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

saintmark1976 added 17:14 - Dec 2 slynch. I trust you jest. If not then all i can add is that Lambert plays centre forward for England whilst admittedly looking less "cool". The difference is that he scores goals, helps others in mid field and can make a telling pass to put others in with a goal scoring opportunity. Clearly to date these skills appear way beyond Osvaldo. However,"hope springs eternal".

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montecristo added 18:19 - Dec 2 I agree with most here Osvaldo has been pretty useless up to now. In fact I would sooner call on Gallagher he looks a very bright prospect indeed. It is perhaps significant that MoPo is on record as saying that both he and Reed will join the first team squad permanently in January. Does that mean Osvaldo and Ramirez are being shunted out? Of the two I am bitterly disappointed in Ramirez, I still think hes got huge potential, but seemingly not much bottle. Can he be persuaded to do the training required and acquire the fitnesss and stamina levels he needs? therein lies the problem. If not get rid, maybe go for Ravel Morrison in the window...

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