 | Your
Report | Southampton v Everton Your Report added at 01:36:30
A few observations, fwiw:
1. Coming into the season, I've had Everton pegged for relegation. Today they were poor, and are relegation-fodder indeed! (But a January cash injection from new ownership may end up saving them.)
2. Everton's offense (if you can call it that) made us look fairly assured in defense. Even when we were caught out we somehow made it look like we weren't. I wonder how long we can pretend until it becomes the real thing. Two games running of not being punished when we should've been could be just the tonic.
3. If anything keeps us up, it's Ramsdale's hands. (That sounds a bit naughty; but, truth be told, we still look pretty flaccid. [See below.]
4. We rode our luck, and took pretty much our only gilt-edged chance. Credit to Dibbling and Armstrong for making that happen.
5. We still seem to not know what to do in attack.
6. And this is the most emphatic observation: Our speed of play is nowhere near where it needs to be. I'm unsure why, but both Man City and Everton played to our pace(lessness). We need to be quicker to every ball and much quicker and much more deliberate in attack, on the wings and in the middle of the pitch.
7. The past two weeks' results have flattered us. But perhaps we can build on them. |
| Your
Report | Manchester City v Southampton Your Report added at 20:50:15
I dunno, a whole lot of "meh" for me. We should have lost by more, but defended gamely. (Ramsdale's got some good hands!) Still, it felt like a microcosm of this season: We lack quality, sometimes claw our way into games; but no one can put the ball in the net. The whole season has been and will be like this. Our return to the Championship can't come soon enough. |
| Your
Report | Arsenal v Southampton Your Report added at 20:07:42
A better outing than Bournemouth. But one has to ask where that was on Monday night. And how much longer can our team sheet be "randomly generated?" I still maintain that RM is a good Championship manager. But he's not ready for the Premier League. |
| Your
Report | AFC Bournemouth v Southampton Your Report added at 01:48:21
We were not at all set up to be successful tonight. The list of players on the bench and/or not even included says it all. I'd be surprised if RM hasn't lost the dressing room. He's a competitive Championship manager (and we have a competitive Championship squad). But, at least at this stage in his career, he's too inflexible to succeed in the Premier League.
Two additional observations:
-- For me, the biggest difference between the Championship and the Prem is the intensity and meticulousness of the marking. We defend and attack like we're still in the Championship. The reason we can't get out of our own half is because opponents' marking is so tight. The reason we keep shipping goals—indeed, all THREE of tonight's—is because we don't close down attackers.
-- I trust that fans who were stranded in Bournemouth by the train cancellation have made it back by now and are given tomorrow off by their employers'! |
| Your
Report | Southampton v Manchester United Your Report added at 19:21:44
Truth is, we never stood a chance in this game, as we've many new players who've yet to cohere as a team, and it was right after the September international break (which, as far as I'm concerned—mind you, I'm not a fan of international football—should never be allowed to occur; it's too early into the club season, it rarely produces good football, and it's an empty distraction for players and fans). A loss in this match was automatic as soon as the FIFA calendar was written. In the meantime, as other comments have observed, there were a few bright spots: the football was more direct (with the 4-4-2); Ramsdale is as advertised (he'll be very busy this season); Dibling appears to be the real deal; Stephens is—finally!—out of the side. |
| Your
Report | Southampton v Manchester United Your Report added at 19:09:03
Truth is, we never stood a chance in this game, as we've many new players who've yet to cohere as a team, and it was right after the September international break (which, as far as I'm concerned—mind you, I'm not a fan of international football—should never be allowed to occur; it's too early into the club season, it rarely produces good football, and it's an empty distraction for players and fans). A loss in this match was automatic as soon as the FIFA calendar was written. In the meantime, as other comments have observed, there were a few bright spots: the football was more direct (with the 4-4-2); Ramsdale is as advertised (he'll be very busy this season); Dibling appears to be the real deal; Stephens is—finally!—out of the side. |
| Your
Report | Southampton v Nottingham Forest Your Report added at 19:05:10
I wonder if this is an instance where semantics comes into play. I wouldn't call the match from our perspective a sh*t show; I'd probably say instead that the show was sh*t. There is a slight difference. |
| Your
Report | Ipswich Town v Southampton Your Report added at 21:32:29
Promotion would be a nice culmination of this year's work. But we're too frail to survive in the Premier League. We need people who have more bottle and guile (starting with the manager). |
| Your
Report | Ipswich Town v Southampton Your Report added at 21:19:03
Promotion would be a nice culmination of this year's work. But we're too frail to survive in the Premier League. We need people who have more bottle and guile (starting with the manager). |
| Your
Report | Ipswich Town v Southampton Your Report added at 21:06:15
Promotion would be a nice culmination of this year's work. But we're too frail to survive in the Premier League. We need people who have more bottle and guile (starting with the manager). |
| Your
Report | Southampton v Millwall Your Report added at 04:45:41
Part of what's been fun about the big second-tier holding tank that is the Championship is that they let you play football—until they don't (which apparently occurs around the 30-match mark). Our problem presently is we still think we can get by just by playing football. We're going to have to get stuck in a whole lot more. |
| Your
Report | Southampton v Millwall Your Report added at 04:45:40
Part of what's been fun about the big second-tier holding tank that is the Championship is that they let you play football—until they don't (which apparently occurs around the 30-match mark). Our problem presently is we still think we can get by just by playing football. We're going to have to get stuck in a whole lot more. |
| Your
Report | Bristol City v Southampton Your Report added at 05:16:59
We've seen this match before—last year in the Premier League, when we could string together passes everywhere but the attacking third, and then got hit on the break by teams that wisely waited us out. I guess, though, there's something to be said for such a match NOT having occurred over the course of the past 4+ months. |
| Your
Report | Southampton v Ipswich Town Your Report added at 23:04:54
Points are there for the taking in the Championship, partly because the marking is so slack compared to the Prem. We should be seizing on that to take us back: Attack the opposition's goal with gusto and defend like our lives depend on it (because they do)! |
| Your
Report | Southampton v Ipswich Town Your Report added at 22:32:14
Points are there for the taking in the Championship, partly because the marking is so slack compared to the Prem. We should be seizing on that to take us back: Attack the opposition's goal with gusto and defend like our lives depend on it (because they do)! |
| | YosemiteSaint
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