Pre Season Friendlies 2023/24

[saintant]

Great going forward but we won't win promotion unless there is a drastic improvement at the back and I still say we must get a new keeper.

[goodymatt]

Baz actually had a decent game up to that error, but just like at Goztepe it’s a shocker. I think Championship is his level but I’m not sure he’s good enough for a promotion chase just yet. I’m sure we will stand by him, feel that is a risk.

[Ex Lion Tamer]

Baz needs a season out of the firing line, for his own benefit

Edited 22 July, 2023 by Ex Lion Tamer

[Toussaint]

5 minutes ago, Bad Wolf said:

Apart from the three he made in this game? Two of them very good.

The two conceded were appalling 

[HarvSFC]

Worth noting this team struggled against Lincoln and Sheffield Wednesday and lost to Grimsby in competitive fixtures last season. So, that swagger and dominance against a recently relegated Championship side was pleasing.

Interesting that the Ward-Prowse, Aribo goals were near carbon copies. Ball comes from out wide, AA/Adams dummy it and it falls to the scorer, who puts it away.

Their two goals came from mistakes at the back, which we were warned about when appointing Martin. However, we also haven't made any centre-back signings for this new possession focussed style. You'd say Stephens is the only one from the group suited to it. You'd hope with the departure of Salisu and hopefully another side comes in for Lyanco that we see a bit more movement there.

I said Smallbone was a nothing player after Goztepe, but he could be more suited to the deeper role. Doesn't effect the game enough as a 10, but kept the ball ticking deeper today. A new Steven Davis.

Mara was disappointing. I was really hoping he'd come good from a drop in level having shown a couple of decent finishes last season, but maybe the tempo of English football just isn't suited to him. Alcaraz was surprisingly quiet despite his assist, and of course Bazunu concedes more than he saves, which is still a worry. But, again, given there wasn't another goalkeeper in the squad today, you'd hope we're looking to bring somebody else is actually worth giving minutes to.

Edozie and Amo-Ameyaw are going to cause some havoc coming off the bench this season.

Armstrong's goal was what we saw in highlight's reel when he signed. Scored a couple of crackers against Everton and Villa early into his Saints career. A bit like Adams, when he works by instinct, he scores, but give him time to think and he'll miss. Still think he should be a bench option, though, as again the holdup from him in this system isn't quite there.

[Saint Fan CaM]

Mmm, a good result and generally good performance against a poor L1 team and let down by some very dodgy keeping. Pretty much all of the Championship teams will put up a more determined test against us.

Baz made his best impression of a statue for their first by not moving out to face the oncoming attacker, the got his positioning all wrong and gave them the softest of late goals. I’ve not wanted to be overly critical of the lad but those types of mistake will be the difference between us challenging for promotion or not. Think he needs some time away in L1 to gain experience, but unfortunately that’s not going to happen…all our GK eggs are in the Baz basket.

[CSA96]

5 minutes ago, HarvSFC said:

Worth noting this team struggled against Lincoln and Sheffield Wednesday and lost to Grimsby in competitive fixtures last season. So, that swagger and dominance against a recently relegated Championship side was pleasing.

Interesting that the Ward-Prowse, Aribo goals were near carbon copies. Ball comes from out wide, AA/Adams dummy it and it falls to the scorer, who puts it away.

Their two goals came from mistakes at the back, which we were warned about when appointing Martin. However, we also haven't made any centre-back signings for this new possession focussed style. You'd say Stephens is the only one from the group suited to it. You'd hope with the departure of Salisu and hopefully another side comes in for Lyanco that we see a bit more movement there.

I said Smallbone was a nothing player after Goztepe, but he could be more suited to the deeper role. Doesn't effect the game enough as a 10, but kept the ball ticking deeper today. A new Steven Davis.

Mara was disappointing. I was really hoping he'd come good from a drop in level having shown a couple of decent finishes last season, but maybe the tempo of English football just isn't suited to him. Alcaraz was surprisingly quiet despite his assist, and of course Bazunu concedes more than he saves, which is still a worry. But, again, given there wasn't another goalkeeper in the squad today, you'd hope we're looking to bring somebody else is actually worth giving minutes to.

