Saints 2 Huddersfield 0 - Match & Reactions Thread

[mrfahaji]

Comfortable win......but an awful display and some of those players should be nowhere near the first team. And I don;t mean the youngsters who acquitted themselves very well.

 

If it was a comfortable win it couldn't have been THAT awful, could it?

 

Sometimes you do have to put it in perspective a little bit - an 11 thrown together who haven't had much game time full stop, never mind as a unit. If some of the players aren't great it will of course affect the whole team. Add to that a half empty stadium and an opposition who aren't very good but equally would likely play cautiously and you have a recipe for either an average game or an embarrassing defeat.

 

Ok, fine, it might not have been a bunch of players showing how brilliant they are, but we barely get that from our best eleven nevermind our reserves. Equally had we been lucky to win and Huddersfield did everything but score, then fine. But then it wouldn't have been a 'comfortable win', would it?

[Ohio Saint]

I learned a lot that game.......About naming footy clubs and something about yorkies

[washsaint]

If it was a comfortable win it couldn't have been THAT awful, could it?

 

Sometimes you do have to put it in perspective a little bit - an 11 thrown together who haven't had much game time full stop, never mind as a unit. If some of the players aren't great it will of course affect the whole team. Add to that a half empty stadium and an opposition who aren't very good but equally would likely play cautiously and you have a recipe for either an average game or an embarrassing defeat.

 

Ok, fine, it might not have been a bunch of players showing how brilliant they are, but we barely get that from our best eleven nevermind our reserves. Equally had we been lucky to win and Huddersfield did everything but score, then fine. But then it wouldn't have been a 'comfortable win', would it?

 

It really was awful......HUddersfield were absolutely abysmal but don't let that fool you into thinking we were good. We were not. And it was 7 senior players who played awfully not youngsters which shows we have no strength in depth. Vestegaard should just go and Yoshi is done unfortunately.

[John B]

I only caught the second half but I thought everyone looked poor except Vokins. Passing was atrocious, even from JWP.

 

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So what were the passing stats then I would like to see them

[Baird of the land]

A relatively comfortable win with 2 academy players playing well and scoring, i'll take that

 

Lots of the fringe players failed to impress. Long cemented his place in the starting lineup over adams.

Don't really get the point of Danso if he's not here to be a centre back just send him back to his parent club.

 

Slattery has really dropped down the pecking order considering last year he was starting and now he can't make it off the bench.

[trousers]

Always happy to see players who put in a below par performance being slated by the Saintsweb Forum intelligentsia, as an upturn in form often follows. My shares in the company that produces "glad I was proven wrong" cards have given some excellent returns this season already...

[del boy]

Just about did enough. Too many players going through the motions for my liking, didn't see much urgency

[Wade Garrett]

Good experience for some of the youngsters and we’re in the 4th round.

 

A few didn’t make the most of their chance today.

 

Boufal winds me up.

[mrfahaji]

It really was awful......HUddersfield were absolutely abysmal but don't let that fool you into thinking we were good. We were not. And it was 7 senior players who played awfully not youngsters which shows we have no strength in depth. Vestegaard should just go and Yoshi is done unfortunately.

 

I'm not saying we were good, just that it shouldn't be a huge surprise - given the things I listed - that it wasn't a great performance. A win and no injuries IS a good outcome to be honest, and the fact two youngsters got on the scoresheet and performed ok is a bonus. I am of course disappointed that one or two of our fringe/backup players didn't shine but just as we shouldn't use a 2-0 win against poor opposition as a sign of brilliance, we shouldn't be too quick to criticise and write off an entire line up based on an underwhelming display.

[K,Billy's supersound]

Poor game. shame we didn't rest jwp and Cedric.

[stknowle]

I only caught the second half but I thought everyone looked poor except Vokins. Passing was atrocious, even from JWP.

 

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Only saw last 20 mins and thought we looked ok. WTF cares though really, we are through to the next round which is generally the point with this particular competition.

