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Pre Season Friendlies 2024/25


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Lazio a decent team but were allowed to get away with fouls early in that would normally be yellows. Proper match they’d be with ten men at half time 9 at full time. They hit the bar a few times but would not be doing that with us being men up. Our play was decent also EXCEPT. For about five times always the same offing nonsense giving the ball away our own area. Their goal was a worldie but if we give opponents six chances per match, of which five are literally handed on a plate don’t have to do anything except push 15 yards further up the pitch we are gonna get tonked 10-0 one of these games…and have  record goals conceded in an EPL season as a certificate in our trophy cabinet at end of season. It’s NUTS. 

Edited by gio1saints
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2 minutes ago, Lighthouse said:

I’ll see you Bennett and raise you Holgate.

That did cross my mind but I think you have to take into account their respective levels. Ultimately, they both came "okay" in their 3-4 games after and both players have always reminded me of the other one.

Well Holgate has always reminded me of Bennet anyway, Bennett hasn't always reminded me of Holgate.

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55 minutes ago, Patches O Houlihan said:

I'm loving the fact that one of the dirtiest games played at St Mary's in the last few years was contested by teams wearing bright yellow and hot pink 😁

That early first half tackle on Ronnie Edwards down in the RB position was a nasty one. There had already been a bit of a midfield tussle, and from then on it seemed likely that it would kick off at some point; particularly bearing in mind the minimal consequences.

I seem to remember Russell Martin in an interview being pleased after the team were standing up for each other, so Alcaraz wouldn't normally have got into too much bother, but on this occasion he definitely saw red in more ways than one. 

Mara was trying harder than usual but just always seems to be second to every ball.

There were some lovely forward balls cut through the midfield from central defence in the second half and a couple of nice breaks too.

I suspect Dibling will get 15-20 mins vs Newcastle. He's earned it.

I thought Shea Charles had a good evening.

McCarthy was hopeless at times, and we could have let in 3 or 4 in the second half had it been a contested PL game. In fairness though there are definitely times when he gets passed the ball unnecessarily, by a defender who really ought to be taking more responsibility for playing the only fractionally harder ball to a local outfield player (Like we saw in the playoffs and at Wembley)

BBD's goal was lovely, and great for him to score early at St Mary's so hopefully he doesn't get the first season goal drought that Che had. 

If BBD had been in some of the positions Edozie had the ball second half I feel sure he would have scored a 2nd.

We really need a target man up front. Things might be so different if Ross Stewart had been able to play the second half of the Championship...

Good post exactly how I saw it , Lazio niggly dirty left their foot in loads lots of pulling back then whinging to ref.

Some nice football ruined by constantly playing at back gifting it when we had outlet wide in Diaz and not mixing it up. Lazio knew just to press as we never went long or wide

Edited by Give it to Ron
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24 minutes ago, Give it to Ron said:

Lazio knew just to press as we never went long or wide

That's our (RM's) problem in a nutshell. If you don't mix it up it makes it easy for the opposition to suss you out and press you into the inevitable cock ups.

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Was an entertaining game tonight. A brilliant finish from Brereton-Diaz cutting in from the left 😊 Quality signing 😊 Edwards was very good 😊 Taylor and Wood look solid 😊 Alcaraz was class 😊 I absolutely loved his aggression, it got a bit heated but only because the lazio player instigated it by grabbing him round the neck. Dibling and Amo-Ameyaw exciting to watch 😊 onto the final friendly at home on Saturday. COYR 😊

Edited by davefizzy14
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Thought we played well for first half hour, especially considering that’s majority of the ‘B Team’. Their (very good) goal killed our flow and didn’t really hit our stride after that.

Lazio, fck me what a hideous team. Niggly, dirty, horrible outfit, they were lucky to have ten men still on the pitch. Guendouzi still a complete cockwomble. Congrats to the ref for losing control of a friendly.

Charly was on one from the get go, way too pumped and unfortunately always going to be the end result. Martin did not look happy with him.

Positives:- Edwards looked good, as did Charles. Dibling seems to get better each game. SAA tricky but needs a right foot. Lovely goal by BBD. 

Negatives:- McCarthy, standard. Wood looks poor, slow, lost every header to much smaller players, doesn’t seem to be able to time a jump. Taylor, not seeing it tbh - left back is a major issue. The pitch.

Edited by ErwinK1961
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3 hours ago, davefizzy14 said:

Was an entertaining game tonight. A brilliant finish from Brereton-Diaz cutting in from the left 😊 Quality signing 😊 Edwards was very good 😊 Taylor and Wood look solid 😊 Alcaraz was class 😊 I absolutely loved his aggression, it got a bit heated but only because the lazio player instigated it by grabbing him round the neck. Dibling and Amo-Ameyaw exciting to watch 😊 onto the final friendly at home on Saturday. COYR 😊

Alcaraz felt he should have had several decisions for him, not against him, against a bunch of Italians who targeted him (perhaps due to his time with Juventus).  Alcaraz lost his temper, and we should forgive him. He played well.