Edozie and Amo-Ameyaw are going to cause some havoc coming off the bench this season.

Armstrong's goal was what we saw in highlight's reel when he signed. Scored a couple of crackers against Everton and Villa early into his Saints career. A bit like Adams, when he works by instinct, he scores, but give him time to think and he'll miss. Still think he should be a bench option, though, as again the holdup from him in this system isn't quite there.

Makes sense, given RM is a bit of a self-confessed Pep pervert. That's straight out of the Guardiola approach to attacking from wide areas: narrow full backs, wide wingers, underlapping runs and cut backs to the penalty spot for midfielders to rush onto.

Edited 22 July, 2023 by CSA96

[spyinthesky]

We were by far the better side and should have scored more.
Our passes were crisp and the movement good.
However we were playing against a team in League 1 with a host of trialists so it should have been more comfortable than it was.
It is quite understandable that playing the 'Russell Martin' way will see goals at either end.
Our system appears to leave us lacking at the back as and when the ball is lost in midfield.
Apart from the two breakaway goals Baz's foot prevented a third.
It will be interesting to see the team performs against much better sides ie Bournemouth on Tuesday and Alkmar on Saturday.

[Saint Matty 76]

6 minutes ago, HarvSFC said:

 

Edozie and Amo-Ameyaw are going to cause some havoc coming off the bench this season.

This was my main takeaway from today.

There could even be a starting spot up for either of them with Sulemana leaving, unless we end up bringing in a striker like Piroe and AA plays off the left? Either way, lots of excitement with those two and Tella.

[davefizzy14]

Thoroughly enjoyed watching that. Some really good passages of play and nice finishes too. Delighted to see Adam Armstrong and Aribo score should boost their confidence. Nicely taken goal from Prowsey too the first one was Jan's goal I think. Defensively though we have to improve and Gavin made some good stops but he has to be saving that last one. 

[John B]

2 hours ago, Saint Fan CaM said:

Hun, you do realise this is a fans forum right? You know, a place to air one’s thoughts on the club, the manager/coaches, players etc.  You may be a relative of Smallbone I guess which might make for difficult reading, but if that’s the case perhaps you need to consider not putting yourself through it.

Strangely I am a Saints Supporter of  over sixty years and am fed up of ill informed posters like you always making negative comments about the players

If do not want to get behind the players piss off to the Pompey forum.

Being a supporter means supporting the team not continually emphasizing the players errors .

All the players starting today are fucking good otherwise they would not have been playing in a PL team and earning massive wages.

Sometimes they play well sometimes they do not that is football just give them a chance like Smallbone an Irish International who seems to be doing OK today.

Last years squad was probably the worst I have seen whilst the Saints have been in the top flight but competition in the PL is intense and I accept that we can not buy the real top class players I have seen play for the club over my sixty years.

Players Like Terry Paine Martin Chivers Alan Ball MLT Mane and VVD have helped other team members will less ability to perform better but currently we have no one of that ability in the squad currently

.

 

 

 

 

 

[Golac's Cunning Stunts]

The England cricket team get Baz Ball and we get Baz’s Balls ups

[coalman]

24 minutes ago, goodymatt said:

Baz actually had a decent game up to that error, but just like at Goztepe it’s a shocker. I think Championship is his level but I’m not sure he’s good enough for a promotion chase just yet. I’m sure we will stand by him, feel that is a risk.

Charles didn't exactly stop the attacker either.

[Smirking_Saint]

36 minutes ago, Saint Matty 76 said:

Just a pre-season game against very poor, albeit Championship last year opposition, but that's the most I've enjoyed watching us play in quite a while. Some good goals and good performances all round.

My thoughts after that are that other than any outgoings, it'd just be the Mara (LW) position up for grabs at Sheffield Wednesday from what started today. Bazunu made a couple of decent saves but ends the game with yet another terrible moment. Don't think Bednarek or DCC looked particularly convincing either. 

