29 Nov 2017 23:23:16
My follow Saints, just seen the highlights of tonight's game against Man City we lost but boy did we give a game!

I am pleased FF did a good job tonight. no chance with both goals here! Some of you have been harsh of late towards him. By no means has he been perfect this season but boy he was on it today, credit to him.

As For myself I've given MP some stick for his repeated tactics this season resaulting in poor form and no entertainment value.
But I got to give him credit here even though we lost. I can't even say we was unlucky we came up against the best team in the league. The last kick of game is a massive blow mind you.

1.) 30 Nov 2017
30 Nov 2017 08:22:05
Yes, I think after the Liverpool result MP has realized, the need to change formation against big clubs. We set up very defensively, FF made some good saves and routine ones. It feels as though Pep might have said they'll sit back if you've got space take the shot on. Luckily none of Cities shots from distance were worrying apart from the winner. It is a lessons learnt scenario I think, we need to stop allowing players too much space outside the box. We've conceded a few goals this season from those scenarios.
Again we could argue we weren't the clinical side. 3 big chances to score from inside their 6 yard box and we missed all of them. Had Hoedt scored in the first half, it would have been a totally different game.

2.) 30 Nov 2017
30 Nov 2017 09:16:50
As has been said good performance by FF last night and from the team in general games change goals and had we scored early we may have sat even deeper. And conceded more we clearly need to be more clinical and their first goal was being very picky the player in the wall moved out of the way then two deflections. Massive improvement but if we don’t win at Bournemouth means nothing we need to win every other game in the current run as a minimum.

3.) 30 Nov 2017
30 Nov 2017 11:31:13
If Guardiola is not charged with his behaviour it’s a disgrace. Redmond should if told him to f@@@ off and pushed him away. Absolutely disgraceful behaviour and and should not be allowed for any manager to treat an opponent player like that. For the red to manage time not some jumped up baldy who spends money Luke water in players and thinks he is god- clearly not after last tear.

4.) 30 Nov 2017
30 Nov 2017 11:31:35
Also, to add to the first goal, MP called for two players in the wall, FF only wanted one. If we had, had two that kick would've probably hit the second player, or DB would have taken it differently. Also, a man on the front post could've prevented that. You need to be very picky when conceding goals from free kicks to avoid that same thing happening in the future.

5.) 30 Nov 2017
30 Nov 2017 13:42:12
I want baldy charged. Outrageous behaviour.
Totally unprofessional and otherwise he will keep doing it and get away with it.

6.) 01 Dec 2017
01 Dec 2017 14:37:51
After the Liverpool match, Cedric said in an interview that the players probably gave up after going behind and MP was understandably angry with this. He called a meeting with the players and whatever went on behind closed doors, the team came out and played very well against an admittedly mediocre Everton side. The players were at it from the first minute and the opening 20 minutes of play where some of the best Saints have played in about 2 years. The second half was also impressive and a huge improvement on performances earlier this season.

We then go to Man City, in Manchester, the team that many on here were predicting a week ago would put double figures past us and we were unlucky not to force the draw. Hell, as some other posters have highlighted, if we’d scored one or two of our other gilt-edged chances, we could’ve been in dream land. But in the end we lost, beaten by the best side in the league at the moment and from near enough the last kick of the game.

MP and the players have done incredibly well in the last two games and deserve a good deal of credit for doing so. It has certainly helped to raise hopes as not only have we earned three more points but the performances in both matches are such a dramatic improvement on what we have seen so far. Yes, we lost to Man City but no-one expected any other result before kick off and we came within seconds of defying the odds, not through luck, but through an impressive tactical, defensive, committed performance from our squad of players. I still hold firmly that by year end, we will not be in the bottom three.

That said, if we are to continue to stumble from time to time, and I expect we will as the team is rebuilding, I suspect its more likely to be due to individual error than anything else. The same was evident for both Man City goals in my p. o. v.

Many of you are praising FF on here and he did have a better game, but I still have to question a goalkeeper being beaten by a freekick at a tight angle at his near post. The wall must be wide enough to make a low shot at goal impossible, allowing the goalkeeper to take a more central position to deal with a crossed ball. This was not the case here. This meant that De Bruyne could whip a low shot in at goal and Forster’s near post was not sufficiently protected. Error of judgment.

I feel I’m leaning towards a biased view against the big man as City’s winner also looked to me like he could have done better, looping as it was and at a saveable height, so I will accept that to save it would have required remarkable agility and not pin it on him. Instead, blame for the second may rest with Boufal. He had brilliantly tracked Sterling back and forced him to stab the ball backwards towards De Bruyne. However, this is where he made his error of judgment. Rather than holding his defensive position on Sterling, Boufal’s eagerness to defend his goal saw him follow the ball to close down De Buyne, leaving Sterling free. Romeu was already closing on De Bruyne, forcing him to look away from goal. De Bruyne saw Sterling now free and with one deft move, passed it back to him. Sterling then had enough time to take his touch and shoot before Yoshida or any other defender could close on him. A seemingly unlikely outcome if Boufal was still marking him.

But he’s 23 and not used to performing this role. It’s a steep learning curve in this league and I’m sure it will be picked up on so the mistake isn’t repeated. It gives grounds for great optimism to see the players like Boufal and Redmond defending so diligently against such strong opposition and I can see us fairing better against the bigger teams now. When tactics and performances start clicking, things start to look rosier.

Finally, there’s a lot of outrage flying around about Pep’s flamboyant discussion with Redmond at the end of the match. Its very odd for an opposition manager to do this but I don’t think he’s done anything horrendous. He was complementing the player and was frustrated not to see him attacking the Man City defence more. However, I don’t think he should have done it as he’s effectively criticising MP’s tactics directly to one of MP’s players in front of tv cameras, but I doubt he’ll do it again in light of the coverage of it since. It does really annoy me though to see players on the pitch talking to one another and covering their mouths to avoid toilet rags like the Sun getting a lipreader in to try and ‘interpret’ (make up) a sensational and incorrect transcript of a conversation. How cynical have our players had to become because of bottom-feeding sensationalism in the press. Two men from opposing teams spoke about a football match. Shock, Horror. I’m sure he’ll apologise if necessary. Move on.