Thoughts on tonights game ... the football, not the pies.

[One Teddy Maybank]

Saints tonight reminded me of Derby in the second-leg of the play-offs. Big gulf in class, but then you'd expect that. Reckon we might have a blend of youth and experience that could go fairly well this season without exactly setting the world on fire.

I thought Saints were very good, however, they weren't a touch on the Villareal side that destroyed us last year.

We did alright after that incidentally.....

 

[LamieRobertson]

Stockdale made a couple of decent saves 1st half, some decent distribution, with a bit more luck may have got an assist with one clearance to Buckley. Greer's passing was shocking. He gave the ball away 3 times in the first 15 mins. Kemy looked good. Toko was lucky to stay on the pitch on the last few mins with a 2 foot lunge, hope that doesn't carry on in the league. O'Grady got absolutely no service and too isolated. CMS made some great runs and looked lively. KLL looked like he well up for it. Crofts looked rusty and well off the pace not unsurprisingly.

from what i saw on that you tube video it will be interesting how he adapts his tackling to championship football/referees...i can see him being the first red card of the season

 

[HoveSaint]

My tuppence worth...

Thought Tadic is every bit as good as Lallana, Pelle is going to be a real handful and is a big unit, Bertrand £3m a season of wages out of the £30m United gave us for Shaw. Thought we played well and all the nonsense about selling all our players, I actually think we are stronger now given the window is still open and the bank account is overflowing.

Forgive me for saying it though, but I am still trying to work out if we made Albion look awful or whether you just are. Your LB shouldn't be getting a game for a promotion-contending team. He is woeful. Lualua is a terrific player, but has nothing to play with, no creativity from your midfield, who admittedly were all scared of big Wanyama.

Friendlies are usually not the best bell-weather for the season ahead but I thought your lads would have put up more of a fight seeing as they could prove themselves against a prem team. It is clear that you miss that big lad Uloja up front and frankly Mackerel Smith is not the player he was at Posh. He ran rings round us when we went up there in league one.

I hope you have a good season, third time lucky and get up but Mr Bloom is going to have to spend a few bob if you are.

The Amex is a great venue for football, best pies in the land. And the only football ground I have been too where you can buy a bag of skittles for the kids. Very good idea!

 

[wellquickwoody]

Stockdale impressed how?

Taking crosses that TK would have punched, picking a SHOT out of the air that modern keepers would have palmed over.

Modern keepers are SHITE generally in technical ability, it is all about a percentage game, properly good keepers are better than that.

 

[Earlybird]

Lualuas goal was the only positive I could take from the match.
Dunk & Hughes looked better than Greer & Hughes.
Maxsimenko was better than Chicksen at LB tho we still need a real one.
CMS still very rusty.
First half, I cant recall their keeper having much to do apart from catching a freekick, so cant really assess O'Grady, Fenelon & March on that showing.
Croft seemed to be covering Calde wide right to little avail.

Stockdale made a couple of good saves but should have done better with the goals. He was beaten 3 times to his left. Not sure if he has a weakness on that side....time will tell.
Sounds like Im on his back but the stats say he had only 3 clean sheets last season, compared to PIGs 16.... Yeah, I know Prem v Champ'ship but still...

Sorry its a bleak picture but Sami really has his work cut out.

 

[bhawoddy]

My tuppence worth...

Thought Tadic is every bit as good as Lallana, Pelle is going to be a real handful and is a big unit, Bertrand £3m a season of wages out of the £30m United gave us for Shaw. Thought we played well and all the nonsense about selling all our players, I actually think we are stronger now given the window is still open and the bank account is overflowing.

Forgive me for saying it though, but I am still trying to work out if we made Albion look awful or whether you just are. Your LB shouldn't be getting a game for a promotion-contending team. He is woeful. Lualua is a terrific player, but has nothing to play with, no creativity from your midfield, who admittedly were all scared of big Wanyama.

Friendlies are usually not the best bell-weather for the season ahead but I thought your lads would have put up more of a fight seeing as they could prove themselves against a prem team. It is clear that you miss that big lad Uloja up front and frankly Mackerel Smith is not the player he was at Posh. He ran rings round us when we went up there in league one.

I hope you have a good season, third time lucky and get up but Mr Bloom is going to have to spend a few bob if you are.

The Amex is a great venue for football, best pies in the land. And the only football ground I have been too where you can buy a bag of skittles for the kids. Very good idea!

A very accurate post.

 

[clippedgull]

My tuppence worth...

Mackerel Smith is not the player he was at Posh. He ran rings round us when we went up there in league one.

Stop fishing

 

[Zen Frenzy]

Thought we were OK in patches but never likely to get close to a very slick looking Soton set up. Apart from a couple of clumsy errors, Ince was good and deserved his MotM for BHA. Chicksen was at the other end of the same scale - if he's selected and plays like that for us in "real" matches, opposing teams will sniff the weakness and tear him to pieces every time.

Watching tonight and the Crawley match last week, my worry is that in neither game did we ever really look like attacking the goal with any meaningful threat or intent. Although Kaz took his two strikes very well, they were rare highlights amongst otherwise impotent attacking play. Not planning on getting incontinence sheets out of the cupboard just yet. Sincerely hope we ratchet up a few gears in time for 9/8.

 

[Sheebo]

O really that weren't playing out wide!! What's the point .

Not properly out and out wingers - not was March. Doesn't work for me....

