Saints 1-4 Man City - Match Thread

[OttawaSaint]

Just now, Sarisbury Saint said:

We definitely tested them to be fare.

Agreed, the commentary team even said it at 4-1, "if you are tuning in now and think City have thrashed Southampton then you'd be wrong, that's not the story".

[Toadhall Saint]

1 hour ago, TWar said:

I didnt say that one was a half chance, I said he hit the post and was unlucky

Che hit the keeper and was unlucky.

[Valesaint]

Fraser Forster 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣😱😱😱😱😱

[JRM]

1 hour ago, 64saint said:

Crowd flat,really !!   I thought the Itchen north were loud and proud today, many fans turn on their teams when things go wrong but we stuck with the team today.  Which part of the ground were you watching from

I had a change of scenery down near the family bit , couldn't hear the Itchen north from there, ground was silent for long spells and thousands streaming out when their 3rd went in, certainly not the sort of buzz around the place you used to associate with a huge cup 1/4 final

 

[Chez]

7 minutes ago, OttawaSaint said:

I'm not sure I understand what you mean about contractual. Who's contract? RH is contracted to make a sub on 60? Long contracted to play 60? I don't think anything like that is in anyone's contact. 

you are taking it a little literally. But its fair to sat that football managers in general often seem to make subs based on time (hour or 70 minutes) rather than the situation. 

[S-Clarke]

36 minutes ago, DT said:

He should have changed it at half time. He didn’t. He shouldn’t have selected those players in the first place. We didn’t ‘go for it’ at all. We were timid, and didn’t believes in ourselves, fannied around with it at the back, Stephen’s gave them their first goal, Salisu their second and we missed too many chances with Armstrong’s scuff ‘shots’. Bit mostly it was about selecting the wrong team. Bizarre. Ralph is in one of those phases where he picks the wrong team as part of some hair brained strategy. Long? What on earth was he thinking? They were rattled at half time thanks to our flukey equaliser. That was when he needed to change it. Is it contractual that it always happens at 60 minutes? So odd. No denying City we’re quality but they were there to be pressed and harried. We barely tested them. 

A really odd take on the game for me.

We were right up at them from the first min, caused them all sorts of problems. I don't remember much fannying around at the back, we were actually quite direct and forceful in our play. Our counter press was as good as it's been all season today, we didn't give them a second. We were just done by better finishing in the last 15 mins once our legs had tired. Oh, and they could bring on Foden and Mahrez.

How that's not 'going for it' is beyond me. We didn't go as weak as I feared, so I was pretty comfortable with the team apart from maybe Broja starting. To be fair to Long and Armstrong they played their roles in that first half and pulled the City centre backs around, so in that sense their tactical inclusion was validated because they pressed from the front.

Edited 20 March, 2022 by S-Clarke

[nta786]

I’ve just come home, and for the first time in about a decade I was sat in Block 7, 2 rows behind Pep and the City backroom staff.

I think atmosphere was okay, understandably flat at the end and expected really when the usual Northam have to disperse.

I think the game has been discussed enough, silly penalty to concede and on balance they deserved to go through. 

My observations from the game though from where I was sat firstly was how much Pep was in the ears of the 4th official, and not just him but also Bernardo Silva and Fernandinho. Ralph was quite the opposite on that regard but shouting a lot at his players and back to Richard Kitzbichler. 
 

Also what amazed me was the number of Saints fan requesting City players shirts at the end of the game - I think Grealish gave his away to a Saints fan and everyone was fawning over De Bruyne at the end and during his post match interview.

As a final remark, why did the stadium announce Kevin as MOTM? Probably a minor thing to get wound up about.

[JRM]

What's this all about? Bednarek didn't really fancy it? Having a sulk after the sarcastic clapping at the Watford game? 

[Chez]

12 minutes ago, JRM said:

What's this all about? Bednarek didn't really fancy it? Having a sulk after the sarcastic clapping at the Watford game? 

crikey. that sounds bad.  I can't see there's any coming back from that.

 

Edited 20 March, 2022 by Chez

[obelisk]

AA really needed that scuffed early chance to roll in as a confidence booster. He mis-hit it so badly that it was going wide until the spin he put on it nearly took it inside the post. As it is he's probably kicking himself again. Just want something to go right for him.

