mpickard2087
Patient Zero
- Jun 13, 2008
- 21,894
- 32,582
Hard to know what to say about that, as there was a lot of bad to go with some encouraging things we saw. Two stupid bits of defending from us to put us 0-2 down were kindly equalled out by them and after plugging away we finally managed to sneak a winner from a good strike.
Our first half performance was quite simply dreadful in most aspects of the play. We'll start from the front. I know Soldado, Chadli, Eriksen etc will get plaudits for their performances, and rightly so, but we did see what happens when you try and play a high line without consistent pressure on the ball in front of the defence. Far too many times they were able to play the ball out from the back and work their way up the pitch far too easily. This was then compounded by Lennon and Dembele being virtually anonymous and Bentaleb not yet, if he ever will be judging by his skillset, always able to shield the defence effectively, especially when he is the only one trying to do this task after being abandoned by his midfield partner. As I always say, I haven't got a problem with the high line, but although we did catch them offside a few times it looked a bit through luck rather than judgement and we have to close down better and make things more difficult for the opposition.
Despite what was going on in front of them, I thought the defence was largely poor. It was Naughton who made the errors but in all truth they were all culpable of poor bits of defending and offering the Southampton attack too much room to manoeuvre and we got away with it a few times. First half things looked very bad indeed.
At this point there seemed little hope of us getting back into the match, a couple of generous pieces of defending later though... And we were on the front foot, and it was good to see that for the second week in succession we forced the opposition onto the back foot. For large periods of the half they had no outlet up the pitch, and the centre backs had a much easier ride. It still wasn't a vintage display, but we saw some more good play from a number of individuals. Chadli looks far happier playing centrally and having the freedom to play across the pitch, he also seems a yard quicker and stronger recently. Soldado was encouraging with his general play and I am pleased that he cut out the silly, 'hail mary' ambitious flicks and tricks and just did some sensible hold up play to bring people into the game, as I was asking to do in the previous ratings thread from the other night. Nothing special, just did the bread and butter stuff to the high standard, which is what you want.
The star of the show though for me was Eriksen, even without the two goals. The real class act for us on the pitch, he controls it, turns and passes all in one fluid movement without breaking stride a lot of the time. Some of his passes and lay-offs on the run were perfectly weighted, his lay off for the winning goal for instance. Still more to come from him in some aspects of his play, but he is a classy player and its a pleasure to watch when he is contributing as he did today.
It is nice to see that the players have fought hard in the last three games instead of giving up, it seems the spirit is still there (or been rediscovered, if you are of that opinion) and as long as they show some fight/heart then you can stay behind the team. But lets not kid ourselves, still a truckload of work that needs to be done and a lot of areas to improve. Probably not under Sherwood. A long road ahead...
Ratings:
Lloris - No chance with two good finishes. One good save first half, with little to do in the second half. Much better kicking today I thought, seemed to get much more distance on them.
Naughton - A couple of really horrendous bits of play that led to the goals we conceded. If you are going to be unkind then you would say its a stark reminder after a few decent-ish displays... He did come back from those mistakes quite well though and was better second half, albeit when we were on the front foot, so some credit for that.
Kaboul - First half there were a few struggles. Second half with less to do he looked better and a bit more dominant, like old, than we have seen from him since his comeback.
Vertonghen - The less impressive of the two in central defence for me. Regularly afforded his man too much room, sometimes in dangerous situations, must mark tighter at times. Was probably glad we were on the front foot second half and didn't have as much work to do.
Rose - I thought he was possibly the best of the back four in the first half actually. As the game went on though he became more and more shaky. Little composure and just seemed ill at ease, characterised by him giving the ball away on occasions, not being in the right position and a couple of silly fouls. Not one of his best games at all.
Lennon - Waste of space. Minimal effort, minimal contribution.
Bentaleb - Given the holding role today, Sherwood really is asking a lot of him. He stuck at it though and his defensive game is getting better, though he still has much to learn. Not a perfect display nor one of his more eye-catching, but he didn't disgrace himself.
Dembele - Injured or not, that was way below par. Can have no complaints about being subbed.
Eriksen - As I said above, numerous classy moments and two goals. Very good display and hopefully he can keep this up till the end of the season.
Chadli - Improving all the time and looking better in a central role. Final ball could have been better on a couple of occasions but he is linking up well with others and is on an upward trajectory.
Soldado - Much better. His first touch which is often hit and miss was much more assured and as I said I was much more impressed with him keeping things simple with his link up play rather than trying extravagant flicks. Whilst not threatening much in terms of looking likely to score, he played in others well at times, most obviously for Eriksen's 2nd goal. Needs to build on this now.
Subs:
Sigurdsson - I will again give him credit for trying his best in the central midfield role. Some of his positional play and decision making was quite terrible on a couple of occasions which let them drive up the pitch, though you might expect that from someone who is just filling in there, but he did work hard along with Bentaleb in the second half. Scored a really good goal at the end and showed his best ability, his shooting. Did well today.
Townsend - Just seemed confused what he was trying to do a lot of the time and was running around with the ball to little effect. Trying way too hard. One moment summed things up, about half a yard from the goal line yet still tried a Cruyff turn and took it out of play... Even Cruyff himself wouldn't have managed to perform that turn in that little amount of space! Needs to calm down and think when he is on the pitch.