[ALWAYS_SFC]

We could be Brighton

[wessex saint]

It really was awful......HUddersfield were absolutely abysmal but don't let that fool you into thinking we were good. We were not. And it was 7 senior players who played awfully not youngsters which shows we have no strength in depth. Vestegaard should just go and Yoshi is done unfortunately.

 

Not sure if yoshi put a foot wrong? He was hardly stretched but was tidy enough.

However in general I agree with you. Poor performance, no intensity. You would have thought they’d all be trying to prove something to Ralph but I guess not.

 

 

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[VectisSaint]

Terriers. Why are they called The Terriers? ....Oh yeah, get in Vokins

 

But the Terriers? answers on a postcard please?

 

Yorkshire Terrier called Skippy. Unusually for club nicknames it is a reasonably recent thing, a marketing ploy dating from 1969. They were always referred to as Town back in the day.

[Saint Fan CaM]

Oh boy, thank goodness for the youth coming through - most of those senior players should hang their heads in shame. Thought Vokins in particular looked promising again and his goal was very well taken.

 

JWP had an Ok game, but made mistakes that would have been crucified by a better team. Gunn had nothing to do. Yoshi and Vestergaard were just OK, but not great...a mistake waiting to happen. Long was unlucky not to score and as usual worked hard. Romeu was OK, but slow in play...rusty or complacent?

 

Danso, Boufal and Adams were awful...offered next to nothing and made up the numbers. I agree with the comment above that Adams didn’t look too pleased with Vokins goal...he’s missed out again and it’s clearly hurting him. I think his time is up with us.

[Disco Stu]

Personally, I thought Shane Long did well. Took his chance well (despite VAR) and grabbed an assist. Lead the high press well too.

Edited 4 January, 2020 by Disco Stu

[beatlesaint]

Was really hoping Adams would shine today, sounds like he didn’t.

Pity.

[sadoldgit]

It looked like an under 23 match for the most part and we rarely bothered to get out of second gear. Through to the next round. Clean sheet. Two youngsters get on the score sheet with well taken goals. Happy with that.

[wild-saint]

His time is up? Really, can’t we just let him settle, play through this patch and help build his confidence? It’s not as if we are short up front and are looking to bring in a player of Ings quality.

 

This current team who are playing so well now they have some confidence look a world away from the team that we’re playing so poorly 8 games ago.

 

Confidence is massive in football. We wont see what he can do unless we build it up.

[OttawaSaint]

 

Boufal winds me up.

 

He’s a nearly man.

 

Ohhh nearly scored a beauty there...

 

Wow he nearly went through everyone...

 

Such and such nearly got on the end of Boufal’s cutback/pass/cross...

[OttawaSaint]

Was really hoping Adams would shine today, sounds like he didn’t.

Pity.

 

 

He probably put a lot of pressure on himself to do well and score today. Looks really low on confidence.

 

Needs one to go in off his arse to take that pressure off him a bit.

[qwertyell]

Wasn't a good game, but we got over the line, rested some important players, gave a bit of experience to a couple of youngsters who'll definitely benefit from the run out; and the manager and board got to see ahead of the transfer window that our squad players would struggle in the Championship.

 

Thought Smallbone offered little, looked very lightweight, but took his goal excellently. Reminded me of Hesketh's "breakthrough" against Palace. Not overly convinced he'll make it.

 

Vokins was much the better player. Gets caught way upfield too much, but has great recovery pace and a decent engine. Could do with a bit more physicality and positionally there's plenty to learn, but I think he's a worthy long term investment.

 

He had nothing to do, but it was also nice for Gunny to keep a clean sheet in his first game since the Leicester horror show. Seemed fairly confident.

 

Adams is a write off. No quality. And he hardly even gets into goal scoring positions. Long might miss chances, but at least he understands the game enough to turn up in the right places to miss them. Adams is nowhere to be seen when the ball goes into the box.

