Perhaps this was a result that Saints needed in that it highlighted our lapses in concentration this season so far.

It would be easy to make this report a mirror image of some of the knee jerk reactions I have seen on various websites this morning, but I think that the nature of this defeat was not so much that we are missing Morgan Schneiderlin but that we are lacking in concentration at key moments.

The case for this can be emphasised with the opening goal for Everton, almost an exact replica of Newcastle's second last week in that after a corner our opponents just galloped up the field and scored, now this was down to poor concentration and a failure to leave sufficient cover on the edge of the area, now both of these goals would not have been prevented by Morgan Schneiderlin being present, so we need to consider why they have happened.

We all know we need a new central defender that is for sure and Yoshida did nothing for his cause with his performance yesterday, however the problem at the back will not be solved by a new central defender, the issue is a lack of pace.

Last season we had too fast full backs, yesterday neither was in the side, Clyne has gone and Soares is a good enough repacement, but e does not have the pace of his predecesor, on the left Targett does not have the pace of Bertrand, Targett is a good player and uses the ball well but we cannot get away with two full backs without pace and we need Bertrand back.

So we lost this game through two key areas, concentration and lack of pace and both can be dealt with hopefully sooner than later, we need to remember this is a Saints side that has been good in pre season and had not lost a 90 minute game prior to Everton's arrival at St Mary's, we are not a team in disarray we are a good side who got exposed, yes the writing was on the wall at Newcastle and the concentration aspect needs to be worked on, but I think an injection of pace into the back four will solve a lot of problems as will a new face in the centre of defence.

So was the result a reflection of the game ? I would say no, im taking nothing away from Everton as they played the perfect away game, they sat deep, kept tight and most importantly kept their concentration and then they hit us on the break swiftly.

This can be backed up by the match stats where we had 17 efforts to their 10, but tellingly they only had 4 on target and 3 went in.

So we need to keep calm and like last season look to the future not to the past, this is a blip not a crisis.

What I have always tried to do in these verdicts is highlight areas that are not always obvious, in victory I try to focus on what we could have done better and in defeat I try to take the positives from the game, yes there were a few things wrong with us yesterday, it was a bad day at the office, but we were not outplayed, we are a good team and we were hit by a team who knew our weaknesses and exposed them, Ronald Koeman now needs to deal with thos weaknesses, some are in his control ie buying in another central defender and some like the injury to Ryan Bertrand are not in his control.

So when we add those lapses in concentration we have three things we need to work on in the next few weeks, once they are sorted there is no reason why we should not only have another top ten finish, but have good runs in all three cup competitions.

The future at Saints is bright so lets not wet the bed with the first set back.

Photo: Action Images

saintsnutcase added 10:43 - Aug 16 Nick - I agree we should stay positive. We won t be in relegation danger. But the fact is that we have sold players for 15-30m and replaced them with players for around 5-10m. We may have a larger squad now, but we don t have the same quality. Also our youth system has temporarily stopped producing top players who can walk into the team, except perhaps Reed. And we only have one top keeper who will miss most of the season.

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trampslykeus added 10:52 - Aug 16 The defence is also being exposed by the lack of midfield. Saints are trying to play 4-2-4 and it isn't working. If the opposition plays 4-5-1 we are being overrun and all those forwards are not contributing much. The introduction of Romeu made a difference but by then it was too late.
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SanMarco added 11:03 - Aug 16 I felt that yesterday was more about tactics than lapses of concentration. I remember the West Brom home game when Lukaku and a similar 'perfect away performance' ended in a 0-3. The wide open spaces in front of our full backs were a joy for Everton to behold. We musn't panic but I agree with nutcase that the 'sell best players and hope that cheaper alternatives' + youth system come good will not always work. Our success last season was based on being tight at the back. All the other good things followed from that. So far this season we look like a team that will ship goals. Having said that the team that beat Everton 3-0 last December was a 'weak' one due to injuries/suspensions and Everton put out a similar team to then so it has to be more than just about personnel. Time will tell if there is enough quality in the replacements. Of course if we lose 4-1 at Watford we will of course already be a 'crisis club' though! For the media the Saints story always has to be extreme to be worth printing...

