Saints huffed and they puffed but they could not blow the West Ham United house down to send Fat Sam home a very Happy Hammer.

The statistics probably said a lot about the way West ham set about this game, 67% possession to Saints, 21 shots compared to West Ham's 7, but the problem was that only 7 were on target with the Hammers managing just 1 solitary effort on target themselves.

Sam Allardyce had clearly done his homework and his game plan was simple, play deep so that his defence could not be exposed to the pace of Elia and Mane, once his team went down to 10 men that resolve was strengthened and with Andy Carroll a virtual passenger in the final 15 minutes due to injury.

This is the price that Saints have to pay for the success this season, teams arrive at St Mary's with the main objective being not to let us score and then to try and catch us on the break.

Saints didn't play badly they just could not break down the visitors resolve and that has to be a problem that Ronald Koeman has to sort out quickly, the return of Shane Long will help matters as will Jay Rodriguez if we can get him fit, but in the meantime we perhaps have to adjust our style of play a little when we play at home.

Some fans around me felt that Graziano Pelle is not in form, that is not the full story, now Pelle is being used in a different way, now he is more about the link up play than being the man on the end of it.

When he was prolific in the early part of the season he was used as a more out and out attacker, our game was more about getting down the wing and putting it across for Pelle to get on the end of and he did that well.

Now Pelle's role in our attacks is around 20 yards deeper than before, his role is to win the ball and knock it down to the central midfield who will in turn bring the likes of Elia, Mane and even Clyne and bertrand into play, this works well away from home with a good example being the first goal at Newcastle, but at home when we have more of the ball perhaps we need to push Pelle further up as he is needed less to win the ball.

But all things aside we need to put this down as a bad day at the office, it was another point and that keeps us in fourth place, the season is still very much in our own hands and we have come through a difficult spell with a good tally of points, with players coming back from injury we will only get stronger.

Photo: Action Images

mgprobert added 11:13 - Feb 12 I think you've got that absolutely spot on - fully agree! We'd all have settled for 4th place by mid Feb back at the start of the season. We march on.
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arthurfane added 11:18 - Feb 12 I also agree, 4th position is fantastic, and I would be beyond delighted if we can hold onto that. You say that Pelle is playing a different role - we have scored once in our last three, so I think Koeman should revert Pelle back to his more forward role then and get his confidence flowing once more with some goals. He needs them!
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zonehead added 11:42 - Feb 12 we are the invisible team nobody can see us in the top four (and nobody can score against us)
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Fordy added 11:48 - Feb 12 Much as I'd like to remain as positive as possible, I can't help but finding myself agreeing with the people saying we should have gambled on buying or at least loaning a striker in January. We have no real back up for Pelle who is looking tired. We could have put in a bid for Assombalonga who was out of favour with Pearce at Forest. There must have been someone out there. Even when Jayrod and Gallagher come back we won't have a huge amount of cover for Pelle. Just a shame as it could have made all the difference.

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TreeHugger added 11:52 - Feb 12 I think Pele needs a song. I get the feeling he needs to feel loved. You can see he is trying but due to tactics and probably a bit of bad luck/form,he just isnt getting that goal. Thought we did well last night but couldnt get that break. Yoshida had a lot of the ball but doesn't offer the attacking threat of bertrand. I think he would have made the difference last night which sounds strange with him being a defender. Elia is looking awesome, he seems to have settled really well. Not much else to say. Keep believing and keep pushing. Wanyama is a rock. If only he could shoot straight!

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Number_58 added 12:09 - Feb 12 Has nobody mentioned the pitch invader? Advanced more in one 30 second jaunt around the pitch than West Ham did all night.
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davepid added 12:53 - Feb 12 Good analysis Nick and we can, still finish runners up in the league though our inability to finish makes it harder with each passing game : one goal in three is not good. Long coming back won't increase the goal tally and I dont recall Gallagher knocking them in last season either. Several contributors here have commented on our inability to score the winner or more when we are winning. The team need shooting practice and JWP just needs shooting for his numerous wasted chances.

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ItchenNorth added 13:33 - Feb 12 Pelle is playing with his back to goal too much. Yes he is as good as anyone laying off balls and feeding others in but there is a balance to be struck. The lack of width or crosses coming into the box is a concern because its Pelle who we want rising up to get on the end of them in the box. All to many times last night we tried to walk the ball into the net as well. An off night in front of goal; maybe, but we didn't help our own cause in many respects. We miss Bertrand at right back (even though Yoshi has been playing well there), but also Clyne never got beyond Elia or Tadic more than a handful of times. Still , plenty to be positive about though but we need to adjust our tactics slightly to get the best out of the strengths we have in the team up top.

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bstokesaint added 13:41 - Feb 12 I can't help that think last night was a big opportunity wasted. I'm trying to remain positive, but no goals and one point at home against Swansea and West Ham is not a good return for a team chasing CL spots. Both Tadic and Pelle wasted good opportunities to score which they would have taken earlier in the season. Honestly, I would say they almost didn't want to be in those shooting positions with time to think about getting a shot off. The confidence has gone for now. I think our best hope is the boys come back rejuvenated from a mid-season break and pumped up enough to beat Liverpool and Spurs, as that's looking increasingly likely to be the only route required to finish above them both and keep us in European contention. On the positive side RK has done a great job with us defensively. West Ham really troubled Man United, but with 11 men for the hour before their keeper was sent off they couldn't do anything to us. As soon as we start scoring again we'll be a proper force. Special things are happening at this club. I just hope we can continue to grow and RK stays at the helm. I love the bloke.

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saintsnutcase added 15:26 - Feb 12 Like everyone else I hope RK stays with us for a very long time. However, I have not been reassured by his recent comments on his contract. He has said that he has a 3 year deal, and that he will "respect" the terms of his contract. This is not the same thing as saying that he intends to stay for 3 years. This is because he has also said that his contract has an exit clause, which means he can break the 3 year deal if certain conditions are met. One of these conditions is probably that compensation is paid to Saints. If that happens, he can "respect the terms" of his contract but still walk away in the summer. I am concerned that he is deliberately leaving this as an option, in case Barca come calling.

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BoondockSaint added 16:15 - Feb 12 Unfortunately this was wash, rinse, repeat, of the last 3 games. No quality balls into the box, too many touches, expecting the other team to just let us walk the ball into the net, etc. I have been backing Pelle for his work ethic, but maybe Koeman needs to sit him just to get him angry and fire him up. Nutcase, don't we have enough stress without you making us worry about Koeman? If he does leave, I think he will help choose his replacement. Having said that, who would want to leave a stable club and owner for fickle fans, revolving door boards and prima donna players you have to keep happy or they don't give an effort and whine to the board? The grass is always greener over the septic tank!

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Whatsforpud added 16:59 - Feb 12 Thought the midfield trio of Wanyama, Davis and Reed played well. Whichever three we use, they seem better at helping defenders to defend than Attackers to attack, as borne out by the goals against versus goals for. Having said that, last night, Davis moved into some good positions on the edge of their area to tee up some chances.
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SaintGerard added 20:36 - Feb 12 Agree with Bstokesaint. If we want CL next season, we have got to be beating the likes of Swansea and West Ham (and Man U at home when we had the chances, loads of them). I see these as points dropped because when we get to play the really big teams, it is going to be so much harder to find points. Having said this, fourth is great but it would be a shame to have come so far (so quickly) and then throw all these positive advances away. Yes we have injuries but so do all teams even those playing CL already. Saints can still pull this round but things have got to change on the pitch and at the end of the day, this is up to the players and how much they believe and how much they want it. COYS

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