We nearly threw it away, but we got the elusive goal and kept going till the end to get our just rewards come the final whistle.

This was a game that would have told Mauricio Pellegrino a lot about his squad, it will have told him that they have a good fighting spirit, it will have told him that they have a depth that offers variety and it will have told him that he desperately needs a new central defender and Virgil Van Dijk back.

Saints first goal at St Mary's in over nine hours was well worked, Manolo Gabbiadini started and finished the move and in between made a run that needed a good ball and Nathan Redmond provided it roling an inch perfect pass that Gabbiadini took in his stride and stroked past Hart.

That put Saints in command especially when Arnautovic was red carded for a needless elbow on Stephens, in truth that should have been a second dismissal for the Hammers with Mark Noble getting away with an awful studs up challenge on Lemina that if Lee Mason had seen properly would have seen Noble walking.

Dusan Tadic made it two from the spot after Jose Fonte hauled back Stephen Davis and it looked like Saints would have an easy second half, but they switched off and conceded a sloppy goal right on the stroke of the break, at the time it looked worse than it was, it was a well placed shot from Antonio that Forster did well to stop, however he really should have got the ball away from danger rather than push it out and Hernandez reacted quickest to fire home and give the Hammers hope.

For long periods f the second half Saints were in command, as you would expect with a man advantage, but even before the equaliser came they looked shaky when the ball was played into the box and struggled to mark and win headers.

The visitors should have had a penalty themselves when Stephens appeared to have moved his arm to block the ball.

But on 77 minutes West Ham appeared to have snatched a draw and Saints weakness in the centre of defence was exposed, again another cross into the box saw Stephens marking space and Sakho got goal side of Yoshida and had a free header which Forster did very well to keep out, but again Hernadez was quickest to react t o smash the ball into the net.

It looked like the Hammers now had the initiative and they had a game plan, get the ball into the box and this was causing us problems, however we dug in and kept going and it paid off.

Pellegrino was not prepared to settle for a draw and made a double substitution, although Gabbiadini going off was perhaps not the obvious choice and the fans would have liked to have seen him play alongside Charlie Austin who cam on, the manager showed he was not afraid to take risks and he took off Davis and put Long on to chase and harrass the West Ham defence and defend from the front.

However it looked like being a draw till the final minute of injury time, Yoshida did well to get himself in the box and Zabaleta had clearly not watched last weeks game against Swansea on Match of the Day when he shoved Yoshida in the back before he could head the ball.

The question though was who would take the spot kick, Dusan Tadic's first half penalty was not great but he had shown the bottle to want to take it and did so again, but Charlie Austin is the penalty king these days when he is on the pitch and he took command, ignored the West Ham attempts at gamesmanship and stroked it home to the relief of 90% of the crowd.

But as mentioned the game showed Mauricio Pellegrino the good and the bad of his squad, it is big enough and good enough to mount another top 8 challenge, however it is weak in the centre of defence, it cannot be denied that both Yoshida and Stephens had good games, but the harsh reality is that the guts of Yoshida and the ability of Stehens to carry the ball forward mask the problem that we have in defending and that we keep presenting chances to the opposition by leaving them unmarked.

I have nothing against either and perhaps either one of them alongside a quality central defender would do a decent job, but together they are not good enough as a partnership and do not have that presence that we have had over recent years with the likes of Lovren, Fonte, Alderweireld and Van Dijk, with those the opposition knew they had a tough job, West Ham like Swansea knew where our soft underbelly was and loked to exploit it, sometimes they missed chances gifted to them as Swansea did and sometimes they made us pay as the Hammers did for their second goal.

Truth is that with someone of the quality of Hoedt in the team and perhaps Van Dijk back, we would be a formidable side and it would give uf the foundation to score goals.

But despite 68 possession the visitors still had more chances than us and more of them on target and that is a worrying stat.

But lots of positives from this game, it was perhaps not won in the most convincing manner, but God knows we have not had a lot of luck in the final months of last season and the opening games of this and we deserved a bit swinging in our favour, sign Wesley Hoedt this wek and there is a lot to look forward to this season.