Our first half performance was quite simply dreadful in most aspects of the play. We'll start from the front. I know Soldado, Chadli, Eriksen etc will get plaudits for their performances, and rightly so, but we did see what happens when you try and play a high line without consistent pressure on the ball in front of the defence. Far too many times they were able to play the ball out from the back and work their way up the pitch far too easily. This was then compounded by Lennon and Dembele being virtually anonymous and Bentaleb not yet, if he ever will be judging by his skillset, always able to shield the defence effectively, especially when he is the only one trying to do this task after being abandoned by his midfield partner. As I always say, I haven't got a problem with the high line, but although we did catch them offside a few times it looked a bit through luck rather than judgement and we have to close down better and make things more difficult for the opposition.
Despite what was going on in front of them, I thought the defence was largely poor. It was Naughton who made the errors but in all truth they were all culpable of poor bits of defending and offering the Southampton attack too much room to manoeuvre and we got away with it a few times. First half things looked very bad indeed.
At this point there seemed little hope of us getting back into the match, a couple of generous pieces of defending later though... And we were on the front foot, and it was good to see that for the second week in succession we forced the opposition onto the back foot. For large periods of the half they had no outlet up the pitch, and the centre backs had a much easier ride. It still wasn't a vintage display, but we saw some more good play from a number of individuals. Chadli looks far happier playing centrally and having the freedom to play across the pitch, he also seems a yard quicker and stronger recently. Soldado was encouraging with his general play and I am pleased that he cut out the silly, 'hail mary' ambitious flicks and tricks and just did some sensible hold up play to bring people into the game, as I was asking to do in the previous ratings thread from the other night. Nothing special, just did the bread and butter stuff to the high standard, which is what you want.
The star of the show though for me was Eriksen, even without the two goals. The real class act for us on the pitch, he controls it, turns and passes all in one fluid movement without breaking stride a lot of the time. Some of his passes and lay-offs on the run were perfectly weighted, his lay off for the winning goal for instance. Still more to come from him in some aspects of his play, but he is a classy player and its a pleasure to watch when he is contributing as he did today.
It is nice to see that the players have fought hard in the last three games instead of giving up, it seems the spirit is still there (or been rediscovered, if you are of that opinion) and as long as they show some fight/heart then you can stay behind the team. But lets not kid ourselves, still a truckload of work that needs to be done and a lot of areas to improve. Probably not under Sherwood. A long road ahead...
Ratings:
Lloris - No chance with two good finishes. One good save first half, with little to do in the second half. Much better kicking today I thought, seemed to get much more distance on them.
Naughton - A couple of really horrendous bits of play that led to the goals we conceded. If you are going to be unkind then you would say its a stark reminder after a few decent-ish displays... He did come back from those mistakes quite well though and was better second half, albeit when we were on the front foot, so some credit for that.
Kaboul - First half there were a few struggles. Second half with less to do he looked better and a bit more dominant, like old, than we have seen from him since his comeback.
Vertonghen - The less impressive of the two in central defence for me. Regularly afforded his man too much room, sometimes in dangerous situations, must mark tighter at times. Was probably glad we were on the front foot second half and didn't have as much work to do.
Rose - I thought he was possibly the best of the back four in the first half actually. As the game went on though he became more and more shaky. Little composure and just seemed ill at ease, characterised by him giving the ball away on occasions, not being in the right position and a couple of silly fouls. Not one of his best games at all.
Lennon - Waste of space. Minimal effort, minimal contribution.
Bentaleb - Given the holding role today, Sherwood really is asking a lot of him. He stuck at it though and his defensive game is getting better, though he still has much to learn. Not a perfect display nor one of his more eye-catching, but he didn't disgrace himself.
Dembele - Injured or not, that was way below par. Can have no complaints about being subbed.
Eriksen - As I said above, numerous classy moments and two goals. Very good display and hopefully he can keep this up till the end of the season.
Chadli - Improving all the time and looking better in a central role. Final ball could have been better on a couple of occasions but he is linking up well with others and is on an upward trajectory.
Soldado - Much better. His first touch which is often hit and miss was much more assured and as I said I was much more impressed with him keeping things simple with his link up play rather than trying extravagant flicks. Whilst not threatening much in terms of looking likely to score, he played in others well at times, most obviously for Eriksen's 2nd goal. Needs to build on this now.
Subs:
Sigurdsson - I will again give him credit for trying his best in the central midfield role. Some of his positional play and decision making was quite terrible on a couple of occasions which let them drive up the pitch, though you might expect that from someone who is just filling in there, but he did work hard along with Bentaleb in the second half. Scored a really good goal at the end and showed his best ability, his shooting. Did well today.
Townsend - Just seemed confused what he was trying to do a lot of the time and was running around with the ball to little effect. Trying way too hard. One moment summed things up, about half a yard from the goal line yet still tried a Cruyff turn and took it out of play... Even Cruyff himself wouldn't have managed to perform that turn in that little amount of space! Needs to calm down and think when he is on the pitch.
