Spurs 2-1 Saints - Reaction

[Baird of the land]

The marking of Kane for the second was even worse than I thought at the time.

 

Yeah I don’t get the focus on vestergaard for that goal when it’s bednarek who sees Kane, leaves him unmarked and then as he shoots twists sideways to make himself as small as possible

[alehouseboys]

Poor result and performance but hard to be too down after Tuesday

 

This all day, but a bit frustrating all the same and bit baffling with some of Ralph 's decisions today. Straight swap of Valery after Cedric's withdrawal and subs far too late but, as mentioned, Tuesday cushions the blow.

[verlaine1979]

Yeah I don’t get the focus on vestergaard for that goal when it’s bednarek who sees Kane, leaves him unmarked and then as he shoots twists sideways to make himself as small as possible

 

I think it's because if he hadn't been such a pathetic noodle when challenging with Kane for the spurs clearance, that counter-attack would never have gotten started. Bednarek was at fault later in the passage of play, sure, but this is yet another instance of Vestergaard showing zero strength, so worth noting.

[shurlock]

Absolute shambles getting into the ground - I originally thought Glasgow Born Again Saint may have got stuck in one of the turnstiles being on the larger side and all (it turns out he didn’t go to the game and was posting here). Other than that excellent stadium (best in the PL) though atmosphere was dire and will give the Emirates a run for its money.

[steveo]

Well today, fantastic looking ground from the outside. Absolute shambles trying to get in. Stewards very aggressive police not that helpful. Finally get into this high tech future ground only to see a saints fan (must be in his sixties) punched by one of the so called first responders. After the crap we had endured just trying to enter the ground I was not surprised to see him him have swing back. Then the police literally fell on him. This is when I said to my mate enough is enough. Went up to one of the coppers (3 where holding this guy down) and asked (sort of politely) where was the steward who threw the punch. Attidute changed immediately, was asked for a statement as was the guy who was assaulted. Overall though crap ground, crap fans, and saints did it justice with another crap performance. A game we should have never lost. How many more? Gave Ralph the benefit after last Friday but how the hell did boufell stay on, why not go at them (10 men) and put on Adams at half time, thought everything was wrong today. And as for the new spurs ground, won’t be hurrying back there, terrible

[steveo]

Ps probably treated better at skate **** ground

[whelk]

Absolute shambles getting into the ground - I originally thought Glasgow Born Again Saint may have got stuck in one of the turnstiles being on the larger side and all (it turns out he didn’t go to the game and was posting here). Other than that excellent stadium (best in the PL) though atmosphere was dire and will give the Emirates a run for its money.

 

Impressed with Amstel only £4 a pint too.

 

Reckon the corporate spurs fans behind must get loads of sh1t from more hostile away fans than us.

[LGTL]

Just felt like another soulless corporate plaything to be honest, I wasn’t THAT impressed.

[HedgeEnder]

Just felt like another soulless corporate plaything to be honest, I wasn’t THAT impressed.

 

Same here, nice looking ground but utterly soulless and terrible atmosphere. Tuesday night at Fratton Park was a proper way day.

[austsaint]

The marking of Kane for the second was even worse than I thought at the time.

 

The main problem with the second goal was RB Ward-Prowse being out of position since he had charged up field and then couldn't recover in time with the Spurs counter. Ward-Prowse was also beaten repeatedly by Son - hard on JWP since he is not a RB but a mistake by Ralph in not replacing Cedric with Valery.

[DuncanRG]

The main problem with the second goal was RB Ward-Prowse being out of position since he had charged up field and then couldn't recover in time with the Spurs counter.

 

At least Ward-Prowse ran back. I'm not sure where Hojbjerg was starting from, but he was walking.

[SNSUN]

Missed opportunity for at least a point. Sad to say, but it's difficult to pick 3 worse sides than us. Luckily Watford aren't picking up points, but undoubtedly we are going to be in another relegation scrap with no improvement from last year. I'd be surprised if we are not in the bottom 3 by the end of October.

 

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It depends if you're glass half full or glass half empty. Even despite the Bournemouth and Spurs defeats, we're only 5 points off 3rd, or the other view is we're only 2 points from the relegation zone.

 

I'm normally glass half full but with tricky fixtures coming up, we could be edging further down rather than up. The most annoying thing about that this year is that have probably the best set of attacking midfielders we've had in ages and if it weren't for our shaky defence/midfield, we could achieve so much better.

