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Saints V Tottenham Hotspur The Verdict

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.      

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