Saints 5-3 Huddersfield - Match Thread

[Midfield_General]

Great comeback and spirit shown yesterday. Always felt we were still in it, even at two down, but it needed something special from Rothwell to light the touchpaper. As soon as that absolute twatter hit the top corner the momentum shifted. But what a game.

However, the prospect of playing away at Anfield without Downes, even if it's against their slightly less than first XI, is... unnerving. Really hope it's not so bad and he's back for that one. 

[Saint_clark]

2 minutes ago, StrangelyBrown said:

I'm not sure why Baz is getting such a hard time, the first and second goals were symptomatic of the crap way we were playing - defenders/midfielders letting them shoot - the first was non existent marking on a runner, the second was cowardliness from KWP and Smallbone who both failed to close the guy down. The third was just a flukey deflection.

Goalkeepers will concede goals - yes Baz may have done better for the first one but the rhetoric that every goal we conceded is somehow all his fault is utter nonsense.

I never said that every goal we concede is his fault. I'm not even saying the first one is his fault. I'm saying that a professional goalkeeper should be doing better than he did when facing a shot that wasn't especially powerful, was well inside the post and went in under his arm. 

[macca155]

27 minutes ago, CB Fry said:

I get the feeling that our replacement for a Downes-less midfield will be to just score more.

We have attacking options all over the squad now, but without Downes we will cede more control, and probably see fewer clean sheets than we've been used to. So we need to use what we have going forward.

Hopefully Charles can take his chance but we all know he's not as good as Flynn. No one is in this division.

Then I am going to need some valium, because teams will be relentless in trying to exploit that weakness.

I think Charles can do a job there, and Aribo is back soon. So hopefully it won't make Saints as vulnerable as I fear.

Agree 100% that Downes is a stand out performer in this league. Not easily replaced.

 

[Harry_SFC]

1 hour ago, Saint_clark said:

Yep, him and the goalkeeping coaches will be looking at that come Monday, reviewing it and working out how he can do better in the future. 

Heaven forbid someone on here says he should have done better though.

It's that shot low to the left of him again and it is a big problem. I'd be worried if the coaches haven't picked up on it and surely they are working on it with him.

Edited February 11 by Harry_SFC

[The Cat]

11 minutes ago, Saint_clark said:

I never said that every goal we concede is his fault. I'm not even saying the first one is his fault. I'm saying that a professional goalkeeper should be doing better than he did when facing a shot that wasn't especially powerful, was well inside the post and went in under his arm. 

A professional striker should be doing a hell of a lot better than Adam Armstrong did with that 1v1 but there's not loads of posts discussing that. In fact there were zero after the match until I mentioned it.

His decision making in that moment to lazily attempt to chip a keeper who was stood in front of him while the left side of the goal was gaping is far worse than anything Bazunu did yesterday.

He sticks that in to make it 3-2 and their freak deflection goal never happens which weirdly some people were blaming Bazunu for rather than the midfields awful attempt to block the shot.

[gio1saints]

I do not feel Gav nor Manning were at conspicuous fault for any of the goals.
 

I think much of the finding-a -player-to-blame thing is simply reactionary emotion talking - and in the rush to pin blame ignores the fact that all the goals were communal - not individual - error failures. 

Manning got criticised in the DE for the goals - which I thought was poor “journalism”. 

 I don’t have a prejudicial grudge against the bloke (unlike a lot of people slagging him off do seem to have- his name was even booed in Northam when came up in starting line up😟 - talk about disgraceful support!!!  ) so Ryan is on a hiding to nothing each time he enters the field of play.

Anyone there and who was bothered to watch the goals highlights several times like me cannot come to the conclusion he alone was at fault for any of the goals. Nor that he was our “ weak link”. The whole effing not-a-team was the weak link first half ffs! 

That he and Gav are being singled out - shows how strongly emotion can sometimes override objective reality. The facts are that team failures led to all three goals. But team success led to five goals scored. 

