22 Feb 2015 23:12:28
Ok, firstly the Liverpool goals, Coutinho scored a worldly goal, you ask him to do that again he very very likely misses the target, bad luck to us. Then they get the second through Targett's failed clearence that lo and behold falls perfectly at Sterling's feet who somehow manages to squeeze it between Fonte and Yoshida, through Forster's gloves and into the net. First goal, needed someone in front of Coutinho, second goal, needed to not give away possession so poorly.
Now then, the penalty calls, I myself counted three, two of which were clear indiscretions. The obvious one is when Allen brings down Duricic, irrelevant of the fact he manages to get back up and pass the ball to Elia, Kevin Friend makes no signal for advantage meaning he believed it to be a fair challenge. Poor call. The second one is by Lovren, Ward-Prowse corner into the area, hits him square on the arm. Given that the ball has come in from outside the area and he has enough time and vision to judge the flight of the ball he should be able to avoid it hitting his arm. Needless to say the referee has had a bad game from a Saints point of view.
As for our attacking play, it's as simple as goals win games, a lot of us have said it. You can dominate a game, have a brilliant defence but if you don't shoot or don't make the opponents keeper work then there is no positive result. Some people may place the fault on Koeman and his tactics not working. However for all the possession the players had, none of them really created a clear cut chance or bothered shooting and for me that is why we lost and why we have struggled to score as of late.
Think back to our game against Hull, ok the goalkeeper was out of the goal but Wanyama saw the opportunity and took it, just as Coutinho did today and Shelvey did for Swansea a few weeks ago. That is what we are lacking.
23 Feb 2015 10:08:24
I just have a feeling that we may have to change things completely for a game or two and see whether it makes any difference, what have we got to lose ? Apart from a top strike from Coutinho and a messy goal for the second ( which Forster should have saved ) our defence looked pretty sound as usual . I always stick up for Pelle but his confidence must be rock bottom so put him on the bench for the next couple of games . JWP is much too lightweight and doesn't deserve his place and I am not sure Schneiderlin is that fit . I would try going with Mane playing just behind Djuricic and Shane up front and with Ryan returning we will have a great deal of pace coming from defence through midfield and making their back four work very hard . I would play Reed, Toby and Wanyama in midfield and leave Yoshida in the back four as he had another good game yesterday. If it is not working you then have a bench with Pelle, Elia, Davis, Tadic etc. which would then mean you could change the shape completely later in the game . I am no coach and it is only my idea but unless we do something completely different in our set up we are just going to continue putting in sterile performances in the final third of the field . The goal scoring problem has not just happened so I think we need to act now otherwise our season is just going to peter out and prove the pundits right . We don't want that do we ?
I agree we do need to try a different approach to breaking teams down and it starts with shooting! It's bizarre that despite our recent results we are still in a very good position. There's everything to fight for, that thought needs to be instilled into our attacking players. Just like all the teams around us it's ours to lose.
Realistically we should only be about 6 points better off than what we are assuming we had managed draws against Liverpool away, Tottenham away, Man United at home, Burnley away and Swansea at home. We win the next two it's very likely we'll be above Man United once more.
I wouldn't describe Coutinho's goal as "bad luck". If there's no midfielders or defenders stood within 10 yards of a player within shooting range you're asking for trouble. Especially if your goalkeeper is weak when facing long-range shots.
Saints' major problem going forward is that Koeman has built his entire team and tactics around Pelle, as he did at Feyenoord. Which is all well and good when he's scoring 30 goals a season, but he has been miles short of the required quality for months now.
Their "out ball" is to lump it up to the big guy and hope for flick ons or that he can hold it up long enough to bring someone else into play. But it's an increasingly fruitless tactic as defenders wise up and Pelle himself becomes more immobile and uncompetitive (did he even win more than one header all game yesterday?).
In the absence of any attacking threat from midfield, Koeman's only approach is to slowly work the ball out wide and sling crosses into the box. For Pelle. Who can't beat anyone to the ball due to his appalling movement and mobility. There's no-one else to pick out. No midfield runners. Nothing.
Sadly, that's all they've got. Plan A. And, in spite of Koeman's reputation as a clever tactician, it's a pretty basic and one-dimensional plan A. In the one game Pelle was suspended for (Burnley) and the FA Cup replay at Ipswich where he was rested, they played exactly the same way, with even less success - Shane Long not exactly being notorious for his aerial ability.
In general, they move the ball too slowly, too predictably and are carrying too many players who aren't really contributing anything.
Zero goals in three consecutive home games and barely a clear chance created - it's all very well the manager saying after each game that the team was unlucky, had all the possession, blah blah blah. I'm sure that's what they've been saying at Villa all season.
It's not bad luck. It's bad play. And having had eleven days to prepare for the Liverpool game, to work on their deficiencies, yet still turn up and play in exactly the same way, with not a single shortcoming addressed, is a worrying sign.