Saints came a cropper at Chelsea after the Blues played them at their own game.

Saints could not have got off to a better start at Stamford Bridge when Jay Rodriguez read a poor backpass perfectly in the opening minute and put Saints 1-0 up, for the rest of the first half although at times Saints were stretched and needed the odd save or two from Artur Boruc to keep them in it, they were good value for the lead at the break.

However in the second half the wheels came off the wagon within ten minutes of the restart and Saints capitulation showed the difference in the squad available to Jose Mourinho and that to Mauricio Pochettino, however as Chelsea played on Saints weakness's and pressed forward whilst the Chelsea boss had been proactive and made two changes by the start of the second half, apart from an enforced change when Boruc had to go off with what looked like a dislocated finger sustained when Chelsea equalised, despite Saints clearly buckling, Pochettino didnt make a tactical change until the Blues had gone ahead.

But by then it was too late, Chelsea had won the tactical battle and had us on the ropes, just about the only good thing we could take from the second half was the fact that we dug in and although it was more luck than judgement didnt concede a third till the last minute.

The cause of our problems can be laid squarely in the back four, Clyne and Shaw both had probably their worse games for the club, Clyne especially was too often beaten by his man and often looked lost, Shaw used his pace but again like Clyne too often allowed his man to get a cross in.

In the centre Lovren was fairly solid but Fonte looked lethargic and again too often struggled to impose himself on the game.

Perhaps the problem in the second half was our inability to get the ball down and pass it, Chelsea had done their homework and pressed us every time we got the ball, they did to us just what we have done to the opposition and they found us wanting.

The statistics though look better than the performance, we had 49% possession and 9 shots in total, but after that early goal I dont think we made Cech make a save of note, a couple of those chances being from Osvaldo who perked up in the final minutes and had a couple of decent chances although none looked like going in.

So after only two defeats in the opening three months of the season we have suddenly suffered the same number in just over a week, but as I often say its not what mistakes you make, its what you do next and how you recover from them, Saints have to now show their character by bouncing back and beating Aston Villa to set themselves up for what will be perhaps our toughest task so far when we meet the fast finding top form Manchester City.

So far the last week has just been a drama, its a big wake up call and will perhaps bring a few people back to earth in terms of their realistic expectations for the season, what we dont want now is a crisis, its been easy to be a Saints fan for the first part of the season, now its going to be a bit tougher and we need to give the team our support at the time they need it, ie now.

Photo: Action Images

stmichael added 22:56 - Dec 1 For almost an hour we were excellent. We started the 2nd half very well until they scored a fortunate goal. To make matters worse we lose our goal keeper and Morgan as well who was playing very well. From that point they took over. Big problem for us is dani who was shocking and gazza who is not up to it. I think kelvins injury is a bigger problem this week the Arthur's.

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A1079 added 22:56 - Dec 1 As disappointed as I am that we have not picked up anything from our last 2 games, I have always felt that we would hit a lean spell at some point, it is just a matter of how long that spell will be and whether as a team we have the way with all to deal with it and change things and respond to it. I don't doubt that we will but we could be in for a difficult month. The mid-week game is important but unlike some, it is not a must win its more that if we don't then I guess some doubts will start to creep in. I have always been realistic about our position and start. My main concern and that has been the case throughout the season despite the excellent start, is our inability to score goals compared to possession. We are not even creating lots of chances. The attack is simply not gelling or producing. Get a game where our defence or somewhere else has an off day and then we are potentially struggling. Another factor is, a lot has been written and said about us lately - mostly positive I am pleased to say. With that, people start to stand up and look and expectations are raised even if unconsciously. I think now teams are beginning to find us out and play us at our own game or find a way to exploit what could be our weaknesses. What we have to be careful of is that our great start does not emulate a Hull type of second half of the season such as they had the last time they were in the premier. But, despite the last 2 results, what a great start we have had to the season and lets now make sure we really get behind the team especially if things are becoming a little more difficult and less clear cut.

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SaintNick added 23:04 - Dec 1 St michael what game where you watching, I wouldnt say we were excellent for an hour, Boruc had to make a couple of decent saves first half and they came out for the second all guns blazing Ironic now you are calling Gazza not up to it and dismissing him before he even has had a chance, he hasnt played a first team game for a year, he did nothing wrong this afternoon, i would concentrate your worries on our defence all of whom had shocking games today, only plus point is Chelsea probably wont be so keen on Shaw after today We have been too predictable, now we have come up against a couple of teams who are good enough to punish us for it we have paid the price. The next few weeks are going to be tough, what it needs os for people to get behind people like Gazza, J Rod Osvaldo, lets try and help them instead of destroy them as some have revelled in doing to Guly & Fox