 

[austsaint]

45 minutes ago, CB Fry said:

I get the feeling that our replacement for a Downes-less midfield will be to just score more.

We have attacking options all over the squad now, but without Downes we will cede more control, and probably see fewer clean sheets than we've been used to. So we need to use what we have going forward.

Hopefully Charles can take his chance but we all know he's not as good as Flynn. No one is in this division.

Yes, the injury to Downes is the one dark cloud hanging over the place.  I'm not sure Smallbone is the answer as a holding midfielder and the suspicion is that Charles might be, (with time) but isn't yet.   Oriel Romeu style midfielders are hard to find!      As you say, the continuing hope is the battery of attacking options available can keep us afloat.

[Lymington Saint]

Think some of the posters are being harsh on Baz for the first goal.  Watch it closely.  The shot came in with lots of top spin.  Bit like you see in tennis.  Rather than go in a straight line it dipped viciously and bounced just in front of him.  And it was hit hard.  Having played in goal at local league level I can tell you that the biggest problems come with shots where the ball is moving around.  You start your dive expecting the ball to be in one place only to find it's somewhere else and goes past you.  I actually thought Baz had a decent game.  I lost count of the number of times that he was an emergency sweeper.

Hope RM has learnt from yesterday.  Especially first half.  We play with full backs that like to bomb forward, and defend narrow.  Huddersfield played three up front and were knocking balls in behind the full backs.  Be interesting to see what side starts on Tuesday and how we shape up.

Bonkers game but hugely enjoyable.

[JRM]

11 hours ago, The Cat said:

The one sat behind the kid in the red hat looks like he's about to cry. 

For his sake I hope he didn't go to too many games last season, he'd have been a wreck.

Judging by some of the posts on here he wasn't the only one with a face like that 

[Elmore Saint]

Another lively day at SMS - glad to have witnessed it and enjoyed it with the Block 3 Saints. There were quite a few spaces at the back of 3 and 4, which surprised me. Support-wise, we made a great noise, that is sometimes lost due to the wider acoustics of the ground - but lots of good to and from with the Northam lads. 

First half was a surprise - and if this means we were getting a bad spell out of our system, let hope so. Huddersfield came out gunning for us, and it upset our rhythm. We played like we knew we'd win, without earning the right to do so first. Once harried, we lost shape, our passing game went to shit, and we were kept on the back foot. We had a few chances, but these were few and far between (Arma tried to be cute with the 1on1 and it didn't work) - neither of their goals came as any real surprise. I hoped for a half-time hair dryer and that seemed to be delivered. 

With the changes made (thankfully) we looked a different outfit after (whilst the power-up lasted). Rothwell's brace sent us into a frenzy and from then, I felt that we were not going to lose the game, but still looked fragile in parts. Even after their third, which was so flukey as to be unsaveable, I felt that we'd get something. Something about their blatant time-wasting from even before the half told me we'd make them pay for doing that.  Fortune repaid us with the OG, and from then on it was one-way traffic (save for one cross of theirs that was right in front). Mara and Edozie goals were the product of our adaptability and hard work - total scenes in Block 3 by the end!

Not what I fully expected, but a good day out nonetheless - time to learn, regroup and go again Tuesday. COYS!

 

[saintant]

22 minutes ago, austsaint said:

Yes, the injury to Downes is the one dark cloud hanging over the place.  I'm not sure Smallbone is the answer as a holding midfielder and the suspicion is that Charles might be, (with time) but isn't yet.   Oriel Romeu style midfielders are hard to find!      As you say, the continuing hope is the battery of attacking options available can keep us afloat.

I wonder if RM might deal with the absence of Downes by playing Stephens in a patrolling role just in front of the back four as a bit of extra security. It might stifle some of our creativity but we have plenty of goals in us - may see less of the 4 and 5 goal matches but we should still have enough to score enough to win games. He is clearly a big fan of Stephens so it wouldn't surprise me.

