Southampton 0-1 Leicester - Match Thread

[Patrick Bateman]

Leicester barely got out of second gear, had they applied themselves it would've been a much bigger score. However at 1-0 down, in a cup semi final, with 10 or even 5 mins to go, where was the drive, the passion and the will to get that goal? It was totally f**king flat.

I have to say that the biggest culprit who seems to be escaping any criticism is Ward-Prowse. How many free kicks and corners is he going to hit in an area where the goalie can easily gather the ball?  I mean, that last one today, EVERYONE was up, as you would expect and I cheered because it felt like the team finally cared. Where did he hit that ball? Straight into an area where the goalie could easily gather it. FFS!  At least get it on someone's head to create some mayhem in the last second of the game. 

F**k this team. Need a clear out.  F**k the "super league".  Just f**k. 

 

[nta786]

8 minutes ago, saintscottofthenortham said:

Most alarming thing about today was Ralph going on BT Sport immediately after the game and telling everyone we left it all on the pitch and he has told the players how proud he is. 
 

if alarm bells weren’t going already, they have sounded loud now. We are in big trouble going forward. 

To be fair I’m not a fan of managers bashing players in public usually it ends in one way

 

[Viking Saint]

5 minutes ago, Patrick Bateman said:

Leicester barely got out of second gear, had they applied themselves it would've been a much bigger score. However at 1-0 down, in a cup semi final, with 10 or even 5 mins to go, where was the drive, the passion and the will to get that goal? It was totally f**king flat.

I have to say that the biggest culprit who seems to be escaping any criticism is Ward-Prowse. How many free kicks and corners is he going to hit in an area where the goalie can easily gather the ball?  I mean, that last one today, EVERYONE was up, as you would expect and I cheered because it felt like the team finally cared. Where did he hit that ball? Straight into an area where the goalie could easily gather it. FFS!  At least get it on someone's head to create some mayhem in the last second of the game. 

F**k this team. Need a clear out.  F**k the "super league".  Just f**k. 

 

Not defending his service at all, but did we win a single 50/50 aerial ball today?? Every time FF pumped a long ball forward, we seemed to be jumping five yards away from where the ball was landing

[Jeremy]

Listened to the second half radio commentary on Saints Web while getting ready to come to work.  I've read the comments on here about this and that but the two commentators, whoever they are and who are usually very balanced and fair, also said that Saints didn't show up today.  I can't understand how the team's form has fallen so far and so fast. Everybody was so full of high hopes at the start of the season and the attractive and winning football, including me. They're young, fit guys who run round a football pitch every week or so. They might do, what, 8 kms tops?  I ran 11km last night and I'm not 25. They can't be tired.

I really just don't get it.

[Chez]

1 minute ago, Viking Saint said:

Not defending his service at all, but did we win a single 50/50 aerial ball today?? Every time FF pumped a long ball forward, we seemed to be jumping five yards away from where the ball was landing

when Bertrand is sent up for corners, i think that tells you everything about our arial prowess. Maybe a target man might be an idea...

[Chez]

3 minutes ago, Jeremy said:

Listened to the second half radio commentary on Saints Web while getting ready to come to work.  I've read the comments on here about this and that but the two commentators, whoever they are and who are usually very balanced and fair, also said that Saints didn't show up today.  I can't understand how the team's form has fallen so far and so fast. Everybody was so full of high hopes at the start of the season and the attractive and winning football, including me. They're young, fit guys who run round a football pitch every week or so. They might do, what, 8 kms tops?  I ran 11km last night and I'm not 25. They can't be tired.

I really just don't get it.

you don't get that they are tired or the reason for our drop of form?

[rallyboy]

On a brighter note, I did enjoy Hoddle and the other twat bigging up the arrival of the footballing genius Maddison - closely followed by his free kick that required accompanying paperwork as it landed in fucking Belgium.

Eeyeore could have clipped in a better cross, with his weaker hoof.

[LaptopSaint]

The wheels really are coming of if that performance was us leaving it all out there on the pitch. Semi-final, 30+ mins to go, 1-0 down and not only no shots on target but zero creativity and no passion. 
 

Anyway I expect this thread is going to deteriorate soon into two Saints fans having a pointless pissing match. What? Oh. 

[Nemi]

13 minutes ago, Patrick Bateman said:

Leicester barely got out of second gear, had they applied themselves it would've been a much bigger score. However at 1-0 down, in a cup semi final, with 10 or even 5 mins to go, where was the drive, the passion and the will to get that goal? It was totally f**king flat.

I have to say that the biggest culprit who seems to be escaping any criticism is Ward-Prowse. How many free kicks and corners is he going to hit in an area where the goalie can easily gather the ball?  I mean, that last one today, EVERYONE was up, as you would expect and I cheered because it felt like the team finally cared. Where did he hit that ball? Straight into an area where the goalie could easily gather it. FFS!  At least get it on someone's head to create some mayhem in the last second of the game. 