 

Hey ho. Shouldn't grumble about back-to-back home wins and clean sheets. It's been a while...

 

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[eurosaint]

A good result (in the cup, all you have to do is win) by our reserve team !

Played like a bunch of strangers, which they basically were !

Highlights were the two goals from the nippers but not much else !

All regulars apart from JWP have had a good rest so there are positives !

A home draw again versus a lowly team will do nicely !

[ericofarabia]

I learned a lot that game.......About naming footy clubs and something about yorkies

 

And that is possible to score .... even with a Small Willybone !!

[saint97]

Some people forgetting we made 10 changes Pretty hard to look good when there's no connections on the pitch.

 

Vokins and Smallbone decent, JWP best player on the pitch by a mile. Easy to see why Romeu isn't playing in a 4222. Yoshida terrible.

 

Good win, 4 wins in 5

[CB Fry]

How did "easily the most skilful player in the Premier League" get on against a Championship defence?

[beatlesaint]

He probably put a lot of pressure on himself to do well and score today. Looks really low on confidence.

 

Needs one to go in off his arse to take that pressure off him a bit.

 

yeah it’s a pity we didn’t get a penalty in the last five minutes........although had he missed of course

[stknowle]

A good result (in the cup, all you have to do is win) by our reserve team !

Played like a bunch of strangers, which they basically were !

Highlights were the two goals from the nippers but not much else !

All regulars apart from JWP have had a good rest so there are positives !

A home draw again versus a lowly team will do nicely !

 

To the tune of?

[Convict Colony]

Must just be me but I thought Danso did a good job as right back in a weird position in a game he would be rusty for.

 

He was the out ball, some good crosses, header from corner and aggressive in defence.

 

Thought as a team we'd reverted back to October.

 

Very slow build up play from defenders to midfielders. Not sure if quick forward passes arent a JWP or Romeu thing or they'd been told to move it to the wings.

 

Anyway a easy win and good to see young guys scoring.

[Micky]

Wasn't a good game, but we got over the line, rested some important players, gave a bit of experience to a couple of youngsters who'll definitely benefit from the run out; and the manager and board got to see ahead of the transfer window that our squad players would struggle in the Championship.

 

Thought Smallbone offered little, looked very lightweight, but took his goal excellently. Reminded me of Hesketh's "breakthrough" against Palace. Not overly convinced he'll make it.

 

Vokins was much the better player. Gets caught way upfield too much, but has great recovery pace and a decent engine. Could do with a bit more physicality and positionally there's plenty to learn, but I think he's a worthy long term investment.

 

He had nothing to do, but it was also nice for Gunny to keep a clean sheet in his first game since the Leicester horror show. Seemed fairly confident.

 

Adams is a write off. No quality. And he hardly even gets into goal scoring positions. Long might miss chances, but at least he understands the game enough to turn up in the right places to miss them. Adams is nowhere to be seen when the ball goes into the box.

 

Hey ho. Shouldn't grumble about back-to-back home wins and clean sheets. It's been a while...

 

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Tend to agree with all of this, game showed that our second string are nowhere near prem quality. I also concur about Adams as well, just doesn't look like scoring or even getting into a position likely to do so. A couple of injuries to first team players could see us in deep poo.

 

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[Wes Tender]

It was a turgid first half where Huddersfield lacked conviction and parked the bus and our second string team lacked the ability that comes from playing regularly with the same team mates and the desire, pace and guile to break them down. Long has the pace, of course, but didn't receive the service. A cup match against lower division opposition is an opportunity for Hassenhuttl to cast an eye over the second string and for them to make a case for their being promoted up the pecking order. Both of the 19 year old youngsters at least impressed by scoring, Vokins in particular showing the same promise up the left that he had when given a chance earlier in the season. His goal was really quite a spectacular strike and put the tie to bed close to the end of the match. Long's earlier strike was ruled offside by VAR amongst some doubts about that being the correct decision apparently. Thankfully because of Smallbone's goal early in the second half, Huddersfield were forced to be a bit more positive, cutting out the time-wasting and allowing the possibility that they would give us the extra space and opportunity to hit them on the break. But we never really seemed to avail ourselves of that opportunity until Armstrong, Cedric and Obafemi came on.