[Lee On Solent Saint]

35 minutes ago, The Cat said:

A professional striker should be doing a hell of a lot better than Adam Armstrong did with that 1v1 but there's not loads of posts discussing that. In fact there were zero after the match until I mentioned it.

His decision making in that moment to lazily attempt to chip a keeper who was stood in front of him while the left side of the goal was gaping is far worse than anything Bazunu did yesterday.

He sticks that in to make it 3-2 and their freak deflection goal never happens which weirdly some people were blaming Bazunu for rather than the midfields awful attempt to block the shot.

Absolutely. Said at the time I thought it might cost us, thankfully it didn't. He's such a strange player, no way should he be playing through the middle, seems to miss more tham he actually scores. You'd have thought he'd be the one to make way for Brooks, but being captain, its going to be difficult for Martin to not play him. 

[Saint_clark]

Just now, Lee On Solent Saint said:

Absolutely. Said at the time I thought it might cost us, thankfully it didn't. He's such a strange player, no way should he be playing through the middle, seems to miss more tham he actually scores. You'd have thought he'd be the one to make way for Brooks, but being captain, its going to be difficult for Martin to not play him. 

I was quite impressed with him through the middle to be honest. Made excellent runs and yeah missed an easy chance but his movement was great. 

[saintant]

Bad as the first half was I think we need to highlight the fact that we won the second half 5-1. Huddersfield have rightly received plenty of plaudits but we battered them in the second half. The subs played a large part which shows our strength in depth and bodes well for the remainder of the season. 

[Lee On Solent Saint]

2 minutes ago, Saint_clark said:

I was quite impressed with him through the middle to be honest. Made excellent runs and yeah missed an easy chance but his movement was great. 

Not much good though if you can't finish

[Charlie Wayman]

1 hour ago, CB Fry said:

I get the feeling that our replacement for a Downes-less midfield will be to just score more.

We have attacking options all over the squad now, but without Downes we will cede more control, and probably see fewer clean sheets than we've been used to. So we need to use what we have going forward.

Hopefully Charles can take his chance but we all know he's not as good as Flynn. No one is in this division.

It was pretty obvious yesterday that from the minute Downes went off our midfield command disappeared and blooming great holes appeared all over the middle of the pitch which they right royally  exploited. Whoever was supposed to take over his role failed abysmally. We can't put Smallbone in there again so it has to be Charles and we must trust him and get behind him. No question there is a player in there and this has to be his time to step up to plate. I'll have a word with Russ!

A strategy of relying on out-scoring the opposition  would be suicidal fun.

[saintant]

5 minutes ago, Lee On Solent Saint said:

Absolutely. Said at the time I thought it might cost us, thankfully it didn't. He's such a strange player, no way should he be playing through the middle, seems to miss more tham he actually scores. You'd have thought he'd be the one to make way for Brooks, but being captain, its going to be difficult for Martin to not play him. 

A strange player who has scored 15 and registered 11 assists which is the highest combined total in the Championship and has among the highest strike accuracy percentage. I don't mind strange if it produces those numbers.

[Saint_clark]

3 minutes ago, Lee On Solent Saint said:

Not much good though if you can't finish

He clearly can finish though. He missed one chance yesterday making a poor decision, but he's among the top scorers in the league for a reason.

[Lee On Solent Saint]

18 minutes ago, Saint_clark said:

He clearly can finish though. He missed one chance yesterday making a poor decision, but he's among the top scorers in the league for a reason.

Can he? If he was a clinical finisher he would be well into the 20's  by now. He's missed a few one on ones this season already. 

Edited February 11 by Lee On Solent Saint
missed word

[Midfield_General]

43 minutes ago, Lymington Saint said:

Think some of the posters are being harsh on Baz for the first goal.  Watch it closely.  The shot came in with lots of top spin.  Bit like you see in tennis.  Rather than go in a straight line it dipped viciously and bounced just in front of him.  And it was hit hard.  Having played in goal at local league level I can tell you that the biggest problems come with shots where the ball is moving around.  You start your dive expecting the ball to be in one place only to find it's somewhere else and goes past you. 