 

As soon as I saw the back 4 line up today, I was positive. Then I saw we'd lost Cedric for Vestergaard when we had Valery on the bench, and I knew we'd bottle it. Up front Redmond, Boufal and Ings should be more than a handful for most teams, it's getting the balance of the team right elsewhere. I hope Ralph turns it around, I'd hate to see him lose his job around Christmastime with us floundering around near the bottom. This is a long term rebuilding job and it's not his fault we have a lot of chaff on the books.

[striker]

Ings was making some lovely runs but numbnuts Redmond and show-pony Boufal either couldn’t or wouldn’t play an early ball to him. Massive chance wasted today. Spurs were imploding and we let them off the hook.

 

LOL - Show-pony Boufal, perfect description. Give him a little bump and the ball comes right out

[Saint_Tony]

It depends if you're glass half full or glass half empty. Even despite the Bournemouth and Spurs defeats, we're only 5 points off 3rd, or the other view is we're only 2 points from the relegation zone.

 

I'm normally glass half full but with tricky fixtures coming up, we could be edging further down rather than up. The most annoying thing about that this year is that have probably the best set of attacking midfielders we've had in ages and if it weren't for our shaky defence/midfield, we could achieve so much better.

 

As soon as I saw the back 4 line up today, I was positive. Then I saw we'd lost Cedric for Vestergaard when we had Valery on the bench, and I knew we'd bottle it. Up front Redmond, Boufal and Ings should be more than a handful for most teams, it's getting the balance of the team right elsewhere. I hope Ralph turns it around, I'd hate to see him lose his job around Christmastime with us floundering around near the bottom. This is a long term rebuilding job and it's not his fault we have a lot of chaff on the books.

It's a valid point regarding rebuilding, after the mess Les Reed left us in. I'm amazed 'Ole' keeps using it as an excuse for Utd, maybe Ralph should use it more to buy himself some more time.

 

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[redkeith]

This was an opportunity missed, even before the sending off. We were creating the better chances until Spurs started putting the ball in behind JWP and got their goal. Maybe Gunn set himself too rigid to block the shot, but the deflection wasn't that big.

 

Yet again we got caught on the break for the 2nd. Spurs are a very dangerous with Son's pace, and Romeu does struggle to get back in those situations. Personally , when the went down to 1, I would have put Bednarek man to man on Son, left the other 2 to keep an eye on Kane have Romeou sit in front of the back 3, and pushed the full backs right up.

 

 

2nd half we created some good half chances, without enough men in the box, and I was sure Maya had scored, but then after that we just moved the ball too slowly, let the Spurs defense keep it's shape.

 

None of the subs made an impact, at least not a positive one. Long had only one touch and his pass missed his man be 5 yards! We would have been better of putting Vestergaard up front .

 

Our squad is so small that a few injuries leave us with a bench of defenders, and two forwards that can only really play on the break, which is not what you need when the opponents sit deep.

 

Hope Cedric is fit by next Sunday.

[alehouseboys]

Hope Cedric is fit by next Sunday.

 

He was fit at 5-to-3 yesterday.

[Avenue_Saint]

[video=youtube_share;W2WX-1pE4AU]

 

Was that Bednarek with his **** marking of Kane again?

 

I’m telling you, get Danso in for him. He had cost us a lot of goals this season.

 

Darling of this forum or not. I don’t like him.

[Shroppie]

Not a lot to add really. I agree a huge opportunity lost through lack of incisiveness and finishing in the second half and a couple of brilliant saves from JWP and Yoshida after conceding two disappointing goals, although I'll concede they were well put together by Spurs.

 

Many have said Valery should have come in once Cedric dropped out (before the warm-up, apparently). Thinking about it, and hearing Ralph's comments I can only conclude he was trying to take advantage of the situation.

 

Team sheets are submitted without knowledge of the opposition side, but (and I need a forum rules expert here) I assume that in these circumstances a replacement is allowed. Deciding on the replacement, Ralph had seen Spurs' shape (which he said surprised him) and wanted to take the opportunity to play a third CB. But that meant JWP at RB as I assume he couldn't make other changes.

 

It wasn't a total success, nor in my opinion was it a failure. Could have been very clever.

