Saints 1-0 Arsenal - Match Thread

[Saint_clark]

Superb from Long at the end there.

[Holmes_and_Watson]

Yay!

[OttawaSaint]

Long celebration!! 😆 

[Holmes_and_Watson]

Yeah. Long did his usual very professional, tireless nuisance role agian today. Well done.

[Turkish]

1 point from safety 

[Sheaf Saint]

That's a brilliant result. Perfect response to last week.

Could have done without that last gasp winner for Brentford, but can't have everything. 

[skintsaint]

YAS! such a turnaround from last week.

[obelisk]

A beautifully ugly win. Just the job.

[Lee On Solent Saint]

Exactly what was needed after that shit show last week

[vectraman]

Well played Saints - you can do it when set up Properly. Well done Ralph for changing the formation 👍

[Saints foreva]

Well done boys, wasn't pretty but we got a reaction from last weekend. 

[AlexLaw76]

I am going to put it out there.

 

we are staying up!!!!

[Lighthouse]

On 13/04/2022 at 12:16, nta786 said:

The Arsenal forum were laughing about that, saying how typical that they were the only team to lose to us in that period.

They must be steaming. 😆

[ButtikonSaint]

What a difference a week makes... compact, physical, concentrated players, good team selection, big win.... 
Well done boys... 🙂 COYS

[Pamplemousse]

Brilliant win!!!!

[Dr Who?]

Bonus. Again we go from falling apart to putting in a great rearguard and having some backbone. 

I cannot figure us out. 🤷🏽 

[Dman]

Not pretty, rode our luck at times, but done exactly what we needed to do and had the fight to do so. Fair play, good win. 

[East Kent Saint]

Yep 39 points looking good for next season 🙂

[TWar]

Massive reaction! Really good. Thought we still lacked something going forward but at the back were fantastic. Massive credit for Ralph remodelling that defence from the Chelsea one last week. Man of the match is Forster by some distance, he was so so good.

[Pamplemousse]

Also happy to say I was wrong about Forster. He was sensational today.

[Teddeer]

Much needed win today. Not pretty but the result justified the means. Clean sheet very welcome after last week's mauling. Well done Ralph and team. 

[Holmes_and_Watson]

We changed to be more defensively solid, not leaving those huge spaces down the flanks (lots of us crying out for that)
We played Perraud at left back, giving the side a natural balance (lots of us crying out for that)
We kept it compact not allowing them to shift our midfield out opf position and expose the defence (lots of us crying out for that)
He rested Livramento (late sub) and Salisu, who looked to be particualrly out of sorts of late.

So credit to Raph for addressing the recent issues. We didn;t offer much going forward, as we tried to protect that 1-0 lead. But we did that really well.
Not well enough that Forster didn't have to make a fw good saves. His size and physicality make those look a bit easier for him than some other keepers.

The club may think Forster is too old style, and prefer a more modern keeper. But it's a risk, as he'll have to be as good at Fraser in this sort of match too.

Really pleased with the work rate and Redmond and Long did well when they came on too. Long in particular.

Edited 16 April, 2022 by Holmes_and_Watson

[Danbert]

I thought we were poor. Fraser's heroics kept us in it. Pleased with the win though 🙂

Edited 16 April, 2022 by Danbert

[LiberalCommunist]

I've never heard two commentators as bad as I did today. They seemed genuinely upset that we had the audacity to trouble Arsenal. They seemed upset by the end.

When FF pulled off that save from ESR he made out it wasn't necessary as it was going wide, when in actual fact it would have gone in off the inside of the post!

Then, lastly, commented that JWP is more than just a freekick specialist, he's an engine, but questioned his temperment due to his horror tackle & red card on Jorginho! WTF

So glad we did them twats today. So pleased! UTFS

[MAY-Z]

1 minute ago, TWar said:

Massive reaction! Really good. Thought we still lacked something going forward but at the back were fantastic. Massive credit for Ralph remodelling that defence from the Chelsea one last week. Man of the match is Forster by some distance, he was so so good.

Probably needs to be more of a 3-4-1-2 formation with Sarmstrong behind the 2 strikers

 

but I guess Ely did get the assist 

[Teddeer]

1 minute ago, Danbert said:

I thought we were poor. Fraser's heroics kept us in it kept us in it. Pleased with the win though 🙂

Don't think many of us expected us to look good but we had to look harder to beat and that happened.

[Lee On Solent Saint]

Just now, Teddeer said:

Don't think many of us expected us to look good but we had to look harder to beat and that happened.

Agreed. We rode our luck at times, but has proved we can be dogged and not let the opposition have such an easy match.

[TWar]

2 minutes ago, MAY-Z said:

Probably needs to be more of a 3-4-1-2 formation with Sarmstrong behind the 2 strikers

 

but I guess Ely did get the assist 

I thought it was a 343 with Stu on the right and Ely on the left. Hard to say as we didn't do much attacking. A real victory for the defence.

[hypochondriac]

6 minutes ago, Dr Who? said:

Bonus. Again we go from falling apart to putting in a great rearguard and having some backbone. 

I cannot figure us out. 🤷🏽 

It's just bizarre. Earlier in the season when we had that run of wins we looked so assured. I'm not sure I've ever known a team that alternates between clueless and classy as much as we do. 

[ButtikonSaint]

2 minutes ago, LiberalCommunist said:

I've never heard two commentators as bad as I did today. They seemed genuinely upset that we had the audacity to trouble Arsenal. They seemed upset by the end.

