Ronald Koeman has not got many things wrong this season, however Im afraid he did get the tactics badly wrong against Sunderland.

Football is a very simple game and the trick is not to over complicate matters when the team is disrupted, in my preview to this game I intimated as much when suggesting that Toby Alderweireld should be restored to the centre of defence, with Fraser Forster missing it is important to have a strong defence in front of his replacement Kelvin Davis, playing Alderweireld in midfield not only weakened our defence but meant the midfield was not firing on all cylinders either.

Last week against Spurs according to pundits in the media both goals were attributable to the two central defenders, whilst that was harsh especially in the case of the opener and Jose Fonte, the truth is that the difference between winning and losing a game is often pivotal moments when a player is caught out, often for the only time in a game.

This was the case again on Saturday up in the North East when Saints were basically caught out and ended up conceding two soft penalties, both in the same manner when our central defence was caught at sixes and sevens.

Apart from these two incidents Saints in the main loked comfortable throughout despite being awful first half when they seemed unable to keep the ball and kept putting passes astray, in the second they improved and indeed looked a better unit with 10 men, however by then the damage had been done.

As I said Ronald Koeman does not make many mistakes, but this time I feel he has, there is no room for sentiment in football, yes Yoshida has come in and done a good job but the reality is he cannot do it over an extended period of time, he lacks that concentration, Fonte has had a good season, but he needs someone around him who is strong, it was ironic that he gave away the first penalty in that although this was the first conceded by Saints all season, Fonte himself has got away with around 4-5 that have been shown as stone wall in the TV replays.

But we have to put this defeat behind us and get back to winning ways and that means remembering what we do well and doing it rather than complicating things, we need to get that team spirit back, it has been damaged in recent months and that has not been helped by the attitude of some supporters against certain players Pelle and Mane to name but two, inadvertently we have created the wrong atmosphere for the team to play in, we have three games we need to change that.

With Spurs losing this result has not damaged us as much as it could have, however it really should have seen us pulling away from Spurs rather than now still being behind them, we also have to watch out for Swansea who are right behind us and in form.#

But lets not forget that this has still been a brilliant season whatever happens, there is still time to make it even better still lets all March On.

Photo: Action Images

DPeps added 10:12 - May 4 Couldn't agree more about Alderweireld. He'll put a shift in when playing in midfield but he's far more valuable in central defence. Can't understand why Reed won't get a start. He's stepped up to the plate before this season and has performed well (eg. home game vs Everton). Yoshida has improved a lot, but Fonte and Yoshida as a pairing doesn't fill me with confidence. Our last three games are going to be tough, and funnily Man City away might be easiest! Have to play better than we've played for a while to get anything from those games

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perazi added 10:33 - May 4 Agree that RK erred tactically on Saturday - yes, the set-up would have been improved by Toby at CB with Jose, and Reed filling the midfield role; but I thought the real weakness of selection was Ward-Prowse again being thrown in at attacking midfield and again showing he isn't up to it. We looked a lot better when Davis came in to that role in the second half. The other tactical faux pas was wasting Mane on the left when he's proved much more effective when played more centrally.

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corkcitysaint added 11:58 - May 4 Yosh has had a better season this year I think but he does tend to lose concentration and lose his positioning. He then doesn't have the pace to get back as we have seen in the last couple of games. If Toby does leave at the end of the season this is defo a position that we have to strengthen. Fonte does have a tendency to lose his head and do something rash. As Nick says, he has got away with a few this season so it was only a matter of time. I agree with Dpeps that Reed should have started. Toby isn't as effective in midfield and with Sunderland playing with 3 up top I feel he would have handled it better. Maybe it's his shoulder that is a concern for RK that he didn't him play him there.

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IanRC added 15:21 - May 4 You beat me to it thought RoKo got this one completely wrong. That said he wasn't helped by an abysmal refereeing display. How Fonte is supposed to see an attacker running in behind him who then ducks into his foot and the second penalty just wasn't. Thought Wanyama was dreadful yesterday will need to get his finger out if Morgan is not going to be missed in the last few games. Hope the referee in his report having seen the incident again has the common decency to admit he got the Ward Prowse decision wrong so he doesn't suffer a ban.

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Jesus_02 added 15:36 - May 4 If Koeman was trying to find out if Toby could replace Morgan in midfield or if Yoshida could fill the gap left by Toby then he has found out.
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montecristo added 15:40 - May 4 Koeman does not seem happy to rely on academy players and last Saturday s team is a sad reflection of that. We would have been far better off with Reed, or hesketh in midfield than Toby who is no midfielder. But what worries me intensely is our very poor record since the turn of the year midfield is not functioing and our forward play is nowhere good enough m no pace and little invention. We play pretty football but give the opposition far too much time to play 8 in defence as Sunderland did. Its got to stop we need to counmter much faster than we are.Koeman s fault really.

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LesVivian added 15:48 - May 4 Defoe's first touch was awful, and he stuck out a leg in an attempt to retrieve the ball. The on-rushing JWP fell over Defoe's leg, bringing them both down! Defoe fouled JWP! And this gaffe-prone ref has got the cup final! With Morgan out, none of the other midfielders is able to pass the ball consistently, which brings me to Koeman's main mistake this season - selling Jack Cork, and at a ridiculous give-away price!

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BoondockSaint added 16:41 - May 4 I beg to differ, if it was the other way around, we would say they were clear penalties. Whinging about them only covers up the fact that even with 10 men, we should be able to score at least one goal against the likes of Sunderland. But again we just can't. Mane is the only forward who scares the opposition when he runs at them. Yes, his goal was because of the keeper's mistake, but he jumped on it and scored when he got the opportunity-our other forwards should take note.

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davepid added 17:27 - May 4 Ok . We can finish no lower than 8 th but no higher than 4 th.
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cramd1 added 17:35 - May 4 It was noticable that the reason we played so much better with 10 men was because Steve Davis came on and kept hold of the ball. Really cannot understand why he was on the bench. Given how well we played last week with Mane down the middle, his pace against O'Shea would have caused all sorts of problems
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saintmark1976 added 17:36 - May 4 I expect to be slated for saying it here goes anyway. The season is nearly over and the table does not lie.Without doubt Sunderland are a very poor team and even after their win on Saturday they will almost certainly go down.They were under great pressure to get a result against us and I can not help but think that our team selection and method of play helped them do this.Why start with three forwards? Would it not have been better to play an extra defender or midfielder? Given their problems we should have "parked the bus" and attempted to win the game on the break.Every second that went by without them scoring would have increased the pressure on them. Ron, sometimes you have to attempt to "win dirty" and in my opinion this was clearly one of these occasions. In summary, three points there for the taking and we fluffed it.

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SaintBrock added 23:22 - May 4 montecristo makes a very good point. SFC are quick to extol the virtues of the Academy and all the promising young stars that are emerging from it - the envy of all other clubs we are told - and the Southampton Way which provides a pathway for the youngsters into the first team and Ron as the ideal candidate to promote your talent from within yet here we are struggling under Ron with our kids getting less and less opportunities than they've ever had. So who's telling big porkie pies?

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SanMarco added 23:53 - May 4 To be fair on the Academy point only Reed is regularly talked about. If they are good enough they will get their chance. It is disappointing that we are fading but as long as we get at least 7th I will be delighted and 6th is still definitely on if we win the next two (fairly big if on current form mind).
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