F**k this team. Need a clear out.  F**k the "super league".  Just f**k. 

 

He gets away with it cause he runs around a lot doing nothing that bad but definitely nothing good. His only good moments come at set-pieces when the limelight is only on him, which makes him look a lot better than he is. Not a terrible but should be no more than a squad player in a PL team.

[Saint Billy]

Well the low score against was a surprise but the way we played wasn’t.

It was a grim display of which I saw nothing positive from us at all. 

[Nemi]

9 minutes ago, Jeremy said:

Listened to the second half radio commentary on Saints Web while getting ready to come to work.  I've read the comments on here about this and that but the two commentators, whoever they are and who are usually very balanced and fair, also said that Saints didn't show up today.  I can't understand how the team's form has fallen so far and so fast. Everybody was so full of high hopes at the start of the season and the attractive and winning football, including me. They're young, fit guys who run round a football pitch every week or so. They might do, what, 8 kms tops?  I ran 11km last night and I'm not 25. They can't be tired.

I really just don't get it.

Considering that excluding the end of last season and the start of this season, our form for the last three or four years has been just as bad, it’s probably more likely we’re just reverting to our true level.

[Tamesaint]

A typical cup semi final. Dont go to them if you want good, entertaining football. We were the underdogs and were playing a  very good team.  For us to win we would  always need  a bit of luck and that we didn't get with that scrappy goal. This doesn't hurt as much as 84 but boy do I hate semi finals.

 

[Viking Saint]

21 minutes ago, Chez said:

when Bertrand is sent up for corners, i think that tells you everything about our arial prowess. Maybe a target man might be an idea...

Good call, maybe like a 6'7" Danish CB??

[saintscottofthenortham]

30 minutes ago, nta786 said:

To be fair I’m not a fan of managers bashing players in public usually it ends in one way

 

Fair point, but this was suggesting he has been in there praising the lads for today’s efforts. I could understand saying nothing, but to say we left it all on the pitch made my piss instantaneously boil. 

[warsash saint]

Did this team actually top the Premiership team earlier this season??  Beggars belief!

[Killers Knee]

Rubbish ugly crab football.  Any focker caught playing crab football after today should get pelted with fresh turds from Southampton sewers

Edited 18 April, 2021 by Killers Knee

[DT]

On a positive note, at least we are on the side of angels in all this super league balls. Think football’s gone, guys. 

[austsaint]

1 hour ago, Teddeer said:

Not sure it's hate. I think most of us are just bitterly disappointed and frustrated that, having anticipated and looked forward to such a massive game, the players just didn't turn up. It is not as though Leicester played out of their skins - they were pretty ordinary and yet, in over 90 minutes, we could neither ruffle them into errors nor show any guile ourselves that might have led to us at least testing Schmeichel.  It all smacked of a total lack of self belief and courage - we just seemed so meek and timid and unwilling to attempt to impose ourselves on the game. As a team we were content to play the safe option or just pass responsibility on to a team mate even if he was in a worse position. We didn't attempt to get players in between their lines and made it very easy for them. These opportunities come along rarely and to totally bottle the game is hard to stomach.

Sums it up well for me.  We looked like a side happy with a narrow loss, and for Ralph to suggest the players left it all out there insults our intelligence.   I can accept the difference in class between the two sides but the lack of intensity and desperation on show was hard to take.  Probably wrong to single one player out but the poor touch and control by Redmond highlighted our problems... he should have been replaced at half time.   A deflating performance...adding to what looks like a meek, limp end to the season.

[OttawaSaint]

The players and Ralph are having a laugh if they think we “left it all out there” today. I’d have preferred for us to have battered them all game and then several players have to miss the Spurs game due to exhaustion.

JWP must be the most timid captain out there. Doubt Jimmy Case would have just tiptoed around the field not saying boo to anyone. 

[Micky]

1 hour ago, Dark Munster said:

Apart from the (lucky) goal Leicester also had zero shots on target. Both teams were crap.

Which is why it hurts so much.  We got to an FA Cup semi final and were so crap we couldn't beat a crap team.

[Cartman]

Congratulations on a league and cup double Leicester, assuming they manage to hold off West Ham.

[Killers Knee]

Will Saints get runners up medals for today’s loss?

[CanadaSaint]

Sad to say it, but Ralph sounded like someone trying to win the players back, and a number of them (especially Redmond and Bertrand) performed like players who aren’t buying in. Without Romeu, whose example pulls more out of others, we’re screwed.

Ralph is managing - and the players are playing - as though they’re carrying a lot of scar tissue, which of course they are. Today was more like a damage minimization starting line up and tactical package, not a balls out attempt to go to the final.