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IanRC added 00:17 - Dec 2 Ramires in particular is a disgrace and should have at least been booked. Mind you we didn't help ourselves not starting Lambert and ignoring Corkie. Seems you have some work to do MoPo. Hope Schneiderlin at least is back for Wednesday. Can't pretend I'm anything but sick about the last two games. COYR
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schatfield added 00:46 - Dec 2 I wouldnt have said we were excellent for an hour or so, just slightly lucky. Dont get me wrong, we just about deserved to be in the lead at that stage though. Our strikeforce does worry me, with JRod being the best of the 3. Osvaldo was shocking, he took some shots but row Z springs to mind...
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Sango123 added 03:33 - Dec 2 We were never in control of the match but was comfortable with a good save by Boruc in the first half. However once Mourinho swapped to a 4-4-2, we were constantly under pressure. We retreat deeper and deeper thus effectively ending any form of our own high pressing game. We could not cope at all and the 2nd half is perhaps one of the poorest we have played all season. The last 2 matches have put us in place and we dont seem to have the squad to be a top 4 or even top 6 team. We also do not have a Plan B. Chelsea could switch from a 4-5-1 to a 4-4-2, we cannot because we do not have the players to do it. We are only creating limited chances in most of the matches we played. We won mainly because of a clean sheet.

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Sango123 added 03:35 - Dec 2 We need to learn to win when we are behind. We have never won this season once we fall behind, a sign of the limited chances we create Anyone know what happens to Gaston?
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ericofarabia added 04:41 - Dec 2 Well up until last week we'd barely let in any goals so coming from behind to win a game wasn't a frequent scenario!! From the top of my head, ok Sunderland at home and Norwich away whilst we were still finding our feet, then a creditable draw at Man U and the crazy start at Stoke. So 3 draws and 1 defeat after going behind until facing two of the Top teams and injury problems chucked into the mixer as well. On the other hand I don't think we've lost after scoring 1st until y'day.

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st_bangkok added 06:06 - Dec 2 Chelsea switched to 4-4-2? But many bar stool experts on UI claim 4-4-2 is dinosaur footie? Not crisis to lose to Arse and Chelski......win against Villa to show it was just losing to the big boys is all we need to do.
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simmo400 added 06:22 - Dec 2 Cam anyone tell me how Osvaldo gets a start ahead of Lanbert ? No threat upfront at all. He lost the ball time and time again when we needed it held up. Sell him sooner than later. 12M flop.
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Sango123 added 06:33 - Dec 2 To Ericofarabia, we never lost when we were in front was true until the match against Chelsea. To st bangkok, there is no crisis as we are still on course to performing better than most of us would have expected. We should be in the top 10 but unlikely in the top 6. I dont mind eating my words though.
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DJI added 08:50 - Dec 2 The most disappointing thing about this match for me is that, apart from the gift we were given on 13 seconds, we never managed another shot on target the rest of the 97 minutes played! MoPo should have switched to 4-4-2 on 60 minutes and told his 4-man defence to hold a line together. Our problem was our wing-backs kept going up the pitch leaving the flanks open with two strikers to occupy Jose and Dejan! Our front men got crowded out and couldn't hold the ball up so it just came right back at us all the time in the 2nd half. Osvaldo was very poor and needs to show his worth much more than he did. Whether Rickie started or not, I don't think it would've made a difference because the problem was as Nick says, in our defence. I can't even recall many times we managed to string a decent run of passes together in this match and the amount of times Wanyama and Morgan got caught by Torres dropping back to hurry them was ridiculous. We didn't seem to learn and adapt enough and that is disappointing. At least at Arsenal we did attempt to score several times but sadly at The Bridge, we never and that pisses me off. I can take losing to a side like Chelsea as they are a strong side but, I expect us to at least have a good go and that didn't happen yesterday. For me, our worst performance to date.

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SonicBoom added 10:30 - Dec 2 A few observations. I've haven't seen a team get so many crosses into our box for along time. Also they won a lot of the resulting headers. In a funny way going a goal up so early seemed to upset our game plan. We didn't seem to know whether to press for a second or hold what we had. Finally another game where we made virtually no clear chances so it doesn't really matter who is up front....

