Another defeat due to yet more individual errors, but Saints did enough to give their supporters hope that they can start to pick up a win or two in the coming weeks.

Nigel Adkins took the bull if not by both horns, at least one as he picked a side to play 4-4-2, initially it seemed as disjoined as ever as Spurs took control early doors and went ahead through ex Saint Gareth Bale who scored with a header, in truth Nathan Clyne was at fault he failed to even jump, when you feel that if he had made some effort then Bale would not have had a free header to place the ball wherever he wanted to.

The first half was all Spurs with Saints not managing to make Brad Friedel make a save in the Spurs goal, when Spurs added a second just before the break with at least another trio of decent chances spurned, Saints supporter were fearing a repeat of the trip to the Emirates.

But at half time something must have been said in the home dressing room, Saints came out a different team, but in truth Spurs were doing too much showboating and not enough decisive work and Saints started to get a grip on the game, when jay Rodriguez got his first league goal for the club with 24 minutes left you really felt that perhaps Saints might drag something out of the game and in the final stages the visitors barely troubled our defence apart from on breakaways which a rejuvenated defence seemed to deal with comfortably.

The first substitution bringing on Mayuka for Puncheon added pace to the side that was lacking before although I will b honest I couldnt quite work out what formation we were now playing or indeed where Mayuka himself was playing.

If there was one note of concern though it was with our double substitution, Fox must have still been carrying his injury to take him off as his ability to cross the ball was a reason for our fightback, but there seemed no logic to bring on Guly and this move seemed to dis orientate the line up even further.

Ben Reeves showed why he should be used on the left more and why i have been asking why he hasnt been used wide left to cover the left back, he showed he is a tidy player who can win a ball and use it well, he would be an ideal foil for Fox in the way Chris Marsden was for Wayne Bridge a decade ago.

Ultimately it was too little too late for Saints and they couldnt quite find an equaliser and put Spurs on the rack, but unlike many of our previous defeats, we proved to ourselves that with the right players in the right positions we can survive at this level, one problem for us has been the failure to find a settled side especially at the back, our back four showed in the second half that they can play and form a partnership, hopefully we can now build on this and go into the next run of games with confidence.

Saints were beaten on the day in terms of scoring, but they certainly did not have their spirit beaten out of them and thats the key fact to take from this game, yes the team selection possibly wasnt quite right, but it wasnt far off, we can take heart from our second half performance that we not only lived with one of the form teams at the moment, but in the second half we pinned them back for long periods, perhaps this game although a defeat could be the turning point of the season.      

Photo: Action Images

Rednose added 09:59 - Oct 29 Was forced to listen to this one on Radio Solent. Big mention for our supporters I think. Two seasons of winning, despair in the city, so could be forgiven to feel frustrated. But no the majority took it upon themselves to show support for the team and the manager. Its all a learning curve and Nige I reckon is nearly through his premiership training that once complete hopefully will benifit us not another club. A packed stadium and across the airwaves the fans sounded in great supportive voive, Love being a saints supporter, the turn around will be soon I'm sure. Still predicting a just below mid table finish and well clear of relegation. The season is long, so hopefully no panick at these early stages the season is not won or lost in October. End of November I'm sure the performances will be more consistent and producing results. Well done to all those there yesterday, singing and letting the team know that the city is with them. COYR

0

geezershoong added 10:05 - Oct 29 We could probably postulate all day over this one but at the end of the day Spurs are a better team & deservedly got the points.
0

ericofarabia added 10:09 - Oct 29 OK .... who's hacked into Nick's account and posted this!!! Only joking matey. I had to put up with Txt Commentary on BBC site so can't really comment but from remarks by * senile moment ... skate bloke on beeb*, that the 1st half performance from us was as bad as anything he's ever seen in The Prem, it sounded dire. He went on to say the 2nd half we played some of the best football he's seen from us this season - but in my mind too little too late. We ad a bright spell against Arsenal and Everton and now Spurs, but much of that could be put down to them all taking the foot off the gas once they established decent leads. I wonder how we would ave done against WHU and Spurs with Gaston in the side adding extra creativity? We need to change from Plucky losers to gritty winners for a bit to get some points on the board .... but having said that remembering our defensive frailties scratch that!!