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8 hours ago, Dark Munster said:

That's our (RM's) problem in a nutshell. If you don't mix it up it makes it easy for the opposition to suss you out and press you into the inevitable cock ups.

It is weird as from where I was sat last night it looked as though russell was asking for the wide pass/long ball to taylor/ diaz. Defence players looked oblivious to the option. Sat about 5 seats from russell.

Overall great game. Shame Charlie got sent off. He played really well with some great play with Diaz & taylor 

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I've only seen the brawl once but for anyone that saw it live, can you share any information on who looked handy (i.e. good combinations, effective body position, positive agression levels etc) and, perhaps more importantly, who didn't (i.e. hung around in our half for a bit to make sure that when they sprinted in it had all got sorted out).

I'm expecting this season to be nothing more than a long hard fight and so want to know who we can rely on when things get a 'bit tasty.'

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27 minutes ago, malcolm waldron said:

I've only seen the brawl once but for anyone that saw it live, can you share any information on who looked handy (i.e. good combinations, effective body position, positive agression levels etc) and, perhaps more importantly, who didn't (i.e. hung around in our half for a bit to make sure that when they sprinted in it had all got sorted out).

I'm expecting this season to be nothing more than a long hard fight and so want to know who we can rely on when things get a 'bit tasty.'

I think Charlie did well. He stood up for Shea who was unfairly barged pushed the guy away and it kind of kicked off. Once it started he was game and wanted some but the usual pacifists got in the way. Bloke grabbed Charlie’s neck and that’s certainly a no no. I thought lazio were the first to run on the pitch to intervene followed by *some* saints. I’d like to say Jack was leading it but I think he was being captain-y on the bench and only jogged on when it was calmer. I thought Shea could have done a bit more but he was being calm ditto Alex who could have redeemed himself for an otherwise entirely as usual performance of ball giving away in our area if he could have delivered a cantona style riposte to those dirty lazio So and sos. I’d have felt he would have cemented first place starting keeper with that singular display of excessive aggression but sadly not to be and it was largely left to Charlie who got some belting choruses of support from the Northam and was awarded the Southern ABA welterwieight belt at the end of the match by the ref. Apparently fighting KSI next month.  🤣

Edited by gio1saints
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10 hours ago, Dark Munster said:

That's our (RM's) problem in a nutshell. If you don't mix it up it makes it easy for the opposition to suss you out and press you into the inevitable cock ups.

This has always been my bugbear - if you are never going to mix it up you become very predictable which is never a good thing.

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12 hours ago, Master Bates said:

Lazio had been dirty all night, Alcaraz was just standing up for Shea (good lad), the lazio player then puts him in a choke hold and tries (maybe succeeds) to punch him in the face. Far from Alcaraz being the aggressor, he was just defending Shea and therefore Lazio started it in my book... and a small scrum of players stopped Alcaraz ending it (although fair enough, his head was gone by that point :D). I like that fire in him personally, although he is a to easy to wind up.

Easy to forget as well though that he is a young lad along way from home that moved over here and hasn't had a settled start by any stretch of the imagination. Joined a rotten dressing room (and shone himself), got relegated, mass unrest in the team and players all wanting to leave (whilst he committed himself), got loaned out to Juve (another country/language) and couldn't get much game time, and back now trying at Saints. He was pretty good last night as well (assist for the goal, some nice carries and often looking for the long/diagonal pass), especially considering that was largely the 2nd string lineup. I hope this doesn't damage his prospects under Martin as there is enough there to suggest we should keep him and get him working in our system - Some of the stuff he does is class and levels above what our other midfielders offer.

Edited by Saint86
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55 minutes ago, Saint Billy said:

Am I missing the bleeding obvious?. Why are we fielding a second string side in preparation for our first game in the prem with just one friendly left?.

My take is that Martin is spending a lot of time getting the squad as prepared as he can with his system and style - He knows that Downes, THB, Arma, Bednarek etc. can all do it (and when they've come in any friendly we've instantly had control so far). So outside of that he's just been giving them minutes a lot of the time (25-30min per game). I'm sure the last friendly will be a much stronger starting 11.

We've had a shorter break than most sides and we've kept the core squad together. Reckon its been a decent pre season all in all.

Or look at it another way - do people really want a repeat of Sunderland (a), Leicester (h), from last season to happen in the prem? I don't, so i'm okay with the likes of Wood, Edwards etc, getting more focus in playing our system where mistakes don't matter!

