Leeds 1-2 Southampton - Match Thread

[Yozzman]

22 minutes ago, Chez said:

thats really bad tackle both feet off the ground. Red in the Prem possibly.

Yet the Leeds commentators that it was fine because he got some of the ball with his trailing leg!

[sfc4prem]

6 minutes ago, Saint_clark said:

Leeds booing their own players at the final whistle as they try to do a lap of honour. Amazing.

I mean, 90 points and getting booed? Mad. How would you feel as a player after so many games. Such a slog.

[Saint Pete]

Feels important to get a win today to go into the play offs with a bit of confidence.

Also prefer our draw in the play offs to face WBA rather than Norwich.

Onwards and upwards!

[Maury Dyer]

So why wait until now ??. Leeds belong here. We dont. But I've got an awful feeling.......2005 till 2011 all over again

[Harry_SFC]

Looked a lot more solid with 3 at the back. AA and Adams linked up well. Hope Adams is ok.

[Holmes_and_Watson]

Surprising set up, interesting personnel in it and looking to get different things from Russ's philosophy.

At it's best before we had lots of possession, created chances through creating space. But we struggled to convert and keep teams out.

Today, we gave up the possession, strengthened the midfield, still used our passing game, but more decisively and getting it forward earlier.

We got to see some different strengths from our team, as a result.

Russ gave key players minutes, removing them progressively. Che took a knock, which is hopefully nothing. Fraser was probably the most wasted, having to defend as a Manning replacement.

Downes is our most important player. Today, freed from so much passing around, made that even clearer. Adams, AA and KWP not far behind.

Borderline cards from the ref, which created some interesting moments later as tougher challenges went in. Farke was annoyed Manning stayed on first half, but the ref could have handed cards out to Leeds in the second.

Strong performances from Aribo, Smallbone and the others too.

There's a little bit of wondering how things would have turned out if we had been a bit more flexible earlier in the season. But it's more lack of in game changes that have cost us. We looked controlled today in large part due to all that short passing we've being doing. We look much more comfortable on the ball than others.

Good to see a central cameo for Sule and Stewart. Even if the game had closed a lot by those points. Sule had an excellent chance, while Stewart was a foul away from taking the ball into the box.

Nice to go into the playoffs with a win. We've nothing to fear from any of the others.

 

[Colinjb]

Russell Martin shows some tactical flexibility and we look good again.

Delighted with the result today, but just underlines how big a missed opportunity the season will have been if we do not win the play-offs.

[gammon cheeks]

5  3  2 worked quite well to be honest .   Players looked comfortable with it, and Mcarthy made saves that Baz would have probably let in !

[SaintsLoyal]

Last win at Elland Road we got promoted ? 2012

[stknowle]

Good effort today. Everyone now just needs to reset, forget all the failings, concentrate on the good stuff and properly go at these playoffs. 

[JustinR]

Funny old game. We couldn't have felt worse as a fan base prior to today. 

Within the space of 90 minutes, everything has changed. Were arguably favourites for the playoffs with a route to the prem against teams we've beaten four times already this season

[jasonbenali]

Fair play to Russell Martin for changing his tactics. Strange sight seeing us defending deep and not getting ourselves into trouble at the back and then catching them on the break. Almost the perfect way to play against Saints - 43% possession and a win!

Hopefully bodes well for the playoffs and learning to play what's in front of us. 

Edited May 4 by jasonbenali

[Galway saint]

Good to see some flexibility from RM

less possession but more control 

 

[chownie20]

Did Che get injured???

[Tom & Gerry]

The most goals scored by a Southampton team for 60 years. Not bad for a team that spend most of the game tip tapping the ball around in their own half.

[SaintTex]

When was the last time a 4th place team got 87 points in the championship?

same question for Leeds… when was the last time a 3rd place team reached 90 points?

extremely competitive at the top this year. 

[Patches O Houlihan]

15 minutes ago, sfc4prem said:

I mean, 90 points and getting booed? Mad. How would you feel as a player after so many games. Such a slog.

Ours got 87 and there were boos after Stoke. We hate the entitlement attitude of big six fans and yet we’ve seen plenty of it recently. 
 

We need to respect West Brom and not assume we’ll be playing the final against Leeds

That said I hope we give them a right humping with the Loch Ness Drogba scoring a hatful and one going in off Sulemana’s arse!

COYS

[davefizzy14]

Great performance today and to go into the playoffs with a win is just what we needed 😊 Game plan executed perfectly by RM. Really liked the 5-3-2 formation, suited us. Onwards and upwards 😊

[derry]

That was a decent display. It was a shame that Stephens blotted his copybook dwelling on the ball and losing it followed by a shank from THB allowing their goal. The three centrebacks worked really well together which released the full backs and kept them wide. We played forward much quicker which caused Leeds problems. Downes was imperious whilst Aribo, Smallbone, Adams and Armstrong worked hard. That was McCarthy's best game for a long time.