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Fordy added 10:49 - Dec 2 I don't think Shaw had too bad a match. Chelsea were very physical on that side of the pitch and it will be a learning experience for him but in other games he will get a little more protection from the refs. I thought JWP, Lallana and Osvaldo were all very disappointing. When we are under the cosh Lallana seems to go missing. We need to move the ball forward much more quickly when we are under pressure. At the moment we seem to get the ball it goes to Wanyama and then sideways then back to our defenders by which time the opposition have all got back. Lallana and JWP have to work much harder at providing that link between midfield and attack and moving the ball quickly. When Osvaldo did get the ball he didn't hold it up well and often chose the wrong option trying to do something fancy rather than simple. I would much rather see Rickie there. As for Chelsea, they won't stop at anything in the name of winning. A lot of pushing and dubious play. A fine example was Essien's dive. You can understand that kind of thing at the other end of the pitch but when you have the ball in your own half?

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sidsaint added 11:55 - Dec 2 It's going to be a difficult few weeks and our players are going to have to step up to the mark and show character. For the first time this season we panicked especially after losing Boruc and Schneiderlein. Why have Cork on the bench if you are not going to play him especially as he was the natural replacement for Schneiderlein. Osvaldo really does look like a poor buy especially for our system. Our squad is showing its lack of depth as we only have more youngsters, no doubt with good potential, as back up and with Wanyama likely to pick up another yellow soon we will be even more stretched, maybe against Aguero and Co next Saturday. Have we a plan B?

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Fordy added 12:11 - Dec 2 To be fair to MP he couldn't really win with the Schneiderlin substitution. We were 2-1 down and it was his last sub. I'm sure he wouldn't have planned to put Lambert on for Schneiderlin but if he had put Cork on everyone would have asked why he hadn't put Lambert on when we needed a goal.
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Fordy added 12:11 - Dec 2 To be fair to MP he couldn't really win with the Schneiderlin substitution. We were 2-1 down and it was his last sub. I'm sure he wouldn't have planned to put Lambert on for Schneiderlin but if he had put Cork on everyone would have asked why he hadn't put Lambert on when we needed a goal.
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slynch added 12:13 - Dec 2 That was the first time this season I've seen a team play better than Saints, but it was only just. Blaming the back four is an error I feel. Countless times they were organized to point that every time they Chelsea got the ball they were offside. Defending is done by the midfield getting the ball into the oppositions half and that's were Saints lost out. Sneiderlin, JWP, Lallana, JRod were all out muscled and often just ran into walls. But Saints are stuck with those players which have other qualities and not a man jack of them didn't try. Dust off push on. they haven't got to play Chelsea every week but someone else has to.

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NorwegianSaint added 12:33 - Dec 2 January the first.... REVENGE!
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saintmark1976 added 12:45 - Dec 2 On a positive note"One swallow does not a summer make" and two defeats away from home to top four sides is not the end of the world. Further we will not have to visit Liverpool, Man United, Arsenal or Chelsea again until next season, However, am i the only poster who just can not see the sense in playing Osvaldo ahead of Lambert ? The former is a player with no track record at Premiership level who to my mind brings nothing to the party other than a few ineffective fancy tricks and an ability to get unnecessarily booked. The latter a proven Premiership goal scorer with a good footballing brain who when not scoring at least contributes to other players efforts. Will other posters let me know if I am missing something please?

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slynch added 13:03 - Dec 2 saintmark1976 He plays centre forward for Italy and looks cool, are there any better reasons required?
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ItchenNorth added 13:13 - Dec 2 Ozzy will score Wednesday v Villa. 3 points and happy days again !
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BoondockSaint added 16:22 - Dec 2 Let's not get too worried here. Losing to one of the top six/money teams is not a disaster. I was worried as soon as I saw Mata in the line up. He had a hand in half their goals last year, yet the "Special One" doesn't play him regular-and sure enough he was a key player. Can't blame Gazza on the goals, maybe with experience he gets the last one. But we do need more goals. Playing the beautiful game is fine, but sometimes you just have to keep putting it in the box and get a ping-pong goal as they did when they needed to. Hopefully once we do start scoring, there will be a flood of goals. Anyway, I was worried when we were down 2-1, because if we drew, Lil Nici would sack MP!

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GeordieSaint added 16:35 - Dec 2 It is easy to forget we were playing away at one of the top 10 teams in Europe. For large parts Saints were the better team. Great to see how ferocious and determined the midfield were in long spells. From what I have seen Osvaldo looks a long way off being a top international player who is going to take us to the next level, I thought he was really average. Ref was awful.

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Whatsforpud added 17:11 - Dec 2 Agree with SaintMark1976 - Osvaldo has had a few chances to show what he can do, and up to now, has not impressed. He tries to run through players, but just runs into them. I guess we have got used to Lambert's style of no fancy tricks, but just wanting to carve openings for the runners around him. However it is a concern that we creating so few chances in the area. The other attacking players seem happier in the middle, making us play narrow. This is ok at home when the full backs are more willing to push up on the wings, but away we seem a bit shapeless.

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