able to find a settled position have been his biggest weaknesses.

 

I really hope this game is the start of a good run for him and we maybe start to see him really fulfilling his potential.

 

Interesting picture from the club yesterday had JWP working with weights... Big improvement to his game there if this is a recognised strategy to beef him up and make him more combative. I thought in the early season he sometimes confused being more physical with being rash. Great to see the change

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John Boy Saint

John Boy Saint

Posted
Posted
Interesting picture from the club yesterday had JWP working with weights... Big improvement to his game there if this is a recognised strategy to beef him up and make him more combative. I thought in the early season he sometimes confused being more physical with being rash. Great to see the change

When I saw that yesterday I did wonder if that was something that lead to the funny arm dance he did walking back for the kick off after scoring..............of course being an old git, it might have been something what the kids are doing these days.

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Chez

Chez

Posted
Posted

(1) We over commit in corners as the amount of times we scramble back in a panic is not good.

criminal that this has not been addressed yet. Without Cedric's pace there was a good chance that Everton would have scored on one such break on Saturday. We have conceded several times in this way. Doesn't anyone analyse how we concede goals and look to rectify that?

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derry

derry

Posted
Posted

It was disgraceful. There was 20 secs left of the four minutes when he stopped the game for Long. That meant to me on resumption 50 secs to play allowing for the goal in injury time irrespective how long the interruption.

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mrfahaji

mrfahaji

Posted
Posted
Positives:

(1) Other fans and pundits are starting to enjoy watching Saints again.

(2) When we press it’s the greatest feeling ever watching defenders pump it out of touch.

(3) Can’t wait to play 4 at the back as we will be even more attacking.

(4) Love how RH always puts on attacking subs to lift the pressing tempo again.

 

Negatives:

(1) We over commit in corners as the amount of times we scramble back in a panic is not good.

(2) Need to finish games off better.

 

There's good news and there's irrelevant news.

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mrfahaji

mrfahaji

Posted
Posted
Doesn't he live at Bishops Waltham, and meets MLT at the motorway services on the M3 on the way up to Super Saturday? Or is that just a legend?

 

I saw him with his kids at Winchester station once. It was a long time ago, back when he wasn't such a household name (i.e. 15 years ago). I want to say I've heard he lives in West Meon - that's not far from Bishops Waltham so perhaps it's true.

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Give it to Ron

Give it to Ron

Posted
Posted
I saw him with his kids at Winchester station once. It was a long time ago, back when he wasn't such a household name (i.e. 15 years ago). I want to say I've heard he lives in West Meon - that's not far from Bishops Waltham so perhaps it's true.
He used to run line for his sons team...my lad reffed the game at Stoneham

 

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