Saints At FC Midtjylland The Verdict
There is no simple way to say this, the performance was simply unacceptable for a so called Premier League team.
Usually I try to take some plus points from a defeat, but its hard to think of even one from a performance that was quite frankly unacceptable, an old phrase in football is don't leave the field with regrets and our players must have needed carrier bags to carry theirs off.
The game followed exactly the same pattern as the first leg in Southampton with the Danes well organised and from the off employing any underhand trick that they could to gain an advantage, even the ballots were in on the act.
The referee could have done a lot more to stop their cheating, but did it change the result ? no the defeat was all of our own making.
In fairness it was another vital game where everything goes wrong before a ball is kicked, injuries to Victor Wanyama and Sadio Mane adding to the problem, but we still had enough quality players to do the job.
In fact the ONLY bright thing I can think of is that usually after a catastrophic game such as this Saints bounce back with a vengeance.
The Europa League tour is over now, we need to put it behind us and pull together as a club whether we are players or supporters.
What to read next:
Hull AwaydazeThis season’s trip to Hull City is on Saturday, with a rare kick off at 3pm. You’ll find the stadium now known as the MKM a mile or so to the west of Hull city centre.
Farke Seeks Improvement Despite Comfortable Win in the FogEven though we went back to the top of the table Daniel Farke thought we should have won more comfortably, but we were more than good enough to beat a woeful Stoke City. For the third time in 2024 a Leeds win cost an opposing manager his job, after Narcis Pelach was called in to collect his P45 yesterday morning.
Derby AwaydazeOur first visit to Derby County four five years is at 5.45pm tomorrow, which has of course been dictated by Sky Sports. We’re not famous any more!
Stoke AwaydazeOur visit to Stoke City is on Boxing Day evening, with kick-off at 8pm, having been put back by our very good friends at Sky Sports.
Preston AwaydazeOur visit to Deepdale is on Saturday, with a 12.30pm kick off, and once again we’re live on Sky Sports. As the name Preston North End suggests, the stadium is a mile or so to the north of the town centre.
Leeds ease to comfortable win over DerbyThe game played out as most of the fans on both sides would have predicted, apart from the identity of the two goalscorers. It took a while for us to break down a stubborn Derby County defence, but once we had scored the two goals there was only going to be one way this game was going to finish.