 

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Edited 29 September, 2019 by Shroppie

[austsaint]

Not a lot to add really. I agree a huge opportunity lost through lack of incisiveness and finishing in the second half and a couple of brilliant saves from JWP and Yoshida after conceding two disappointing goals, although I'll concede they were well put together by Spurs.

 

Many have said Valery should have come in once Cedric dropped out (before the warm-up, apparently). Thinking about it, and hearing Ralph's comments I can only conclude he was trying to take advantage of the situation.

 

Team sheets are submitted without knowledge of the opposition side, but (and I need a forum rules expert here) I assume that in these circumstances a replacement is allowed. Deciding on the replacement, Ralph had seen Spurs' shape (which he said surprised him) and wanted to take the opportunity to play a third CB. But that meant JWP at RB as I assume he couldn't make other changes.

 

It wasn't a total success, nor in my opinion was it a failure. Could have been very clever.

 

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There was nothing clever about playing Ward-Prowse at RB. Son exploited the weakness ruthlessly

[Charlie Wayman]

Nothing learned from the Bournemouth defeat.

 

Crap team selection, crap tactics, crap defending, crap keeper, crap strikers.

 

Going down

 

Silly boy. Think before you write.

[Shroppie]

.

There was nothing clever about playing Ward-Prowse at RB. Son exploited the weakness ruthlessly

I agree it didn't work. But if we'd stuck with a back four, we could equally well have been overrun by Kane, Son etc in the centre.

 

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[shurlock]

.

There was nothing clever about playing Ward-Prowse at RB. Son exploited the weakness ruthlessly

 

It was partly a product of playing JWP at RWB; but also a product of the formation - 3-5-2 tends to leave space and a no-mans land between the CB and wingback.

Edited 29 September, 2019 by shurlock

[Charlie Wayman]

Ings was making some lovely runs but numbnuts Redmond and show-pony Boufal either couldn’t or wouldn’t play an early ball to him. Massive chance wasted today. Spurs were imploding and we let them off the hook.

 

Strange observation when Ings completely messed up on the Boufal's penetrating cross at pace into the six yard box late in the second half which any half decent striker would have simply deflected into the net. Ings didn't read the play, didn't react quickly enough and was well over a yard short of connecting. Great chance spurned.

[Charlie Wayman]

The marking of Kane for the second was even worse than I thought at the time.

 

It was diabolical. Kane was standing free for over 20 seconds as the move developed, nobody seem to be aware he was there and of course our stand-in right back was not even in the vicinity when he should have been running with him.

[austsaint]

I agree it didn't work. But if we'd stuck with a back four, we could equally well have been overrun by Kane, Son etc in the centre.

 

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True enough, but having two specialist FB's and Yoshida/Bednarek would have given us more chance.

[Jack]

Decent day out despite the football. Our support was as flat as the performance, not very good at all.

[OldNick]

It was diabolical. Kane was standing free for over 20 seconds as the move developed, nobody seem to be aware he was there and of course our stand-in right back was not even in the vicinity when he should have been running with him.

20 seconds lol

[Saint Fan CaM]

Looking at the game highlights this morning and Vestegard is massively out of position for their 2nd...was actually 2 yards into their half with no chance whatsoever of getting back to defend. Either the coaching for this squad is poor or the players are not listening and responding to the coaching. Either way it’s a huge problem that could root us in the relegation zone.

[The Cat]

Decent day out despite the football. Our support was as flat as the performance, not very good at all.

 

Pretty bad support really. First half we were ok, but in the second when we should have been roaring the team on to grab an equaliser most stood in silence.

 

Totally different demographic in our end compared to Tuesday. Too many people not joining in with songs. Seems like taking selfies for likes on social media is more important to some of our fans than getting behind the team.

 

Thought the stadium was a bit soulless. Yes I'm aware of the irony because ours is dull, but they spent however many millions to make it and it really isn't particularly exciting at all apart from being quite big and having decent beer.

[whelk]

Pretty bad support really. First half we were ok, but in the second when we should have been roaring the team on to grab an equaliser most stood in silence.

 

Totally different demographic in our end compared to Tuesday. Too many people not joining in with songs. Seems like taking selfies for likes on social media is more important to some of our fans than getting behind the team.