No offence mate but being a professional goalkeeper, spending every day of your working life doing nothing but goalkeeping and getting paid tens of thousands of pounds a week to do it isn't quite the same as being a punter taking a spell in nets in the Lymington and District Sunday league. The ball being hit reasonably hard, taking a bounce and moving around slightly shouldn't be some wildly unexpected scenario for a professional (international) goalkeeper. 

Edited February 11 by Midfield_General

[Lee On Solent Saint]

5 minutes ago, saintant said:

A strange player who has scored 15 and registered 11 assists which is the highest combined total in the Championship and has among the highest strike accuracy percentage. I don't mind strange if it produces those numbers.

Not saying he is a bad player for this level, just that if he was more clinical he would be into double figures already. Many a time he's hit shots straight at the keeper when in decent positions. Yesterday's effort was more like a pass back to the keeper. 

[Lighthouse]

8 minutes ago, Lee On Solent Saint said:

Can he? If he was a clinical finisher he would be into double figures by now. He's missed a few one on ones this season already. 

What am I not understanding here, 15 IS double figures?

[Saint_clark]

6 minutes ago, Lee On Solent Saint said:

Not saying he is a bad player for this level, just that if he was more clinical he would be into double figures already. Many a time he's hit shots straight at the keeper when in decent positions. Yesterday's effort was more like a pass back to the keeper. 

If he was more clinical we might not have gone down last season. He's a good striker for this level, he'll miss some chances but he'll score a lot for us. 

Seems strange to want to drop our top goalscorer for a player who can create opportunities - opportunities for who? The less clinical players in the team? 

[Lee On Solent Saint]

1 minute ago, Lighthouse said:

What am I not understanding here, 15 IS double figures?

Hah! Meant into the 20's, my bad.

[saintant]

7 minutes ago, Lee On Solent Saint said:

Not saying he is a bad player for this level, just that if he was more clinical he would be into double figures already. Many a time he's hit shots straight at the keeper when in decent positions. Yesterday's effort was more like a pass back to the keeper. 

I take your point but even the best strikers miss a fair few chances. It's a numbers game and AAs are pretty good so far. He'll not convert every chance but he does well enough in his position.

[Lee On Solent Saint]

2 minutes ago, Saint_clark said:

If he was more clinical we might not have gone down last season. He's a good striker for this level, he'll miss some chances but he'll score a lot for us. 

Seems strange to want to drop our top goalscorer for a player who can create opportunities - opportunities for who? The less clinical players in the team? 

Guess that's the problem we are going to face now. Looking at the next two games, possibly tight affairs against Bristol C and WBA. Might only get one or two chances per game, how many of us will be sticking up for Armstrong if he powder puffs that one chance like he did yesterday? Just comes back to the age old question from the summer, why did we spunk so much on a injured striker?

[Lee On Solent Saint]

3 minutes ago, saintant said:

I take your point but even the best strikers miss a fair few chances. It's a numbers game and AAs are pretty good so far. He'll not convert every chance but he does well enough in his position.

I agree, he's had a good season, but some of those chances he's not put away you would expect a player at his level to stick away. 

[rallyboy]

If we're talking about clinical strikers and stats, does Che Adams still exist as a going concern?

I remember him rushing around all-action during the transfer window, where did he go in the end?

[austsaint]

2 minutes ago, Lee On Solent Saint said:

I agree, he's had a good season, but some of those chances he's not put away you would expect a player at his level to stick away. 

He has had a very good season, and if he falls short of the 28 or 29 goals he scored for Blackburn in the Championship a few seasons back we can probably point to the tame one-on-one lob attempt yesterday as one of the great chances squandered.    Everything I've seen of AA this season just confirms what an outstanding Championship player he is, who, very likely falls short of the quality needed at Prem level, judged on his 50 or so Prem appearances so far.     Still crucial to the Club's promotion prospects though.

