Liverpool 2-0 Saints - Match Thread

[Manuel]

The squad did about as well as it could.  My only complaint is passing the buck in the final third.  I think Theo was most guilty yesterday.  He gets himself into a good position in the 18 yd box, has one defender in front of him but instead of attempting a shot or take him on, he passes to Redmond who is in a worse position and ultimately loses the ball.  I want them to gamble more in front of goal.  Even if Theo shoots and it's blocked or saved, there could be pieces to pick up, chances to be had...

[East Kent Saint]

On MOTD Forster looked good , Adams not as bad as depicted on here and even Walcott managed an excellent through ball that was nearly a goal. Both teams missed loads of chances and the Mane goal would have been chalked off if it was one of our attackers holding the defender down for a header.

[Totton Saint]

15 hours ago, SKD said:

I find it amazing a PL club allow an elite athlete put his performance at risk but not fuelling and hydrating properly before a game. 
 

Religion or not, it’s ludicrous. 

Maybe should not buy such players

[Saint Billy]

Although the performance was not the worse I’ve seen this season it was still a laboured display against a poor Liverpool side.

Nothing changes, the football is so predictive and unadventurous. Thank god for a good early season or we would be long relegated by now. Only Armstrong turned up yesterday otherwise it was flat flat flat.

[Badger]

35 minutes ago, Totton Saint said:

Maybe should not buy such players

Careful. That's very unwoke of you. You'll have the Thought Police after you. 

[Minsk]

17 hours ago, Chris cooper said:

Why not play salisu ? Defensively we are naive ...u Can’t let Thiago run along your 18 yd box unchallenged..outcome was inevitable! Would have left Armstrong next to jwp ..diallo came on and gave the ball away and was his usual lightweight self .. Liverpool didnt even play well and still had plenty for us Che Adams is not a premier league striker .. postives .. tella and jwp

Armstrong stayed in the centre; Diallo played on the right after he came on (or that's certainly what it looked like to me, although I had a fair few to drink by then).

Agree about Salisu. Was hoping he would get a run of starts now after his performances against Leicester.

Also agree about JWP, Armstrong and Tella having good games (apart from Tella's finishing). Thought Vest and, given he was playing LB, Stephens put in decent performances in too.

Hoping for more energy, determination and a much better result on Tuesday.

[Dark Munster]

Is it just me who thinks Redmond was ok yesterday, especially in the first half?

Walcott on the other hand was f**king useless, and not for the first time. Dear God Saints, please don't offer him a contract. Nice guy I'm sure, but he's washed up.

[suewhistle]

1 hour ago, Dark Munster said:

Is it just me who thinks Redmond was ok yesterday, especially in the first half?

Walcott on the other hand was f**king useless, and not for the first time. Dear God Saints, please don't offer him a contract. Nice guy I'm sure, but he's washed up.

Yep.. Haven't seen the rest of the thread post match as I never learn much new apart from confirming who I think is a prat. He was attacking and getting past people a lot more than recently. Still not impressed with his shooting mind!

[S-Clarke]

1 hour ago, Dark Munster said:

Is it just me who thinks Redmond was ok yesterday, especially in the first half?

Walcott on the other hand was f**king useless, and not for the first time. Dear God Saints, please don't offer him a contract. Nice guy I'm sure, but he's washed up.

He was alright, he's still oretty poor though, wouldn't be against seeing the back of him tbh. He was 'decent' but still didn't actually do anything.

Agreed on Theo, he was dross yesterday.

[Jeremy]

25 minutes ago, suewhistle said:

Yep.. Haven't seen the rest of the thread post match as I never learn much new apart from confirming who I think is a prat. He was attacking and getting past people a lot more than recently. Still not impressed with his shooting mind!

I watched the YT highlights. In about 12 minutes Redmond featured a number of times making technical mistakes - poor shooting, poor passing or losing the ball or whatever. I think it was his 400th professional game or something? It's all very well if a forward shows a few moves or something during a game but I assume a striker gets paid largely for either scoring or assisting somebody to score? I remember Ruud (sp) van Nistle Roy (sp?) very successful career getting plenty of easy goals that were often made for him by the other players. If Redmond isn't scoring or creating scoring chances then maybe it's time to give somebody else an opportunity.  I played rugby and come from a rugby-playing country. I would appreciate not being slammed if this is nonsense. 

[Lighthouse]

31 minutes ago, Jeremy said:

I watched the YT highlights. In about 12 minutes Redmond featured a number of times making technical mistakes - poor shooting, poor passing or losing the ball or whatever. I think it was his 400th professional game or something? It's all very well if a forward shows a few moves or something during a game but I assume a striker gets paid largely for either scoring or assisting somebody to score? I remember Ruud (sp) van Nistle Roy (sp?) very successful career getting plenty of easy goals that were often made for him by the other players. If Redmond isn't scoring or creating scoring chances then maybe it's time to give somebody else an opportunity.  I played rugby and come from a rugby-playing country. I would appreciate not being slammed if this is nonsense. 