[woodsaint1]

15 minutes ago, JRM said:

What's this all about? Bednarek didn't really fancy it? Having a sulk after the sarcastic clapping at the Watford game? 

Sell him in the summer and reinvest in a better CB

[saint michael]

I think we played as well as we could have. Couldn’t really fault the players. Yes big error by Salisu but under huge pressure all match and probably aware couldn’t afford to let anyone pass him. Under pressure people will make mistakes

For me the really sad thing is the complete gulf between the two teams and the realisation that I’m never going to see saints win anything again. 21st century sport where not everyone can compete and win something. I’ve grown to hate the big club cash rolled prem. They may well spend on buying Haaland for the same money as we were bought for. Wait till the geordie fans get going too. 
 

god knows how the team must feel after putting in that effort week in week out. 

[Chez]

15 minutes ago, obelisk said:

AA really needed that scuffed early chance to roll in as a confidence booster.

Just want something to go right for him.

big style. Really hoping things click, maybe next season, and we have Ings mark II on our hands. Looks a long way from it right now, but things can change. 

[Yozzman]

1 hour ago, DT said:

He should have changed it at half time. He didn’t. He shouldn’t have selected those players in the first place. We didn’t ‘go for it’ at all. We were timid, and didn’t believes in ourselves, fannied around with it at the back, Stephen’s gave them their first goal, Salisu their second and we missed too many chances with Armstrong’s scuff ‘shots’. Bit mostly it was about selecting the wrong team. Bizarre. Ralph is in one of those phases where he picks the wrong team as part of some hair brained strategy. Long? What on earth was he thinking? They were rattled at half time thanks to our flukey equaliser. That was when he needed to change it. Is it contractual that it always happens at 60 minutes? So odd. No denying City we’re quality but they were there to be pressed and harried. We barely tested them. 

They were rattled but we barely tested them?

[Saint Matty 76]

46 minutes ago, JRM said:

What's this all about? Bednarek didn't really fancy it? Having a sulk after the sarcastic clapping at the Watford game? 

It’s honestly good news for me if he’s off. Anything upwards of £10m is a result and should be more than enough to upgrade. Worrall from Forest looked good today.

[vectraman]

35 minutes ago, saint michael said:

I think we played as well as we could have. Couldn’t really fault the players. Yes big error by Salisu but under huge pressure all match and probably aware couldn’t afford to let anyone pass him. Under pressure people will make mistakes

For me the really sad thing is the complete gulf between the two teams and the realisation that I’m never going to see saints win anything again. 21st century sport where not everyone can compete and win something. I’ve grown to hate the big club cash rolled prem. They may well spend on buying Haaland for the same money as we were bought for. Wait till the geordie fans get going too. 
 

god knows how the team must feel after putting in that effort week in week out. 

Can’t disagree with that.
I just got fed up with seeing them bring subs on that cost more than half our team. 

I wish I was smart enough to think of a song along to chant at them along the lines of “where would you be without your desert millions…”

They have deluded fans who are divorced from the real world of football now. We’ve still won the Champions League as many times as them though 😂😂

Football Is ruined by the bankrolled “big teams” and it ruins it as a spectacle now for me. I wish they would disappear into a super league and leave football for proper teams.

I think the turning point was Grealish going off - he was turd today and they played much better without pretty boy..

 

[VectisSaint]

4 hours ago, CanadaSaint said:

It was more clumsy for me. Under our system, with wingbacks pushing forward so much, the CDs are going to be exposed to one-on-ones, and Salisu needs to improve with them. But this is his first full season - and that was Man City.

Not clumsy at all, as Chez said it was sloppy or reckless, he didn't need to put in a challenge, City player was going nowhere. Not the first time this year, but he gets a free pass because he is Salisu. He has directly caused us to lose 2 games in the last week or so, game changing errors, if it was Bednarek or Stephens making these mistakes they would be crucified on here.  

[Saint Garrett]

3 hours ago, TWar said:

Can't believe anyone in their right mind would watch that game and come away from it blaming Adam Armstrong, the striker who had good chances and hit the post, and not like seven of our other players first. Including all three other strikers who either missed bigger chances or weren't good enough to get chances in the first place.

He’s absolutely shite. His finishing is appalling. He should have scored 2 today. He has to do better, he can’t expect 5 great chances per game. 