 

[Sheebo]

You see, I'd say Crofts didn't look 100% fit (which presumably, after his injury, he isn't).

Calderon was far worse than Chicksen. Not one of JFC's better games either, unfortunately.

But hey. It has no bearing whatsoever on the Wednesday game. So we move on.

Thing is it is an indicator for Sat & we looked poor even though we were playing prem opposition...

I disagree re Calde & Chicksen, although I would assume you were West stand tonight - I was East so couldn't see Calde that well. He did get skinned a few times but Chicksen looked lost.

JFC was poor. Stockdale had good distribution although put some players under unnecessary pressure by playing short through the middle when they had men on...

 

[algie]

What did the 3rd kit look like in the flesh?

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

What did the 3rd kit look like in the flesh?

Pretty fluorescent. Not quite sure what the point was though (other than an advance sales ploy) they could have used the red and black stripes easy enough with zero colour clash.

 

[Lord Bracknell]

What did the 3rd kit look like in the flesh?

Like a bunch of blokes from Network Rail were having a kick around, while they waited for their lunch break to finish.



Oh ... sorry. You wanted a comment on the kit, not the match.

 

[keaton]

I didn't Chicksen was great but he didn't look out of his depth and he looked no worse than Calderon or Bruno. He was playing against players witha lot of experience whereas the other two were being made to look pretty silly by someone who who's never played for Southampton properly and played 8 games for Peterborough last season.

I thought O'Grady was the only player who looked any good in the first half (good control and tried to create some openings for him and team-mates). In the second half Buckley and Augestien looked decent but the midfield was pretty shocking generally. I like JFC but he was awful yesterday but then he was playing against a midfield far better than any will face this season.

Toko needs to learn how to tackle and in a competitive game Crofts and JFc could have been in trouble

 

[sparkie]

We are incredibly poor in the striking department now we have sold Leo.

Hoping for some serious investment of the cash from that deal to buy in a decent new man up front.

 

[keaton]

We are incredibly poor in the striking department now we have sold Leo.

Hoping for some serious investment of the cash from that deal to buy in a decent new man up front.

What difference would Ulloa have made yesterday?

O'grady held the ball better than Ulloa did last season and CMS got one decent ball in thehalf he was on the pitch.

 

[sparkie]

What difference would Ulloa have made yesterday?

O'grady held the ball better than Ulloa did last season and CMS got one decent ball in thehalf he was on the pitch.

Leo has pretty much a 1 goal every 2 game record in the Championship. O'Grady isn't in that class.

 

[goldstone]

Thought we were OK in patches but never likely to get close to a very slick looking Soton set up. Apart from a couple of clumsy errors, Ince was good and deserved his MotM for BHA. Chicksen was at the other end of the same scale - if he's selected and plays like that for us in "real" matches, opposing teams will sniff the weakness and tear him to pieces every time.

Watching tonight and the Crawley match last week, my worry is that in neither game did we ever really look like attacking the goal with any meaningful threat or intent. Although Kaz took his two strikes very well, they were rare highlights amongst otherwise impotent attacking play. Not planning on getting incontinence sheets out of the cupboard just yet. Sincerely hope we ratchet up a few gears in time for 9/8.

"Impotent attacking display" just about hits the nail well and truly on the head. OK, so S'oton are Premier League, but it was the same against League 1 Crawley.

Reflecting again on the game yesterday evening, I have to say I can't recall ever being less impressed with Albion pre-season performances.

 

[Monsieur Le Plonk]

I didn't Chicksen was great but he didn't look out of his depth and he looked no worse than Calderon or Bruno. He was playing against players witha lot of experience whereas the other two were being made to look pretty silly by someone who who's never played for Southampton properly and played 8 games for Peterborough last season.

I thought O'Grady was the only player who looked any good in the first half (good control and tried to create some openings for him and team-mates). In the second half Buckley and Augestien looked decent but the midfield was pretty shocking generally. I like JFC but he was awful yesterday but then he was playing against a midfield far better than any will face this season.

Toko needs to learn how to tackle and in a competitive game Crofts and JFc could have been in trouble

Agree with most of this. Few thoughts...
Agustein was the best player in a Brighton shirt last night which sums up how shite the rest of the team were.
I am hoping that last night has put to bed any ideas that Sami may have had that CMS can do it on his own up front.
We seem to be setting up to be far too reliant on JFC as the creative playmaker. He's willing but lacking. This position needs to be a priority.
Lua Lua needs to be let loose wide - both pre season friendlies I have seen he has been very narrow. When he has got out wide and cut in he has scored.
Stockdale - his distribution (which allegedly was one of his weaknesses) was great. He let in 3 and yet I nevertheless thought he looked commanding and confident.

 

[LamieRobertson]

Agree with most of this. Few thoughts...
Agustein was the best player in a Brighton shirt last night which sums up how shite the rest of the team were.
I am hoping that last night has put to bed any ideas that Sami may have had that CMS can do it on his own up front.
We seem to be setting up to be far too reliant on JFC as the creative playmaker. He's willing but lacking. This position needs to be a priority.
Lua Lua needs to be let loose wide - both pre season friendlies I have seen he has been very narrow. When he has got out wide and cut in he has scored.
Stockdale - his distribution (which allegedly was one of his weaknesses) was great. He let in 3 and yet I nevertheless thought he looked commanding and confident.

I've read on NSC that we are pushing both fullbacks up a lot more than last season...is this why we are playing our 'wide' men narrower?