 

It was easy to see why Vestergaard and Yoshida are behind the pecking order as CBs and why Danso doesn't feature more. Boufal should have shone against this sort of opposition, but he was in full Dele Alli mode, falling down all over the place instead of showing us the player he can be. Gunn had very little to do, as thankfully Huddersfield were a very poor team, so we got away with being sub-standard ourselves, with just enough quality to get the result. The important bottom line is that we are into the next round, kept a clean sheet and managed to have the chance of running the rule over a couple of youngsters and second string players.

[Saint Jude]

Positives from the game:

- we won and are in the 4th round

- we rested most of our key players with a tough run of games coming up

- Smallbone took his goal really well and hopefully should have some confidence built

- Vokins look pretty decent (alright he didn’t exactly have a PL player up against him)

- Vokins took his goal well (albeit with a deflection)

- Long took his goal well (albeit VAR disallowed)..

 

Negatives/worries from the game

- Vestergaard is truly awful. Slowed everything down, starts form the wrong shape, which means is he’s always going to be negative and pass inside. Passing awful

- Danso again played out of position. He did ok.. but body language wasn’t great, and looks a bit beaten down.

- JWP didn’t get rested. Played ok, but more worried about PL

- Romeu looks off the pace

- Che Adams looks lacking in intensity and very low in confidence, but service was shocking

- Boufal looked like a petulant child from about 15 minutes in and didn’t do enough.

- Smallbone didn’t do enough (other than his goal)

 

We looked like we had changed 10 players. We struggled to break then down, play with any intensity and strolled along like it was a reserves game (maybe it was)..

..thankfully Huddersfield were truly awful, so made it comfortable.

[Saint Jude]

Positives from the game:

- we won and are in the 4th round

- we rested most of our key players with a tough run of games coming up

- Smallbone took his goal really well and hopefully should have some confidence built

- Vokins look pretty decent (alright he didn’t exactly have a PL player up against him)

- Vokins took his goal well (albeit with a deflection)

- Long took his goal well (albeit VAR disallowed)..

 

Negatives/worries from the game

- Vestergaard is truly awful. Slowed everything down, starts form the wrong shape, which means is he’s always going to be negative and pass inside. Passing awful

- Danso again played out of position. He did ok.. but body language wasn’t great, and looks a bit beaten down.

- JWP didn’t get rested. Played ok, but more worried about PL

- Romeu looks off the pace

- Che Adams looks lacking in intensity and very low in confidence, but service was shocking

- Boufal looked like a petulant child from about 15 minutes in and didn’t do enough.

- Smallbone didn’t do enough (other than his goal)

 

We looked like we had changed 10 players. We struggled to break then down, play with any intensity and strolled along like it was a reserves game (maybe it was)..

..thankfully Huddersfield were truly awful, so made it comfortable.

[Lighthouse]

A clean sheet and through into the next round without a replay, can’t argue with that. Hardly a dazzling spectacle but you can’t really expect to cobble 11 fringe players together and play beautiful flowing football. Vokins goal was superb though, worth £12 on its own.

 

I don’t think many of the performances were as bad as some make out. JWP covered a lot of ground and played well, Yoshida was fine as far as I’m concerned and I actually thought Danso looked comfortable enough at RB. Not much going forward but he is a CB. Decent game and goal from Smallbone. Romeu broke up play well, Vest made a few errors.

 

I wanted Adams to score but I don’t think he had any decent service all game. Long was Long, runs around, is offside, doesn’t do much else.

