Southampton At Fulham The Verdict Monday, 2nd Jan 2023 10:20 It was a better performance at Craven Cottage on Saturday, but ultimately the result was exactly the same as most have been recently, the same old issues still remain, a lack of experience and leadership in the side at crucial moments. This was a much better performance from Saints and unlike other games since the arrival of Nathan Jones, they at least looked like they knew the formation they were playing and what they needed to do. Indeed we should really have taken the lead when Che Adams was through on goal, he hit the ball well, but the keeper saved well. When your luck is out it is out and that proved to be the case on 32 minutes, Fulham corner was well worked but the shot from outside the area was going well wide until it struck James Ward Prowse and his deflection flew past Gavin Bazunu giving him no chance.
The second half saw Saints as the better side, with several good chances and rarely looking like conceding, after James Ward Prowse hit a trade mark free kick 10 minutes after half time, the confidence started to return and we looked like we could win the game. But as the game entered the later stages Saints were clearly tiring, Stuart Armstrong on for Joe Aribo was an obvious change on 67 minutes, Aribo had an awful game, but why was Stuart Armstrong not in the starting line up was the question being asked by most Saints fans. With 13 minutes to go the manager had what looked like an enforced change, Samuel Edozie was suffering and had nothing left in the tank.
But with the game in the ascendancy for Saints why did we bring on a left back as a wide midfielder, we had other options. As the game entered its final couple of minutes we failed to make the right substitutions with our legs tiring, it was a soft corner to give away, but an even softer goal to concede, simplest corner in the play book, near post flick on and then Palhinha at the far post completely unmarked from only a few yards out, you don't get softer goals than that. Nathan Jones then made the substitutions he should have made 10 minutes earlier, Lavia, Mara and Adam Armstrong all entering the fray, but it was a case of too little too late, we had thrown away a game that we really should have got at least a draw from and perhaps more.
It nearly got worse in injury time with Lynaco failing to deal with a long ball and then putting his header back to Bazunu well short, the keeper saving the resulting penalty. Why we lost this is clear, yes of course we lack a striker, but in the meantime we need to make the best use of the players we have and in this game we didn't.
We failed to utilise the substitutions we had to hand, Nathan Jones seemed unable to replace players who were either playing badly or had run out of steam. All players have bad games, I am not going to blame the players in this respect, sometimes it just doesn't work for you, but that is where a manager earns his corn, he spots this and makes a substitution. His triple substitution on 90 minutes was just pure panic, tired legs had made tired decisions in the brain and we gifted the home side the winner, Lavia a holding midfielder should have been on with 15 -20 minutes left, having not being brought on what was the point of doing so in injury time when we were 2-1 down, it was baffling. We could of and should have turned a corner in this game but we didn't do so, again for the reasons that have cost us dearly in the past, a lack of leadership on the pitch to enable us to see out games, how on earth were we so disorganised at that corner that we left a man completely unmarked at the far post ! Sadly we also lack leadership off the pitch, I am loath to say this but Nathan Jones has had almost two months to work with his squad and get it playing in the manner he wants, yet we see no fruits of his work. Players such as Joe Aribo, Stuart Armstrong & Armando Bella Kotchap who were in good form before the World Cup break have found themselves out of the team and so it is understandable how the likes of Aribo who hasn't played in two months is now badly out of touch when recalled, understandable but unacceptable man management.
Now the Nottingham Forest game is vital, anything other than 3 points will see us cast adrift from safety. Before the break I felt that once we got the injured players back, we would start to hit form again, we had played well earlier in the season and we could do so again, now I do not have that confidence, from watching the games, it seems that the new manager has not reinvigorated the squad, but de motivated it and taken it backwards. He has gone from one extreme to another, in previous games he has tried to be too cleaver, changing formations and multiple substitutions, but in this game aside from Armstrong for Aribo, he sat on his hands and only made a change when he was forced to do so.
He failed to manage the game, know when to replace tired legs and bring on fresh ones to build on what we have. I still have faith that we have the squad to turn things around, a striker could change a lot, at the moment though I just dont have faith that we have a manager who has the experience and the nous to turn things around. Photo: Action Images Please report offensive, libellous or inappropriate posts by using the links provided.
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