[bpsaint]

Just watched the highlights back having been at the game, was every bit the game of fine margins I thought it was. Crap defending by Stephens for their first, silly foul by Salisu for the second, and KWP loses his man for the 4th. Still think it was madness to not start Broja and Adams.

Armstrong should have been given a chance to shine against Watford last week, not up top alongside Shane Long today.

[Toussaint]

1 hour ago, saint michael said:

I think we played as well as we could have. Couldn’t really fault the players. Yes big error by Salisu but under huge pressure all match and probably aware couldn’t afford to let anyone pass him. Under pressure people will make mistakes

For me the really sad thing is the complete gulf between the two teams and the realisation that I’m never going to see saints win anything again. 21st century sport where not everyone can compete and win something. I’ve grown to hate the big club cash rolled prem. They may well spend on buying Haaland for the same money as we were bought for. Wait till the geordie fans get going too. 
 

god knows how the team must feel after putting in that effort week in week out. 

I share your views, being able to bring on Foden and Mahrez illustrates that point. The gulf in class (wealth) made it us look like a plucky championship side having a good go at a team a league above. The PL is pretty toxic now with most teams just making up the numbers 

[saintscottofthenortham]

2 minutes ago, bpsaint said:

Just watched the highlights back having been at the game, was every bit the game of fine margins I thought it was. Crap defending by Stephens for their first, silly foul by Salisu for the second, and KWP loses his man for the 4th. Still think it was madness to not start Broja and Adams.

Armstrong should have been given a chance to shine against Watford last week, not up top alongside Shane Long today.

Every word of this like it was taken straight from my mouth. Ralph going through another episode of mad decisions. How he can think that combination is a legitimate effort against Man City in an F.A Cup Quarter Final, blows my mind. Pep must've pissed himself when he see it.

[Pamplemousse]

I thought we did OK. Even at 2-1 down we were in the game. Third goal was a killer sadly.

Hopefully we can use the break to take stock of the season so far and try and push for a top half finish. All the teams around us are inconsistent, so if we can go on a decent run, it's there if we want it.

[redder freak]

From the TV I thought Long and Armstrong did better up front than Broja and Adams. Justifying Ralph’s selection. The up front intensity dropped after the subs and allowed City onto the front foot.

[Kenilworthy]

1 hour ago, saint michael said:

I think we played as well as we could have. Couldn’t really fault the players. Yes big error by Salisu but under huge pressure all match and probably aware couldn’t afford to let anyone pass him. Under pressure people will make mistakes

For me the really sad thing is the complete gulf between the two teams and the realisation that I’m never going to see saints win anything again. 21st century sport where not everyone can compete and win something. I’ve grown to hate the big club cash rolled prem. They may well spend on buying Haaland for the same money as we were bought for. Wait till the geordie fans get going too. 
 

god knows how the team must feel after putting in that effort week in week out. 

I know how you feel. But look at it like this. In the past five years we have been in the final of the league cup and two FA Cup semi-finals. Saints will never win the league but a cup is still within reach

[Teddeer]

1 minute ago, redder freak said:

From the TV I thought Long and Armstrong did better up front than Broja and Adams. Justifying Ralph’s selection. The up front intensity dropped after the subs and allowed City onto the front foot.

Think it was more to do with the fact that their two subs were Mahrez and Foden. With all due respect to Adams and Broja those two are on a different level and it showed. After De Bruyne I think Mahrez is their next best player and he ran riot against our tiring defence.

[saintscottofthenortham]

3 minutes ago, redder freak said:

From the TV I thought Long and Armstrong did better up front than Broja and Adams. Justifying Ralph’s selection. The up front intensity dropped after the subs and allowed City onto the front foot.

Coming on against City after they've taken a lead is very different to coming on against a City in search of a win. Che doing what he does with missing the easiest chances you can present to him, cost us dearly. Score there, which he absolutely has to, and we're in a totally different game. 

[CB Fry]

21 minutes ago, saintscottofthenortham said:

Every word of this like it was taken straight from my mouth. Ralph going through another episode of mad decisions. How he can think that combination is a legitimate effort against Man City in an F.A Cup Quarter Final, blows my mind. Pep must've pissed himself when he see it.

Agree - if Broja was going to be dropped for a couple of games, then the sensible game for Armstrong to get his chance was home to Watford. And he didn't even get on at all. Just bizarre.