 

Boufal - everything I don’t like about him. He’s got all the skills and no brain. He’ll beat a defender with a neat trick, then try and do exactly the same to the next two instead of playing the ball. Second half he just seemed to lose interest.

 

Oh well, a day out and into the pot on Monday.

[markr27]

Pace of the game was so slow from Saints.

Lots of backwards passing with a large proportion through Vestergaand.... I wonder how many tImes Adam said "...back to Yoshida" on Solent.

 

Definitely need strengthening at RB.

[Plastic]

A clean sheet and through into the next round without a replay, can’t argue with that. Hardly a dazzling spectacle but you can’t really expect to cobble 11 fringe players together and play beautiful flowing football. Vokins goal was superb though, worth £12 on its own.

 

I don’t think many of the performances were as bad as some make out. JWP covered a lot of ground and played well, Yoshida was fine as far as I’m concerned and I actually thought Danso looked comfortable enough at RB. Not much going forward but he is a CB. Decent game and goal from Smallbone. Romeu broke up play well, Vest made a few errors.

 

I wanted Adams to score but I don’t think he had any decent service all game. Long was Long, runs around, is offside, doesn’t do much else.

 

Boufal - everything I don’t like about him. He’s got all the skills and no brain. He’ll beat a defender with a neat trick, then try and do exactly the same to the next two instead of playing the ball. Second half he just seemed to lose interest.

 

Oh well, a day out and into the pot on Monday.

 

Totally agree with this. Danso is an odd one, made some decent instinctive tackles, good defensive positioning, but clueless with the ball.

Completely the wrong game for Boufal, the guy is a show pony and can’t play against gritty defensive teams. Lots of dives and play-acting was about all he contributed.

Huddersfield were really awful, never looked like scoring, and this lack of threat meant we basically phoned it in today. Thought most players did an ok job considering, and I was really happy with both goals.

Edited 4 January, 2020 by Plastic

[Saint-Armstrong]

BBC Highlights: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/av/football/50984932

[Shroppie]

Agree with much of what has been said. Really, plenty to be positive about.

 

Gunn got a game, did what he had to, no mistakes.

 

Danso respectable at RB. Yoshida very solid. Would have no worries about him stepping in for Bednarek or Stephens. Voskins had a decent game, but might struggle against PL opposition. Great goal.

 

Smallbone was ok and took his goal well. JWP showed he is a class above. Held things together and made a great chance for Adams. Romeu was fine, if a little rusty, but no mistakes.

 

Boufal was back to his old frustrating self. One negative. The other was Adams who looks lost, but I'm still convinced he can come good. Long was great. Worked hard and was robbed of a perfectly good goal.

 

And a word for Ralph. Brave but good team selection and subs used well.

 

Good day out.

 

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[NewYorkSaint]

People are being way to tough on Adams. There were numerous occasions where he held up the ball and kept moves going. It was his delicious cross-field flick to Vokins that made the second goal. There must have been something in the system/formation at Birmingham that gave him more chances suited to his style of play.... We shd be working to figure that out, not crucifying him.

[Forester]

Must just be me but I thought Danso did a good job as right back in a weird position in a game he would be rusty for.

 

He was the out ball, some good crosses, header from corner and aggressive in defence.

 

Thought as a team we'd reverted back to October.

 

Very slow build up play from defenders to midfielders. Not sure if quick forward passes arent a JWP or Romeu thing or they'd been told to move it to the wings.

 

Anyway a easy win and good to see young guys scoring.

No it’s not just you. I was hoping to see Danso play centre back, which is after all the position we bought him for, but thought he did well at right back and I think sipped in that good cross that led to Smallbone goal too.

 

Thought Vokins did well, as did JWP and Romeu. The rest not so

[stevy777_x]

No it’s not just you. I was hoping to see Danso play centre back, which is after all the position we bought him for, but thought he did well at right back and I think sipped in that good cross that led to Smallbone goal too.

