Saints got their first win of the season at the fourth attempt, but we should not get too carried away yet after the win against a poor understrength Burnley team who were too one dimensional to break down a resolute Saints defence.

A win is a win and the first three points of the season is very welcome, but truth is we played better going forward against both Palace and Tottenham, we were just not carved apart at the back by a Burnley side that was one dimensional and could not change tactics to try and open us up.

Ralph Hasenhuttl made the right change in the centre of the defence, in bringing in Jannik Vestergaard for Jack Stephens he added strength to the back four with the Danish centre half and Jan Bednarek able to withstand the constant balls pumped forward to try and find Wood up front for Burnley.

Saints took the lead early on with a well worked move that saw Che Adams through and then lay a lovely ball for Danny Ings to slot home and give Saints a 5th minute lead, we looked comfortable from then on with some slick passing, but we had to match strength with strength and to be blunt Sean Dyche could not change tactics and made it easy for us to defend.

The only real chance Burnley had was when a poor clearance saw the ball hammered at goal and Alex McCarthy saved well.

But there was always the chance that we would do the usual lapse of concentration thing and gift a goal, but the good thing was that didn't happen.

But we should not get carried away just yet, Burnley were woefully understrength and woefully short of any sort of plan B, Sean Dyche seemed unable to change the way his side played and the costant hoof forward was dealt with, in the centre of midfield James Ward Prowse and Oriol Romeu had no time for the finer things in football, if the ball wasn't flying way over their heads then they had to rollu their sleeves and graft.

In truth we saw the game out comfortably, but this was a poor Burnley side.

So some good things came out of this game, but we should not allow it to make us think everything is ok, we still need to address the same issues, if we do this can be a good season again, if we don't then it will be another of what if.

This was a team performance though and every man did his job and that is the real plus point from the evening.

Photo: Action Images

davidargyll added 17:17 - Sep 27 I don't think we put in a bad performance at all seeing as we only had 10 men on the pitch...or at least that was what it seemed like because for 99% of the time Djenepo was completely invisible. What has happened to him?? Is he carrying a leg? He looked lacklustre, terrified of making a run forward and a total waste of space. When Ralph took him off it was not a moment to soon, in fact he should have subbed him at half-time. Last season he showed glimpses of brilliance, but not yesterday. Other than Vestergaard was better than last season, not much more to say about yesterday except ... WHOOPPEEDO) we won!!!

0

ElijahK added 17:31 - Sep 27 I mean it was an ok performance as in the end we came away with 3 points, with no one suspended or injured. But what’s going to determine whether or not we can get the top 10 or around that position is simply down to if Ings (who I personally think could win that golden boot this season!) gets any major injuries and whether the board bring in these signings as if we’re going to get 3 we need at least 1 central midfielder and then either a wide player or another central defender! Because if we can get them and they turn out more like Ings than Carrillo then we should have a decent season! Because in the end we’re Southampton and will always start a season badly, luckily not too badly this season though!

2

AmericanSaint added 18:06 - Sep 27 Nick - that is a fair if not blase verdict. We can only play the team put in front of us and its not our problem that Sam Dyche iddi have the players to tactically change his formations. I have to disagree with Davidargyle. Djnepo was invisible. If he goes back and watches the games, you will see that Djnepo was tracking back a lot when the ball was turned over in Burnley's half. What I did notice was that he and Bertrand were not on the same page as they would get clustered together and neither would make a run down the wing or channel. I think Vestagaard had a very good game and his high nullified the long balls into Wood. I think they said he had 8 air-duels won, so RH was right to play him. Also, it was good to see that we did not play such a high line on the D, so the over the top ball was fairly eliminated. The ball movement was much better, especially for OR and JWP. Finally, I agree we need a few more players and I would suggest that per the media, Aurier (TH), Segersun (TH) and Lotus-Cheek (CH) or Davies (TH) are available and would be good additions, even on loan deals. I would go after Loftus-Cheek as the priority as he has the ability to be a great box-to-box midfielder. Ok, now we need to make it two in a row. COYR.