The right time to put in a good performance. Personally I think this is the way for us to play with three at the back.

Edited May 4 by derry

[davefizzy14]

Great to see Ross back 😊 class striker. And great we were able to rest our top players - Downes, KWP and Arma at key times 😊 McCarthy had a good game too, really impressed with his distribution today.

Edited May 4 by davefizzy14

[Totton Saint]

1 hour ago, Turkish said:

He’s an excellent player will be playing on the premier league next season for someone you’d think 

maybe playing for us?

[Harry_SFC]

28 minutes ago, Colinjb said:

Russell Martin shows some tactical flexibility and we look good again.

Delighted with the result today, but just underlines how big a missed opportunity the season will have been if we do not win the play-offs.

Shame he's only shown flexibility in two games this season. 

[RedArmy]

44 minutes ago, Saint_clark said:

Leeds booing their own players at the final whistle as they try to do a lap of honour. Amazing.

Whereas ours was to an empty stadium. 

[Nordic Saint]

19 minutes ago, Patches O Houlihan said:

Ours got 87 and there were boos after Stoke. We hate the entitlement attitude of big six fans and yet we’ve seen plenty of it recently. 
 

We need to respect West Brom and not assume we’ll be playing the final against Leeds

That said I hope we give them a right humping with the Loch Ness Drogba scoring a hatful and one going in off Sulemana’s arse!

COYS

Football fans are football fans, whichever club they support. How they react depends on results. 

[hypochondriac]

Just going home after a pint. I thought we were decent today. Downes is immense and we need him for the games ahead. I was very interested to see the amount of long balls we tried today but our play seemed more purposeful and quicker which was great to see. I wanted to take some positives and there wrre loads today for next week. 

[hypochondriac]

25 minutes ago, SaintTex said:

When was the last time a 4th place team got 87 points in the championship?

same question for Leeds… when was the last time a 3rd place team reached 90 points?

extremely competitive at the top this year. 

A Leeds fan I spoke to said it was 1998. 

[The Kraken]

20 minutes ago, SaintTex said:

When was the last time a 4th place team got 87 points in the championship?

same question for Leeds… when was the last time a 3rd place team reached 90 points?

extremely competitive at the top this year. 

4th being so high is certainly quite an oddity. But I’ve just surprised myself somewhat by looking at the tables for the past 10 years and what you need for automatic promotion.

101 91 80

90 88 82

97 91 87

93 83 81

94 89 83

99 90 88

94 93 85

93 89 89

90 89 86

102 93 85

So, even with their points tally, Leeds would have missed out on automatic promotion in 4 of the last 10 years. 6 they would’ve gone up, 1 of those on GD. So it’s a bit harder to get automatic than maybe I’d previously thought, you’re really looking at 94 to guarantee going up, maybe 93 with good GD. Roughly speaking anyway.

[saintstowin]

What's not to like?

Saints away win that directly dents the confidence of a rival. We're going into the play offs with renewed belief (us and the players). Sunny. Everyone played well. Tories being hammered. A different way of playing is possible. WBA beatable if we're on it. 

[AlexLaw76]

 

[Verbal]

51 minutes ago, Maury Dyer said:

So why wait until now ??. Leeds belong here. We dont. But I've got an awful feeling.......2005 till 2011 all over again

This is one of those puzzles, isn't it - where you have to rearrange the words into coherent sentences

[AlexLaw76]

 

[SNSUN]

Bit of a dead rubber but we have a poor record at Elland Road so I'm happy with the result and a big confidence booster before the play-offs. We can beat anyone on our day... whether we can win against two more teams remains to be seen but this has been positive.

[Wade Garrett]

Thought Downes and Smallbone did their jobs very well today.

[Baz Fl]

2 hours ago, Mr X said:

Sullemana such a good buy

Wish it was “goodbye” 

[Bob60]

Thought the back three gave the midfield more time and surety to play forward more often, also thought it kept the fullbacks wide and in position more so looked fat more solid.

[Barsiem]

Just watched the highlights.  Wtf was Jack Stephens doing being furthest forward (and offside!) for our first goal??

Great result, and hopefully gives us momentum for the playoffs.  I'm sure someone has pointed this out already, but last time we beat Leeds it was the start of our longest ever unbeaten run.  Here's hoping lightning strikes twice!

[CanadaSaint]

Anyone else really impressed with how Ryan Fraser acquitted himself at LB? Better positionally than Manning, tenacious in his marking, and able to get himself forward but get back if we turned it over. I thought it was a bizarre change to bring Fraser AND the consistently-ineffective Sulemana on, and then play Fraser in a largely defensive role, but the second part worked really well. Big time credit to Martin for thinking outside of his locked mental box.

