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Saints 0-0 West Ham - Match Thread

os862saints

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manji

manji

Posted
Posted
1 minute ago, Danbert said:

I think we were playing for the clean sheet today, and we could easily have won it. Thought we made West Ham look very ordinary.

Yep following the game on WHU forum , they were cacking it. Some of their negative posts could have been cut and pasted from here 

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redkeith

redkeith

Posted
Posted

Salisu and Stephens kept Antonio very quiet today, very impressive.

Great cameo from Broja, we need to make the most of him. He is the Albaniian  Ibrohimovic. 

Would have taken a point before the game, but slightly disappointed we didn't get all 3 . 

Redmond was poor, Moussa at least makes things happen,  Lots to build on, but if we play 4 1 4 1 it can't be Armstrong up top. 

 

  

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stknowle

stknowle

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Posted

Well that was interesting. Thought we were absolutely shite going forward and was thinking where the hell are the goals going to come from this season. Then Borja came on, enough said.

Salisu, McCarthy, Tino, Stephens, Perraud  all did well. Djenepo getting pelters on here but I thought he put a real shift in, just needs to sort the final ball thing out. Moi at least no no longer looks like a badminton player that's had a nightmare and woken up on a football pitch, but he was pretty anonymous.  Redmond.....................well he was Redmond.

Overall though I think we'll be absolutely fine this season, we've had a really difficult start, we're battling away and competing without ever looking great but we'll get better and start picking up some wins against the bottom half teams imho.

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benjii

benjii

Posted
Posted

Thought Perraud grew into it well. Looks decent. 

Salisu and Stephens were excellent.

Tino was ok but KWP is better.

Romeu looks past it. Been poor in every match this season. Time for Diallo to start. He was very good when he came on.

Elyounoussi simply isn't athletic enough to play in the PL. Waste of a shirt when we've got the likes of Tella and Broja on the bench (and Adams, but I guess he wasn't considered available today). 

Redmond gave a typical performance. Which was a shame.

Djenepo was good defensively and always looks likely to do something positive, but the stats tell you he very rarely does. 1 goal in 45 matches.

With Armstrong and Broja we've got good pace up top and Broja also looks strong in the air.

It's not a bad point but in the context of failing to beat Newcastle and throwing away a lead at Everton it doesn't feel particularly great. I don't know how we played 90 minutes with Redmond and Elyounoussi on the pitch whilst the likes of KWP and Tella were on the bench. 

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The Cat

The Cat

Posted
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Thought we largely played well and were unlucky not to get the win at the end.

We obviously learnt from previous games against West Ham and kept the midfield tight which didn't make for a wildly interesting first half but did the job in the respect that it stopped them bullying us as normal.

Salisu and Stephens were excellent in keeping Antonio quiet, as was McCarthy who didn't put a foot wrong all game. In fact all the defense played well, Livramento is so smooth going forward and Perraud looks a decent buy.

Happy with a draw against a good team. We contained them really well and you'd probably have to say Ralph did a bit of a job on Moyes there as they have far superior players to us but never looked like winning.

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TWar

TWar

Posted
Posted

Credit where due, as I'm normally quite negative about him, but Maccas ability to claim crosses came in very handy today. 

Broja looked superb, would have liked to see him up top with Armstrong but after Armstrong went down injured he seemed more sluggish so probably right to sub him. Annoyed Adams didn't get a go, especially since Redmond was poor and Elyounoussi could have easily dropped deeper. 

Draw probably a fair result but we could easily have nicked it, especially if the ref has have played an advantage at the end. 

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The Cat

The Cat

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Did anyone in the Chapel see the guy crack his head open? From the family stand the first thing we saw was the paramedics rushing up there and then spending ages working on him. 

We weren't sure whether he'd had a heart attack or something and it was only when they got him on the trolley that we saw all the blood on his face and then the stewards and cleaners mopping it up.

Poor bloke.

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itchen

itchen

Posted
Posted

Quite encouraged by that. Our defence looked stronger.  All the talk before the game was about Antonio's amazing season so far yet Stephens and Salisu kept him virtually out of the game.  

