Saints 2-3 Man Utd - Reaction

[Lighthouse]

Yawn. More clichéd than an Xmas death in Eastenders. 

[obelisk]

Thought we'd need three.

[BotleySaint]

Played like they all sat down and had Christmas dinner at half time.

[Jeremy Corbyn]

Sigh. They turned it on in the second half and we fell apart, which is our biggest problem. Clearly Ralph doesnt trust his bench players, depth needed.

[Pamplemousse]

Got to say Ralph is fully to blame, it was obvious we were tiring, needed subs on earlier.

[northam soul]

Get Barbara woodhouse or the dog whisperer in for training sessions.

Teach them how to hold a lead

[Norfolkinclue]

Poor from the full backs today, could see the first goal happening when Bertrand dived in twice...

 

[Edmonton Saint]

Vestergaard was brutal today. We need to find a leader , we’re so weak mentally at times that any man or his dog knew what was going to happen . Second half was abysmal. Walcott invisible , need Ings back asap

[adrian lord]

Gave the ball away far too much, K W-P especially poor, Armstrong too.

When Long comes on it is our equivalent of the white towel. 

[Baird of the land]

Absolutely abysmal from the instant we sloppily let them back into the game.

Really disappointing after getting themselves in such a good position.

Don't get Ralph's subs. Bizarrely he's in favour of 5 subs but only wants to use Shane Long before 89th minute.

[badgerx16]

Just now, Pamplemousse said:

Got to say Ralph is fully to blame, it was obvious we were tiring, needed subs on earlier.

Yep. All those game changers warming the bench.

[Lighthouse]

Clearly the St Mary’s crowd was to blame again. All negative, getting on the players backs etc.

[LGTL]

Helps when you can bring on Cavani as opposed to Shane Long. 

[Super Carlton]

Good old Saints performance

[davefizzy14]

Cant believe how we have just lost that. 2-0 up and in a commanding position, 2nd half we completely tired and we were guilty for giving the ball away far too often. I dunno what Vestergaard was doing for their 2nd completely playing Cavani onside. We move on and get ready for the next one.

[hackedoff]

2-2 in injury time and that free kick is for Saints in their half and it would have been worked backwards to our keeper.

[Wes Tender]

Sickening. I would have fancied us to win that had Ings been fit. In the end, it was the quality in depth that the ultimate glory team has that made the difference.

[Mr X]

We have a habit now of giving up 2-0 scorelines, TBF the 2-0 in the first half flattered us today, we were due a loss so here it is.... Still hurts though.  We play some good stuff and are much improved but still worrying how easily we give up leads 

[S-Clarke]

Utd deserved that, we were pretty awful today in most parts. Got a lead totally against the run of play, had a couple of near chances (and a 2nd) but Utd were always a threat, we kept giving them space and they kept picking us off in midfield.

Eventually their pressure told and that was that. Felt like our worst performance since Spurs 2nd half, they played around us and found space too easily. We were weak on the 2nd balls and poor in retaining possession.

Adams didn't have a great game today as our focal point and it wasn't sticking well enough. Moussa was our biggest attacking threat imo, bringing Long on just kind of kills the game from our point of view. Is he really as good as we can do? Obafami or Dan L'dunlunlu should be before him now days.

The subs tell you all you need to know really - they bring on Cavani, we bring on Long.

Never mind, we were going to lose eventually. I felt we saw quite a few weaknesses in our game today though, we need to be a lot tighter in the coming weeks or we will slide down the league quicker than a hooker on a pole.

[trousers]

Apart from a decent 20 minute spell in the first half, we were second best by a country mile today. The half time score flattered us and it was inevitable that Utd would fight back for at least a draw. We've managed to avoid turnovers like this for a while so were overdue one.  Meh. 

 

[Sheaf Saint]

So predictable.

Even at 2-0 up we never looked comfortable. The HT scoreline flattered us somewhat.

Mostly a poor performance all round. Armstrong looked knackered by 70 mins so why did Ralph wait til 89 to replace him? Baffling.

The real big difference today was that Utd had someone with the quality of Cavani on the bench, while our 'game-changing' sub was Shane blood Long, who hasn't done anything remotely useful since scoring against Liverpool in the EFL cup semi 4 years ago. It's almost painful watching him these days. Reminds me of Austin's last few months with us where he was so obviously past it and unable to compete.