But we can’t keep starting over. We’ve been doing that since Pocchettino.

[skintsaint]

what a drab game, and typically we come out the wrong side of games like this.

Just a meek performance from us for the chance to win a trophy. On top of the news about this new competition its a huge dampener to the start of the week. At least we didn't conceded a shite load.

[ghq]

Premier league minus the top six. Who would buy into the situation in which we find ourselves?

[DT]

4 hours ago, ghq said:

Premier league minus the top six. Who would buy into the situation in which we find ourselves?

Good point. The takeover looks even further off. 

[Mr X]

Part of the reason why we are so poor is Ralph knows their is no accountability needed on his part the club have removed all manager accountability which is a dangerous move, If you survive two nine nils and many more no shows and you know your job is safe what motivation is there left? 

Edited 19 April, 2021 by Mr X

[Sarnia Cherie]

9 hours ago, Chez said:

you don't get that they are tired or the reason for our drop of form?

The word 'tired' in relation to footballers gets my goat. Yes, it has been a full-on season played in empty stadiums but when you have the chance to get to Wembley to play in a Cup Final, 'tiredness' shouldn't come into it. These are healthy young men, fully trained and able to play 90+ minutes of football. They receive a very nice pay packet, thanks very much, for doing that. Where was the pride of wearing a Saints shirt, the determination to give 100%, the dream of getting to Wembley and the fire in their bellies? Cup Finals don't come around too often for Southampton. To hardly turn up for such an important game cannot be excused for any reason and certainly not by tiredness!

[spyinthesky]

I have to agree with other posters about our lack of aerial presence in the final third.

Long balls forwards, particularly from Forster, basically gave the ball away to Leicester.

We havent had an aerial presence since Pelle left.

Shane Long (bless him) had a bit of a leap on him but that was about all.

We dont have the creativity to play balls through the middle so a big target man, to my mind, is a useful asset as is more physical prowess in mid field but doubt we have the cash to stump up the necessary transfer money.

 

Quote

 

 

[JRM]

That will go down as one of the least memorable cup semi finals, in fact most people will have already forgotten about it, both Saints and Leicester were poor but always felt they could step up a gear if needed. 

Having made it to the semi final to go out without any fight massively disappointing, 

[nta786]

Come on the FA, PL, and any of the other authorities- kick Chelsea out of the final for signing up to the Super League, and reinstate us to play in the final  

[M271]

Our midfield is so light weight, the opposition picks up most 50/50s and out muscles us which exposes our defence. Our midfield nether protects our defence or provides an outlet for our attack, this IMO is our main problem and needs to be addressed. I think that we need to set up more defensively until our confidence and results are more positive, we are so open and leave so much space for the opposition to exploit.

 

[Kermitzasaint]

10 hours ago, Nemi said:

He gets away with it cause he runs around a lot doing nothing that bad but definitely nothing good. His only good moments come at set-pieces when the limelight is only on him, which makes him look a lot better than he is. Not a terrible but should be no more than a squad player in a PL team.

Agreed. Prowse gets away with heaps because he is home grown. The face of our once fantastic academy. The fact he has never been connected to any other teams is telling. He just isn't anything great.

 

Personally in regards to the game, I didn't stay up til 1.30 am to watch it once I saw that Redmond was up as a striker again. Gave up and went to bed instead. Result was predictable. 

[Super_Uwe]

Sadly a very forgettable game.

Lots of comments about a lack of fight and passion. Personally I think the players tried hard enough, there wasn't a lack of commitment in my opinion.

However collectively we just weren't very good. When Diallo got booked after 4min, we needed players like JWP and Armstrong to step up and take control of midfield. Both were more or less anonymous. Djenepo very quiet as well, a few flashes of skill and that was that. Redmond also hooked before the hour, which tells its own story.

Defensively we didn't seem too bad last night. An improvement on recent weeks and months anyway!

No-one scored higher than a 5 or 6 out of 10 last night in my opinion. In a semi final you need much more than that.

[Toussaint]

3 hours ago, nta786 said:

Come on the FA, PL, and any of the other authorities- kick Chelsea out of the final for signing up to the Super League, and reinstate us to play in the final  

And risk a repeat of yesterday, don't think I could stomach that. 

[Saint Keef]

When Romeu got imjured against Leeds all those weeks ago, I feared we would miss him massively. Up until then he'd been one of our players of the season and he and JWP had formed a good understanding in the middle. He was also making "driving" runs forward.

JWP certainly has not been as effective without him in the side as protection and Diallo for me,, hasn't lived up to the early promise. We have lost that "bite" in midfield and the protection offered by Romeu in front of what looks like a very frail back four without him.  

[Dig Dig]

Would like to see Ralph change up to a 433, we are not strong enough in CM without Oriol and keep getting dominated for large parts of the game in the middle. 

[OttawaSaint]

One thing that stood out in this game and many others. 