I thought Bednarek looked very composed and good on the ball personally, especially in possession 

Stephens was a bit meh, giving the ball away a few times

DCC’s passing was genuinely terrible 

[Smirking_Saint]

3 minutes ago, coalman said:

Charles didn't exactly stop the attacker either.

Yeah its poor defending as much as it was poor goalkeeping tbf

[The Kraken]

4 minutes ago, John B said:

If do not want to get behind the players piss off to the Pompey forum.

Being a supporter means supporting the team not continually emphasizing the players errors .

These two statements in particular are complete horseshit. The “piss off to Pompey” one comes up time and again and doesn’t get any less embarrassing. If you can’t handle reading a few critical words about some of our players then it’s a bit worrying and maybe forums aren’t for you. Forums exist entirely to highlight and discuss good points and bad points, people’s opinions are always going to differ. But throwing a strop and telling someone to support Portsmouth because someone else highlights a perceived negative that you disagree with is more than a little pathetic.

[Osvaldorama]

Promising signs I would say. 
 

Can see that we have been working on passing and moving and keeping hold of the ball.

Really appreciated RM coming over to the fans before the game. Nice touch. 

Should/could have won by more. Would be nice to have some clarity over who will go & who will stay. 

[Fitzhugh Fella]

8 minutes ago, John B said:

Strangely I am a Saints Supporter of  over sixty years and am fed up of ill informed posters like you always making negative comments about the players

If do not want to get behind the players piss off to the Pompey forum.

Being a supporter means supporting the team not continually emphasizing the players errors .

All the players starting today are fucking good otherwise they would not have been playing in a PL team and earning massive wages.

Sometimes they play well sometimes they do not that is football just give them a chance like Smallbone an Irish International who seems to be doing OK today.

Last years squad was probably the worst I have seen whilst the Saints have been in the top flight but competition in the PL is intense and I accept that we can not buy the real top class players I have seen play for the club over my sixty years.

Players Like Terry Paine Martin Chivers Alan Ball MLT Mane and VVD have helped other team members will less ability to perform better but currently we have no one of that ability in the squad currently

.

 

 

 

 

 

So supporters must never criticise their ream is that what you are saying?

[Fitzhugh Fella]

1 minute ago, The Kraken said:

These two statements in particular are complete horseshit. The “piss off to Pompey” one comes up time and again and doesn’t get any less embarrassing. If you can’t handle reading a few critical words about some of our players then it’s a bit worrying and maybe forums aren’t for you. Forums exist entirely to highlight and discuss good points and bad points, people’s opinions are always going to differ. But throwing a strop and telling someone to support Portsmouth because someone else highlights a perceived negative that you disagree with is more than a little pathetic.

Well said

[Saint Fan CaM]

6 minutes ago, John B said:

Strangely I am a Saints Supporter of  over sixty years and am fed up of ill informed posters like you always making negative comments about the players

If do not want to get behind the players piss off to the Pompey forum.

Being a supporter means supporting the team not continually emphasizing the players errors .

All the players starting today are fucking good otherwise they would not have been playing in a PL team and earning massive wages.

Sometimes they play well sometimes they do not that is football just give them a chance like Smallbone an Irish International who seems to be doing OK today.

Last years squad was probably the worst I have seen whilst the Saints have been in the top flight but competition in the PL is intense and I accept that we can not buy the real top class players I have seen play for the club over my sixty years.

Players Like Terry Paine Martin Chivers Alan Ball MLT Mane and VVD have helped other team members will less ability to perform better but currently we have no one of that ability in the squad currently.

For someone who gets behind the team so unconditionally, this really takes the biscuit!  Do you realise quite how contradictory those highlighted statements are? And lastly, I think you need to calm down a bit and realise that supporting the team at a game and posting on an internet fans forum are very different things. 😂

[lambtiss]

58 minutes ago, Saint Matty 76 said:

Absolutely excellent assist from Edozie.

Always liked him in the minutes he got, no idea why he was getting criticism recently. 

Nobody doubted his dribbling skill or commitment, but he failed to deliver the final pass or shot. But that can change. 