[JRM]

We just don't beat United at home any more,  that 3rd goal was so predictable, we looked knackered most of the game, sloppy passing, late challenges, Djenepo out of depth at times , need to get Ings and Redmond back. 

How many times have we lost to a United from a winning position ffs 

[OttawaSaint]

We’ve got a decent first XI but we’re threadbare after that. It was nice being up near the top but without high quality players on the bench we are going to struggle, especially during the festive period.

[Chez]

United pressed and every single Saint failed to cope with the pressure applied by his opponent. That lead to us turning the ball over time and time again. You can't do that against good sides. We have done well so far. This is just one game. But I think it demonstrates the quality of player we have here. Some good players, but not a host of great players. We Need to bounce back quickly and ensure we are the team pressing. 

[Kenilworthy]

Felt it was a mistake to take Djenepo off as he was worrying them. Also Ralph should have instructed Vestergaard not to keep pushing forward and getting out of position

[igsey]

Just lazy writing! Southampton losing after being 2-0 up, United getting a winner in stoppage time.

Ah well, hope this gives everyone a kick up the backside before Brighton next week. Ings back would be huge.

[Disco Stu]

We were poor all game. Ward-Prowse bailed us out but we were too poor in possession to maintain our undeserved lead.

Perhaps with Ings we could have killed the game but we've seen it many times before, most recently against Villa where we turned a 0-4 lead into a tight 3-4 game. No goal buffer seems to be enough to be comfortable for Saints. Its a mental weakness and a horrible statistic.

Edited 29 November, 2020 by Disco Stu

[washsaint]

Last couple of games have shown we are still very much a work in progress.  

Ralph making changes too late in the game and see absolutely zero point in bringing Long on.   Long is garbage and should never put on a Saints shirt again - well past his best by date (if he ever had one).

It was screaming out for DIallo to come on half way through the second half when Utd were in the ascendancy but instead Long is brought on - he could not trap a bag of cement.

Walker-Peters was appalling today - giving the ball away cheaply.  

A strange game - 2-0 up at half time playing well for half the first half and then not in second half at all.  

Thought Romeu, JWP and Adams were excellent.  Rest of the outfield were poor: Armstrong offered nothing, Walcott never really got in the game, back 4 were very poor and Djneppo decent 1st half appalling 2nd half.

We are a long way from challenging top 6 - the last 2 games have shown that.  Hopefully having Ings back will give us a bit more in the upcoming games.

[trousers]

3 minutes ago, Pamplemousse said:

Got to say Ralph is fully to blame, it was obvious we were tiring, needed subs on earlier.

That's been said on here for a lot of games this season but we've managed to avoid defeat in more games than we've lost when Ralph has resisted changing things sooner. Swings and roundabouts

[johnnyboy]

 

•  

Posted 4 minutes ago

   35 minutes ago,  johnnyboy said: 

Have I missed something , we are still winning yes ? 

 

   34 minutes ago,  trousers said: 

Have I missed something? You've been a Saints fan for several years and don't realise what typically happens in games like this...? 

Membership of the "we know what happens here" club available if you want to sign up @johnnyboy...?

Always been a member , thought maybe we had turned a corner , alas nothings changed!

[Roo1976]

Weak............................so many blowing up with about 15 left ..............didnt really get a sniff tbf in second half. Too many times poor passing placed us under too much pressure. Ruins yer weekend somewhat  .Shane Long hasnt scored in 55 subs apperences says it all ,wrong player to be picked ahead of others.

[Micky]

Got what we deserved, even at 2 nil they were miles better than us. When you look at the riches they have though we shouldn't be beating teams like them.  What on earth does Long contribute these days?  Will be interesting to see where we go from here. 

[Isla Wight]

Saints performance of old. Carvani had magic boots on - too many of ours were wearing hooves. 

[OttawaSaint]

Had Wolves last year written all over it. We were lucky to be 2-0 up at HT. 

[WALK DMC]

Bednarek is to blame.  He has scored in 3 games now. 

Chelsea home - Two nil up in the 2nd half and we lose 3-2 

Wolves home - Two nil up in 2nd half and we lose 3-2 

Man U home - as you were .... 

Somebody needs to tell him to stop scoring .....

 

[HarvSFC]

Played well for 60 minutes, no passengers in the eleven, everyone knew their job and were doing it. But, then capitulation and we could not get the ball out of our own half.

