Saints 1-0 Everton - Match Thread

[Jack]

10 passes between the back 4 then straight to an unmarked Everton player 😂 

Fuck me Russball is dull 

[hypochondriac]

The sort of performance that's perfectly acceptable if you're mid table. For a team that needs to win, if/when we lose this game it's not good enough to have such little in attack. 

[Saint NL]

Archer looks decent. Shame he'll need to run 60 yards and beat 4 defenders if he's to get a shot 

Edited 2 November, 2024 by Saint NL

[Mr X]

We looked stunning that half fast attacking free flowing football a joy to behold, credit where it's due to martin! 

[Micky]

2 minutes ago, Mr X said:

In a "must win game" I was expecting us to at least show something 

We don't have anything 'to show', that is as good as we get.

[Saint Fan CaM]

2 minutes ago, Sheaf Saint said:

It's inexcusable really. If you can't match other teams for ability then at least make sure you can match them for fitness.

Trouble is if our players have a lesser capacity ‘tank’ when it comes to fitness they can be at 100% and still be less than a more athletic oppo.

[Saint NL]

Half time.

I expected it to be shit, it is shit. We aren't losing, so you'd have to say it's going better than expected. But Christ, it's dull.

[obelisk]

Archer looking the most likely if he gets the service. Trouble is we don't seem have much idea of what to do when reaching the heady heights of the opponent's penalty area.

Everton basically just waiting for Saints to pass the ball to them.

[AlexLaw76]

So many touches by the CBs

horrible

[Harry_SFC]

0 shots on target and only 2 in total at home to a relegation rival. Pitiful.

[pingpong]

Looked decent enough first half, easily the better of the two teams, can't ask much more than that.  Good to see Manning back, we miss him when he isn't there. Stephens with some nice passes too.  Armstrong and archer are biggest threats, reckon one or both will score second half.

 

Ref terrible.

[badgerx16]

As an advert for the Premier League that was crap.

[Totton Saint]

13 minutes ago, Sheaf Saint said:

Gotta make a change at HT. Swap Arma for Dibling at least to give us some threat on the right.

And surely we have better attacking options on the left than Manning, don't we?

Sulema?

[benjii]

It's not TERRIBLE, but it could be so much better.

Worrying how we continue to get caught on transition with our entire midfield wrong side, despite having Stephens in there as well as Downes. It's been a characteristic of Martin's entire stint here and is a strategic/tactical weakness.

They have a 50 year old at right back and we've barely managed an attack down the left. That's not a criticism of Manning, who has done what he can pretty well.

This is the telling thing: no one is having a stinker (apart from Downes) yet we still look quite ineffective. That's on the manager.

Let's hope we make some attacking subs sooner rather than later. Not a triple sub on 60 minutes. 

I'd give it 5 minutes then take Downes off for Sulemana and Arma for Dibling. 

KwP - THB - Jan - Manning

------------Stephens------- 

----Fernandes --- Lallana---

Dibling-‐---------------Sule

-------------Archer--------

Aribon and Tall Paul if we haven't scored by 65 mins.

Everton are shite. THIS IS A MUST WIN.

 

[Mr X]

Just now, pingpong said:

Looked decent enough first half, easily the better of the two teams, can't ask much more than that.  Good to see Manning back, we miss him when he isn't there. Stephens with some nice passes too.  Armstrong and archer are biggest threats, reckon one or both will score second half.

 

Ref terrible.

Easily the better of the two teams? Remind me how many efforts we had on goal? Oh yes I forget it's all about the number of passes completed😂

[AlexLaw76]

 Notice Downes pushing out to the right more often.

boring football

[Saint NL]

Forest up to fourth in the table, maybe they aren't shit after all. 

[Holmes_and_Watson]

Martin will be pleased by that. Lots of possession. A fair bit of space for AA and Archer to move into.

We had a little spell of quick, central passes that then went wide with Downes and Manning adding advanced support. Manning was inches away from getting on the end of one, thanks to a Pickford deflection.

We are, as always, an error away from conceding. Everton had more efforts, despite the low possession, a couple being scuffed from decent positions.

We're trying to be very clinical against Everton's more direct approach. We really need the 3 points, so will Martin take any risks second half?

 

[Toussaint]

No shots on goal, cunning, very cunning 

[swingworkstheoracle]

6 minutes ago, benjii said:

It's not TERRIBLE, but it could be so much better.

Worrying how we continue to get caught on transition with our entire midfield wrong side, despite having Stephens in there as well as Downes. It's been a characteristic of Martin's entire stint here and is a strategic/tactical weakness.

They have a 50 year old at right back and we've barely managed an attack down the left. That's not a criticism of Manning, who has done what he can pretty well.

This is the telling thing: no one is having a stinker (apart from Downes) yet we still look quite ineffective. That's on the manager.

Let's hope we make some attacking subs sooner rather than later. Not a triple sub on 60 minutes. 

I'd give it 5 minutes then take Downes off for Sulemana and Arma for Dibling. 

KwP - THB - Jan - Manning

------------Stephens------- 

----Fernandes --- Lallana---

Dibling-‐---------------Sule

-------------Archer--------

Aribon and Tall Paul if we haven't scored by 65 mins.

Everton are shite. THIS IS A MUST WIN.

 

He doesn’t even have Sulemana on the bench

[AlexLaw76]

The is perfectly lined up for a 0-1 defeat…. Probably from a set piece 

[OttawaSaint]

3 minutes ago, Saint NL said:

Forest up to fourth in the table, maybe they aren't shit after all. 