[S-Clarke]

12 minutes ago, rallyboy said:

If we're talking about clinical strikers and stats, does Che Adams still exist as a going concern?

I remember him rushing around all-action during the transfer window, where did he go in the end?

I find it hard to think of many teams who'd want him. He was so, so bad yesterday. I think he may have had a knock so I'll give him the benefit of the doubt, but my curiosity is that exactly the same happened in September with him when the window closed. 

I wouldn't really want to count on him too much in the second half of this season - Mara and Armstrong with Che as third option for me. We've got real quality on the right wing now so we can move Armstrong back to the 9.

[saintant]

3 minutes ago, S-Clarke said:

I find it hard to think of many teams who'd want him. He was so, so bad yesterday. I think he may have had a knock so I'll give him the benefit of the doubt, but my curiosity is that exactly the same happened in September with him when the window closed. 

I wouldn't really want to count on him too much in the second half of this season - Mara and Armstrong with Che as third option for me. We've got real quality on the right wing now so we can move Armstrong back to the 9.

I think RM alluded to the fact that Adams took a knock yesterday in one of his after-match interviews. If so it makes sense to rest him on Tuesday and give Mara a start through the middle which he's earned anyway.

[Chewy]

8 minutes ago, rallyboy said:

If we're talking about clinical strikers and stats, does Che Adams still exist as a going concern?

I remember him rushing around all-action during the transfer window, where did he go in the end?

Not that I’m an Adams apologist for one second, but he was no more anonymous in the first half yesterday than Stu or ArmA.
And according to the manager (who presumably would know) got a knock.

Im struggling to understand some people this morning - Baz, Adams, Manning all sh1t, ArmA too; booing ok … 

It was a game of football - some players were better than their average, some less so. We won, haven’t lost for 25 matches, scored some worldies, came from behind twice. A pretty good day.

My biggest concern is whether RM recognises Shea should have been the sub for Downes and we need better midfield balance when Downes is absent because we lost the midfield - even during the second period (an excellent Huddersfield played their part in that).

But given our performances I’ve every confidence in RM … and he certainly has enough credit in the bank for me to back him even if he has an off day. In the same way the above named players do. I won’t be booing the team off or slamming ArmA for missing a 1-on-1 (keeper guessed and got it right), Adams for not getting a sniff, or Baz for not saving a looping, deflected freak goal like some on here are.

We have some odd fans with bizarre expectation levels given everything I’ve witnessed in over 40 years’ support.

[AlexLaw76]

Marin's reaction...

• Very tired but proud of the players, proud of the supporters in the 2nd half
• that was a big test, they came here with nothing to lose and with so much energy and freedom
• we were really lacking in intensity in the first half, and lacked courage and forced into things
• I told the players the game needs to be played on our terms
• I saw stuff in the first half that I have not seen for a long time
• it is easy when it is going well, so told them to show character to turn it around
• I had to make changes on energy, sekou has been good and was outstanding today
• I mentioned before that the players are pushing each other, they come on and it is down to them to perform
• Joe Rothwell was immense and you can start to see why we want him, Sam Edozie was outstanding
• Those at the back who did not have a good 1st half, really stood up in the 2nd half
• Flynn is a bit of a worry, as with Che, Stuey should be fine
• we have a good squad, not a huge squad but a good one and we must be ready and better for Tuesday
• Joe is an amazing striker and dribbler with the ball, I am really enjoying working with him
• his quality is there and we wanted him in so badly and he will be a big player for us

 

In his pre-match presser, he mentioned that the first half against Watford was not good, saw stuff he did not like, which was repeated here. Reckon we will see a little shuffle of the best 11 going forward. 

Edited February 11 by AlexLaw76

[um pahars]

1 hour ago, The Cat said:

A professional striker should be doing a hell of a lot better than Adam Armstrong did with that 1v1 but there's not loads of posts discussing that. In fact there were zero after the match until I mentioned it.