[Turkish]

37 minutes ago, goodymatt said:

Baz actually had a decent game up to that error, but just like at Goztepe it’s a shocker. I think Championship is his level but I’m not sure he’s good enough for a promotion chase just yet. I’m sure we will stand by him, feel that is a risk.

This is the problem isn’t it. The best keepers don’t make mistakes. It’s not about making camera saves it’s about doing the basics well, commanding the area, communicating with the back 4, making saves you’d expect them too, no point having a keeper that makes a spectacular save every 5 games but week after week costs us goals with failure to do the basics. 

[niceandfriendly]

29 minutes ago, John B said:

If do not want to get behind the players piss off to the Pompey forum.

Time to have a lay down, John. 

[saintant]

13 minutes ago, Turkish said:

This is the problem isn’t it. The best keepers don’t make mistakes. It’s not about making camera saves it’s about doing the basics well, commanding the area, communicating with the back 4, making saves you’d expect them too, no point having a keeper that makes a spectacular save every 5 games but week after week costs us goals with failure to do the basics. 

This is it in a nutshell. Baz makes major mistakes in pretty much every game. That will cost you many points over the course of a season. We have to get someone much better.

[Dman]

Some positives to take from today, but also some signs of real concern. 

Reading are a poor side, but we looked nice and tidy going forward, I was really impressed by Edozie when he came on. But I can see us conceeding a lot of goals next season. 

Bazunu is a terrible keeper - not much has changed on that front. 

[Roo1976]

1 hour ago, Ex Lion Tamer said:

Baz needs a season out of the firing line, for his own benefit

And how does he get that?,what just sitting in the B team all season?,and if he goes on loan hes in someone else's firing line and still not learning from mistakes.

[DrunkenSaint]

Good result but still we lack the DCM that we lacked last year and with Lavia pretty much going we really need to get one in, the 3 midfielders that started today are not DCM, get a decent one in and that will help our defence and save a goal or 2.

[Tamesaint]

Loads of good things today but the St Mary's crowd is going to have to be patient. There are going to be dissenting voices  when the full back and centre back pass the ball to each other 4 or 5 times within 15 seconds with zero movement.

A high back line will put pressure on the defence to avoid cock ups. The goalie is going to have to be good at sweeping. 

I hope this doesn't come over as too negative. The passing today was sublime. Around the 60th minute there was an amazing sequence of crisp, fast, first time passing which took the breath away. More of that and it should be a great season. 

[woodsaint1]

11 minutes ago, DrunkenSaint said:

Good result but still we lack the DCM that we lacked last year and with Lavia pretty much going we really need to get one in, the 3 midfielders that started today are not DCM, get a decent one in and that will help our defence and save a goal or 2.

We brought a decent one in

[egg]

The B team lost 4-0 to Leyton Orient in a behind closed doors game today. Can't find the team line ups anywhere. Would be interested to see if any first teamers played. 

[Give it to Ron]

So good to finally have a pattern of play, I love the 2 Sams wide we look to have real pace going forward.

The new “Chaplow” looked really good first half always available passed it really well linked up the side something missing since Davis left.

Tino was awful and looked like someone not played in a while defensively shocking we looked vulnerable to balls played behind right back. 
ok it was a poor Reading but we lost to Grimsby and some of our passing was sublime.

Oh wasn’t it great when they had a corner and free kick to see us leaving someone up dragging back 2 defenders! 
Lots of promise need to trim squad and new keeper and centre forward like Lambert or Ings and we will fly.

Enjoyed our performance but it was Reading who will be relegated this year but can only beat what’s in front of you,

 

 

Edited 22 July, 2023 by Give it to Ron

[bpsaint]

Enjoyed that today, not been to the Madejski for a while, was surprised just how shit the Reading turn out was, regardless of the occasion they really are a noddy fan base.

Nice to see the signs of an identity forming after such a short space of time, contrast that to the clusterfuck that was the Jones era where we seemed to go backwards and the signs are encouraging. Good to see a lot of players chasing balls down and playing with an intensity we’ve not seen for a while, particularly Aribo when he came on.