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StEdmund added 11:19 - Aug 16 I'm surprised that no one has mentioned the absence of Clasie in midfield. Virtually a new defence, an accident waiting to happen.
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davidhosey added 11:21 - Aug 16 Generally agree Nick. My one worry is central defence. Alderweireld was a highly intelligent defender and martialled the defence perfectly. Now he is gone we are shipping goals. When we lost Michael Svensson all those years ago to injury we never adequately replaced him and the result was relegation. I am not saying we are in danger of that but we MUST replace him with top quality and soon. We finished high last season because we were mean at the back not because we scored more than our rivals

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perazi added 11:45 - Aug 16 Central defence is one of the problems we have. And yet Toby A. - as good as he was, missed a lot of Football with injury last season and filled in at RB and Midfield on other occasions. The glaring weakness we have in large part is the loss of Clyne, Morgan and Toby. Clyne's pace and overall class at RB is greatly missed and no matter how you dress it up Matt Targett is not good enough at this level. Our midfield has been decimated without Morgan - Romeu looks like part of the solution but Koeman's lack of trust in Reed (misplaced in my view) has seen Davis and JWP trying to fill a deep holding role, and neither can. And then there's the likes of Tadic and Long, both ineffective at providing defensive cover from wide attacking positions and completely upsetting the balance and shape of the team. Our best starting lineup at present is no where as good as last season which is the most unsettling part of our two League games so far.

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helpineedsomebody added 12:16 - Aug 16 foster injured clyne floged toby only he knows why ryan lame morgan floged replacements they need time but are they the players that you would buy from harrods or did we buy them at trotter & son. every team from the top six downwards would find it hard to replace class but this is the southampton way
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ExiledSupporter added 12:40 - Aug 16 Oh dear, a number of nagging concerns from last season suddenly resurfaced yesterday and caused us pain in an ineffectual display both in attack, defence and midfield...for that matter. Apart from Mane we didn't look much like scoring...Long seems only consistently effective as a impact substitute; Tadic looks all out of sorts on the right and although Pelle brings lots of qualities, pace is not one of them. I suspect that his ratio of strikes on target against Prem opposition is lower than many strikers. We don't have a quality No 10, will this be Clasie...I hope so but not much evidence to judge on. Stoke, West Ham and CPalace have all signed creative players of a higher standard (and cost) than we have so far managed this summer. What we do know is that Davis is a battler but lacks the quality of pass to be a defensive midfielder beside the highly consistent Wanyama. Perhaps Romeu will be a better replacement for MS, but Ward Prowse seems to constantly under achieve for such an 'impressive talent', no particular defensive qualities and not much goal threat either. As everyone says Targett and Soares seem a little overawed and although the latter looks to have the potential, although his crossing was dreadful yeserday, Targett seems easily brushed off the ball although ironically his crosses are more effective. Neither of them were provided with much defensive cover. In front of the defence Wanyama seemed over exposed without Schneiderlein's significant assistance and often Everton had masses of unchallenged possession between the lines because we didn't have sufficient players available or fast enough to keep up with their breakouts. Can someone tell me why we put so many players into the opposition's penalty area (Fonte, Yoshida and Wanyama were all in there at times yesterday) and were all either missing or late arriving when Everton broke away so quickly...leavinf Soares, Targett and Davis as defenders...we looked threadbare. Can't agree with you Nutcase, Stekelenburg did nothing much wrong yesterday, perhaps one dodgy bit of handling, but was not at fault for any of the goals. So at least one defender and one creative midfield attacker and here's hoping that Juanmi is given a run out on the left and Rodrigues makes a full recovery on the right and Tadic or Clasie play at 10 if we have no other

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ExiledSupporter added 12:41 - Aug 16 Sorry...should have finished the final sentence above with the words"...creative player in view"
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mesquita added 12:45 - Aug 16 A strong defensive set up last season led to a confidence in our overall performance levels. We need to re-establish that attitude through a less attacking approach to start with. The current back 4 is not strong enough, everyone knows that: Targett is not "not good enough" just "not yet good enough". Yoshida is good enough for a backup CB, but not the regular CB. Short term in the EPL we need to protect the defence with a stronger midfield, so Wanyama, Romeu, Reed and Davis. In the EL we can perhaps be more attacking with Tadic and Ward Prowse or 3 forwards instead of 2. The return of Bertrand and the integration of Clasie will help enormously but all those cries for a new CB are right

