Saints 1-1 Man Utd - Match Thread

[Suhari]

Very, very encouraging.

We need a better keeper: someone who can do the basics and organise the defence.

[Baird of the land]

I gave Ralph a lot of grief for his lack of subs last week. This week they were very well timed and the right ones. Great heart from the team to get a point.

Slightly frustrated Greenwood's was a scuff that didn't go in the direction he aimed and annoyingly somehow got through Mccarthy

Also what a chance for Armstrong to win it.

Still concerned about the aerial issue as there will be bigger teams than utd.

[Fan The Flames]

A better keeper and we win that one.

[beatlesaint]

Did not see that coming, well played Saints and Ralph made some decent subs for a change.

More encouraged than I was this morning that’s for sure.

[stknowle]

Well FMOB. After we conceded we suddenly became the better side. Obviously should have scored with the Armstrong chance, but I'm not going to criticise a player new to the Prem too much for that (Jesus, he should've scored though). Overall I end the match far more confident about our season than before it began so no complaints from me. One last thing - we need to work out a formation that has KWP and Livramento in it from the start, and would prefer that not just to be KWP at LB in place of Perraud. 

[Delmary]

Ralph got it wrong with the starting line up. Credit where it’s due, he got the subs and change of formation spot on. Well done Ralph. A well deserved point.

[cloggy saint]

Could all the bed-wetters who predicted anything between a 5 and 9 goal loss please step forward and admit you know fuck all? 

[Pamplemousse]

Very encouraging performance.

 

Final 20 minutes the most important for me in terms of our development. We didn't hang on at all; after that spell in the second half, they didn't put us under any sort of pressure. And that was due to how we played. Last season we'd have lost that.

[AlexLaw76]

Rode our luck (usually going to happen against Man United). BUT we hung in there, showed some character that has been missing.

Thought Salisu was good, Tino very good, front two busy (Armstrong has to score that, poor effort).

We are terrible at defending crosses, that needs fixing.

Unlikely point on the board

[Hamilton Saint]

Well, that silences all the doom merchants.

I wasn't too happy with the team selection, but Ralph adjusting things appropriately today.

Good effort from the team.

Very encouraging.

 

[tajjuk]

Still struggling to see how that scuff goes through the keeper like that, I’ve seen juniors at Cricket stop ball straight at the better than that. 

[Suhari]

Just now, cloggy saint said:

Could all the bed-wetters who predicted anything between a 5 and 9 goal loss please step forward and admit you know fuck all? 

I must admit: I expected us to get bent over and dry-humped today.

[Matthew Le God]

Ralph Hasenhüttl 1 - Pre kickoff team selection experts on this forum 0

[Chez]

3 minutes ago, Fan The Flames said:

A better keeper and we win that one.

Armstrong takes his chance, we win it. it's not all on McCarthy.

[warwicksaint]

Great point given the shit show of last week. McCarthy needs to be replaced, he’s simply not good enough. Tino, JWP and Stephens had very good games. Thought we dominated the second half and perhaps should’ve won if Armstrong had buried that. Their goal was a frustrating one but ours was a bit deflection and we rode our from set pieces so all things considered a point is fair. 

[Verbal Kint]

4 minutes ago, Fan The Flames said:

A better keeper and we win that one.

A better striker and we win that one. Awful misses from Armstrong

[AlexLaw76]

1 minute ago, Matthew Le God said:

Ralph Hasenhüttl 1 - Pre kickoff team selection experts on this forum 0

Hey, I thought you said Bednarek was first 11?

[jamesfp1]

Really promising, Livramento and Salisu were excellent. 

Please let us beat Newcastle

[Sarnia Cherie]

That's more like it. A real gutsy display. I got totally fed up with the biased commentators on Sky. How much do they get paid to give us such earth shattering news that Southampton's bench doesn't have as much quality as Man United's? Such an encouraging game. Well done our lads. 