It wasn’t all rosy though, defensively there’s still some weaknesses there, it’s pretty clear we still urgently need the following if we’re serious about promotion

GK

CB

CDM

FW

[OnceaSaintalwaysaSaint]

4 hours ago, Bad Wolf said:

Really good showing from Saints. Mara the only one who really hasn't been very good. Starting to think he isn't gonna come good either. Some flowing football and we're seeing possession football with an actual purpose. I know it's against a L1 team (managed by Ruben Selles no less) but probably the best half of football I've seen Saints play for months and if we can moan about a poor performance against the Portugese champions, I see no reason why we can't be happy with a good performance against a League One team.

Side note; I hear Selles came over and clapped Saints fans who clapped him back. Nice to see there's no bad feeling on either side

Did see Russell Martin (not Selles) come over at the start of the game. Nice touch. Heard he used to do it at Swansea. Be interesting to see if he still does it if/when we go on a losing streak. You'd think it's a no-brainer as a manager to get the fans on side....just need a good song for our new guy.

[Turkish]

Did we sing about Selles?

[Ex Lion Tamer]

2 hours ago, Roo1976 said:

And how does he get that?,what just sitting in the B team all season?,and if he goes on loan hes in someone else's firing line and still not learning from mistakes.

Yes that's exactly it, time on the bench and maybe the b team. Just time out of the spotlight to reflect and work on his game, and rebuild his confidence

Edited 22 July, 2023 by Ex Lion Tamer

[woodsaint1]

4 hours ago, Saint Fan CaM said:

Mmm, a good result and generally good performance against a poor L1 team and let down by some very dodgy keeping. Pretty much all of the Championship teams will put up a more determined test against us.

Baz made his best impression of a statue for their first by not moving out to face the oncoming attacker, the got his positioning all wrong and gave them the softest of late goals. I’ve not wanted to be overly critical of the lad but those types of mistake will be the difference between us challenging for promotion or not. Think he needs some time away in L1 to gain experience, but unfortunately that’s not going to happen…all our GK eggs are in the Baz basket.

The second goal was abysmal, but you cant place any blame on him for the first. Its a 2 on 1 (thanks to Bednarek) and the striker takes it first time when played in

[davefizzy14]

Nigel is a class act and a legend

[Harry_SFC]

39 minutes ago, woodsaint1 said:

The second goal was abysmal, but you cant place any blame on him for the first. Its a 2 on 1 (thanks to Bednarek) and the striker takes it first time when played in

Agreed. Bazunu had a nightmare with the second but the first wasn't down to him at all, just sloppiness from Bednarek. 

[Crab Lungs]

Bazunu will not improve as time goes on.  We can all keep hoping but I really don’t think he’ll get any better. He’ll be forever letting goals slip through his legs, fumbling and not covering his near post. 
 

I’d feel a lot more comfortable if we had a Dragowski or Bentley, someone with real presence and experience between the posts. 

[Saint Fan CaM]

2 hours ago, woodsaint1 said:

The second goal was abysmal, but you cant place any blame on him for the first. Its a 2 on 1 (thanks to Bednarek) and the striker takes it first time when played in

Disagree. Bednarek was at fault for gifting the opportunity yes - but Baz was at fault for making hardly any effort to stop the shot. His positioning was really poor and consequently he was not able to make himself ‘big’ in front of the on-coming player to give himself maximum chance to save it. If he’d done that and they’d still scored I wouldn’t be blaming him at all.

Most decent Pro keepers manage to get those kind of basics right 99% of the time - he’s going to cost us points unless he ups his game quite considerably.

[Brissysaint]

Calling it now, Edozie is going to be very important this year as will tella (if we keep him)

im actually pretty comfy with AA up front too, if we get rid of adams and bring someone else in I think we will do fine.