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legod7 added 13:23 - Aug 16 Most people are bemoaning on here( and other forums ) the fact that we haven't replaced Toby. we only had him for one season. When we had the much maligned Lovren and Shaw the season before we finished 8th. Yoshida played 21league games last season and we only conceded 33league goals It was not the defence that let us down yesterday it was because of the lack of cover from midfield. If you play 4-4-2 you should have at least 8 defenders in front of the keeper not just 4 like we had at times yesterday

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geezershoong added 14:26 - Aug 16 Talk about de ja vu.. http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/22228828 We couldn't handle Lukaku that day either.
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saintsnutcase added 14:36 - Aug 16 I agree with Exiled Supporter that Stek did nothing wrong yesterday, but the goals conceded since Forster was injured tell their own story. Also agree that Ron should give more chances to Reed, but as he said last year, he just doesn't think he is technically good enough. We have not been getting enough points since the Arsenal home victory in January - since then, we have been bottom 8. I hope that Clasie and Romeu can make the difference but we need VVD urgently.

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saintsnutcase added 14:38 - Aug 16 Actually it was after the Newcastle away game that the slide started.
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TeamCortese added 14:39 - Aug 16 I can't agree more with Nick. Although I still think we miss Morgan. The reality is last season we had the best Defensive Centre Midfield pair in the league. Very few teams could get past Morgan & Wanyama and if they did they had Fonte & Toby to deal with afterwards. Wanyama for me looked lost in that game and it will take time for Roko to decide who is best to partner him. I personally think it should be Romeu with Clasie in behind the strikers. JWP will need to step it up this season. He's had 3 seasons in EPL and should establishing himself as regular starter. Also what's going on with Reed? That was the perfect opportunity to give him a run-in... Lastly, as much I like Davis he shouldn't be in the starting line-up. We need to adding a higher calibre of players and Davis doesn't fit the bill because he's unlikely to score goals. Regardless this is not a crisis and I am shocked that people would even be mentioning relegation! Stay positive people #WeMarchOn

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SaintBrock added 16:35 - Aug 16 Sadly we all saw this coming after last week's woeful midfield performance and from what I saw yesterday nothing has changed or improved as we all feared. Worryingly it look this time that we have lost too many of our very best people from the rising years, the great team cohesion that we enjoyed for several years has vanished and been replaced by players who are talented in their own individual way but are not a team and not anywhere near the quality we've lost. We are going to struggle and likely to be in or around the survival dogfight judged on two matches and watching all the other teams. Sunderland and Newcastle looked likely to join Bournemouth at the bottom but if we don't improve fast we will not be that far in front of them.

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law101 added 17:08 - Aug 16 Targett- Poor defensively, reluctant to go forward which really affects our width in final third. Tadic- No movement off the ball, occupied the same part of the pitch as Cedric, could have held hands in that first half. Lacking a no.10 Cedric looks very weak defensively, as did Targett and Yoshida. VVD will help us move the ball into forward areas quicker. Yoshida struggles to pick a pass or move ball quickly. JWP- I've tried to give him benefit of the doubt for so long. But I'm not sure what he offers other than a good corner. Not a great passer, not a great defender, doesn't score goals and can't go past a player. We will get stronger with Bertrand coming back, a new CB and I think we will be more compact with Wanyama and Romeu. I expect Clasie to either be sub away or possibly play further forward at home to accommodate VW and Romeu.

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SaintMaw added 17:32 - Aug 16 This game was a tactical blunder....there were a couple of things we should notice. Notice how this is the second time that we have been caught on the counter right after a corner....Notice how the most of the goals were given up in the middle. First of all we're missing the engine to our team. I don't think that Wanyama can play with Davis in the midfield because Davis isn't that great at tracking back. We need an engine in the midfield. Box to box. Hopefully Romeu and Clasie will be the engine to our team since Schneiderlin is gone. Also from the counter on the corners. We need to be more aware of those situations. We need at least 1 defensive mid at the top of the box but you have Wanyama in the box and Davis taking corners. And the front four want to score....our 2 smallest players are the only ones back. It's wrong. Finally, about Maya. I don't think Yoshida is bad but he can't play center back. He's too weak and tactically erratic if you get what I am saying. Watch the second goal conceded. But he is very quick and can sometimes come in clutch. I think he is a great super sub tbh. But we need a smart defender. Toby was a very smart defender and I think VVD can be that smart defender. We neeeeed him. That is all.