I noticed that, at last, we are leaving a man up when the opposition have a corner. OK, we didn't score from it today but it meant West Ham couldn't get as many people in our box.

Redmond was not as bad as some of the comments here.  He did a fairly solid job but we need to give our midfielders forward options and, when they do get them, they need to be quicker in using them. I understand the need for side to side passes when there's nobody available further forward but too often today we passed sideways or backwards when an attacking move was on.

But it's early days. We'll find our best combination and have a good season.

 

 

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S-Clarke

S-Clarke

Posted
Posted (edited)

That was a decent result really, I thought we cancelled each other out in the first half. Armstrong was very isolated and we struggled to get him into the game, the 'number 10's' didn't really help the cause either as they were a bit erratic to say the least. Bit more quality in those 10 positions and we win that.

Defensively I can't fault us, back 2 were solid, goal keeper was strong when he needed to be. Antonio couldn't get a sniff and he's not easy to shut out of a game, we clearly frustrated the hell out of him as well as he wasn't getting his own way. What it did show from WHU's point of view is that if you shut out Antonio correctly then they've not really got any other threats or alternatives. 

Into the second half I felt we got stronger, they had a decent chance in the opening quarter of the 2nd half...but then we just got stronger. I think our subs impacted the game, not just Broja but Diallo as well - I thought him coming on split their midfield a bit, created some space and gave us more mobility in there against a tiring WHU midfield. So the subs worked, put us in the ascendancy and we were unlucky in the end.

Broja is a unit, not just a focal point but to have that turn of pace and power is pretty special - that is going to be some weapon to use this season, hope to see more of him as he's clearly got something about him.

I guess overall it's positive, but still very frustrating. We should have at least got a win by now given the quality we've shown in periods against Utd, Newcastle and today, but we're just lacking that cutting edge at that crucial moment - sadly that's what happens when you lose the experience and undoubted quality of someone like Ings. There's more to be positive about than negative though, we're certainly very competitive.

Edited by S-Clarke
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Lighthouse

Lighthouse

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, manji said:

That’s 3 games in a row we would have lost last season........

I agree. If the points keep trickling in whilst we’re playing below standard in tough fixtures, then that’s no bad thing. All four games, whilst frustrating, have been a million miles better than the 3-0 down after 25 minutes garbage, when you never trouble an opposition in second gear.

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vectraman

vectraman

Posted
Posted (edited)

Enjoyed the game, our defence played very well - McCarthy was also faultless.

JWP, Redmond, Moi all pretty anonymous the whole match.

Broja looked a real handful when he came on - please start him next match!

watching from the family centre it struck me that our defenders would be looking up to pass the ball out and our entire midfield and forwards were not making any runs, no movement at all. Just no one to play the ball out to. Throughout the whole game we were just stood there, shocking lack of movement everywhere.

No idea why. Livramento is so full of running when he’s on the ball, some of our other players need to follow his lead. 
 

Good point, could have been three if Redmond took an early shot, and Broja had some luck near the end.

Encouraging Saints.

 

Edited by vectraman
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The Left Back

The Left Back

Posted
Posted

Just back from the game.  Cracking atmosphere and a pretty good game (and excellent for a 0-0).  The new formation (4-1-4-1 by my reckoning) was a surprise and it certainly took West Ham 30 minutes to work it out.  We sacrificed some potency up front for some solidity all over the pitch.  That is the best organised I've seen us for a while and we didn't look wide open, apart from a couple of breakaways, which is definitely an improvement.  

I thought the back 5 all played brilliantly, individually and as a unit.  I actually thought Ely grew into the game and Moussa did really well (so was surprised by some of the comments on here). Redmond is really frustrating.  I can see why he plays because I imagine he does what the manager tells him in terms of organisational shape.  It's just at key moments he sometimes/often seems to make the wrong choices.  I am always really wanting him to do well because he's got the ability, but it just doesn't happen enough.

Felt sorry for Armstrong because he had a pretty thankless task with the way we set up.  