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Agree with @Saint86. Think RM knows who can play way he wants. Needed to see if his squad players especially new ones can do it too. 
Was expecting a stronger team but in reflection the team we put out was probably better and correct for reasons stated. Ling season, with injuries and suspensions and tactic tweaks we will need full squad no weaknesses all on same page that last years team/squad ended on. 

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1 hour ago, Saint86 said:

Lazio had been dirty all night, Alcaraz was just standing up for Shea (good lad), the lazio player then puts him in a choke hold and tries (maybe succeeds) to punch him in the face. Far from Alcaraz being the aggressor, he was just defending Shea and therefore Lazio started it in my book... and a small scrum of players stopped Alcaraz ending it (although fair enough, his head was gone by that point :D). I like that fire in him personally, although he is a to easy to wind up.

I hope this doesn't damage his prospects under Martin as there is enough there to suggest we should keep him and get him working in our system - Some of the stuff he does is class and levels above what our other midfielders offer.

I agree. He has a quick instinctive football brain, I sometimes think the reason things don't come off from him is because he's thinking is that bit ahead of others around him. 

 

 

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1 hour ago, Saint86 said:

My take is that Martin is spending a lot of time getting the squad as prepared as he can with his system and style - He knows that Downes, THB, Arma, Bednarek etc. can all do it (and when they've come in any friendly we've instantly had control so far). So outside of that he's just been giving them minutes a lot of the time (25-30min per game). I'm sure the last friendly will be a much stronger starting 11.

We've had a shorter break than most sides and we've kept the core squad together. Reckon its been a decent pre season all in all.

Or look at it another way - do people really want a repeat of Sunderland (a), Leicester (h), from last season to happen in the prem? I don't, so i'm okay with the likes of Wood, Edwards etc, getting more focus in playing our system where mistakes don't matter!

I take your point but it just smacks of England v Iceland before the Euros and Southgate played a second string side and then England looked a shambles come the important games despite the players knowing the system.

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Anyone notice it was the same ref as the West Brom home play off game. (Robinson i think his name is) Never forgive him for not giving the pen for Brooks (But then gave the pen for Manning) 😁

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15 hours ago, davefizzy14 said:

Was an entertaining game tonight. A brilliant finish from Brereton-Diaz cutting in from the left 😊 Quality signing 😊 Edwards was very good 😊 Taylor and Wood look solid 😊 Alcaraz was class 😊 I absolutely loved his aggression, it got a bit heated but only because the lazio player instigated it by grabbing him round the neck. Dibling and Amo-Ameyaw exciting to watch 😊 onto the final friendly at home on Saturday. COYR 😊

Edozie wasn't at all bad either 😋

Edited by Charlie Wayman
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Probably one of the more fortunate 1-1's we could have had, Lazio were better than us for periods.

McCarthy farting around with the ball is like asking a cat to swim in a swimming pool - it's lunacy and will only end bad. The club must know this and will get a 1st choice in, if they don't then anyone at any decision making level needs sacking!

Parts of the 1st half were good though, BBD with that goal gave me Ings vibes - been a while since we've had a CF who is happy to take a pot shot from outside.

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16 minutes ago, S-Clarke said:

BBD with that goal gave me Ings vibes - been a while since we've had a CF who is happy to take a pot shot from outside.

Watching BBD's YouTube videos I saw a couple of goals in that style, so wondered whether he could emulate Ings for us using that technique. Blackburn fans describe him as being quite streaky, and a confidence player. We could really do with him retaining the hot form he had with the Blades and starting well for us.

Edited by Patches O Houlihan
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Good workout for essentially our second XI, rode our luck, now just one game to give our starting line-up 90 mins before Newcastle. 50-odd Italians enjoyed themselves singing away for most of the match (lots of different chants).

If anyone interested from a Lazio perspective - they seemed unaware (understandably) that they were playing almost entirely our ‘B’ team but saw the game probably much the same as many of us, after the first 10 mins they were mostly the better side. One poster fancies Shea Charles but Alcaraz gets some stick for the brawl. They didn’t like the ref and the usual oppo view of us.

“I can tolerate the inventors of passing football less and less.

For about twenty minutes in the first half, Southampton did nothing but make a series of passes in their own half.

It may be efficient and legal but for me this is not football.

We need to put in place a water polo type rule.

If within two minutes you don't cross the halfway line, it's a change of ball”

https://www-lazio-net.translate.goog/forum/lazio-talk/lazio-southampton-(amichevole)/?PHPSESSID=81vpdnnoj196bg8lt7u2jkl4fe&_x_tr_sl=it&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=sc#google_vignette

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I couldn't be arsed to register to enlighten them about the composition of our team, and that I was watching 4 (?) players I'd never seen before..