Which one?

[maysie]

40 minutes ago, Jeremy said:

I watched the YT highlights. In about 12 minutes Redmond featured a number of times making technical mistakes - poor shooting, poor passing or losing the ball or whatever. I think it was his 400th professional game or something? It's all very well if a forward shows a few moves or something during a game but I assume a striker gets paid largely for either scoring or assisting somebody to score? I remember Ruud (sp) van Nistle Roy (sp?) very successful career getting plenty of easy goals that were often made for him by the other players. If Redmond isn't scoring or creating scoring chances then maybe it's time to give somebody else an opportunity.  I played rugby and come from a rugby-playing country. I would appreciate not being slammed if this is nonsense. 

Lol, credit for persevering with the character bio

[Jeremy]

3 hours ago, Lighthouse said:

Which one?

New Zealand.

Edited 10 May, 2021 by Jeremy

[Thedandysaint]

We need a forwards coach, because it looks like we don't have one.

Stephens at left back is tragic

[SKD]

11 hours ago, suewhistle said:

Yep.. Haven't seen the rest of the thread post match as I never learn much new apart from confirming who I think is a prat. He was attacking and getting past people a lot more than recently. Still not impressed with his shooting mind!

He was very lively up until the 70th minute, where he regressed a bit. But one of our better players Saturday. 

[Lord Duckhunter]

1 hour ago, Thedandysaint said:

 

Stephens at left back is tragic

What a load of old pony, he did ok. 

[egg]

2 minutes ago, Lord Duckhunter said:

What a load of old pony, he did ok. 

Yep. He had a decent game. He kept Alexander-Arnold quiet, and Salah wasn't the threat he can be. 

[Turkish]

12 hours ago, Jeremy said:

I watched the YT highlights. In about 12 minutes Redmond featured a number of times making technical mistakes - poor shooting, poor passing or losing the ball or whatever. I think it was his 400th professional game or something? It's all very well if a forward shows a few moves or something during a game but I assume a striker gets paid largely for either scoring or assisting somebody to score? I remember Ruud (sp) van Nistle Roy (sp?) very successful career getting plenty of easy goals that were often made for him by the other players. If Redmond isn't scoring or creating scoring chances then maybe it's time to give somebody else an opportunity.  I played rugby and come from a rugby-playing country. I would appreciate not being slammed if this is nonsense. 

Do you not think Redmond might be motivated if we gave him an attacking midfield leader type role?

[Chris cooper]

5 minutes ago, Lord Duckhunter said:

What a load of old pony, he did ok. 

7/10 for me .. Chuck salisu into LCB tomorrow shuffle vesty over to RCB leave Stephens at LB .. drop bednerak and keep Forster in goal .. then Ralph keep this above back 5 if they do well till end of season 

[SKD]

21 minutes ago, egg said:

Yep. He had a decent game. He kept Alexander-Arnold quiet, and Salah wasn't the threat he can be. 

Yep agree with this. Can’t complain about JS. Out of position on his weaker foot, but done a job and done it well enough. 
 

Made us a little unbalanced meaning everything had to go down KWP side, but we’ve had that all season with Bertrand anyway. 

[Thedandysaint]

Hes better on the right when he's covered before, let salah get the cross in with ease.

We're not generally good at showing players down the line and deterring crosses.

Much prefer salisu more mobile and more aggressive.

[alehouseboys]

14 hours ago, Jeremy said:

I remember Ruud (sp) van Nistle Roy

Reminds me of a song

"Clearly I remember
Ruud van Nistelrooy
Seemed a harmless little fuck....

....Jeremy spoke in...class today"

[Whitey Grandad]

2 hours ago, Lord Duckhunter said:

What a load of old pony, he did ok. 

he was at fault  for their first goal. Did his usual trick of ball watching and stood off Salah admiring his cross.

[Convict Colony]

Just read this in the telegraph about our season so far and the causes etc - less pressing and rubbish goalkeepers basically.

Also you can read  without paying if you block cookies from Telegraph so you dont get the sign up rubbish - works a treat

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2021/05/07/southamptons-decline-explained-tired-legs-less-pressing-goalkeeping/

"Another long-running issue for Southampton is the quality of their goalkeeping. One way to measure the quality of shot-stopping is using According to Opta's Expected Goals on Target metric. XGoT, unlike expected goals, is a post-shot model. That means it takes into account not just the location and quality of the shot, but the goalmouth location where the shot finishes, throwing out all those that are off target.Subtract goals conceded from XGoT faced, and you get a strong sense of which goalkeepers are conceding more than they should from the quality of shots faced. As a club, whether Alex McCarthy or Fraser Forster start, Southampton rank bottom of this metric.As individuals, McCarthy has conceded 50 goals from an XGoT faced of just 41.96. Only Crystal Palace's Vicente Guaita has a bigger negative differential in the league. Southampton should be in the market for a new No 1 this summer. "

Edited 10 May, 2021 by Convict Colony

[Lord Duckhunter]

1 hour ago, Whitey Grandad said:

he was at fault  for their first goal. Did his usual trick of ball watching and stood off Salah admiring his cross.