 

Thought the stadium was a bit soulless. Yes I'm aware of the irony because ours is dull, but they spent however many millions to make it and it really isn't particularly exciting at all apart from being quite big and having decent beer.

 

I don’t know how people expect a stadium to have an atmosphere? The ground was rocking when they first moved in there.

[The Cat]

I don’t know how people expect a stadium to have an atmosphere? The ground was rocking when they first moved in there.

 

I'll have to take your word for that as I rarely watch football on TV and can only really make judgements from what I experience first hand.

[whelk]

I'll have to take your word for that as I rarely watch football on TV and can only really make judgements from what I experience first hand.

 

Liverpool can have a great atmosphere at Anfield sometimes but mostly flat - it s the supporters, events in game and mood that determines not just some seats which are mostly occupied by those who aren’t going to sing much, Although by all account Spurs had taken into account acoustics when designing

[striker]

Things I just don't understand:

 

1) Vestergaard - self explanatory

2) Valery - what happened here? He was so good that Cedric was let go, not he can't get into the line up even as a backup for the same Cedric

3) Gunn - why was he promoted over McCarthy so quickly. It was like one day he's in and thats the end of it. It was as if he was some kind of Champions League MVP who just came back from injury and was given back his rightful spot.

4) JWP - why does Ralph think he's the "jack of all trades"? He's good in a certain position or two, not 5. I don't get all the moving around.

5) The whole Bertrand mess - which still confuses me.

 

I get the uncomfortable feeling Ralph is starting to make decisions based on personality/relationship, rather than on field execution

[shurlock]

Liverpool can have a great atmosphere at Anfield sometimes but mostly flat - it s the supporters, events in game and mood that determines not just some seats which are mostly occupied by those who aren’t going to sing much, Although by all account Spurs had taken into account acoustics when designing

 

Exactly. I think the steepness of the stands, a huge home end and safe standing areas are excellent and could make for a really tight imposing atmosphere. Too many people wittering on about soulnessness of the stadium when the issue is the support. You can lead a horse to water and all that.

Edited 29 September, 2019 by shurlock

[Micky]

20 seconds lol

It may not have been quite that long, but he was free pretty much the whole time the ball was in our half, never got picked up until we made some half hearted attempt to block his shot. I was going to add that it was shocking defending, but that would be incorrect because up until he struck the ball, there was no defending. England's best striker, and we just let him run free, it was only going to end badly.

 

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[OldNick]

I think it was a case of after the Lord Mayors show.

[Saint Billy]

As bad as our defence is, all this tinkering and constant changing of players and positions is not helping in the slightest.

 

Pick your best defence and stick with it giving the players time to settle and gel with their team mates. Atm it's pretty much a changed defensive lineup every game.

[JRM]

The stadium = not as good as the old White Hart Lane. Looks more like a shopping centre from the outside, having their family end and corporate section next to away fans doesn’t help atmosphere either.

Shambles getting in, ticket scanners stopped working, poorly trained stewards were confrontational instead of helpful, one Saints fan asked what’s their backup plan for turnstiles not working “don’t know mate, you’re gonna have to wait out here” came the reply, saw a few fans being lead away . Poor. As others have said atmosphere all round was quiet, Spurs would have made more noise with half the fans at the old ground, their new end is diluted with standing only down the front.

 

Frustrating game, we are far too slow moving forward to hurt them and always looked shaky at the back.

[DuncanRG]

Was the atmosphere any better/worse than other big teams who aren't excited about playing Southampton? Particularly when they're out of form.

[Fatboy40]

Looking more and more like we gifted them three points

[davefoggy]

Looking more and more like we gifted them three points

 

Absolutely. Worrying

[BlagdonSaint]

Pretty bad support really. First half we were ok, but in the second when we should have been roaring the team on to grab an equaliser most stood in silence.

 

Totally different demographic in our end compared to Tuesday. Too many people not joining in with songs. Seems like taking selfies for likes on social media is more important to some of our fans than getting behind the team.

 

Thought the stadium was a bit soulless. Yes I'm aware of the irony because ours is dull, but they spent however many millions to make it and it really isn't particularly exciting at all apart from being quite big and having decent beer.

 

It didn't have decent beer - they don't serve pints of bitter!

[Saint_clark]

Looking more and more like we gifted them three points

 

Too scared of them. Ralph made such a huge mistake switching to 3 at the back that late in the day.