His decision making in that moment to lazily attempt to chip a keeper who was stood in front of him while the left side of the goal was gaping is far worse than anything Bazunu did yesterday.

He sticks that in to make it 3-2 and their freak deflection goal never happens which weirdly some people were blaming Bazunu for rather than the midfields awful attempt to block the shot.

Have to agree and I’m sure AA would have been having nightmares for quite a while had we lost (or even drawn).
 

Normally quite clinical in those situations but for a millisecond he had a brain fart yesterday.

[um pahars]

With games coming thick and fast, I hope Stuart Armstrong and Downes aren’t out for too long!!!

But both looked like muscle strains so I reckon we will have to rejig for a fair few weeks.

[david in sweden]

An real object lesson about... " how to think you'll  get  an easy 3 points from a relegation candidate " .

I thought Huddersfield were one of the toughest opponents we seen at St. Mary's this season.  Tried to take the game to us from the start.

 

Yes ..they had a share of luck (their 3rd. goal), but so too, did we ( the own goal - our 3 rd.), but in the end the substitutions were inspired.

We haven't seen enough of Joe Rothwell so far to know what he's capable of, but both goals were brilliant finishes, and "an assist " for the OG.

 

In the past,  I have been doubtful of Mara's potential, when he didn't seem to adapt well to the passing game, and often missed golden chances,

but I am glad to have been proven wrong.  He had only started once ( the 0-5 fiasco at Sunderland) and only had a smattering of 10 min. sub. apps.

which gave him a couple of goals, but came into his own in the Cup games and now looks to be Martin's secret weapon in the last quarter of games.

Good to see Sam Edozie back, he was on a good goal-scoring streak before he was "crocked " in the game at Norwich, but took his chance well.

Hope we are a bit better prepared in future games, too many finishes like that aren't good for those with weak hearts.

 

[Chez]

1 hour ago, The Cat said:

A professional striker should be doing a hell of a lot better than Adam Armstrong did with that 1v1 but there's not loads of posts discussing that. In fact there were zero after the match until I mentioned it.

His decision making in that moment to lazily attempt to chip a keeper who was stood in front of him while the left side of the goal was gaping is far worse than anything Bazunu did yesterday.

He sticks that in to make it 3-2 and their freak deflection goal never happens which weirdly some people were blaming Bazunu for rather than the midfields awful attempt to block the shot.

Absolutely right. Poor finishing from strikers is always forgotten much quicker than keeper errors. It was woeful from Armstrong.

Armstrong has some goals, and will no doubt score some more this season, so we are naturally hesitant to slate him, but we shouldn't. Our best striker has to be better than that. When we play Leicester or Leeds or go up and play Prem sides, that might be the only chance in the game and it needs to be taken.

Everything is bloody brilliant right now though, so I will worry about Armstrong's ability to score in the Prem once we have got promoted.  

[OnceaSaintalwaysaSaint]

2 hours ago, Lymington Saint said:

Think some of the posters are being harsh on Baz for the first goal.  Watch it closely.  The shot came in with lots of top spin.  Bit like you see in tennis.  Rather than go in a straight line it dipped viciously and bounced just in front of him.  And it was hit hard.  Having played in goal at local league level I can tell you that the biggest problems come with shots where the ball is moving around.  You start your dive expecting the ball to be in one place only to find it's somewhere else and goes past you.  I actually thought Baz had a decent game.  I lost count of the number of times that he was an emergency sweeper.

Hope RM has learnt from yesterday.  Especially first half.  We play with full backs that like to bomb forward, and defend narrow.  Huddersfield played three up front and were knocking balls in behind the full backs.  Be interesting to see what side starts on Tuesday and how we shape up.

Bonkers game but hugely enjoyable.