Clearly the turning point was Broja coming on.  We went from hanging on to being the more dangerous side in the blink of an eye. It's the first time I've seen him and he looks the real deal.  It changed the momentum completely.  We were on the front foot and should probably have won it.

All in all I was pretty happy walking away from the stadium, with just that slight feeling that we could have won.  

The one thing that did stand out for me was how small we are as a team.  We are tiny compared to the Giant Hammers.  And when Romeu was replaced by Diallo we got smaller.  But I think there was only one corner (perhaps 2) when it showed. It really helped that McCarthy came for everything and generally dominated his box. And it was noticeable that we passed up the chance for JWP set pieces a few times to keep the ball in play and on the ground.  

Finally a word on our character.  It's said we lack leaders and characters on the pitch and I've often thought we were too quiet, nice and weak mentally.  But today we looked very strong psychologically.  There was a steel to us that was there v Man U and is definitely a development.  It wasn't just in the obvious stuff (Salisu v Antonio was a great side show to watch) but in the way we communicated and worked together.

At this time of the season I often think performances are more important than results so am pretty happy with how things are looking.  

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spyinthesky

spyinthesky

Posted
Posted

Change of tactic this season from Ralph.
Whereas we previously put pressure of the opponents defence from the front we played a much more defensive line which, hopefully, will see our relatively high goals against tally reduce.
However this means using an isolated striker which didnt aid opportunities to score.
That said we had more clear cut chances than a decent WHU team.
Need to sharpen up our passing, otherwise a fair result against strong opposition.
We certainly look to have a stronger squad this year especially once Stuart Armstrong is fit.

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Streaky

Streaky

Posted
Posted
16 minutes ago, Whitey Grandad said:

I am his biggest critic but Stephens was excellent today. Salisu was very good and brilliant Broja was a beast. The way he pushed the ball past Ogbonna and then surged past him was thrilling.

Stephens has been superb this season not that most on here would admit it. They like there scapegoats and don't believe players can get better at any point in there career.

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Whitey Grandad

Whitey Grandad

Posted
Posted
5 minutes ago, Streaky said:

Stephens has been superb this season not that most on here would admit it. They like there scapegoats and don't believe players can get better at any point in there career.

Steady on! He was good today but he was at fault (along with others) for some of the early goals. I think he needs to control his aggression and gets too personally involved at times. He had no need to get so stuck into Antonio.

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macca155

macca155

Posted
Posted

Cracking game, enjoyed that. West Ham are a classic Moyes team now. Huge, well organised and very dangerous. No disgrace in a point. 

Defence was excellent, feels good to say that for once.

Something is definitely hampering JWP, he is nowhere near as mobile and was hesitant into a few tackles. Moi is just too slow. With both of them leaving space in the middle, getting the ball forward was difficult. Things improved when Diallo came on but Ralph really needs Armstrong back.

Three hard fought for points, season is under way now.

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macca155

macca155

Posted
Posted
8 minutes ago, Whitey Grandad said:

Steady on! He was good today but he was at fault (along with others) for some of the early goals. I think he needs to control his aggression and gets too personally involved at times. He had no need to get so stuck into Antonio.

He was excellent today and yes he needed to get stuck into Antonio, thats part of his job.

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rallyboy

rallyboy

Posted
Posted

I keep hearing how Antonio is the strongest forward about and will bully defenders - well he came to the wrong place today!

We roughed him up, muscled him off the ball, played him out of the game and eventually off the pitch. 

Nice job.

Organised, strong, so much better than last season.

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Streaky

Streaky

Posted
Posted
25 minutes ago, Whitey Grandad said:

Steady on! He was good today but he was at fault (along with others) for some of the early goals. I think he needs to control his aggression and gets too personally involved at times. He had no need to get so stuck into Antonio.

Which early goals?

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beatlesaint

beatlesaint

Posted
Posted

Tino and KWP on that right side is a no brainer for me.

Broja looks the real deal, a tall striker with pace and power, make the most of him while he’s here Ralph!

A lot of people had a go at Djenepo and yes his end product is pretty awful but he gives 100% and if I had to choose between him and Redmond then he gets my vote.

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