0

SingaporeSaint added 10:35 - Oct 29 Dreadful first half performance and looked an ill prepared and beaten side from the start - we could have been 4 or 5 or more down at half time. 2nd half was decent with the game all but lost and could have got a point and shows that we can have a go and compete at this level. Something is clearly wrong in the preparation of the side for me, the defence seems to have learned few lessons (other than Yoshida) and we dont look confident across the side. Someone obviously had something to say at half time - a player possibly, possibly the manager and we looked far better. Mayuka makes a difference, not sure why we havent seen more of him. Agree on the Guly substitution - we were well on top and needed to keep the energy in midfield, if he had to change then JWP surely, not Guly (and Fox's delivery was causing problems) - we lost energy in midfield and Spurs had their easiest 10 mins of the half. Reasons to be optimistic? - Maybe a glimmer. Get Jason Dodd on the mgt team who may be able to prepare the defence and possibly motivate us from the start and I'd feel a lot better.

0

saintsoldboy added 10:59 - Oct 29 That old football cliche "football is a game of two halves" came to light here. My verdict isnt too far from Nick's. We are not good but we should be capable of getting more points as we play well in fits and starts. The defence had a better game I thought against a well proven and speedy attack. Clyne would probably feel he could have done better against Bale for the goal and I would agree with him. Boruc as No 1? I am not sure and I have also just heard of the bottle throwing incident. Mayuka was pretty good and pacey! Yippee. Rodriguez had a good game and Mr Lambert did too.

0

slynch added 11:31 - Oct 29 I thought Fox had left the field at one stage in the 1st half, again gaping holes down the left. Only matched by the gaping hole in the centre between defence and midfield - where does Spiderman go and what does he do, exactly? The defence nearly managed to score an own goal all on their own again and if it wasn't for some woeful finishing it would have been 4 - 0 at half time. The only threat going forward was long ball from the half line from Fox, beautifully kicked as they were, they are easy to defend against as the score suggested. Lallana whizzed around a bit and got nowhere against real defenders and Puncheon ran into people. It seemed Lambert had to go out and help them but then of course was then out of position. Second half Spurs looked like a team who had done enough which they had; they got a bit of a fright now and again but turned Saints' defence around several times and stopped from easily scoring by the offside rule and some last ditched tackles. Saints played a little better in the second half and that might be enough to fool a few lower teams until they can get replacements for Spiderman and Fox. Mayuka looked good, though!

0

Whatsforpud added 11:56 - Oct 29 Nick, you refer to Fox's ability to cross a ball, but when he did, they were too lofted. These are easier for defenders. The strikers are looking for those flatter, more direct centres. I thought Boruc could have imposed himself by going out for two eary crosses. Re the second goal, he started to come, then stopped (as opposed to just narrowing the angle) and got caught in nomansland). I think Davis would have gone out quicker to smother it. After that Yoshida could surely have done better with hooking it off the line. Although yet another disappointing result, I think quite a few must have left the ground with a little bit of optimism.

0

bstokesaint added 12:43 - Oct 29 After one of the worst first halves I have seen from Saints (excluding at the Emirates) I was actually quite disappointed to come away with nothing. They were silly goals to concede and I'm fairly confident Kelvin would have reacted better with the second one. In my opinion he is still our best keeper and our defence would be sounder for some consistency with him still there. After 10 minutes of the second half we were a different team. We actually worked for each other and fought for the ball. Rodriguez was much improved after his goal and his confidence level seemed to rise considerably. Mayuka added some much needed bite, just proving that pace will always cause issues for the opposition. We definitely need Gaston back. We need someone to pull the strings and turn some of the pretty possession into a meaningful attack with a killer final ball, before it all breaks down or we slow down play in a good position. I'm also looking forward to seeing Jack Cork back and mixing it up with Schneiderlin and Davies. It'd also be good to see Tadanari Lee on the bench at least as it gives us another threat from the bench. Defensively I agree Nick, I think Reeves deserves his chance. I liked his tenacity when he came on and positionally Fox was having a nightmare. All in all some positive signs, but we need to start winning soon and get that confidence up.