[Give it to Ron]

7 hours ago, woodsaint1 said:

The second goal was abysmal, but you cant place any blame on him for the first. Its a 2 on 1 (thanks to Bednarek) and the striker takes it first time when played in

Wasn’t Bednarek he went off first half didn’t he? Was DCC and Charles poor defending then sloppy wrist Baz

Edited 23 July, 2023 by Give it to Ron

[david in sweden]

12 hours ago, Fitzhugh Fella said:

So supporters must never criticise their ream is that what you are saying?

to be fair Duncan, in a friendly game where we had a conveyor belt of 20 players, some playing out of position, I thought we looked fairly good with 

RM's  " holding pattern"  of high tempo passing but we lost cohesion with so many changes, but looked worth a few more goals than we actually scored.

It will be easy for people to criticise obvious mistakes from a young squad that is still not concreted into a predictable starting line-up.

Good points were obvious : Bednarek and Stephens looked confident enough as a CB pairing, and Will Smallbone clearly stood out well in midfield.

The back end of the game was a bit sloppy at times, but Edozie and Amo-Ameyaw will cause problems for many sides this season, and goals from

Adam Armstrong and Joe Aribo will help to improve their image after a poor Prem.season. 

 

As someone in the same generation as John B. (original post),  I have to agree with many of his points and continually remind ourselves that it takes

time to formulate a balanced side and the whole idea of " friendlies " is a chance to iron out obvious mistakes - without losing 3 points every time. 

 In one way... it was good that we couldn't keep a clean sheet, as it exposed potential problem areas and had we won 4-0 it still wouldn't have been 

convincing enough for anyone to think that we had come anywhere near a side that was  " the finished article " .

Our performances against Bournemouth will tell us more when coming up against a team that did do well enough to survive in the Prem. last season.

[hypochondriac]

12 hours ago, Roo1976 said:

And how does he get that?,what just sitting in the B team all season?,and if he goes on loan hes in someone else's firing line and still not learning from mistakes.

The Southampton first team gk position should not be the place for Bazunu to learn his trade. We want a reliable finished article or close to it in goal with a youngster with potential as backup. We won't do that but that's what we should do for definite. 

[saintant]

1 hour ago, hypochondriac said:

The Southampton first team gk position should not be the place for Bazunu to learn his trade. We want a reliable finished article or close to it in goal with a youngster with potential as backup. We won't do that but that's what we should do for definite. 

It's a no brainer and I just hope we are looking at finding a keeper to replace Baz as our number one as a matter of priority.

[Harry_SFC]

5 hours ago, Give it to Ron said:

Wasn’t Bednarek he went off first half didn’t he? Was DCC and Charles poor defending then sloppy wrist Baz

I think he's talking about the first goal in the first half where Bednarek gave the ball away.

[Give it to Ron]

Does anyone else think Tella looked miserable yesterday ? Body language looked odd just maybe an off day not sure the slow build up will suit him but great shot that hit bar.

[Give it to Ron]

12 minutes ago, Harry_SFC said:

I think he's talking about the first goal in the first half where Bednarek gave the ball away.

Sorry misread then both goals were poor plus Tino major cock up detracted from some good play.

[Saint Fan CaM]

19 hours ago, Saint Fan CaM said:

This game in general will be interesting to see if there’s any visible improvement in how the players are reacting to Martin and his coaches. Let’s face it, if we were still in the Prem with this squad you would expect us to win comfortably against Reading, but psychologically speaking I’m not sure we’ve shaken off the losing mentality yet. Fingers crossed this game moves the team in right direction.

I’m pleased to say that there WAS visible improvement, we won comfortably (despite two Baz howlers) and I do think the team is moving in the right direction. What I am less sure of is whether we’re near a level that will get us near the playoffs…think the quality in the teams that have been in the Championship for a while might come as a bit of a surprise.

[egg]

3 minutes ago, Saint Fan CaM said:

I’m pleased to say that there WAS visible improvement, we won comfortably (despite two Baz howlers) and I do think the team is moving in the right direction. What I am less sure of is whether we’re near a level that will get us near the playoffs…think the quality in the teams that have been in the Championship for a while might come as a bit of a surprise.

Yep. It's a tough league. As good as yesterday was, to give some perspective, Reading got beat 2 - 0 by league 2 Sutton United last week, and Sutton then got beat 3 - 0 by Millwall and could only draw with Farnborough.