Saints struggled in the first half to break down Monaco and got caught by a sucker punch, but dominated the second to record their first win of the season in an emphatic style.

On Saturday against Wealdstone I reported that Saints appeared to be playing at 75% pace against a Watford side who were playing their last pre season game before their league season .

This game was against a Monaco side who were finishing up their pre season, but have a Champions League qualifier in a weeks time.

The Saints line up in the first half seemed to be a little bit of a fringe XI and they struggled in the first time to gel, but there were some notable performances, Adam Armstrong looked lively as did Yan Valery and Che Adams, however most of the attempts were from long range and didn't cause too much bother for the keeper.

But it was Monaco who took the lead when the ball got a bad bounce for Saints and it was hit home from close range by Golovin from 12 yards, Alex Mccarthy looking a little slow to react.

Thats how the score was at half time, but you could see that Saints were upping the tempo and they were back on level terms after some good work by Nathan Redmond who found Adam Armstrong who laid the ball back for Moi Elyounoussi who saw his shot well saved, however Armstrong was first to react as the ball fell free and nipped in behind a defender to poke home the equaliser.

This fired Saints up and as the subs came on they piled on the pressure, Mc carthy was a spectator for most of the second half and again good work on the right saw Joe Aribo cut the ball back for Stuart Armstrong who turned and fired the ball home from 12 yards.

Now it was only a question of how man and it was James Ward Prowse who swept the ball home after another good move down the right with Kyla Walker Peters picking him out after receiving a neat pass from Ibarahima Diallo who had a solid game.

Ralph Hasenhuttl will be happy with his team's night work, it was hard to find fault with anybody as the team revved up the work rate and attacking play, of course as I have said the result although pleasing means nothing, but those who played looked fired up and wanting to play, yes we lacked a little in front of goal but we have Mara to come in and that can only be good.

Ralph will be looking at his forward options and perhaps considering that Adam Armstrong has a role to play, Yan Valery did his chances no harm and even Moussa Djenepo looked threatening, I think he could well be an asset as a late sub coming off the bench.

The real bonus though was the players we had who played less than a half, this was very much a few first choice players, but mainly fringe players next season starting, not only did they show their positive attitude, but it was good to see the likes of Oriol Romeu and Stuart Armstrong looking like his former self, he looked like he wanted to be out there and these seems to be a spirit in the side.

We seemed to have balance of experienced Premier league players, the new signings raring to go and this seems to have rejuvenated some of those who have gone backwards a little in the past couple of years such as Remond & Valery, we just need a little leadership now at the back.

So a good nights work for Saints but we mustn't get too carried away, this is still only a friendly, but it is nice to see some positivity return to the squad and indeed surround the club.

Photo: Action Images

GRIM added 22:37 - Jul 27 McCarthy at it again, beaten at his near post, Bazuna must be first choice. Redmond trying to play as Right Wing back was laughable, hopefully it is the last we see of him. Romeu playing in much more forward no. 10 role looked good especially in 2nd half, it probably suits him because he no longer has the legs to keep tracking back, he has got a bit of vision & creativity. It's a bit worrying seeing Jack Stephen's have a half decent game, Ralph is daft enough to be fooled into thinking that Jack is the commanding ctr back that we need. Hopefully the couple of decent goals from open play could boost their confidence but it won't be that easy in the lge games. Despite it being a team full of fringe players it was a much more encouraging performance.

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IanRC added 22:38 - Jul 27 Yes, pretty much good all round Although it was disappointing to see McCarthy beaten at his near post again. Even Stephens had a very good game except for one lapse. Djenepo looked very useful when he came on and I thought Redmond too played well.
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SaintPaulVW added 22:48 - Jul 27 Not taking too much out of it but Djenepo looked sharp. Aribo looks very useful and Valery looks to have got a lot more solid . Also good to see Adam Armstrong looking confident. Steady progress in preseason. COYR.
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stmichael added 22:57 - Jul 27 It was positive especially 2nd half. Unfortunately Lyanco Stephen’s and Diallo all Made their usual errors which will Be punished if repeated in the Premier League..
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deanosfc8 added 23:04 - Jul 27 You can see clearly that the energy levels were raised from the previous games. Good to see we were hungry to win the ball back and played some nice stuff especially in the second half. Not to sure why many on here got carried away with previous friendlies, it has to be about fitness and working towards Aug 6th. Saturday we can step it up another notch. Villarreal would be a good test before our game the following Saturday at Spurs. Got to say ( I know its early days) I do like the look of Aribo.