Compared to last year when he would flap at crosses and seemed to never make a save, Baz has got considerably better. Playing out from the back with possession football needs a Baz rather than a McCarthy/Lumley because his passing is so good. He also seems to read the game very well. The problem seems to come with saves to the left. Not that I know, but I'm told this is a common problem with league goalkeepers. Well, surely they can be coached to sort that out. 

[david in sweden]

25 minutes ago, Chez said:

Absolutely right. Poor finishing from strikers is always forgotten much quicker than keeper errors. It was woeful from Armstrong.

Armstrong has some goals, and will no doubt score some more this season, so we are naturally hesitant to slate him, but we shouldn't. Our best striker has to be better than that. When we play Leicester or Leeds or go up and play Prem sides, that might be the only chance in the game and it needs to be taken.

Everything is bloody brilliant right now though, so I will worry about Armstrong's ability to score in the Prem once we have got promoted.  

.....and too many people are quick to criticise strikers who have one or two poor / indifferent game and miss sitters.  Ché Adams is a worse example.

Adam A. is good role model for 100% pro. footballer.  Frequently getting back to defend and winning duels against bigger / stronger opponents,

Those who on here who are keen to dump him should find someone else on the books who's scored 15 goals and made 11 assists so far this season.

Edited February 11 by david in sweden

[derry]

It hasn't been mentioned here but Brooks actually had a part in the fifth goal as well. He blocked an attempted clearance on our right into the goalmouth to Mara who dug it out and found Edozie who was calmness personified moving it clear and blasting it into the corner. I am a critic of Manning because his defensive game leaves gaps and he gives the ball away far too many times, however all Huddersfields goals came directly from our right side when we were pulled apart and then stretched us for the first two on the back post. Manning gave a nice pass to Rothwell for his cross for our third goal. I thought technically Mara's goal was brilliant as he had to hit the ball that was slightly behind him.

This is the first game for a long time we haven't dominated possession in the first half especially. We were caught out by the powerful breaks and learned a valuable lesson. Before the game I was thinking about possible complacency. We won that game by winning the second half 5-1 after surrendering the first half. I thought Bazunu was a little unsighted for the first and the second and third were unstoppable for different reasons.

Time to learn a valuable lesson. For me Saints are now playing the sort of football that I like, although especially the first half the passing and movement was laborious and too slow. Five substitutions, five goals and assists all from the substitutes. What's not to like.

Edited February 11 by derry

[andypen]

I was expecting a bus park from Hudds but they pressed us all over the pitch from the start. We couldn't find any rhythm at all in the 1st half and 0-2 did not flatter them. 2nd half a little better with the subs though, I thought Edozie made a immediate impact as did Mara. I think if we play like the 1st half against Leeds or Leicester we'll be put to the sword, with the attacking talent at their disposal I did not like the constant tika-taka in our own box between Baz and CB's either (under pressure), it seemed like a disaster waiting to happen but we got away with it. As for AA's missed "sitter" in the 1v1, they're not as easy as some people think, he's not Harland and he made the wrong choice as the keeper didn't go to ground, a left foot sidefoot may have been more successful. 70% possession apparently but it didn't feel like it, perhaps until the last 15mins when Hudds tired.

Great atmosphere though, my 1st time in the (re-allocated) Northam block, right behind the goal. A real entertaining game with many emotions throughout. I bet Leeds fans were licking their lips at half time, sorry lads, maybe another day.

[coalman]

10 minutes ago, david in sweden said:

.....and too many people are quick to criticise strikers who have one or two poor / indifferent game and miss sitters.  Ché Adams is a worse example.

Adam A. is good role model for 100% pro. footballer.  Frequently getting back to defend and winning duels against bigger / stronger opponents,

Those who on here who are keen to dump him should find someone else on the books who's scored 15 goals and made 11 assists so far this season.

He's done well coming in from the right not so much when he's been central. When we're struggling he's not the best at being an out ball. Particularly against better opposition. Some of his finishing isn't the best.