When FF pulled off that save from ESR he made out it wasn't necessary as it was going wide, when in actual fact it would have gone in off the inside of the post!

Then, lastly, commented that JWP is more than just a freekick specialist, he's an engine, but questioned his temperment due to his horror tackle & red card on Jorginho! WTF

So glad we did them twats today. So pleased! UTFS

why not listen to Solent ....fully biased commentary there too

[captainchris]

1 minute ago, MAY-Z said:

Probably needs to be more of a 3-4-1-2 formation with Sarmstrong behind the 2 strikers

 

but I guess Ely did get the assist 

Depends if you mean two out and out strikers, if you do Ralph you haven’t learnt a thing…. 

[nta786]

Have to say despite being under the cosh for the majority of the game I enjoyed that, but it helps that we got the result and 3 points. 
Also I don’t know if it made any difference but going forward I’d prefer the away team to shoot towards the Chapel end in the 2nd half more often.

[Jimmy_D]

Well that’s one way to break a winless streak

Forster immense.

[woodsaint1]

We definitely gave the wrong keeper a new contract 🤦🏽‍♂️

[OttawaSaint]

2 minutes ago, woodsaint1 said:

We definitely gave the wrong keeper a new contract 🤦🏽‍♂️

This. AM has been really poor for quite some time. Hopefully we bring in a proper #1.

[The Cat]

Good win. We obviously went with a formation to stifle them and it worked because their wide players rarely got behind our defence and they were restricted to cutting inside and trying to play through the congestion in the middle which was unlikely to work especially as they didn't have a striker fit.

Playing like that meant we sacrificed attacking threat and we rarely created anything but managed to nick a goal after a good cut back from Moi and a sweet strike from Bednarek. 

Some good blocks and last ditch tackles in defence, with the midfield putting in a proper shift. Then when they did get a shot away Forster pulled off a couple of very good saves.

Nice to be walking out the ground with 3 points, it's been a while. 

[woodsaint1]

2 minutes ago, OttawaSaint said:

This. AM has been really poor for quite some time. Hopefully we bring in a proper #1.

Big Fraser looks like a player playing his heart out for last big contract. Wish him well wherever he ends up

[HarvSFC]

Super Fraser Forster. Won us the points today with his heroics. Great reaction from last week, we actually fought for it today. 

Cedric really does have the second best agent in football behind Choupo-Moting. Poor scouting brought him to us, how he then played for Inter and ended up at Arsenal, lord only knows.

[DT]

Brilliant, totally unexpected result

[derry]

Massive result. Playing only one up front and nine behind the ball makes it very difficult to find the lone attacker. We didn't fanny about at the back today, any doubt the foot went through the ball, Valery forgot a couple of times and was dispossessed causing a couple of problems. Forster was a proper barrier and played long instead of trying to pass short. There are three statistics to bear in mind 24% possession, 1 goal and a clean sheet, three points. Two recent games 68% and 62% possession both lost. A shout out for Bednarek for his well taken goal. Now we need to build on that result. 

[Turkish]

Some massive six pointer games ahead now. What a finish to the season. Brighton, Palace, Leicester and Brentford to come in our remaining fixtures, all our rivals for 10th to play, it’s in our own hands. 

[Wade Garrett]

3 hours ago, Charlie Wayman said:

That's the way to do it. Get stuck in, get rid of it, bang it upfield, great football as it used to be played. 

There you go.  Worked well.

Thought Forster, Lyanco and Perraud were superb.

[M271]

Southampton 1-0 Arsenal: Premier League highlights | Video | Watch TV Show | Sky Sports

[ErwinK1961]

19 minutes ago, woodsaint1 said:

We definitely gave the wrong keeper a new contract 🤦🏽‍♂️

We offered both a contract and Forster turned it down. Can’t force someone to sign who doesn’t want to.

[Dr Who?]

2 minutes ago, ErwinK1961 said:

We offered both a contract and Forster turned it down. Can’t force someone to sign who doesn’t want to.

He must have read the abuse on here he gets and though, sod that! 

[woodsaint1]

Big Lyanco. What a man. Works his balls off to get back fit way ahead of schedule. Thought he was excellent today

[Mr X]

Not pretty but pretty wasn't needed today we just needed to nick a cheeky goal and defend for our lives and that's what we did! 

[The Cat]

5 minutes ago, woodsaint1 said:

Big Lyanco. What a man. Works his balls off to get back fit way ahead of schedule. Thought he was excellent today

Was funny when him and Saka were both trying to get the ball when the game was stopped in the second half.

We actually did some good game management today. Players going down to break up play and Shane Long delaying, delaying and then kicking the ball away at the end for his yellow card was hilarious.

[Ivan Katalinic's 'tache]

Set up defensively from the off and that was well marshalled by Bednarek & Lyanco. Valery was on it too. Full backs did well out wide. I do like Perraud's spikiness & tenacity when he's in the side. Took our only real chance when it came. And, of course, Forster was superb once again but on the right side of a result, which is more than fitting for this performance. 

[rooney]

32 minutes ago, HarvSFC said:

Super Fraser Forster

 

 

32 minutes ago, HarvSFC said:

Cedric really does have the second best agent in football behind Choupo-Moting. Poor scouting brought him to us, how he then played for Inter and ended up at Arsenal, lord only knows.

And he still cannot cross a ball.