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Jesus_02 added 00:33 - Jul 28 Hate to be negative but Valery , Stephens and A Armstrong looked like world beaters against a team with their foot off the peddle with a much slower pace than the Prem . Cant help but feel that with less time on the ball they will be exposed.
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AmericanSaint added 00:55 - Jul 28 While a pre-season game, people seem to forget that this Monaco team finished 3rd in Ligue 1, are in the Champions prelim rounds and start their season next week. They were not fielding a "B' team and their goal came fortuitously. This game was for RH to see what fringe players are to be kept. Yes some mistakes were made, but our goals came from good open play, which what we need more than anything. So let's see what happens with Villareal and then we can start to really analyze what our team will look like this season. Relax, have some fun and get ready for the new season with a pint or two. COYR

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underweststand added 05:51 - Jul 28 Agree with most of your comments ( Nick) but not happy with Redmond 's contribution. Bit part players like Valery and Diallo took the opportunity to show up and did quite well. Jack Stephens has few fans on this site, but looked impressive playing wider on the left. Second half subs. like Djenepo looked impressive (what am I saying?), yet somehow his weaving and diving seemed even to confound his team mates and opposition. Stuart Armstrong got a good goal and DAJFU without raising sweat and Adam A. looked lively and took his half chance very well. JWP took his goal well , popping up just when you forgot he was on the pitch. Tried to convince myself that we couldn't play this well against Spurs, but it felt good. One more game for Ralph make choices. Really need him to choose his no.1 keeper PDQ.

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landsdownsaint added 09:16 - Jul 28 Djenepo is a exciting player , he’s different from anyone else we got & I hope RH & a few doubting supporters get behind him
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wrathoftazz added 09:38 - Jul 28 Title should be "McCarthy in goal... enough said"
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erick added 10:01 - Jul 28 Bazunu Valery, kotchap, salisu, kwp Jwp, lavia, diallo Stu, Armstrong, aribo Make it happen Livramento> > Valery
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Peterx added 10:10 - Jul 28 Looked really good, could this be the result of improved coaching from the new coaching team? I also think our high energy style suits the new 5 subs rule. Also think AA looks like he can have a good year. Eternally optimistic.
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Monksway added 10:44 - Jul 28 Given two years of conceding far too many goals the formation change is to be welcomed. At least it's not doing the same thing and hoping for a different outcome.
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ItchenNorth added 14:16 - Jul 28 Shocking, terrible, wrong team selection, wrong formation, sack the manager, Championship team 😁!
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Block8 added 14:57 - Jul 28 Firstly Redmond had a good game and I'm not his biggest fan. If we play Djenepo wing back against Spurs, we will get hammered down their right, he's not good enough for the prem! McCarthy caught at the near post, is there a pattern here :) Loved watching Romeu further forward he looked a notch above and could be our Erikson this season. No one played badly but I think we'll have a better idea of first eleven on Saturday then Ralph can whittle the squad down to 30, we do need to shift a few, loans or sales!

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GRIM added 20:11 - Jul 28 It just goes to prove that we all analyse games & players differently. I personally thought Redmond was shocking playing at Right Wing Back, he was lost didn't have a clue what he was supposed to be doing defensively. He did improve when pushed forward in 2nd half. These friendlies can be misleading, Jack Stephen's looked a half decent ctr back & he's not. Djneppo looked great going forward but he's useless at defending, he doesn't know how to tackle he just gets in the way & hopes for the best. But Romeu & Stu Armstrong both look better in more forward roles. But the moral to this message is that it's dangerous to judge players based on pre season friendlies, the Premier lge sorts the the good from the bad.

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