Just goes to show what proper coaching can achieve.

[Turkish]

1 minute ago, AlexLaw76 said:

The is perfectly lined up for a 0-1 defeat…. Probably from a set piece 

You underestimate our ability to give leads away 

[stknowle]

Just now, AlexLaw76 said:

The is perfectly lined up for a 0-1 defeat…. Probably from a set piece 

We all know how this plays out from here. 

[gio1saints]

First goal wins it. Unless it’s us. 
 

Pretty much as expected first half. Two teams not all that fantastic. Some of our moves were “ almost” great but no shots on target tells its own story. That needs to be rectified second half or Everton will steal all three points and it will be a mess on here..

[vectraman]

Downes having a real off game today. Looks keen to get booked so I assume he’s not fancying the Wolves game next weekend. 
we have had a boringly safe first half. Time to take the shackles off and actually go for it and try and attack with pace and purpose. Time for us to have a good second half for a change. If we play worse than the first then we will definitely be losing. 

[Midfield_General]

Four wingers in Dibling, Cornet, Sulemana, SAA available to call on, they have a pensioner at full back and we decide our best bets for attacking down the flanks are Ryan Manning and Adam Armstrong. 

Result: zero shots on target. 

Another tactical masterclass from the Russ Man 

Edited 2 November, 2024 by Midfield_General

[OttawaSaint]

1 minute ago, AlexLaw76 said:

The is perfectly lined up for a 0-1 defeat…. Probably from a set piece 

Commentator actually said, "Everton great at set pieces, Southampton poor". 

Commentators who see us what once a month or less can see what the issues are and strengths of the oppo but smart man RM can't/won't.

[obelisk]

Aribo on for Lallana. Not unexpected.

[LiberalCommunist]

Russball has exposed us and led to two good chances to Everton in the first 15 minutes. It also led us to one good breakaway opportunity. Is it worth it? Clearly it’s not. Our players do not enjoy this system. He’s either deluded or lying. Watch them when ramsdale sells a suicide pass to someone in the D. If we persist with this, we are going to damage some good players. I find myself wondering who would suit us better, moyes or dyche  it’s getting close to anyone but Russel Martin. This isn’t fun.

 

[Saint NL]

Aribo on for Lallana

[Sheaf Saint]

10 minutes ago, Totton Saint said:

Sulema?

Not on the bench today.

[SWLondon Saint]

Generally pretty poor quality match on both sides.

- Our best chance was from a corner. Very little from open play.

- I assumed Cap'n Jack would fill the LB role in possession but it appears he's been given licence to roam in midfield where he's done... Absolutely nothing good. Nearly played other people in trouble a couple of times. We don't need the extra centre back, we need some pace wide left. He feels like a safety blanket for the manager.

- Downes has played some terrible wall passes and passes in general putting other players in bad situations. He really should have figured out some of those don't work in the PL by now. Where is the development? Better to take a touch like Lallana and Fernandes do and draw a player before releasing it. Or he doesn't trust his own 1st touch enough.

[Mr X]

1 minute ago, obelisk said:

Aribo on for Lallana. Not unexpected.

Can't last 90 mins ? 

[captainchris]

No midfield first half. Downs too far forward and Lallana defensive midfield- just weird. 

[OttawaSaint]

Lallana hooked, tactical switch. Russ probably steamed that Adam was trying to instruct players.

[northam soul]

I thought RM said we needed Nivea on the pitch.

 

[LGTL]

Russ certainly getting poached by Bayern any minute. Any minute now I tell you 

[RedArmy]

1 minute ago, Mr X said:

Can't last 90 mins ? 

Couldn’t when he was young 

[stknowle]

2 minutes ago, obelisk said:

Aribo on for Lallana. Not unexpected.

AL can’t play a full half really. Still the best passer of the ball we’ve got though.

[M271]

5 minutes ago, Turkish said:

You underestimate our ability to give leads away 

Yeah I almost don't want us to score and get our hopes up only to dashed again.

[Sheaf Saint]

Lallana going off was tactical, apparently.

He was far and away our best player in the first half FFS.

[SNSUN]

All IMO: Manning, AA, a past it Lallana and Stephens aren't Prem quality. Archer, Fernandes, THB and Downes are largely unproven at this level but are promising. That leaves KWP, Ramsdale and Bednarek (arguably) as the Prem players in this line up. That's where our issues are. We don't have enough quality or experience in this line up. 

I still believe we have enough quality in the squad but we're rapidly sailing through games with the wrong manager in place. We just need someone to bring a breath of fresh air, not overcomplicate things, pick the best players in the best formation and just let the professional footballers play football.

[Saint Fan CaM]

Just now, Sheaf Saint said:

Lallana going off was tactical, apparently.

He was far and away our best player in the first half FFS.

But getting striped by their midfield on pace.

[Colinjb]

Poor ball out from the back ceding possession. Here we go.

[Micky]

Lucky, lucky, lucky save....

 

[Saint NL]

Fuck that was close, saved by Ramsdale but could have gone anywhere

[OttawaSaint]

Good grief, this fanny ball is tedious and goes nowhere.

[Holmes_and_Watson]

We've done nothing this half. Everton happy to let us pass it about. Sure enough, one of our passes is poor and they get the best chance of the day.

[BotleySaint]

Just now, OttawaSaint said:

Good grief, this fanny ball is tedious and goes nowhere.

Yet somehow 10 games in, RM cannot see the problem.