Pony 
 

It can’t be both. 
 

He could of got tighter, but ball watching , that’s rubbish. If anyone was ball watching it was JV, who didn’t seem to appreciate where Mane was. 

A right footed 4th choice centre half at left back up against one of the worlds best players stands off a bit (probably worried about getting skinned) and you jump on his back. Pathetic. 

[sydney_saint]

On 09/05/2021 at 14:05, Totton Saint said:

Maybe should not buy such players

Yep, last thing I want is Kante playing for us. Can barely cover 12km at the moment. Would drive him out of St Mary's myself if he had the audacity to try and sign here. 

[Whitey Grandad]

12 minutes ago, Lord Duckhunter said:

Pony 
 

It can’t be both. 
 

He could of got tighter, but ball watching , that’s rubbish. If anyone was ball watching it was JV, who didn’t seem to appreciate where Mane was. 

A right footed 4th choice centre half at left back up against one of the worlds best players stands off a bit (probably worried about getting skinned) and you jump on his back. Pathetic. 

I don't think you can have watched the game. He is stood inside our penalty area watching the ball and doesn't even see Salah on the outside. The ball is played to Salah who has all the time in the world to look up and pick his spot. Stephens does nothing to put him off. The whole point of a full back is to try to cut out the crosses. Stephens might just as well not have been on the pitch.

Yet you try to make excuses for him saying that he is out of position and not very good. Pathetic. If he is playing in that position he should at least put a shift in. He went walkabout  at other times in the game too. Watch him for their second goal. It's comical the way that he flings himself to the ground as the ball flashes way past him.

[Lord Duckhunter]

You don’t half come out with some old pony. 

[Whitey Grandad]

8 minutes ago, Lord Duckhunter said:

You don’t half come out with some old pony. 

I know a full back when I see one. Stephens isn't it. he's not even a very good defender. Time after time he loses concentration and it costs us. He may be your pin-up boy but with him in the side we are always going to be vulnerable. 

Was there some point of my 'old pony' that you didn't agree with and would like to offer an alternative view? Otherwise we're not going to have much of a debate, are we?

Edited 10 May, 2021 by Whitey Grandad

[Saint86]

20 hours ago, Dark Munster said:

Is it just me who thinks Redmond was ok yesterday, especially in the first half?

Walcott on the other hand was f**king useless, and not for the first time.

Basically this.

[egg]

2 hours ago, Whitey Grandad said:

I know a full back when I see one. Stephens isn't it. he's not even a very good defender. Time after time he loses concentration and it costs us. He may be your pin-up boy but with him in the side we are always going to be vulnerable. 

Was there some point of my 'old pony' that you didn't agree with and would like to offer an alternative view? Otherwise we're not going to have much of a debate, are we?

He isn't a full back, nobody is claiming that he is. He's a right sided CB doing a job at LB. Judging by the reactions to other people's posts compared to yours, it seems that the general view is that he did ok. There's not much to debate if your opinion is that he was shit. 

[JustinSFC]

2 hours ago, Whitey Grandad said:

I know a full back when I see one. Stephens isn't it. he's not even a very good defender. Time after time he loses concentration and it costs us. He may be your pin-up boy but with him in the side we are always going to be vulnerable. 

Was there some point of my 'old pony' that you didn't agree with and would like to offer an alternative view? Otherwise we're not going to have much of a debate, are we?

He was against Salah ffs.

There aren't many LB's who can keep Salah in their pocket and Stephens has been pretty good there I've thought.

Makes a change from Bertrand fucking constantly lobbing it backwards and moaning like fuck the entire 90.

[Whitey Grandad]

15 minutes ago, egg said:

He isn't a full back, nobody is claiming that he is. He's a right sided CB doing a job at LB. Judging by the reactions to other people's posts compared to yours, it seems that the general view is that he did ok. There's not much to debate if your opinion is that he was shit. 

He failed in the one job he had to do
 

Making excuses for him because he is playing out of position is ridiculous.

[egg]

Just now, Whitey Grandad said:

He failed in the one job he had to do
 

Making excuses for him because he is playing out of position is ridiculous.

I'm not making excuses. You said he ain't a LB and I agreed. I'm also saying I think that he had a decent game. You disagree which is fine. 

[derry]

Stephens has had this problem for years. He has been at fault on numerous occasions for losing his mark while ball watching. His body position is a major issue. A marker not only needs to see his mark he needs to be goal side and have a view of the ball. on these occasions Stephens focusses on the ball.