That being said his runs in from the right have been great and if we get him through balls he's a threat. And he'll run all day for the team.

I'm unconvinced he's what we need if we get back in the Premier League and I don't think we can play him centrally. Much in the same way I don't think we get the best out of Mara if we play him out wide.

[egg]

3 hours ago, The Cat said:

A professional striker should be doing a hell of a lot better than Adam Armstrong did with that 1v1 but there's not loads of posts discussing that. In fact there were zero after the match until I mentioned it.

His decision making in that moment to lazily attempt to chip a keeper who was stood in front of him while the left side of the goal was gaping is far worse than anything Bazunu did yesterday.

He sticks that in to make it 3-2 and their freak deflection goal never happens which weirdly some people were blaming Bazunu for rather than the midfields awful attempt to block the shot.

All of that is true, but the fact that their bloke wasn't closed down for their third (and runners weren't tracked for the other 2) doesn't alter that Baz was under their 3rd and should have done better. To put it another way, Baz can't be absolved of responsibility for what he was responsible for just because other players didn't do their jobs - all faults can fairly be highlighted. 

[Totton Saint]

3 hours ago, Greedyfly said:

 

I wonder why Bournmouth loaned him as he appears to be so good

[CWD]

6 hours ago, Saint_clark said:

By "some save" see "his arm 2 inches closer to the ground". 

It went in under him after bouncing before it reached him.

I'm not sure if you're agreeing with me or not 😂

But yes, it was a powerful strike that took a deflection which was enough to divert the ball away from his outstretched arm. I'm not saying its unsaveable but if he tips that round the post we're all saying "brilliant save".

[Totton Saint]

Just watched the highlights. Mara having he presence of mind That rolling the ball backwards by his studs to Ez when sorounded by 2 opponents was out of this world. He has a greatfuture  a  great  ahead of him

[egg]

1 minute ago, Totton Saint said:

Just watched the highlights. Mara having he presence of mind That rolling the ball backwards by his studs to Ez when sorounded by 2 opponents was out of this world. He has a greatfuture  a  great  ahead of him

Yep. The criticism of the kid has been harsh imo. My only concern with him was that I didn't see enough effort. He's always had a good touch, he's strong, makes decent runs, has some pace, can finish, and now has some self belief and confidence. We've got a decent player on our hands 

[Saint_clark]

12 minutes ago, CWD said:

I'm not sure if you're agreeing with me or not 😂

But yes, it was a powerful strike that took a deflection which was enough to divert the ball away from his outstretched arm. I'm not saying its unsaveable but if he tips that round the post we're all saying "brilliant save".

Not agreeing - he should have saved it! There was no deflection. 

[Lee On Solent Saint]

7 minutes ago, egg said:

Yep. The criticism of the kid has been harsh imo. My only concern with him was that I didn't see enough effort. He's always had a good touch, he's strong, makes decent runs, has some pace, can finish, and now has some self belief and confidence. We've got a decent player on our hands 

Agree with that. He has a tendancy to look very lazy in games, almost like he can't be bothered at times. Since the turn of the year he seems to have upped his game some what. Fair play to the lad, as it could have been easy for him to just shrug his shoulders and go back to France.

[gio1saints]

I suspect most teams will now play like Huddersfield against us - home or away,  with exception of LCFC, LUFC and ITFC. Oh, and Liverpool. 
 

Which means we better get better at playing v this high and intense press because Huddersfield are not the best attacking team in the league and despite that they caused us a lot of problems- and scored three goals. 
 

Shea if Flynn unfit is the proper decision for that if RM wishes the team structure to remain as usual. He has defensive DNA. And it’s our defending thats been a bit hairy recently not our goalscoring. 

NB it’s been noted elsewhere that Burnley have struggled this EPL season with the intense press as they attempt to play out from the back. I think we got a glimpse of what it might be like next season if we go up yesterday… except EPL players are better - so it’s lessons that need learning fast. 
 

Edited February 11 by gio1saints