 

Thought Vokins did well, as did JWP and Romeu. The rest not so

 

Romeu is everything that is wrong in our play.

The sooner he stops playing in the team, the better.

 

We can't build quickly when he is on the pitch.

 

So many times during our game we needed some quick forward passing in the midfield to find our attackers or wingers in pockets of space and we didn t.

You can t break down teams by passing it sideways.

 

Ralph made a mention pre match that there were some positions where we didn't have options or back up.

 

That s exactly why he needed to play Ward Prowse in midfield as we are cruelly lacking in options. Romeu isn t even a great alternative in there.

 

Wouldn't be suprised if we recruit only a midfielder as our 1st signing in January.

[Shroppie]

Pace of the game was so slow from Saints.

Lots of backwards passing with a large proportion through Vestergaand.... I wonder how many tImes Adam said "...back to Yoshida" on Solent.

 

Definitely need strengthening at RB.

Don't understand this at all. We were in control. Huddersfield made no attempt to take the ball from us at the back so of course we played it around at our leisure. There was absolutely no need to be urgently pressing forward.

 

Did you see Liverpool v Sheffield Utd? Exactly the same. Would you criticise Liverpool who just passed SU to death until they got a chance.

 

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[Shroppie]

Romeu is everything that is wrong in our play.

The sooner he stops playing in the team, the better.

 

We can't build quickly when he is on the pitch.

 

So many times during our game we needed some quick forward passing in the midfield to find our attackers or wingers in pockets of space and we didn t.

You can t break down teams by passing it sideways.

 

Ralph made a mention pre match that there were some positions where we didn't have options or back up.

 

That s exactly why he needed to play Ward Prowse in midfield as we are cruelly lacking in options. Romeu isn t even a great alternative in there.

 

Wouldn't be suprised if we recruit only a midfielder as our 1st signing in January.

Don't agree at all. We kept possession well, were patient and took the chances when they came. There was no need for rushed attacking with the likely misplaced passes

 

They did a job, and did it well.

 

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[Killers Knee]

interesting that Man Utd get a VAR check every time a player goes down in the box, but the same courtesy is not extended to Saints

[LGTL]

Don’t really care about the performance, did what we had to do with a totally changed squad.

 

Huddersfield were diabolical, laughably bad.

[Lighthouse]

interesting that Man Utd get a VAR check every time a player goes down in the box, but the same courtesy is not extended to Saints

 

I’m sure they were looked at but nothing credible enough to stop the cake popped up on the screen. I can only remember the supposed push on Vestergaard from an early free kick and Boufal going down like a sack of spuds after running into any other tackle.

 

Some bloke behind me was fuming about the officiating but I can’t remember anything particularly wrong. Long was offside and neither supposed penalty looked convincing to me.

[Matthew Le God]

Some bloke behind me was fuming about the officiating but I can’t remember anything particularly wrong.

 

The referee awarded free kicks for pull backs/fouls on players counter attacking but didn't give yellows (on more than one occasion). The one on Obafemi very late on was the most obvious.

[Whitey Grandad]

Well, that was painfully slow at times. Vestergaard was playing as though he had a bag of cement tied to each ankle and has the turning circle of a mini continent. There were too many sloppy passes that could have led to a goal from better opposition.

 

Long was unlucky, didn’t look offside to me and you can’t draw lines across the width of the pitch in two dimensions and hope to get an accurate result. VAR is destroying the games as we used to know it.

 

A win, a clean sheet, goals for two of the youngsters but not much apart from that. The seats around us were filled with occasional visitors and toddlers. I spent most of the game having my seat kicked by the toddler behind who was playing on his Nintendo thingy. Later in the second half he started to get quite involved in the game and was squealing away like a geriatric regular.

 

I wonder who we’ll get on Monday?

[LGTL]

Skates in the hat, yes ****ing please.

[capitalsaint]

To the tune of?

 

:lol: