Saints vs Sheff Utd - Match & Reaction Thread

[Mikey88]

2 minutes ago, eelpie said:

Cemented isn't quite the correct word, but who's not to like this wonderful table?  Third for a few minutes until Spurs play.

 

We'll stay 3rd unless Leicester win later. Spurs were already above us.

[LuckyNumber7]

Very difficult to find any negatives in that, they all played well apart maybe from Ings who looked understandably rusty. Think I'd give Che MOTM, his holdup play and close control is outstanding.

Agree with comments about KWP, what a signing he has been and a huge upgrade on Cedric and Valery. Also well done to the fans who were there, good noise.

Aside form the second half collapses against Spurs and Man Utd we have been excellent at home this season, which is a big plus!

[LeBizzier69]

Great match day experience. Great atmosphere, and this team plays some top football. Great manager, on a real high after that result and performance. Only thing missing was the beers!

[badgerx16]

From the BBC;

Romeu's assist for the Redmnd goal was is first in the Premier League, in his 193rd appearance. It is not all his own fault, though. That was the 96th chance he has created in those games.

[stknowle]

4 minutes ago, eelpie said:

Cemented isn't quite the correct word, but who's not to like this wonderful table?  Third for a few minutes until Spurs play.

 

You may wish to check your 'math'

[Saint Keef]

44 minutes ago, badgerx16 said:

Better call the cops, you've been burgled.

Yeh, but tell them to take their time coming just in case she's still there. 

[OttawaSaint]

4 minutes ago, cloggy saint said:

And indeed third after Spurs play regardless of the result.

Yep only L*******r can pass us today and they are on late.

[trousers]

9 minutes ago, eelpie said:

Cemented isn't quite the correct word, but who's not to like this wonderful table? 

 

Yeah, it's very wet cement to be fair

[OttawaSaint]

4 minutes ago, Saint Keef said:

Yeh, but tell them to take their time coming just in case she's still there. 

Quebec cops, they’re probably still sleeping in the back of their car next to Tim Hortons...plenty of time!

[Toadhall Saint]

25 minutes ago, Wes Tender said:

https://www.skysports.com/watch/video/sports/12160129/saints-pile-more-misery-onto-sheff-utd

A walk in the park. Apart from a ten minute period at the start of the second half, we looked comfortable throughout. Sky only mentioned the "L" word in the 85th minute. Great performances throughout the team. McCarthy was largely a spectator, as the back four were very solid, especially Vestergaard with another MOTM performance. Both full backs got up the pitch, linking up well with Walcott and Armstrong, who also had good games. As usual, the Romeu and Ward-Prowse partnership has a great understanding of each others' play and positioning. This is the first choice team which is gelling really well and getting the results because of it. Knowing Ralph's way of coaching, you can bet that the subs bench are also well versed in how the team plays and can therefore slot in seamlessly. Today's substitutions were spot on and having replaced Walcott, Redmond scored a great goal. The paths to the forwards are now many and varied, with service coming via the full backs getting well forward whenever possible, the two players forward of them either getting to the byeline, or cutting into the area, or good passes towards the area from Romeu and Ward-Prowse. Increasingly another option is via Vestergaard striding forward, ball at feet. Additionally we are becoming very good at set pieces. Ings was off the score sheet today, but always add a great deal to the team with his all out effort. If we can continue to play like this for the rest of the season, we should be playing in Europe at the end of it.

Thanks for the link. Ralph is certainly the real deal.

[trousers]

6 minutes ago, badgerx16 said:

From the BBC;

Romeu's assist for the Redmnd goal was is first in the Premier League, in his 193rd appearance. It is not all his own fault, though. That was the 96th chance he has created in those games.

Blimey, that's a somewhat bizarre stat. First assist in 193 games? Funny old game.

[trousers]

[ButtikonSaint]

What a great position to be in...

Strong, hard working and talented starting eleven...

Scoring goals, playing fluid and attacking football, confident and healthy team, half decent subs...

A great manager (and I'm sure we can include the whole backroom team in that statement)...

CEO and snr management seem really grounded (opinion reiterated from the recent fan's forum) .

Fan's back at St Mary's

3rd in the league...

Off to enjoy my Sunday late lunch

COYS

[trousers]

Ha... Nice tweet Alex 😂

 

[striker]

Ha, great tweet.

[badgerx16]

With Sharp & McGoaldrought up top you can see why they have issues - 8 goals in 67 PL appearances between them. Perhaps we can offer them ShLong in January ?

Edited 13 December, 2020 by badgerx16

[Nolan]

Latest relegation odds from oddschecker: 300/1.

I don't think we've ever hit that point at this stage of the season.

 

Edited 13 December, 2020 by Nolan

[saintwbu]

1 hour ago, OttawaSaint said:

KWP is so calm on the ball, he’s great at feigning a pass and then taking off with the ball. Feels weird after so many years of Cedric blasting the ball into row Z.

I said exactly this watching the game haha - he’s a huge upgrade in every single way

[John Boy Saint]

1 hour ago, nta786 said:

Wow he called full time with a minute to spare haha!

I heard the stadium announcer say 3 minutes and was surprised when 4 appeared on the screen - my hearing is normally pretty sharp.

[Master Bates]

[warsash saint]

1 hour ago, OttawaSaint said:

The yellow he did give could easily have been red. The Sheff player deliberately handled it to stop Ings and Adams getting a clear run in from the half way line.

 

Except there was a player behind him!

[Charlie Wayman]

Superbly dominant display of controlled patient total football, a pleasure to watch (even on Sky at £10). Adams was outstanding and clearly MotM. Everyone performed well and our possession football was a joy to watch. 

We can't expect the freedom of the park every match but quite a few teams are going to find us hard to deal with and dispossess. It is hard not to look forward with optimism to the next game. No matter who the opposition we look like we will give them a few puzzles that they might not be able to solve.

Well done lads and well done Ralph

[Lord Duckhunter]

Good stuff. Look a very confident slick side. Walcott, KWP, Adams all excellent, but everyone contributed. They were so poor, result never in doubt. Wilder must be under pressure and wouldn’t surprise me if they pulled the plug. 
 

Off the pitch, organisation was great, well handled, with a special mention for the stewards. They were friendly & extremely professional. Obviously not as good experience as a full stadium after chucking a load of ale down my neck, but pretty damn good in the circumstances. 

 

[The Cat]

2 minutes ago, Lord Duckhunter said:

Good stuff. Look a very confident slick side. Walcott, KWP, Adams all excellent, but everyone contributed. They were so poor, result never in doubt. Wilder must be under pressure and wouldn’t surprise me if they pulled the plug. 
 

Off the pitch, organisation was great, well handled, with a special mention for the stewards. They were friendly & extremely professional. Obviously not as good experience as a full stadium after chucking a load of ale down my neck, but pretty damn good in the circumstances. 

 

What's the set up inside? Is it straight to your seat with stewards making sure you sit in the right place? Would they stop people from coming in if they missed their timeslot? Any bother with people not having filled out forms or anything?

[qwertyell]

1 hour ago, OttawaSaint said:

KWP is so calm on the ball, he’s great at feigning a pass and then taking off with the ball. Feels weird after so many years of Cedric blasting the ball into row Z.

Kept pissing himself under pressure against Man United and probably lost possession more in one half than any full back this season during that game.

Great today, though - but still got plenty to improve on.

[The Cat]

Just now, The Cat said:

What's the set up inside? Is it straight to your seat with stewards making sure you sit in the right place? Would they stop people from coming in if they missed their timeslot? Any bother with people not having filled out forms or anything?

Feel free to ignore, just seen the other thread

[Lord Duckhunter]

Just now, The Cat said:

What's the set up inside? Is it straight to your seat with stewards making sure you sit in the right place? Would they stop people from coming in if they missed their timeslot? Any bother with people not having filled out forms or anything?

No, whole day was good natured. Stewarding was relaxed and friendly. We wandered in, got a coffee, stood around in concourse and then made our way to seats. I didn’t see any issues at all, far better than I’d imagined it would be. Maybe lack of alcohol helped, but everyone behaved and respectful of restrictions. 

[tajjuk]

Thought we were thoroughly excellent throughout even if we didn't create that many clear cut chances, with the first two goals being somewhat fortunate. Though I think had Ings been sharp we would have scored and created more, understandably he looked a little off the pace and not his usually excellent self. 

Thought Adams was outstanding, his movement and hold up play was excellent, always putting pressure on at the right time, giving us options to play long or into the channels and was very clever using his body to win fouls, also unlucky to not pick up an assist with some decent balls. 

Vestergaard was very good again, he was playing like a playmaker in midfield at times rather than a centre-back.

Have to say though Sheff Utd offered very very little, they played a lot better against West Brom and Leicester than that, I mean there was always the chance of a fluke goal from somewhere but one of the most comfortable games I have watched, it was just a case of us breaking them down rather than posing any threat. 

Also liked the cameos by Diallo and N'Lundulu at the end of the game, confidence is obviously flowing through the whole squad at the moment and those not in the first eleven look like they know the first team is playing so well that if they get any sort of chance they have to be at the top of the game. There was a little pick up and run by Diallo where he just glided past a couple of their players to start an attack which I think shows he might have the potential to offer something a little different in the middle. 

[SaintBobby]

Thought I’d be nervous as hell watching Saints at St Mary’s again. If we’d lost, you maybe get a “we don’t want fans in the ground” meme going.

But that was a stroll, really good throughout the team. Congrats to the club and stewards for running things so smoothly with a weird situation. Congrats too to the 2,000. Pretty damned good atmosphere given the ground was 90+% empty!

[ecuk268]

17 minutes ago, The Cat said:

What's the set up inside? Is it straight to your seat with stewards making sure you sit in the right place? Would they stop people from coming in if they missed their timeslot? Any bother with people not having filled out forms or anything?

I was due at 10.30 but got there at 11.00 and joined quite a long queue. The stewards were telling everyone with earlier slots to join a much shorter queue so it didn't take long to get inside. Everything was very relaxed but well-organised with no jobsworths. I'd done my form online so it was just a case of a temperature check.

[Jimmy_D]

Up to third, Ings gets 90 minutes, Redmond gets off the mark, clean sheet, and all in front of the fans  

[trousers]

Just watched Wilder's post match interview... Blimey, don't think I've ever heard a manager be quite so gushing about their opponent before!

[SNSUN]

Was a decent and calm win. Very professional from the lads. Just as I was getting antsy for the first goal, we scored. Just as I was getting antsy for the second, we scored. Then I went and had a shower before work, took my iPad in the bathroom to watch SkyGo, and very nearly went arse over tit in the shower when Redmond added the cherry on top. We were rarely put under pressure, except perhaps early in the second half, and we didn't panic. We just kept on playing our game knowing goals would come in the end. This Southampton is a different beast to any I've seen in 30 odd years of supporting Saints. Our passing is crisper than I ever remember it and our players rarely seem to make mistakes - even when they do their teammates are there to help out. We may lack the superstars we had a few seasons ago but we are a much better team.

You have to feel for Sheffield United but it is classic second season syndrome. They haven't strengthened enough in the short summer - I think they were after two or three players Villa got that they were outbid for. Watkins for sure. Rhian Brewster was an enormous risk for the money - especially when for similar dosh you get an already proven Premier League striker (Ings) or a striker with good, prolonged Championship pedigree (Adams). Brewster's signing reminds me of Solanke's for Bournemouth. I suppose in hindsight he'll be a good signing for next season in their potential Championship campaign. I also saw nothing that shows Berge is worth the money, and I hold reservations of Ramdale, certainly after Adam's goal.

Back to today and I think my MOTM is Adams. One of his passes in the first half was sublime. He has a great work ethic, and an eye for a pass. I don't see him as much of a poacher but he was certainly quick to react for his goal. It was one of those games where almost everybody played well, even Ings who was rusty and McCarthy who had little to do but concentrate. I didn't think Walcott was at his best today but he does try hard. I'm already a big fan of KWP and that grew again today. What a player Spurs have let go.

Arsenal next - I think they'll win today which means they could narrow the gap to us next week to 4 points! That's how close the league is currently, but let's all just enjoy the table as it stands! We're effectively a third of the way through the season and if we match the first 3rd, we will finish around the 70 point mark which would be Champions League football!

[davefoggy]

29 minutes ago, SaintBobby said:

Thought I’d be nervous as hell watching Saints at St Mary’s again. If we’d lost, you maybe get a “we don’t want fans in the ground” meme going.

But that was a stroll, really good throughout the team. Congrats to the club and stewards for running things so smoothly with a weird situation. Congrats too to the 2,000. Pretty damned good atmosphere given the ground was 90+% empty!

This. Was a thoroughly enjoyable and relaxed experience, despite the weather. Obviously nothing like a normal home game, but it's a start. Felt lucky to be there, was actually a bit emotional when team came out and everyone was singing, must be going soft in my old age! The only negative was fans clapping when players took the knee, the sooner this is removed from pre-match, the better

[Cabrone]

This is what happens when you have one of the best managers in the prem. If we can stay lucky with injuries this could be our best ever prem season. In Ralph we trust.