0

thegeneral added 12:58 - Oct 29 Fox was constantly drawn in field which left a big gap behind him subsequently pulling Yoshida into that area. Its basic stuff, any opposing players that simply run the channels are going to beat us unless serious work is put into defensive coaching. Its odd that NA often quotes "we've had a good week in training" only for the same players to come out and make the same errors. A double substitution when we were dominating and playing our best football was tactically very poor, but perhaps it was fitness or an injury issue for the players concerned ( i hope so). I thought Puncheon was awful and the turning point in the game was when Mayuka came on, i hope he gets to start the next couple of games, it also seemed from the radio that Lallana went more central were he was much more effective. If lessons have been learned from this game (as NA keeps telling us) its to play the best players in their best positions

0

DJI added 13:11 - Oct 29 It is amazing how different we all see the game!? We were woeful 1st half and Fox was very poor in his primary role as a Defender, often getting caught out of position. Lambert gave the ball away too easily which in onc instance, led to their 2nd goal as they got the ball from him and were up in our 18yd area within a few seconds! Boruc needs to improve his distribution too; I believe Gazza is our best at that as against Villa, he put it on Rickie's head 9/10 times. Rickie only won about 1 or 2 balls punted up to him from Boruc all game so we were not even able to hold the ball up well and against Spurs, that is dangerous as was proved. For their 1st goal, Yoshida should've challenged Defoe instead of following him which allowed him to walk across our back four and pass to Huddlestone. As for their 2nd goal, Boruc should've done better off his line and Fonte should've cleared it better. Second half was much better, with passes going forward into the channels more and played at a higher pace. AVB clearly saw his team under pressure as he took off Defoe for a midfielder, then Huddlestone (who ran their midfield) and finally brought off another midfielder for Dawson in the dying minutes. To clear up the Guly sub; that was because Davis has run out of steam and we needed some fresh energy in the midfield, which Guly brought. I am not sure if Fox was injured or Adkins looked at his effort and decided enough was enough as Defoe ran down our wing and Fox watched him do it, not giving any chase whatsoever!? I felt more confident with Reeves on as he defended first and was calm on the ball. He was also able to put in a few crosses which were level, not lofted so more difficult to defend against. I was also pleased to see J-Rod get his goal; he seemed to be spurred by that and drove on for more. A mention has to go to the Northam who started the singing and made so much noise at the right times to push the lads on, which clearly gave them the extra bit they needed. St Mary's rang out with the correct version of "Oh When The Saints, go marchin in" for ages and it was fabulous to hear, even after the final whistle! And for those that questioned the formation; it was 4-4-2 and changed to 4-3-3 when Mayuka came on, with J-Rod going out to the left wing and Adam floating behind Lambert.

0

simmo400 added 13:15 - Oct 29 Danny Fox only plays for his dead ball delivery this is a fact. Defensively he is a nightmare I dont get why his is constantly out of position. Its not as if he gets to the byline is it ? Thought MAYA had a resonable game with Fonte. He cout out afew crosses and read the game well. Our midfield were awful. Chaplow i thought was the player we needed to get a tackle in and break play up as it was like a training game for Spurs the first half. NA was right in his interview.........our players should stop looking at the names on the oppostions shirts and start getting amounst them alot more.

0

trotsky added 15:01 - Oct 29 It wasn't a game of two halves - we were as purposeless in the opening 15 minutes of the second half as we'd been in the first half. Mayuka's introduction on the hour - and the switch to 4-2-3-1 - changed everything. The improvement in movement was incredible and immediate, and made me think that Adkins' principal crime was to lose his nerve and switch away from this too early this season. But it's a tricky one: we obviously look much more fluid and create more opportunities with 4-2-3-1 - see the 2nd half demolition of Villa - especially with Gaston, but then we're far more exposed at the back. Given that Tottenham were rarely better than listless, and thought the job was done, the negative elements of the attacking formation weren't exposed. On balance, if 4-4-2 doesn't support the defence / make them less error prone - which it didn't yesterday - then we're better off trying to outscore the other team as we were doing against the big boys. Also... Clyne's susceptibility to crosses from the other wing is clearly a problem, Chaplow would have made more sense than Guly, and did somebody above seriously suggest that Schneiderlin is a weakness in this team???