[Lord Duckhunter]

43 minutes ago, derry said:

Stephens has had this problem for years. He has been at fault on numerous occasions for losing his mark while ball watching. His body position is a major issue. A marker not only needs to see his mark he needs to be goal side and have a view of the ball. on these occasions Stephens focusses on the ball.

If only our coaching staff were as knowledgeable as you and Whitey. To think they watch video after video, see him game after game, day in day out in training and they can’t see what you 2 can. Your coaching talents are wasted. 

[trousers]

17 minutes ago, Lord Duckhunter said:

If only our coaching staff were as knowledgeable as you and Whitey. To think they watch video after video, see him game after game, day in day out in training and they can’t see what you 2 can. Your coaching talents are wasted. 

Are these the same coaching staff that see much more in JWP than certain fans do...?

[Jeremy]

11 hours ago, Turkish said:

Do you not think Redmond might be motivated if we gave him an attacking midfield leader type role?

I don't know as I've never played football seriously and know nothing about tactics etc. But, I assume he's sufficiently motivated. I'd sack him immediately if he wasn't.  I just saw him making mistakes that, to be fair, looked worse in about 12 minutes of highlights compared to what he did the whole game.  But also, judging by some of the very critical posts on here about him, he appears to be fairly divisive. He's had a good career and perhaps he should finish it in a lower league.

[VectisSaint]

8 hours ago, Whitey Grandad said:

he was at fault  for their first goal. Did his usual trick of ball watching and stood off Salah admiring his cross.

He didn't. Watch the highlights, he did nothing that you accuse him of. He didn't lose his man, he was facing him when Salah dinked to one side to beat him (that Salah guy, one of the best attackers in the game). Salah actually only had a couple of opportunities all game, eventually being withdrawn by Klopp. Trying to make Stephens your scapegoat for the goal is just plain stupid, if you want the real culprit it was Forster, but we all know he never comes for  crosses, good keepers do (and I don't mean Mccarthy). Stephens did actually have one absolute nightmare with Salah earlier in the game, but we got away with it. If you had berated him for that you would have had some credibility. I don't often agree with Duckhunter but in this case he is absolutely spot on. 

[Roo1976]

12 hours ago, Turkish said:

Do you not think Redmond might be motivated if we gave him an attacking midfield leader type role?

No.............both him and Walcott offer  no real pressure on defenders. to cause them any trouble,they either get offered the ball in promising positions and somehow pass backwards or just make shit passes to........................the opposition. Walcott is just a season loan as per Minamino i hope as surely we have better options to choose from in the near future.

[Matthew Le God]

12 hours ago, Roo1976 said:

Walcott is just a season loan as per Minamino i hope as surely we have better options to choose from in the near future.

The club have made it pretty clear in recent interviews that Walcott is getting a contract with us.

[Thedandysaint]

Stephens was in the box.

Centre backs play in the box?

Wasn't like he was out on the wing? Defensively we could be more aggressive, were a bit soft as a team.

[Whitey Grandad]

54 minutes ago, Thedandysaint said:

Stephens was in the box.

Centre backs play in the box?

Wasn't like he was out on the wing? Defensively we could be more aggressive, were a bit soft as a team.

He was supposed to be playing full back.

[Whitey Grandad]

18 hours ago, VectisSaint said:

He didn't. Watch the highlights, he did nothing that you accuse him of. He didn't lose his man, he was facing him when Salah dinked to one side to beat him (that Salah guy, one of the best attackers in the game). Salah actually only had a couple of opportunities all game, eventually being withdrawn by Klopp. Trying to make Stephens your scapegoat for the goal is just plain stupid, if you want the real culprit it was Forster, but we all know he never comes for  crosses, good keepers do (and I don't mean Mccarthy). Stephens did actually have one absolute nightmare with Salah earlier in the game, but we got away with it. If you had berated him for that you would have had some credibility. I don't often agree with Duckhunter but in this case he is absolutely spot on. 

Salah didn't 'dink to ones side'. I have just suffered watching that again and if you look at Salah you will see that his right foot doesn't move it is firmly planted on the ground the whole time.

Most keepers wouldb't have come for that. Stephens wasn't at fault alone but it was his job to at least try to cut out the cross or make it more difficult for the crosser. He is too passive and reactive.

[Whitey Grandad]

20 hours ago, Lord Duckhunter said:

If only our coaching staff were as knowledgeable as you and Whitey. To think they watch video after video, see him game after game, day in day out in training and they can’t see what you 2 can. Your coaching talents are wasted. 

What is that supposed to mean? Stephens is on a contract and if we have injuries then sometimes he may be considered the best option we have, risks included. Of course they can see what is wrong in his play. Coaching him out of it might not be as easy as you think.