Photo: Action Images

ItchenNorth added 10:58 - Aug 20 I agree, although I thought Stephens had a solid game throughout. Yoshida on the other hand played very well for long periods but again fell asleep and cost us their second. He found himself over towards the edge of the box on the Itchen North side, thought his job was done as the ball was transitioned to the other flank. He literally watched the West Ham player drift past him towards own goal. By the time the delivery in from the left flank, Yoshida was behind the player and not goal side. It was really poor and showed a real lack of concentration. Apart from that lapse, I thought he played well, but it gifted West Ham a goal. Overall though much more happy with the style of play we are seeing. Lamina looks a quality addition and next to Romeu this looked very promising.

-3

davepid added 11:14 - Aug 20 Ok so our defence was frail at times and some of our shooting was woeful ( Classe and Davis again) but what a spectacle of entertainment - a penalty conceded by our ex last seasons want - away , a sending off, our smart first goal as a result of Fontes mistake again, , fisticuffs , play acting and a last gasp penalty ! Good old fashioned stuff. Coyr
2

TeamCortese added 11:33 - Aug 20 Nick all this match shows is that our attack are capable of scoring from open play at home despite not scoring from 6 matches previously. I find it incredible that you incessantly highlight the inadequacies of Yoshi and Stephens. No one here will disagree with you that they're not among the best defenders in the EPL but let's not forget defence is a team effort and the best way to defend is from the front. I find it fascinating you're quiet about Forster's repeated mistakes (all throughout last season and most recently in a pre-season match) and also about the clean sheet against Swansea last week. Without Yoshi we would have drawn from a 2-goal lead against 10-men! I will not deny (for the second goal) Yoshi should have been goal-side but similarly we could argue why did our midfielders not prevent the cross in the first place given that Yoshi was out of position? Also for the first goal, why was Romeu so easily turned by Antonio coupled with Forster's poor parry that led to Hernandez's tap in before the stroke of half-time? Furthermore, why was Bertrand not alert to the danger and second to react? Football is a team sport and I think there's only so much one can control. The first goal wasn't Yoshi or Stephen's fault and even if we had VVD that would have been a goal anyway. Yoshi and Stephen are improving and to be quite frank I'd rather see them played than VVD at the moment--until VVD makes a public apology to the fans and the club. Lastly, we have to accept that while we scored 3 goals yesterday two of them where penalties. For me that's a concern because it means two thirds of our goals were influenced by officials. Jury's still out for our attack I'm afraid. I'd like to see more of Redmond, Tadic and Boufal feeding Gabbiadini. Hopefully when Lemina and Romeu start understanding each other better that will give more of a licence for our creative players to do more attacking. I'm hoping Gabbiadini builds some confidence from his goal yesterday and starts to kick on with more.

7

IanRC added 11:34 - Aug 20 Thought JWP made a real difference when he came on and his ball for the penalty was an absolute peach. Agree with pretty much everything you said Nick although I think it was unclear where exactly the ball struck Stephens on their penalty appeal. Tadic too was a little lucky with the refereeing decisions early on.
-6

SaintPaulVW added 11:40 - Aug 20 Cracking game to watch. Think you are being a bit too kind, Forster really should have done better with that first one. Agreed Central defenders were weak for the second which you just felt was going to happen. When we switch off we really switch off! However Yoshi got us the penalty which shows the man's character. A lot of goods and bads in everyone's performance yesterday, but we should have put the game out of reach in the first half 2-0 up WH down to 10 men, but we just can't seem to finish chances. Noble was lucky not to go but then so was Tadic. Honours even on that score! I didn't think Tadic had a particularly great game yesterday, very wasteful. Overall great to see some goals and a lot of creativity but agree the defence needs some work.

2

saintmark1976 added 12:11 - Aug 20 I suppose that in the end all that matters is the result, but two up against ten men for most of the game and we need a last minute penalty to win? Sorry Nick but you are just plain wrong about Forster,frankly he is a liability and how he was worth a close season contract extension is beyond me.If we had gone in two up at half time then it was game over but no, he can't hold a regulation shot from distance and palms it straight to their forward. On a different note am I the only one sad to see the decline in Fonte? Such a great stalwart for us through the lower leagues reduced to a shadow of himself in such a short space of time. How his winning goal at Brighton feels so far away now.

7

Keesie66 added 12:16 - Aug 20 Ok players play like gr8 players with gr8 players around them so with VVD or Hoedt Yoshida & Stephens play better and become better....
2

Whatsforpud added 12:19 - Aug 20 I'm not so worried about our central defensive partnership as you are Nick. The pair are growing in confidence with every game. They would be more assured if they had a sharper goalkeeper behind them. Forster seems to be a blocker of shots, as his instinct is always to parry rather than to catch. Sometimes it is necessary to parry, but he overdoes it. My main team criticism is that, generally they did not move the ball out of defence quick enough, preferring an easy side pass rather than looking for the runner in front of them. We must be more incisive.

