x

Sloppiness "Still" Costing Saints

Early in the season sloppiness was costing Saints goals, but sadly it seems that we have not yet sharpened up enough in this department.

Virtually every goal we conceded in the early games of this season could be put down to individual error, some worse than others, but the reality was that a lack of concentration at key times was costing us dearly.

The arrival of Virgil Van Dijk plus the return of Ryan Bertrand looked to have improved the situation, but Saturday's game against Leicester City proved that there is still rom for improvement.

In today's Premier League the fact is that a team or for that matter an individual player has to be sharp and focused for the entire 90 minutes plus injury time of a game and that if they switch off just for a second then it can cost the team dearly.

That was certainly the case on Saturday for the equaliser, a poor kick from Kelvin Davis gave the ball to Leicester, Yoshida was caught napping to play Vardy on side and the ball was in the back of the net.

It really should have been avoided, it is bad enough when one player errs, but for two to do so in the same move is not acceptable.

What is also not acceptable is that it seems to be the same players involved, Kelvin was playing his first game of the season, so from that viewpoint escapes the finger pointing personally, although it did highlight that we need either to put our faith in Gazzaniga now or find another back up in January.

But for Yoshida it is a regular occurrence, he is a player who throughout his Saints career, seems to be tight for 89 minutes but always seems to then have a lapse in concentration that costs us dearly, this was not the first time this season he has been caught out, perhaps not catastrophic blunders, but a failure at key times to do the job he is there for.

There is no doubt that Yoshida is a decent enough player, but the continued lapses are highlighting a flaw in his game and that has cost us dearly this season.

So Ronald Koeman has to work on this part of the game and do so quickly, the frustrating thing is that hd we won on Saturday we would have been fifth, indeed we could have been higher than even this if these individual lapses in concentration had not cost us points, we handed Manchester United a win and gave away two sloppy goals at Newcastle to name but two games, of course every team makes errors, but we have done it just too many times this season to be acceptable, if we want to emulate last year then we need to sort this out.

What to read next:

Uchegbulam Signs for Latics
In a bizarre transfer move, Dale winger Jesurun Uchegbulam has left Rochdale to join one of our biggest rivals.
Cameron Gone
Jim McNulty confirmed in his latest video interview that the last of the out of contract players has now left the club.
Aidan Barlow Becomes Fifth Summer Signing
After an initial busy period, it's been quiet on the transfer front recently but today, out of nowhere, Dale made their fifth summer signing.
Jimmy Keohane Goes Home
News has come out of the club that Swiss Army Jimmy has rejected his contract offer from Dale and left the club.
Rodney Signs New Deal
Somewhat surprisingly you could say, Devante Rodney has signed a new 2-year contract at Dale!
Nevett Linked With Posh Move
Dale centre half George Nevett is now being linked with a big move to Peterborough United.
Three Scholars Offered New Deals
The club have now released their retained list for the Academy Scholars with three players offered new deals.
Brad Kelly Signs New Contract
Dale goalkeeper Brad Kelly has signed a new one-year deal to stay at Spotland.
Hendo Signs For Another Year
Dale striker Ian Henderson has signed a new one year contract to stay at Spotland, [insert goat emoji here]
Dale Sign Tanzanian International
Rochdale have added another winger to their ranks in the form of a Tanzanian International.