But I came on here to comment about the Getafe game, as nobody else has! Will many be be going? I presume some of the first teamers will now make an appearance? Does anybody have any insight into Getafe without me having to make any effort? 🙂

 

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Interesting pov from lazio fans who rate Shea Charles but, in an impressive bit of insight, state that the result needs consideration in context of how saints do in the EPL this year. The OP raises the same concern many of us have - which is of our PB game that worked in the Championship being overwhelmed by higher quality of EPL intense pressing. 
 

( wrt to Shea Charles) 
good guy, eh, 
they have three or four kids who really seem capable of doing a lot of things (in their career), 
their coach is also good, for 15 minutes they dribbled in our faces with notable technical and movement skills, 
of course after that they risked getting 4 /5, we ran a lot, badly for 20 minutes then 
we were much more effective in pressing and I didn't displease them at all, a Verona (in terms of pressing and aggression of spaces) with a decidedly better technical rate, I don't know how to evaluate the together, if the Saints were to secure a quiet survival tending towards the center of the table in the Premier League, this friendly match would have been excellent, if instead Southampton's good dribbling and game ideas were to be overwhelmed by the pressing applied in the Premier League and they were to be relegated in a disastrous manner, well then this friendly match would also take on another meaning (ultimately right from the start six saints in the premiership we will have an idea about Lazio)

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57 minutes ago, suewhistle said:

I couldn't be arsed to register to enlighten them about the composition of our team, and that I was watching 4 (?) players I'd never seen before..

But I came on here to comment about the Getafe game, as nobody else has! Will many be be going? I presume some of the first teamers will now make an appearance? Does anybody have any insight into Getafe without me having to make any effort? 🙂

 

Hi Sue you probably will remember they let Mason Greenwood play for them as part of his rehabilitation from being a sex offender when no one in the uk would touch him. 
Best play is called Borja something is a forward and they’re a mid table Spanish club. Should be a very tough challenge for saints in terms of technique as they certainly will be excellent on the ball.
 

Yes I’m going because I like to watch the state of organisational understanding /preparation of our squad/fringe players - not for the result really. 

 

Im hopeful we can match them and, hopefully but expecting to be disappointed again, for us not to keep letting the opposition have free goals/ chances by literally sending party invitation cards out to a penalty area press in our own area 6 times per match.
 

The invite says “ Just turn up in our penalty area with your Getafe mates and Alex will personally give you presents and cake”🎂. But I can see the funny side of it. I think Charles Bronsons best film was “ Death Wish” also. 😂

Edited by gio1saints
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8 hours ago, gio1saints said:

Hi Sue you probably will remember they let Mason Greenwood play for them as part of his rehabilitation from being a sex offender when no one in the uk would touch him. 
Best play is called Borja something is a forward and they’re a mid table Spanish club. Should be a very tough challenge for saints in terms of technique as they certainly will be excellent on the ball.
 

Yes I’m going because I like to watch the state of organisational understanding /preparation of our squad/fringe players - not for the result really. 

 

Im hopeful we can match them and, hopefully but expecting to be disappointed again, for us not to keep letting the opposition have free goals/ chances by literally sending party invitation cards out to a penalty area press in our own area 6 times per match.
 

The invite says “ Just turn up in our penalty area with your Getafe mates and Alex will personally give you presents and cake”🎂. But I can see the funny side of it. I think Charles Bronsons best film was “ Death Wish” also. 😂

Getafe definitely "over achieve" for a club of their size, but play some good stuff and will be hard to beat. 

Impossible to play good passing football on our pitch anyway that's a bit of a mess based on Wednesday night. 

Crowd will be quite small, they only opened 5 blocks of Itchen 5-9 and 3 blocks of the Kingsland 30-32, those areas sold out I think, additionally whole Chapel end open but not many sold, probably will be about 12k. 

Got to remember it's a 2pm kick off or I'll miss the first half 

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Saints v Getafe: McCarthy; Harwood-Bellis, Stephens, Bednarek; Sugawara, Smallbone, Downes, Aribo, Walker-Peters; Armstrong, Brereton Diaz

Bench: Lis, Lumley, Bree, Edwards, Wood, Taylor, Manning, Alcaraz, Dibling, Amo-Ameyaw, Edozie, Mara, Onuachu

Edited by CSA96
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Just now, CSA96 said:

Saints v Getafe: McCarthy; Harwood-Bellis, Bednarek, Stephens; Sugawara, Downes, Smallbone, Walker-Peters; Aribo; Armstrong, Brereton Diaz

Well barring injuries or departures that’s your starting line up next week.

Interesting that KWP is playing.

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