So glad to se Stewart get back. He gives us the potential for a very different look up-front, and that's a hell of a curveball to throw at WBA's tactical planning ahead of the playoffs.

Edited May 4 by CanadaSaint

[Whitey Grandad]

A nicely judged team selection and performance. Just what we needed going into the next two games.

[Harry_SFC]

5 minutes ago, CanadaSaint said:

Anyone else really impressed with how Ryan Fraser acquitted himself at LB? Better positionally than Manning, tenacious in his marking, and able to get himself forward but get back if we turned it over. I thought it was a bizarre change to bring Fraser AND the consistently-ineffective Sulemana on, and then play Fraser in a largely defensive role, but the second part worked really well. Big time credit to Martin for thinking outside of his locked mental box.

So glad to se Stewart get back. He gives us the potential for a very different look up-front, and that's a hell of a curveball to throw at WBA's tactical planning ahead of the playoffs.

I would rather have Fraser at LWB than Manning.

Adds more going forwards and on that showing actually defended better than Manning has all season! 

[sfc4prem]

1 hour ago, Wade Garrett said:

Thought Downes and Smallbone did their jobs very well today.

Smallbone especially. I've given him some flak at times this season, but thought he was 'unleashed' by Downes' supremacy in midfield.

[Saint Fan CaM]

14 minutes ago, Harry_SFC said:

I would rather have Fraser at LWB than Manning.

Adds more going forwards and on that showing actually defended better than Manning has all season! 

Completely agree - I really thought RM had lost it putting Fraser at LB…but he did really well.  I also thought Aribo had an exceptional game too…didn’t put a foot wrong, fantastic hold-up play, passing great, movement great…my MOTM.

[DT]

Well done Saints. Much more optimistic about our chances. And great we have away leg v West Brom first. Leeds again in final. 

[benjii]

2 hours ago, The Kraken said:

4th being so high is certainly quite an oddity. But I’ve just surprised myself somewhat by looking at the tables for the past 10 years and what you need for automatic promotion.

101 91 80

90 88 82

97 91 87

93 83 81

94 89 83

99 90 88

94 93 85

93 89 89

90 89 86

102 93 85

So, even with their points tally, Leeds would have missed out on automatic promotion in 4 of the last 10 years. 6 they would’ve gone up, 1 of those on GD. So it’s a bit harder to get automatic than maybe I’d previously thought, you’re really looking at 94 to guarantee going up, maybe 93 with good GD. Roughly speaking anyway.

You need to look at what the team in second needed to finish second. The highest there is 89 (on GD). 88 would have been enough in 8 of the 10 seasons.

The third placed team never got 90, so is always enough for top 2.

[Lee On Solent Saint]

This, with the away game against West Brom, probably our most impressive away wins all season.

[SaintTex]

interesting that.. even if we had beat Cardiff, Leicester, and Stoke in the run in, we would be sitting on 96 points in 3rd place.

assuming we wouldn't have made up an 11 goal differential in those 3 matches. 

[Dark Munster]

2 hours ago, SaintTex said:

interesting that.. even if we had beat Cardiff, Leicester, and Stoke in the run in, we would be sitting on 96 points in 3rd place.

assuming we wouldn't have made up an 11 goal differential in those 3 matches. 

And if we had beaten Ipswich twice we would have finished second. 

Moral of story, don't lose six pointers!

Edited May 4 by Dark Munster

[sfc4prem]

4 minutes ago, SaintTex said:

interesting that.. even if we had beat Cardiff, Leicester, and Stoke in the run in, we would be sitting on 96 points in 3rd place.

assuming we wouldn't have made up an 11 goal differential in those 3 matches. 

Middlesbrough, Ipswich or Blackburn as wins would have been preferable.

[Lee On Solent Saint]

1 minute ago, sfc4prem said:

Middlesbrough, Ipswich or Blackburn as wins would have been preferable.

Too many stupid draws from winning positions killed us. Huddersfield/Watford/Middlesborough/Rotherham spring to mind. 

[ErwinK1961]

1 hour ago, Whitey Grandad said:

A nicely judged team selection and performance. Just what we needed going into the next two games.

Nah, we should have played the kids Whitey… 😉

[the colonel]

21 minutes ago, SaintTex said:

interesting that.. even if we had beat Cardiff, Leicester, and Stoke in the run in, we would be sitting on 96 points in 3rd place.

assuming we wouldn't have made up an 11 goal differential in those 3 matches. 

No Plus 9 for Saints gives us 96 points. Leicester losing to us mean they have-3 points. We would be 2nd on 96 points. Leicester would be 3rd on 94 points