 

[Dusic]

Fair score.

Our lack of good sub options is a big problem. When you have 6 outfield subs and there aren't really any you really want to bring on then thats going to be an issue.

Edited 29 November, 2020 by Dusic

[Baird of the land]

3 minutes ago, davefizzy14 said:

Cant believe how we have just lost that. 2-0 up and in a commanding position, 2nd half we completely tired and we were guilty for giving the ball away far too often. I dunno what Vestergaard was doing for their 2nd completely playing Cavani onside. We move on and get ready for the next one.

He's covering the near post from the shot.

It's a decision that with retrospect looks bad when the deflection takes the ball perfectly into cavani's head.

 

[benjii]

I've done my ratings. Here are my ratings.

McCarthy - 6 - dug himself out of a hole he seemed determined to dig. Looked shaky.  

KWP - 6 - OK but didn't make a forward contribution.

Bednarek - 7 - ok.

Vestergaard - 6 - you're not Beckenbauer and we aren't a world class team. Concentrate on defending. 

Bertrand - 6 - similar to KWP. OK but not a great day.

Romeo- 6 - meh. Bit sloppy.

JWP - 9 - quality. Can't knock the contribution. 

Armstrong - 6 - bit sloppy today.

Djenepo - 7 - looked dangerous. We didn't get the ball to him quickly enough.

Walcott - 5 - he's not very good at passing or shooting, unfortunately. 

Adams - 8 - we should have got the ball into him quicker. He did his job really well but unfortunately wasn't supported well enough.

[obelisk]

Why wasn't that Saints free kick in added time pumped up towards the corner flag? Or even, dare I say, into the penalty area? Instead we give it away and hey-presto.

Walcott was making runs into space behind their defence all 2nd half and I can't remember once Saints midfield getting their heads up ready for a pass in behind.

[stknowle]

Let's face it we were lucky to be 2 nil up at half time. Very lucky.  From that point on the game and why we lost it cqn be succinctly summed up in four words: Shane, Edison, Cavani, Long.

[S-Clarke]

Just now, HarvSFC said:

Played well for 60 minutes, no passengers in the eleven, everyone knew their job and were doing it. But, then capitulation and we could not get the ball out of our own half.

 

Nah, don't think we did. We were poor for the majority of the game and we gave Utd the handle multiple times. I don't think we ever had any control over that game, mainly because we were so flaming loose in possession. Armstrong in particular had a shocker in that sense.

[Viking Saint]

Predictable. Zero leadership on the park when we needed to control the game, slow it down, keep possession and let them chase the ball. In fairness, we didn't play well first half and probably didn't deserve a 2-0 lead. Doesn't make it any better when it's so predictable and we can all see what's coming a mile off, apart from the management.

[benjii]

On a separate point, Cavani is a class above Greenwood and Rashford so at least he didn't start.

[Saint86]

Was coming a mile off, almost put a bet on 3-2 the minute they score the first. Was only going to end one way. Even at 2-0 we weren't playing well and United always had gears to go into.

They're a decent side with a great squad. And they always play well against us.

Loving this season and the way we've been playing - we are overachieving but we need to be wiser than this. Its about the only critique i would level at Ralph - waiting until the 89th minute to make a meaningful change is just too late. Sides are starting to take us seriously and figure us out now. Need to be able to shore it up and see games out.

Villa, Wolves, United- all games where we've simply let the opposition come back at us and score inevitable goals without changing things up. At least if we are going to lose doing it, its against a team who really should expect to finish above us at least!

Edited 29 November, 2020 by Saint86

[Saint_Jonny]

We weren't very good but any time you chuck away a 2-0 lead makes it extra hard to take when we throw it away, regardless of the opposition. Fucking annoying. 

[edprice1984]

Fuck sake

[beatlesaint]

We were not good today, half time score was flattering. I thought the front three of Theo, Adams and Armstrong were poor, Djenepo looked most dangerous.

Too many sloppy passes, second half was poor but United do that to us at home time after time no matter how we play.

Disappointing but no real surprise. 

[gammon cheeks]

Look we did our best with the players we have !  They have spent a fookin fortune and there not much better than us !

[beatlesaint]

3 minutes ago, Dusic said:

Fair score.

Our lack of good sub options is a big problem. When you have 6 outfield subs are there aren't really any you really want to bring on then thats going to be an issue.

This is why the five sub rule would do us no favours at all.