Then, a strange choice for him to suddenly start vs Man City and you could tell it was too much for him. Just snatching at, and then blowing, good chances. His confidence is shot did won't have improved today.

[notnowcato]

Gifted them the result. Overall a decent performance going forward, piss poor by the 2 centre backs. 
 

Djenepo coming on felt like we’d gone down to 10 men. 

[Dragon_man]

Lets not forget that Broja and Adams have hardly set the world on fire the previous 3 games, so Long and Armstrong was worth a try and it sort of worked. Remember City are arguably the best team in Europe.

As a mid table 'selling' club with no real ambition it was always niave to expect to beat Europe's best in a quarter final.

As Semmons said its not about league position its more about seeing great young talent play week in week out. Granted most of that today was in dark blue, but I thought Livramento and KWP were very good, that's where the money is going to come from in the next few years.

There's no future sales value in Adams, A Armstrong and Long, so their performances are somewhat academic, just like the rest of the season really.

Will need to be careful over summer as we'll need to do something to ensure survival next season. That's the sales platform for the young talent

[JRM]

1 hour ago, bpsaint said:

Just watched the highlights back having been at the game, was every bit the game of fine margins I thought it was. Crap defending by Stephens for their first, silly foul by Salisu for the second, and KWP loses his man for the 4th. Still think it was madness to not start Broja and Adams.

Armstrong should have been given a chance to shine against Watford last week, not up top alongside Shane Long today.

Pretty much sums up my thoughts, plenty of league games left for Ralph to do some of his experiments 

[OttawaSaint]

54 minutes ago, JRM said:

Pretty much sums up my thoughts, plenty of league games left for Ralph to do some of his experiments 

Agreed. If he'd wanted to mix it up he could have had AA vs Watford (instead of the ineffective Smallbone) to give him game time and then started with Bro and AA today. You can't just throw him in cold and low on confidence alongside Long. 

 

[HKsaint]

We must drop Salisu next match as his soft back pass and unnecessary foul at the edge of the penalty area have already costed us 3 points and FA semifinals respectively. We cannot let this to continue.

[SNSUN]

33 minutes ago, HKsaint said:

We must drop Salisu next match as his soft back pass and unnecessary foul at the edge of the penalty area have already costed us 3 points and FA semifinals respectively. We cannot let this to continue.

Who for? All our CBS have been crap lately. Salisu is our best CB and needs to play - he's still learning the game. Let's be thankful we're not part of the relegation battle while all our CBs have forgotten how to play football.

[HKsaint]

Varley can be given a chance ahead of Salisu 

[DT]

Was pretty clear yesterday that Stephens and Adam Armstrong are really not up to Premier League standard. Neither is Shane Long any more. So Ralph picks them against one of the best teams in Europe. I mean, what was he thinking? Wear them out by their ceaseless running (didn’t happen) and then bring on the big guns? Ralph needs to get back to his ‘pick the best team’ phase, and the keep it settled. Weirdly coincides with our best period of results. This too clever experimentation is nonsense. 
ps thought atmosphere was pretty good, although why we give them the whole end is a bit of a mystery. Don’t we want as much in the way of advantages as possible?

[East Kent Saint]

So magic of the FA Cup is now history , top 3 in the league in semi finals thanks to disparity in funding , new rules on wages and 'fair play ' required but probably will never happen.

[gordonToo]

8 hours ago, Dragon_man said:

As Semmons said its not about league position its more about seeing great young talent play week in week out.

I'm afraid this is the way we have to view it these days. If you want titles and cups you're supporting the wrong team.

[jabei]

Total agree with Saint Michael. Essentially what did us was a couple of individual errors and then the total gulf in finances. The players they took off added to the players they brought on are worth more in the market than our entire club let alone the squad. As someone else said, we ended up looking like the plucky League One team, not a team that is meant to be competing in the same league. When the breakaway European league was announced was totally against it but I'm coming round to the idea. I would have no interest in watching it but it would create a slightly more level playing field for the rest.

[wild-saint]

12 hours ago, Lee On Solent Saint said:

Agreed. Once Salisu puts his hands on Jesus,and he feels the contact,only going to end one way. Such a needless challenge to make. The Long shout is never going to be given in my opinion 

is this not the inconsistency of the interpretation of the laws of the game? both shoves, both absolutely debatable only one given. Personally i dont think either should have been given. That aside Salisu had no need to make the challenge / shove as the player was going nowhere. 