3

pete_boggs added 13:06 - Aug 20 Forster is a liability, Stephens and Yoshi are cup players (although Yoshi did do some good stuff) and Davis and Prowse are not competitive AM's. Nice to get the win but unless Mr Takeaway's mates have a whip round we're going to get murdered by the top 8 teams. Les get your finger out!
0

mattthelegend added 13:40 - Aug 20 Missed the first game as on holiday, but thought the team looked completely different to last season both in urgency and interest. That was till the second half when concentration seemed to go, Also Lemina coming off enabled West Ham to over run us physically and beat us to second balls, hopefully once he has settled in Romeu and him will form a decent partnership, something we have been lacking since the days of Spider and Victor,time will tell though as MP stated he didn't want to change things around too quickly, it will be a gradual improvement. Overall happy with the result and fair play to West Ham would never have said they were down to 10 men.

5

SanMarco added 14:01 - Aug 20 Mr Takeaway? - come on Pete its not the 1970s. I think MP is going to give us a lot more entertainment and value for money. The goalkeeper and CB issues are about how good we want to be. Sure they have good qualities and Stephens has improved but are they players who will move us UP the league? The brutal facts are that a goalkeeping mistake and two CB mistakes gave away two goals and a penalty (not given) against a side who did all they could to hand us the game. Indeed they handed us it for good at the end. I believe we will have a good CB at the club soon but the Forster issue is a more worrying one. He is brilliant in some situations but anything that involves him getting down to a shot heading anywhere near the corner is a problem. By the time he eventually got to that tame shot he was only able to parry - a quicker more agile keeper would have held it or put it round the post. All that said we were first on MOTD for entertainment and we won. Sort the CB/GK issues and it could have an interesting season.

7

AmericanSaint added 16:05 - Aug 20 Wow - so quick to blame Yoshida/Stephans. If you watch, Bertrand fell asleep and Hernandez never gave up after the shot like Bertrand did. Watch the replay and you will see RB drop his head after the goal knowing it was his fault. The second goal was the midfield putting no pressure before the cross and Cedric was not even goal side of Hernandez, who did a good job scoring of a hard rebound off the post. My judgement is still out on Foster as I want to know why he doesn't command the air like he used to (2 years ago). I am still scratching my head as to why Davis was out right and not Tadic? Also, while I like Davis, I think he maybe better served as a bench man to come on late in games and hold the ball (or be Romeu's backup). I think we need more speed (boufal) or passing/guile (PH or JC) in there. But hey, a win is a win is a win. Just my two cents. COYR.

6

BarnetSaint added 16:38 - Aug 20 For all the critism of Yoshida, he gets in to a lot of good forward positions and will weigh in with the odd goal, more than some of our midfielders i dare say. I'm more concerned by Bertrands body language at the mo, need him back at his best and bombing forward. Final positive was JWP, great delivery when he came on.
3

IanRC added 18:48 - Aug 20 In fairness to Bertrand his crosses were brilliant against Swansea but yesterday was certainly an off day by his standards. Agree Foster seems to parry too much and be short of confidence, perhaps he reads the comments on here.
1

aceofthebase added 19:04 - Aug 20 Cedric and Bertrand were very poor throughout and they also contributed to WH goals. Why can't Cedric shoot? Why can't he defend? He was given the run around by the red carded WH player and never recovered. Yoshi got caught out for the second goal but surely he was our best player on the pitch. Lemina put in a good shift but he was by no means perfect. A series of bad passes proved he needs to adapt to the Premiership but so much potential to have a stronger midfield.

