Sadly it was another defeat for Saints, but it was a performance with a spirit that has been lacking at times over the past 4 months and although this season will peter out into disappointment, there are some positive points to be taken from this game.

From the start you could see this was a Saints team with purpose, they played with a determination throughout that has often been missing, it was end to end stuff and Saints matched Liverpool throughout the game in terms of chances and whilst no blame can be attached on either of the home side's goals to Fraser Forster it was poignant that the Sky man of the match was Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson.

Nathan Tella looked lively in the first half especially and caused the home side problems and James Ward Prowse and Stuart Armstrong worked tirelessly in the centre of midfield, chances were being created at both ends but it was Liverpool who took the lead and again you could say we switched off for just a second in defence and the home side took advantage, it was a goal in many ways similar to the goal scored by Leicester last weekend.

But Saints didn't give up and continued the fight throughout the game and had their chances but just couldn't take them, Che Adams and Nathan Tella both having good efforts.

Right up to the 90th minute the game could have gone either way with Ralph Hasenhuttl throwing on both Michael Obafemi and Moussa Djenepo for fresh legs, but although there were moments the final goal of the game went to Liverpool and it was harsh on a Saints side and gave the result a more comprehensive feel to Liverpool than it actually was.

Liverpool themselves did have more purpose than they have had of late, but Spurs defeat earlier in the day suddenly gave Liverpool a chance to leap above them into the top six and Leicester defeat on Friday an outside chance of a Champions League spot, suddenly once again Saints were in the wrong place at the wrong time, but we stood up to the task.

So a disappointing night for Saints in terms of the result, but I have always been a person to take the positives out of any situation, Ralph Hasenhuttl has to move forward and get this awful season over with.

The fact that we could still take on a Liverpool side without our top scorer and defensive midfield player out of action showed we are progressing, no one argues that we need to improve the squad and that is essential in the summer.

Last night will have shown the manager a few things that he will want to change, personally I do not think the partnership between Jan Bednarek and Jannik Vestergaard is a good match, if Spurs or Leicester as rumoured are interested in the Dane then if the price is right I would take it, the replacement is already at the club in Mohamed Salisu.

The performance of Nathan Tella perhaps suggests that we do not need to make Theo Walcott's loan move permanent next season, all football clubs are going to be strapped for cash next season, Walcott's wages will not be as high as they are now at Everton but they will still be substantial, in the last few months Tella has done more than Walcott and he might just be the better option next season.

This game is now over, we have four games left where we are now playing just for the prize money per place, we play Crystal Palace on Tuesday and follow that up with the home game against Fulham on Saturday, two games that we can win and in doing so move up a place or two.

Photo: Action Images

AirFlorida added 21:33 - May 9 I think if Fulham lose to Burnley tomorrow we go fourth from bottom.. but it guarantees our survival 😂 what a season 😭
2

DorsetIan added 22:36 - May 9 We’ve seen enough now. I couldn’t give a sh!t about signs of improvement. I’ll celebrate when we next win. We have lost so many games. Our early good performances this season were the exception that proves the rule. I think our current form is a true reflection of where we are as a football club. Too few quality players, a very weak squad, and a manager with obvious limitations. Big changes needed.

2

Nomaesaints added 08:39 - May 10 Some observations from Saturday: Adams not good enough for Premiership Obafami-not good enough for Premiership. Walcott-return him to Everton, hes more concerned about his hair. Foster- why he was picked instead of McCarthy. He should have claimed the ball for the first goal, after alll it was in the six yard area. This playing out from the pack would have your nerves shattered. Let me get this right: Fraser passes the ball to Jannick who is standing beside him in the six yard box who then looks for someone to pass to which is usually another defender. The fact that he has the ball means he has now only three defenders to pass it to? Ralphs team selections need to be looked at. He is getting them wrong most of the time. When we were one nil down we were still passing the ball around at the back instead of getting it up to the front men . The Liverpool centre backs were there for the taking if only the ball was moved forward quicker. Are we not able to vary our corner kicks? Everyone knows that the corners are trying to find the head of Jannick and mark him accordingly! Its funny that since Shane Long went on loan we cannot buy a win!

4

beynali73 added 10:02 - May 10 Weird thought isnt it - we want a win this evening which will push us just above the relgation zone but to safety. I expect Burnley to bully Fulham into surrender making the last 3 matches dead rubbers. Makes you wonder and thankful that there are somehow 3 worse teams than us in the division again. Have to feel to some extent for those teams that we can stay up on 37 pts.

1

Blogs 31 bloggers

Shrewsbury Town Polls