[Scully]

3rd in the table! It's glorious, kinda feel like the team has really tapped their potential. There has been a lot of (mostly justified) criticism the past few seasons but I think a lot of that is because many fans feel Saints always had the potential in them to reach this kind of level and put in a shift each and every game but never seemed to fulfill it. Now I can see they're really battling and fighting and play with a real confidence not seen for a long time. Special mentions to KWP who has entirely transformed our RB position and the entire right wing and also to Adams who is massively improving. Ings we already knew was top quality

[sydenhamssocks]

The bench is now starting shape up alongside the starting 11. This gives us some depth and quality. Redmonds goal today a good example. Great win. Gunners next in our firing line !! 

[Teddeer]

36 minutes ago, SNSUN said:

 

 I didn't think Walcott was at his best today but he does try hard.

Have to disagree. I thought Theo caused them all sorts of problems with his speed and direct running which opened up space for others. He was a constant threat.

[hypochondriac]

44 minutes ago, davefoggy said:

This. Was a thoroughly enjoyable and relaxed experience, despite the weather. Obviously nothing like a normal home game, but it's a start. Felt lucky to be there, was actually a bit emotional when team came out and everyone was singing, must be going soft in my old age! The only negative was fans clapping when players took the knee, the sooner this is removed from pre-match, the better

I knew they would. 

[View From The Top]

45 minutes ago, davefoggy said:

This. Was a thoroughly enjoyable and relaxed experience, despite the weather. Obviously nothing like a normal home game, but it's a start. Felt lucky to be there, was actually a bit emotional when team came out and everyone was singing, must be going soft in my old age! The only negative was fans clapping when players took the knee, the sooner this is removed from pre-match, the better

Better get used to it as they're not going to stop it whether the EDL types like it or not.

[Wes Tender]

Great that Spurs only got a draw, so we're only two points off them at the top at the moment. Surely Fulham can't maintain their lead over Liverpool to put us one point behind them?

[tajjuk]

9 minutes ago, Teddeer said:

Have to disagree. I thought Theo caused them all sorts of problems with his speed and direct running which opened up space for others. He was a constant threat.

Yeh agree both him and Armstrong were good for this, they got into the no.10 spaces Ralph likes the wide players to drift into and drove at the defenders often getting us free kicks in good spots or creating chances. 

[Manuel]

43 minutes ago, Cabrone said:

This is what happens when you have one of the best managers in the prem. If we can stay lucky with injuries this could be our best ever prem season. In Ralph we trust.

We do seem to have been fortunate with injuries lately, which has helped with our success, at least that's how it seems.  I wonder if this is the result of good management, perhaps we're doing the right things on the training ground, in the physio room, etc.  

[davefoggy]

4 minutes ago, View From The Top said:

Better get used to it as they're not going to stop it whether the EDL types like it or not.

What's it got to do with EDL?

[Sheaf Saint]

5 minutes ago, Wes Tender said:

Great that Spurs only got a draw, so we're only two points off them at the top at the moment. Surely Fulham can't maintain their lead over Liverpool to put us one point behind them?

Liverpool wil inevitably get their usual suspect penalty in the second half.

[Sheaf Saint]

6 minutes ago, tajjuk said:

Yeh agree both him and Armstrong were good for this, they got into the no.10 spaces Ralph likes the wide players to drift into and drove at the defenders often getting us free kicks in good spots or creating chances. 

Yep. Theo's run which won the FK that JWP put just over the bar being a good example.

[Wes Tender]

1 minute ago, Sheaf Saint said:

Liverpool wil inevitably get their usual suspect penalty in the second half.

For sure. Also, come on Brighton, beat Leicester later

[Sheaf Saint]

1 minute ago, Wes Tender said:

For sure. Also, come on Brighton, beat Leicester later

Brighton didn't deserve to lose to us last week, and Leicester only beat Sheff Utd with a very late goal in a game they didn't really deserve to win.

A Leicester win is far from a certainty.

Having said that, they'll probably smash them 5-0 now 😂

 

[Wes Tender]

6 minutes ago, Sheaf Saint said:

Brighton didn't deserve to lose to us last week, and Leicester only beat Sheff Utd with a very late goal in a game they didn't really deserve to win.

A Leicester win is far from a certainty.

Having said that, they'll probably smash them 5-0 now 😂

 

And I've just seen that Liverpool's next match is against Spurs. It's getting interesting at the top, at least for a short while longer

[Totton Saint]

1 hour ago, Cabrone said:

This is what happens when you have one of the best managers in the prem. If we can stay lucky with injuries this could be our best ever prem season. In Ralph we trust.

It is good he is called a Manager and not Head Coach. I see on my phone and google we have a  separate set pice coach and another for defensive work. Lets Hass get on with the managinI was  purring at our slick passing, especially in tight areas. Vest was imperious. Pleased for Redders too