3

smiffdub added 20:31 - Aug 20 Great to score and to win of course, and altogether not a bad performance. I'm one who is maybe less worried about the CBs and more about two other areas. I think the CB situation is evolving and, whilst not perfect right now, it's not going to be our biggest weak link. First, I agree with the many comments about Forster. As an ex-goalie myself, I've never seen a more puzzling keeper. Have things changed in football such that it's now a good thing for a goalie to be rooted to the line rather than dominating the 6-yard box? There's nothing that puts pressure on CBs more than a goalie who won't take charge, and FF doesn't even seem to think about doing that. Plus, playing the way he does puts a premium on a) his shot handling and b) his reflexes. As we saw yesterday he drops (or parries) shots, and b) can make reflex saves but is slow to recover from them. I don't think we can challenge for Europe with this goalie. Second, if we're playing three up front (from amongst Gabbiadini, Tadic, Redmond, Austin Boufal, Long--all of whom have pretty modest goalscoring records) the fourth man high will always pick up a lot of shooting chances. The two players we use in that position (Ward-Prowse or Davis) are both simply hopeless when it comes to hitting the target. Unless one of those two suddenly works out where the goal is, we desperately need at least one new midfielder who can occasionally score a goal. I feel as if it's going to be a more fun season than last because the tactics have so far been a bit more open. But there's definitely some problem areas, so I doubt we're going to do much better than last year's league position with the current squad.

2

GeordieSaint added 22:02 - Aug 20 Let's enjoy the positives, loads of goals, and an exciting game, both our strikers off the mark an international centre back on his way, all good.
-1

BoondockSaint added 02:58 - Aug 21 A win is a win and I will take it. - However, we needed help from the ref to win. A penalty and a sending off, up 2-0 and we still need a last minute 50/50 to save us? Agree with posters wondering about Forster. I can't back it up with numbers, but he seems to give up the most rebounds of any goal keeper in the league. Last year a poster (sorry I can't remember who) mentioned Forster had changed glove sponsor and maybe that was the reason he was not holding on to the ball. How the hell did they get Chicharito for only 16 million? Why didn't he want to come to us last year?

2

bstokesaint added 07:52 - Aug 21 Very happy with the win, and four points from the opening two (home) games is acceptable, but this was far from the perfect game for us. I do get tired of reading about the defensive errors of the two centre backs, particularly when it was clearly Romeu and Bertrand that were solely at fault for the WH opener. Whether Yoshi was at fault for the second is pretty much nullified by the fact he basically created the winner. That's in my opinion anyway. I'm not saying (again) that he's world class like VVD, but there were clearly other areas on the pitch that needed addressing too, like the goalkeeper and like Tadic. I still think Forster is a class act (think the season before last when he came back and transformed our season), but he's making too many simple mistakes at the moment and needs pushing.As for Tadic like others have said (and what you failed to mention Nick) is he was lucky to be on the pitch and delivered yet again another woeful penalty. Sorry "having the balls" is criteria enough for me to take a penalty. Maybe it's just that he's happy to take the plaudits when he scores one, but doesn't care enough when he misses one. Give me a Lambert or a Le Tiss any day. I'm glad Austin was on for the last one. Also interesting commentary on the Sky round-up later where the pundits gave our manager a bit of stick for not putting JWP on earlier to exploit WH's clear weaknesses from crosses. JWP had an excellent summer and must be buzzing right now to prove himself. He can also take a penalty!

1

skiptonsaint added 08:09 - Aug 21 I have decided I really like Yoshi and Stephens but just not together. Need a taller stronger ball winner which we are buying. On another note however if Chelsea want Cedric and Bertrand and I was them I would make a demand for one of em (they must know we won't sell both) in a VVD deal while paying us what we want for VVD. Can see us having 95 million coming in this week and snapping a bargain or 2 in last 10 days. Big week ahead

3

LordDZLucan added 10:10 - Aug 21 For crying out loud, Nick, if you're 2-0 up and you then let 10 men dominate you that cannot be the fault of the centre back pairing. It has to be the fault of the midfield. We kept on giving away free-kicks in our own half and that is why the defence came under pressure. Please just give the Yoshi and Stephens bashing a rest and be a little bit more objective with your analysis.

6

halftimeorange added 11:50 - Aug 21 The game changed for me when Lemina was taken off. Fair enough, he had a nasty gash on his leg and was probably not 100% fit but it was after his removal that we showed signs of being overrun. To my mind Davis should have given way to Boufal who showed against Swansea that he does have the guile to cause defences problems. Once again Redmond faded badly in the second half. The other stand-out features are our lack of height up front and the midfield's preference to pass sideways instead of looking out for Gabbiadini's clever runs. Boufal seems to me to be the one that might actually put him in.

1

zoso added 12:24 - Aug 21 Man Of the Match for Saints by a mile was Fonte. Great job board letting him go.
1

Blogs 31 bloggers

Watford Polls