 

[JRM]

47 minutes ago, East Kent Saint said:

So magic of the FA Cup is now history , top 3 in the league in semi finals thanks to disparity in funding , new rules on wages and 'fair play ' required but probably will never happen.

League Cup final was Chelsea v Liverpool 

FA Cuo semi finals featuring Chelsea, Liverpool and Man City 

Quite possible three of the champions league semi finals will be Chelsea, Liverpool and Man City 

Hard to keep an interest in it. 

[Fitzhugh Fella]

11 hours ago, saint michael said:

I think we played as well as we could have. Couldn’t really fault the players. Yes big error by Salisu but under huge pressure all match and probably aware couldn’t afford to let anyone pass him. Under pressure people will make mistakes

For me the really sad thing is the complete gulf between the two teams and the realisation that I’m never going to see saints win anything again. 21st century sport where not everyone can compete and win something. I’ve grown to hate the big club cash rolled prem. They may well spend on buying Haaland for the same money as we were bought for. Wait till the geordie fans get going too. 
 

god knows how the team must feel after putting in that effort week in week out. 

Yep spot on. Saints were 8/1 to beat City ridiculous odds for two teams in the same half of the same division, but the financial gulf is now massive and destroying decent competitive football in this country. Grubby Arab/Oligarch money will be the death of the game. Should have let them all breakaway to a Super League. 

[Lallana's Left Peg]

Thought we gave it a good go in all areas of the pitch but the difference between a £1b team and a £100m team showed in terms of the mistakes made and chances taken.  Nothing to feel disheartened about - we're unbeaten against them in the league this season and those dropped points may yet be the difference between them winning the league and losing it so we've given a good account of ourselves against what might be the best team in Europe.

[jawillwill]

17 minutes ago, JRM said:

League Cup final was Chelsea v Liverpool 

FA Cuo semi finals featuring Chelsea, Liverpool and Man City 

Quite possible three of the champions league semi finals will be Chelsea, Liverpool and Man City 

Hard to keep an interest in it. 

Will be great when Newcastle start to join in with the fun 😴

[LiberalCommunist]

It's so painful watching AA go through this confidence crisis. Shank, slice, shin. He gets more desperate as the opportunies depart.

It's easy to say, but he just needs to relax, stop snatching at every chance like its his last one ever. 

Really hope he gets a chance along side someone other than Shane, and manages to score a goal soon. 

There's a player in there, but the pressure is mounting. 

[danjosaint]

That's why AA/long should've played at Watford  and Broja/che yesterday , Ralph got it wrong again and is reverting back to type, he's so reactive rather than being pro active, our tails were up at half time that's when subs should've happened not like usual wait till we're losing

[rooney]

We played our best and the silly mistakes cost us. In the end it was the quality of the opposition that did us and we cannot overcome that.

[JRM]

Just watched the highlights and maintain what I thought at the ground,  the penalty was very harsh, Jesus makes a meal of it when Salisu tries to show him away from goal, very little contact 

[Tank]

27 minutes ago, rooney said:

We played our best and the silly mistakes cost us. In the end it was the quality of the opposition that did us and we cannot overcome that.

if you said quality of the finish it would be more like, we outplayed City again and again a great game ... but goals are all important.

... every defence in the country makes mistakes

[Dman]

41 minutes ago, danjosaint said:

That's why AA/long should've played at Watford  and Broja/che yesterday , Ralph got it wrong again and is reverting back to type, he's so reactive rather than being pro active, our tails were up at half time that's when subs should've happened not like usual wait till we're losing

Agree. I thought it was really obvious that half time was the right time to bring on Broja for Armstrong. I don’t think long was doing all too badly. His job was to press and he was doing that well, but with the game being so open and city chasing the game to a degree, it would have been perfect for Broja. 

[Totton Saint]

10 hours ago, notnowcato said:

Gifted them the result. Overall a decent performance going forward, piss poor by the 2 centre backs. 
 

Djenepo coming on felt like we’d gone down to 10 men. 

he should have brought on, say, Valery, as a centre back, not Dejenopo. I was certain AA would be taken off at half time and Borja on instead. Terrible scuff from AA .early on