0

Sanguin added 15:11 - Oct 29 In fairness to Fox he had a good game against Fulham, then he got injured in training and I don’t think he was 100% for this game. He was up against Lennon who was probably their most dangerous midfielder going forward. Also, on both wings the wingers would cut inside and our full backs would track them, then our wingers wouldn’t get back to cover Tottenham’s full backs who were charging forward. Still I had a lot more confidence in our back four today than I do with Hooiveld in it and Maya playing in a full back position. It seems Clyne’s only weakness is in the air and although he could have done better for the first goal, I think Gareth Bale is such an incredible player that Clyne was always going to come off second best. Although we looked a lot better in the first half, in both halves we were keeping possession well but failing to find incisive and positive passes forward, this is where we are lacking Ramirez. Tottenham are the better team, they deserved to win, it’s just really disappointing that whoever we play we always seem to do just enough to lose.

0

VeloSaint added 15:22 - Oct 29 3 main reasons for the second half improvement: 1. Lallana central. He doesn't have the all round game to play out wide in this league. 2. Mayuka's pace. We just don't have enough of it going forward and it made a big difference 3. Spurs relaxing. Whilst the changes above had a big impact, Spurs totally eased off and AVB was unable to get them going again. Too many misplaced passes cost us in the first half, we continue to surrender possession in key areas of the pitch leaving us exposed and running towards our own goal. Just about every player was guilty of it.

0

SaintNick added 15:53 - Oct 29 When players like fox are out of position you have to look at why it has happened, with Fox its usually because he has been pulled out of position due to his lack of cover in front of him, he quite simply cant be in two places at once, usually a full back will go with the man running at him, but too many times he is left with a choice of either doing his job and watching someone go in behind him unmarked or trying to deal with both giving the impression he is caught out of position. Next time he is getting torn to shreds look at where the wide left midfield player is, if he isnt within ten yards of fox then the person who is out of position is him. Lallana is a prime example of this over the past month or so, Fox or Clyne are given stick for being out of position but Lallana is still in the opponents half

0

slynch added 16:08 - Oct 29 Is Harding still available?
0

ItchenNorth added 16:09 - Oct 29 We deserved a point, but Spurs never got out of 2nd gear all game. Can't believe no one has picked up on how awful Steven Davis is. How many times did he give the ball away. Imo he must be dropped, hes not done a thing all season apart from look totally out of his depth at this level. Sure Spiderman didn't have a great game yesterday but for me has been the standout player for us so far (ignoring Ramirez short spell in the spotlight) in midfield. I'd get Chaplow in next game alongside Schneider then hope Cork returns to help sure the centre up soon. Reeves look good and I'd like to see him given his chance now. Mayuka must start too as we lack pace in the side. Reasons to be hopeful, yes. But we must be positive and make changes to the starting 11 or we'll get nowhere.

0

saintsoldboy added 16:14 - Oct 29 I completely agree with you on the full back analysis Nick.Whilst they are not faultless Clyne and Fox were being left exposed by our midfield. If anybody doubts it they should look at reruns of the first half on Saturday . On a number of occasions the Spurs forwards gradually drifted backwards into the gap left by our midfield pulling the defender with them thus leaving a gap for their midfielder to run into behind our defender. It happened time and time again and it has for weeks. Our midfield is then playing catch up trying to get back. I would say that 25% of the goals we have conceded this season have been down to this single point.

0

REEDYREEDOREEDZ added 16:26 - Oct 29 Lallana is ineffective as a left winger in this league, and defensively he leaves the wing wide open. It was his lack of tracking back that allowed Walker to drive forward on numerous occasions and cause chaos down the right. Lallana has only done well playing centrally this year, so if he is to play then it should only be in the hole behind the striker. Mayuka looked good and proved that he's a better proposition on the right than the useless Puncheon. Mayuka must start from now on. Rodriguez is best as a striker, but I don't think he and Lallana can play in the same team if Lambert plays. If we play 4-4-2 with J-Rod and SRL up front then Lallana would have to play left wing, which I don’t think we can allow anymore. If we play 4-3-3 with Lallana in the hole, then it pushes J-Rod out wide which is not his best position. After Saturday’s game I’d recommend: Gazza Clyne Fonte Yoshida Fox Schniederlin Davis Mayuka Lallana Reeves Lambert With Reeves providing protection for Fox down the left. Mayuka given freedom to get forward and Schniederlin helping to protect Clyne down the right. J-Rod to be the impact sub off the bench. We need at least a point against WBA next week!

0

Blogs 31 bloggers

Crystal Palace Polls