In the preview to this game I pinpointed Saints weakness at the back as having the potential to cost us dearly and sadly I was spot on.

This was a strange team selection from Ralph Hasenhuttl, it was almost as if he had got his dates mixed up and thought we were playing Derby in the FA Cup, in the back four there was no experience of any note with Jack Stephens the senior man in terms of Premier League appearances with 45 starts and 4 as sub since his debut two years ago, even Alex McCarthy has less experience in the top flight.

The back four as it always does battled hard but the brutal truth is that we were all at sea and a shambles and once again we failed to defend to Premier League standards, the first goal saw us torn apart and just as we thought we were getting into the break level we conceded two goals on the stroke of half time, the last of which saw poor marking and the goalkeeper not exactly distinguishing himself.

In the main though we battled hard to stay in the game right up to the end, Manchester City are a class act who rip apart most teams on their day, if you can stay strong at the back then you have a chance, but we do not have the quality to do that as has been shown time and time again.

This leads to frustration in other areas of the team, why did Pierre Emile Hojbjerg commit a needless foul to get a straight red card in the dying minutes, the answer is pure frustration, I know how he feels it is sickening to see what would otherwise be decent performances that should yield something get absolutely zero due to yet another failure to mark at vital times at the back.

People have said that I have something against the likes of Yoshida & Jack Stephens, this could not be further from the truth, the only thing that I have against them is that they are not Premier League quality players, two years ago they were 4th and 5th choice, after VVD got injured they were thrown in as temporary stop gaps and yet they are still there, this is why Les Reed was sacked, a failure to sign quality central defenders.

Ralph Hasenhuttl must be tearing his hair out, he has tried multiple options to solve the problem, he can't because he doesn't have the quality to hand, Saints have to sign an experienced central defender in January or it will be a long season, if they do that then hopefully one of the bunch we currently have might be able to find some form beside them.

There were plus points from this performance in terms of the fighting spirit displayed and the fact that we kept going and didn't let it become a rout, but the same old problems are there and have been there for the past two years, forget sentimentality we need to address this problem now and I think Ralph Hasenhuttl might just do that.

Photo: Action Images

underweststand added 15:55 - Jan 1 TO : Consigliere A point I have made for several years past. There are 3 different levels in the Prem. If the "Top clubs " like playing in Europe so much , then let them have their own private little "Euro Super League"; Liverpool, Man City, PSG, Barca, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid and all the other "also-rans". Let them jet between Manchester, Milan and Madrid every other week and let the rest of us get on with some traditional club football. The bottom half of the Prem. and the top 6 from the Championship would make a good league without any problem, and there's still room for promotion and relegation issues. IF... .whoever wins the New Prem. wants to join " the Super Euro clubs"- let them do so. Just give us VAR everywhere and see some good old-fashioned English football. I know, I know - crazy idea - right ? So was the idea of the Prem. 30 odd years ago when they began discussing it.

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Consigliere added 21:09 - Jan 1 Not crazy at all and I seem to remember that something very similar was being proposed early last year by the "top five" clubs. For reasons I can't remember they were unable to go ahead but I suspect that its only a matter of time before something like this actually happens. The irony is that the American baseball teams operate a sort of communism in the world's leading capitalist country in order to maintain the integrity and interest in the spectacle of the leagues. Leicester apart (a feat probably never to be repeated) there is an inevitability about the outcome of the premiership each year and only four or five teams will ever come out on top.

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