6

IanRC added 18:10 - Sep 27 Thought Djenepo was very good against Spurs in the first half. Not as good yesterday but hardly a waste of space.
5

IanRC added 18:19 - Sep 27 Agree AmericanSaint, except not Davies, would be tempted by Ntcham
5

AmericanSaint added 18:28 - Sep 27 IanRC - I dont know much about Ntchum and think a player who has already played in PL maybe a better risk than one in SPL. Just a thought, plus Davies maybe hungrier to prove Maurinho wrong. Heck we just need to get a few more quality players.
2

AmericanSaint added 19:21 - Sep 27 Sorry IAnRC - ment Davies wants to prove Everton wrong.
0

WestSussexSaint added 20:01 - Sep 27 Not pretty but the result was more important than the performance. Good to get a win under the belt. Vestergard and Romeu were effective against predictable Burnley tactics. I thought Bertrand was a bit too casual and sloppy in possession at times although not helped by Djenepo standing 2 feet away from him or behind him and times. Great pass from KWP for the goal but he really needs to work on his throw ins as nearly every one went to a Burnley head!

2

halftimeorange added 20:06 - Sep 27 Djnepo had a poor game in my opinion, losing the ball on countless occasions. I thought McCarthy's positioning was tempting fate too many times. Having said that everyone put in a shift and Saints just about deserved the points. Burnley need their injured players back. I can't agree with Danny Ings' opinion that Saints were almost back to their best. Our passing in general was rubbish, although Che Adams showed some smart touches laying the ball off, usually to no avail. There's a way to go before we can think about mid-table.

2

LordDZLucan added 20:21 - Sep 27 We won. That's the main thing. But it wasn't entertaining. If I had to watch that every week I'd find something else to do! What became clear yesterday is that without the high back line and the forwards pressing the opposition defence we don't offer much of a threat. I'm afraid Oriol and JWP together don't offer enough creativity in the centre of midfield and if we had a spare £20m I'd spend it all on one creative midfield player to sort out that problem!

6

SanMarco added 21:07 - Sep 27 Yes Lord Lucan - certainly an atrocious match but at least we got the right result. I agree with those that say Djnepo had a bad one. Romeu was man-of-the-match for me. I thought we played like we wanted to prove a point and win 1-0. I barely remember an attack in the second half. Luckily that didn't bite us on the elbow this time. Burnley were poor so let's not get carried away but if we can beat West Brom next week we will have made a reasonable enough start.

6

schatfield added 01:43 - Sep 28 I should highlight the fact we won and with a clean sheet. Heck, even Stephens didnt play which must please the writer of this rather down verdict. Also worth looking at other results in the premier league just today alone, City shipping 5, Arsenal losing by 4. Am pretty sure those teams have more experienced CBs; which isnt always what makes a team. Worth noting on your future articles when the opposition happen to score against us. Its a funny old game, especially this season.

0

lemmsy added 05:43 - Sep 28 Thought Vestagaard had a decent game, Pedestrian performance after the first 20 minutes but was necessary & we sort of got dragged down to Burnley’s type of football.I think the chap earlier has forgotten jalapeños first half against sours & missed his work rate in this one. Also when did arse get beaten by 4?
1

sandywelsh added 10:12 - Sep 28 Bad game to watch but good result in the end. The defence played well without Stephens in it, and Romeu was my man of the match. I also thought Djenepo had a poor game but when Obafemi came on he was even worse. I think Obafemi should go out on loan to a lower league team to improve his play. At the moment he is not up to Premier League standard and Shane Long is much better.

4

kristianJ added 13:52 - Sep 28 A dire game of football but grateful for the win. I agree with Sandy Welsh, Romeu was my Motm. I think the article rightly highlights how poor Burnley were, which is mainly down to injuries. If we had 6 or 7 first team players out for any length of time we’d be heading for relegation. Given this our attacking performance was pretty woeful with Djenepo, who I rate as a player, having a poor game. However, our squad is thin Ralph doesn’t really have the players on the bench to change things. We could do with buying a couple of midfielders in my view.

1

aceofthebase added 20:38 - Sep 28 Djenepo failed to attack and take on defenders. We have all seen how good he can be, I just hope that all his passing back wasn't what RH, or training staff, has told him to do.
1

Blogs 31 bloggers

Preston North End Polls