Southampton 1 United 0 - report/ratings

[coaxingstar71]

I get that we were limited in terms of the players that were fit enough to play and although it’s easy to say in hindsight, there were other options or at least some selections could be questioned. Arblaster clearly should not be starting. How badly unfit is Tom Davies that he’s not starting ahead of him? Another alternative would have been to play the 4-2-3-1 we played for the majority of last season. The two forwards barely got the ball anyway so we could have played one up with Hamer starting to bolster the midfield area at least a bit more. He could have even played Brooks in the middle two as he did, and did well, when he first came into the side in the Premier League. Chong shouldn’t be anywhere near the starting eleven. He offers next to nothing and did not help Hoever at all.
I’ve always thought that Chris tells it how it is and I get that he wants to protect the players, but to suggest we should have won 3-1 was frankly ludicrous.

 

[Blade59]

Too many changes simple as. Obviously three enforced due to injury / suspension but would rather start the likes of Brooks, Seriki and Bamford etc for each of the 3 game weeks and take them off in the second half if they run out of steam. Can't see the point of having your better players on the bench and only bringing them when you are chasing the game rather than trying to get some control and pattern of play from the start.

Also why play Arblaster for the full 90 when clearly not ready yet T Davies sits on the bench. If he is not fit to take part why is he on there.

 

[Addison]

If COH have a modicum of football business acumen they should be raising serious concerns about the sports science team. Simply saying we weren't in control of the pre season doesn't wash anymore. Why can't we do 3 game weeks? every other club manages it. It's a poor excuse and influences the negative mindset whereby we chop and change the team every game due to poor conditioning and perennial sick notes such as Shackleton and Davies. Suspensions dont help but last night's loss was down to this. We managed to avoid conceding early second half for once but that was small comfort for what was on offer on the pitch. We are back in a relegation battle and the same mistakes are being repeated.

 

[232 Bramall Lane]

It's ok, the "Strategic Advisory Committee" will sort it out!

 

[ZLB]

Just home.

Can't really disagree with any of that Deaders. That first half was worse than almost any other performance I can think of this season - including the embarrassment at Ipswich.

Tactically, however, we were a shambles. Southampton's back four was woeful but we sat off them; they had no pace anywhere in their team but we picked a side which isn't capable of sprinting. All the options Wilder picked were the slower ones.

For all the clamour for Arblaster and Peck to play in central midfield together, tonight was the reason why that won't work. It's the same with the Mansfield game when we'd got ourselves back into it only to end up with a midfield pairing of Davies and Arblaster. None of those three - Peck, Arblaster and Davies - is capable of breaking the lines. They're nowhere near fast or athletic enough so they have to play the safe option which means we are then reliant on moments of brilliance from the wingers or a mistake from the opposition. Add to that the fact that McGuinness is incapable of playing the ball in front of the player he's passing to and Mee resorting to hit and hopes and we're constantly on the back foot, coughing up possession and territory.

Anyway, for what it's worth:

Cooper 6: gains a mark for that double save in the first half alone but his kicking was questionable. Had no chance with the goal.
Hoever 3: totally off the pace. Wasn't fouled for the goal but instead of getting up and trying to get back he chose to roll around on the floor. Left totally exposed by Chong which didn't help but Scienza had the freedom of the right side.
McGuinness 4: I'm not sure he won a single header against Stewart which, given that his only strength is heading, was a problem. Southampton were happy for him to have the ball as they knew his pass would be behind the right back, forcing us back to the goalkeeper for a long kick out.
Mee 6: battled away even though his career is clearly on the wane. Some important blocks.
Burrows 4: seems generally unsure at the moment and makes the wrong decision - early cross when the drive is on or vice versa
O'Hare 5: nullified by Southampton moving the ball around him, made the wrong decision to shoot when we were able to break
Arblaster 3: off the pace, coughing up possession in dangerous areas and seems to be painfully slow. Given the responsibility of a late free kick but didn't seem to want it? Unable to get close to Southampton's midfielders who just passed it around him
Peck 4: see Arblaster but slightly better at breaking up play
Chong 1: I thought he was bad against Mansfield. I'm not sure what question Wilder is asking himself if Tahith "Chongy" Chong is the answer. Shouldn't ever be in our first XI and quite possibly our XIX ever again.
Campbell: 3: clearly not right, whether it's physical or mental I'm not sure. Snatched at a decent opportunity after the Saints goalkeeper had made yet another kicking error
Cannon 4: runs around like a madman but never seems to be in the right place

Subs
Seriki 5: tried to get involved, got forward. Fortunate that his slip just after coming on wasn't punished
Brooks 6: would have been higher had his cut back not been awful. Chased lost causes, put a couple of decent crosses in
Bamford 5: would have been higher had he taken the one decent chance we had but it was on his weaker foot and it was a weak finish
Hamer 4: not involved, other than taking corners or trying stupid flicks in stupid places. It's telling that he can't get in a vastly changed team
Ings 4: a season too far for him at this level. He's even slower than Arblaster and McGuinness and that's actually quite impressive.

We can, however, still make the play offs.

View attachment 229465

Hoever: "Wasn't fouled for the goal but instead of getting up and trying to get back he chose to roll around on the floor".

100%. That riled me so so much. So many players writhe around in agony for nothing when there's simply a basic tackle. WTF was he doing on the floor, when he could have helped the team cause.

 

[bakeblade]

Chong is absolutely abysmal.

My eyesight isn't the greatest these days. If I was at the game tonight and someone had told me that it was actually Diana Ross on the right wing, not a professional footballer, I'm pretty sure I would have believed them.

I'm starting to really hate Chong with his stupid hair, skinny legs and complete lack of footballing ability

 

[bakeblade]

I heard that from Wilder. Absolutely no idea what he’s on about, the only chance we had was Bamford's in the 89th minute.

They also missed two sitters

 

[Tarqs]

If COH have a modicum of football business acumen they should be raising serious concerns about the sports science team. Simply saying we weren't in control of the pre season doesn't wash anymore. Why can't we do 3 game weeks? every other club manages it. It's a poor excuse and influences the negative mindset whereby we chop and change the team every game due to poor conditioning and perennial sick notes such as Shackleton and Davies. Suspensions dont help but last night's loss was down to this. We managed to avoid conceding early second half for once but that was small comfort for what was on offer on the pitch. We are back in a relegation battle and the same mistakes are being repeated.

He can say he wasn't in control of pre-season all he wants.

Facts are we've been woefully unfit for years... and he's been in control for the majority of that.

 

[Bell4]

I get that we were limited in terms of the players that were fit enough to play and although it’s easy to say in hindsight, there were other options or at least some selections could be questioned. Arblaster clearly should not be starting. How badly unfit is Tom Davies that he’s not starting ahead of him? Another alternative would have been to play the 4-2-3-1 we played for the majority of last season. The two forwards barely got the ball anyway so we could have played one up with Hamer starting to bolster the midfield area at least a bit more. He could have even played Brooks in the middle two as he did, and did well, when he first came into the side in the Premier League. Chong shouldn’t be anywhere near the starting eleven. He offers next to nothing and did not help Hoever at all.
I’ve always thought that Chris tells it how it is and I get that he wants to protect the players, but to suggest we should have won 3-1 was frankly ludicrous.

Great post