We do get the ball into some very good positions but the final ball is often overhit, underhit, or passed straight to a defender. 

Sometimes it’s a really simple ball. It happens time and time again but never seems to be addressed. You would think pros would be able to put close to the correct weight on a ball. All I can think of is that they wear themselves out trying to get the ball back, then when it comes to passing they have tired jelly legs and muff it. 

Again you’d think pros would have the fitness for this to not happen all that often but to me it looks like the old timer league I play in with everyone huffing and puffing.

[DT]

1 hour ago, Saint Keef said:

When Romeu got imjured against Leeds all those weeks ago, I feared we would miss him massively. Up until then he'd been one of our players of the season and he and JWP had formed a good understanding in the middle. He was also making "driving" runs forward.

JWP certainly has not been as effective without him in the side as protection and Diallo for me,, hasn't lived up to the early promise. We have lost that "bite" in midfield and the protection offered by Romeu in front of what looks like a very frail back four without him.  

Makes it all the more mystifying that he hasn't at least tried Jankevitz. Guess he wants a fall guy for the 9-0

[Chez]

3 hours ago, DT said:

Makes it all the more mystifying that he hasn't at least tried Jankevitz. Guess he wants a fall guy for the 9-0

Could be right.

Jankevitz ought be getting ten minutes at the end of games, where possible. CMs do the most running and must get tired and this is where gaps open. I don't expect him to start any games this season, our CMs by and large have done enough to retain their places, but with a year left on his contract, lets see if he is worth fighting for this summer. 

[Manuel]

4 hours ago, OttawaSaint said:

One thing that stood out in this game and many others. 

We do get the ball into some very good positions but the final ball is often overhit, underhit, or passed straight to a defender. 

I wish we'd take more risks when shooting in these areas and stop passing the buck.  Greenwood's second goal against Burley yesterday is a good example of what I'd like to see more of.  Edge of the 18 yard box, blast a hard, low shot goalwards, lucky deflection of Jack Cork and in.  More speculative shots and less faffing about in and around their box.  Someone have a go.

[The Cat]

4 minutes ago, Manuel said:

I wish we'd take more risks when shooting in these areas and stop passing the buck.  Greenwood's second goal against Burley yesterday is a good example of what I'd like to see more of.  Edge of the 18 yard box, blast a hard, low shot goalwards, lucky deflection of Jack Cork and in.  More speculative shots and less faffing about in and around their box.  Someone have a go.

Ings had a couple of chances to do that yesterday, passed one, lost control of the other. Just hit it man you're good enough.

[Saints foreva]

There are no positives from that performance yesterday. I'm still annoyed about it now. We were worse than we were against Chelsea in 2018 and that takes some doing. 

Leicester weren't even good, they didn't need to be and they deservedly won that game. They were there for the taking ffs yet we showed no ambition to attack them. Zero shots on target is criminal. 

There isn't much to like about the club at the moment. No leadership on the pitch and no leadership off it. 

[VectisSaint]

21 hours ago, captainchris said:

You honestly think Bednerek played well.....

Collapses in a heap of laughter. 

To be honest, he didn't do much wrong, unlike his previous games. He wasn't inspiring, but there were many far worse performers. 

[captainchris]

Just now, VectisSaint said:

To be honest, he didn't do much wrong, unlike his previous games. He wasn't inspiring, but there were many far worse performers. 

You are bringing a smile to my face again Ralph..... 😂

 

[Mr X]

21 hours ago, nta786 said:

To be fair I’m not a fan of managers bashing players in public usually it ends in one way

 

He didn't need to single any players out to say we didn't give 100% as team! Instead he came out with absolute crap that the players left everything on the pitch & couldn't have done anymore, the only thing they left on the pitch was their dignity, is he saying they gave everything but couldn't manage one shot on target? 

[Lord Duckhunter]

28 minutes ago, VectisSaint said:

To be honest, he didn't do much wrong, unlike his previous games. He wasn't inspiring, but there were many far worse performers. 

Apart from costing us the only goal of the game, he never put a foot wrong..............

[gammon cheeks]

Was  just having a look at the u23s and u 18  seasons both alarmingly pretty shit!   u23s rock bottom and getting stuffed 7 1 by Leicester  tonight ! The whole set up is woeful to be honest!

[OldNick]

14 hours ago, gammon cheeks said:

Was  just having a look at the u23s and u 18  seasons both alarmingly pretty shit!   u23s rock bottom and getting stuffed 7 1 by Leicester  tonight ! The whole set up is woeful to be honest!

I saw that and our back room and youth coaches all the way up must be appalling. There are clubs who seem to have scouts who pick really good young players to bring them through. If you have a dearth of good judges you are going to get poor quality in. Ive said it before, get the Brentford scouts in they have a brilliant set of pickers.