[OttawaSaint]

3 minutes ago, Matthew Le God said:

Ralph Hasenhüttl 1 - Pre kickoff team selection experts on this forum 0

Incorrect.

He saw the issue we all did and fixed it.

[Saint Keef]

Now listen all you perpetual fucking whingers. We've just drawn with a club whose bench is worth more than our whole squad. So.....for once.....

SHUT THE FUCK UP.

[Chez]

5 minutes ago, AlexLaw76 said:

Rode our luck (usually going to happen against Man United). BUT we hung in there, showed some character that has been missing.

Thought Salisu was good, Tino very good, front two busy (Armstrong has to score that, poor effort).

We are terrible at defending crosses, that needs fixing.

Unlikely point on the board

fair summary. I'd add that we looked lightweight on the middle. Romeu doesn't look at his sharpest. Has he struggled to get a full preseason under his belt?

[OttawaSaint]

Hope RH now sees he has the power to make little changes and tweaks during the game and that we need to be a bit wily like that making it more like a game of chess than sitting on his hands watching the formation and tactics fail without reacting.

[vectraman]

1 minute ago, Saint Keef said:

Now listen all you perpetual fucking whingers. We've just drawn with a club whose bench is worth more than our whole squad. So.....for once.....

SHUT THE FUCK UP.

Twat. We all have opinions, you are a gobby nob. 

[pimpin4rizeal]

Good point and could have been more, 

the change to the 3-5-2 worked a treat along with the introduction of diallo, this is what you wanna see from Ralph to make tactical switches that effect the game and it worked this time.

Wow on Livramento looks a prospect and a half,, when he drives forward reminds a little of a young Gareth bale once he gets going he’s hard to peg back and keeping kwp out of right back position speaks volumes.

AA I’m still quite impressed with tbh ok he had two chances to win the game but he’s fast confident and looks a bit of a predator he will score plenty this season and I’m not too worried about missing ings anymore.

also thought salisu was pretty decent at the back 

well done guys 

[Pamplemousse]

Got to win our next two games now. No reason why we can't 

[SaintBobby]

That was great. Obviously Man Utd are the superior team, but we played well. Last 20 minutes especially gratifying.

[Maya's Dad]

got to give ralph credit there. love the subs. 2 subs before 70mins for a change

[stknowle]

6 minutes ago, tajjuk said:

Still struggling to see how that scuff goes through the keeper like that, I’ve seen juniors at Cricket stop ball straight at the better than that. 

If you rewatch it McCarthy basically mirrors Greenwood's one star effort with an equally shite effort to clear it.

[Saint Keef]

1 minute ago, vectraman said:

Twat. We all have opinions, you are a gobby nob. 

I thought I just told you to shut the fuck up.

[Chez]

4 minutes ago, Verbal Kint said:

A better striker and we win that one. Awful misses from Armstrong

I said the same thing.

You could also say, the whole team are responsible in a small way for goal conceded. United dominated for long periods - thats down to outfield players not being as good as them, but only errors get highlighted. 

[obelisk]

Good point against a strong team but there's definitely a problem for Saints in defending crosses into the penalty area. Start by addressing that and the confidence can grow.

[Chez]

3 minutes ago, OttawaSaint said:

Hope RH now sees he has the power to make little changes and tweaks during the game and that we need to be a bit wily like that making it more like a game of chess than sitting on his hands watching the formation and tactics fail without reacting.

He has read the room. 4222 is not the answer to every question.

[Baird of the land]

1 minute ago, obelisk said:

Good point against a strong team but there's definitely a problem for Saints in defending crosses into the penalty area. Start by addressing that and the confidence can grow.

I'm glad we've got a while before we play Burnley.

[M271]

We look a better unit without Redmond or Walcott on the pitch have them as subs if required.

[Daft Kerplunk]

Decent result 

[OttawaSaint]

1 minute ago, Chez said:

He has read the room. 4222 is not the answer to every question.