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bstokesaint added 18:11 - Aug 16 Reading some of the forum posts you'd think this was our sixth defeat on the bounce. It's like reading a Man U or Liverpool forum after two games. I think yesterday really was a case of tactics gone wrong. It happens. Being attacking at home has historically been very effective for us. Yet here we are claiming some players aren't up to the task two games in. It's just like last season hearing the comments about Mane and Pelle. Let's move on and such being such a fickle bunch.

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NigD added 20:53 - Aug 16 Bstokesaint Thanks for that! Saves me writing. So right! Two games in. You would think we are relegated already with some of the comments! Trust in RK. He will have seen all the obvious issues highlighted in these comments! Much better to come! Everton played a near perfect game yesterday. Well done to them. Remember we did miss many good chances too!
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BoondockSaint added 21:26 - Aug 16 As I mentioned after last week's game: Corners give me nausea. We never deliver a proper one into the box. Why not just take short ones from now on? Another one of my hobby horses (I have a whole stable) is: Tadic was great on the left the first half of last year, and then was put on the right or middle and is not nearly as good. Targett needs to hit the weight room or hit the road.

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montecristo added 00:34 - Aug 17 I watched the game on computer in Portugal as usual only this time without screaming at the screen when things were not going our way I hád to admire the way Everton went about their businessitas a vrtally flawless performace from them we were basically outplayed when it mattered and contained when it didnt.They had better players than us in key áreas and sadly it showed.We dont have Lukaku or a Ross Barkley. our youth dont get much of a chance with RK they certainly dd with Poch. JWP is not a premiership player nor is Targett on yesterdays evidence but he may for all we know have been carrying an injury he wasnt singled out for criticism by RK after the game though he deserved it.Im not going to repeat what others have said but I think we will struggle witthout Spider, and would have liked to have seen Carvalho bought as a replacement! .

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wazzosan added 01:52 - Aug 17 I was just as unhappy as the rest of you about the performance. There were a few tactical decisions that just didn't work out. Playing Tadic on the right and Schlong on the left just didn't work. Tadic was generally poor and Schlong can't cross with his left. This meant that only our fullbacks were putting crosses in (or at least trying to). I wish we had swapped them back before halftime. This wouldn't have required a substitution and would have improved things. Our fullbacks didn't have a great game either. Hopefully Targett can improve. But remember, we lost our PFA player of the year left back to injury. Targett is just cover. As for Cedric, like Targett...lets hope he can improve. I don't think the two centre backs had a bad game. Yoshida seems to be the scapegoat if you look at previous comments. While I wish we had a better centre back, I don't think he played badly and certainly wasn't responsible for the first two goals. In fact, we got punished by a team who were very effective on the break. We didn't get back fast enough. I don't think Skeltenberg was that bad either. The first two goals were great finishes and he couldn't be blamed. Compare that to Everton's keeper, he had a bit of luck and saved a couple of Mane's efforts that would have gone in on another day. Lukaku, when he is on his game is a beast and can be unplayable. We unfortunately got him on an "on" day. Barkley also had his best game in ages. So what else went wrong? I thought that we didn't press the opposition much, there was a lot of standing back which allowed Everton to pass it around us. We were better in the second half but by then we were 2-0 down and had to commit more players to chase the game...which ultimately resulted in the 3rd goal. Wanyama didn't have his best game but the big thing I have noticed is that he is playing the ball out a lot more. Spider used to do this and he could play a killer long pass. The Wanaya/Davis combo didn't work well. I thought we looked better when Romeu came on and he began to play the ball out more. Not bad for a player who has been there 3 days. Hopefully he can improve. And finally, the team just got frustrated. You could see players yelling at each other (Pelle yelling at Targett for not releasing the ball earlier). Once this happened, we were never going to come back. The only positive? It was 3-0 and not more.

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Jesus_02 added 10:42 - Aug 17 Not so worried as we have players coming back and our strongest defence will soon be: Bertrand, VVD, Fonte and....Coco Martina? Still think we need to be strengthening RB as well as CB Target and Soares will be OK if we are not relying on them, it’s a hell of a difference if you only have 1 developing player in a back four at a time.
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DPeps added 14:05 - Aug 17 It's all been said really, but one question: how many times has Shane Long played well for us when he's started the game? Don't get me wrong, I like Long - he's got energy and willing in bundles, but seems to do much better coming on as a sub. I can think of the Villa game last season when he started and played well, but there may have been others. Interesting to know if that's been a pattern in his career. Also, I reckon we've conceded more goals than scored as a result of our corners in 2014/15 and 2015/16.

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