Hope so. We definitely looked better once he shuffled it a bit. He can still play his press (case in point AAs chance) but we need to be more solid in the middle. I thought we limited Pogba and Fernandes pretty well after the formation change.

[Chez]

3 minutes ago, obelisk said:

Good point against a strong team but there's definitely a problem for Saints in defending crosses into the penalty area. Start by addressing that and the confidence can grow.

someone tell Ralph to knock this high line and playing offside shit on the head. Every game we rely on luck instead of player skill and determination. How they didn't score in the first half from one free kick I will never know. It's a bullshit tactic. Trust your players.

[Totton Saint]

Nice to see us play so well with the whole world watching on TV.  Pity not on TV for a while now

[Kingsland Codger]

In those final 15 minutes or so, at no time did it fell like the Alamo. It might have felt like we were holding on for a point but I suspect United fans were hoping like heck we didn’t score a second.  We were composed, at times even slightly cheeky, and United were not peppering our goal and giving us a hard time.

[Baird of the land]

Just now, OttawaSaint said:

Hope so. We definitely looked better once he shuffled it a bit. He can still play his press (case in point AAs chance) but we need to be more solid in the middle. I thought we limited Pogba and Fernandes pretty well after the formation change.

I thought the changing point was the Diallo move in stiffening up the midfield. Going to 5 at the back gave pogba a bit more space as he demonstrated in build up to their goal.

[derry]

The team that surrendered last week gave everything this week well done all of them. A shotstopper would be a great help.  This game, the manager forsook his 4-2-2-2 and pragmatically put on an extra defender then a midfielder and swopped for a fresh full back albeit on the wrong side for him.  In the end the more combative compacted team nearly won it and fully deserved not to lose. Well done Ralph you've learned a valuable lesson. we need to shut games down not open up whilst tiring. We have a half decent bench so put the fresh legs on as some tire or are exposed. That was one against the top six now go to Newcastle give us more of the same.

Edited 22 August, 2021 by derry

[saintwbu]

9 minutes ago, Chez said:

someone tell Ralph to knock this high line and playing offside shit on the head. Every game we rely on luck instead of player skill and determination. How they didn't score in the first half from one free kick I will never know. It's a bullshit tactic. Trust your players.

Isn’t there a stat that we haven’t conceded from a single one of these free kicks ever? Seems a bit unfair to say we’ve got lucky, it does seem to work, even if it feels a bit wrong.

[LeBizzier69]

Livramento. What a player. I think that’s all.

[mcbendy]

Livramento for only 5 million is going to end up being the best piece of business that any club has done in this transfer window. This kid is sensational.

Salisu was very solid, including his passing.

Diallo added something when he came on.

 

V happy with a point. Once they'd equalised I feared we'd fall to bits.

 

Onwards and upwards!

[Graffito]

Point of note; three central midfielders on the pitch as well as three centre backs coincided with our best spell in the game.

[Chez]

3 minutes ago, saintwbu said:

Isn’t there a stat that we haven’t conceded from a single one of these free kicks ever? Seems a bit unfair to say we’ve got lucky, it does seem to work, even if it feels a bit wrong.

you are right, we haven't conceded, but I disagree. It was pure luck United didn't score in the first half from the free kick. They nearly scored three times from the same free kick, hitting thr bar and having a ball cleared off the line. Massive amount of luck.

[JRM]

Ralph in again, fair play the players put a fantastic effort it, shame Armstrong couldn't finish those two golden chances 

[Chez]

3 minutes ago, Graffito said:

Point of note; three central midfielders on the pitch as well as three centre backs coincided with our best spell in the game.

good point. More bodies when legs got tired not less. 

[OttawaSaint]

14 minutes ago, Baird of the land said:

I thought the changing point was the Diallo move in stiffening up the midfield. Going to 5 at the back gave pogba a bit more space as he demonstrated in build up to their goal.

Trying to remember. When Diallo came on did they sit as a 3 in front of the back 3 or did JWP move up a bit?