Southampton (H): The post match thread

[SoccerHQ]

From what I saw this was very similar to the Swansea home game.

I thought it would pan out like this as we are inferior to most teams possession wise sadly. We needed a good performance from the defence in this run in and we got one today, hopefully the same standard for the next two games as we sure as hell are very toothless upfront without Benteke.

[silhillvilla]

How many times did Weimann touch the ball ? I thought he was truly abysmal

[Matt Collins]

I do wonder where our goals are going to come from

I'll repeat a comment from earlier. People say we need to spend a lot more to get more quality but both Swansea and Southampton put out a team at villa park that was well within the limits of what we've spent and passed us off the park

[seanthevillan]

How many times did Weimann touch the ball ? I thought he was truly abysmal

Weimann has always relied on his poaching instinct and generally being a good box striker. His goal record last season was good, and he counter attacks well, but in terms of awareness and build up play he is poor.

I don't think this will change too much, so its up to us to play him in the right system and provide him with opportunities in the box, or not play him.

[mr underhill]

I know it is incumbent on managers to be insanely positive in interviews, even if this borders on the insane, but Lambert's nonsense beggars belief. I heard Gary Monk being interviewed after the Jawdie Swansea game and he was everything Lambert isn't - chiefly  articulate and believable.

[mr woo]

Sorry, an intermediate pots occurred.  A youngster has a tough few minutes [shit in a nappy] and you castigate them.

Wow.

I probably phrased it badly. I'm not having a pop at the player at all, he's a young, unexperienced kid and he performed exactly as I'd expect him to.
If I'm castigating anybody its those that think he's something he isn't and put too much expectation on his shoulders.

[SoccerHQ]

I do wonder where our goals are going to come from

I'll repeat a comment from earlier. People say we need to spend a lot more to get more quality but both Swansea and Southampton put out a team at villa park that was well within the limits of what we've spent and passed us off the park

Saints have proper quality in the middle with the likes of Schnderlein (very underrated player) and Lallana.

Unless Grealish can develop into that sort of player within time, a player of Lallana's ilk is probably available for about 15m unless your scouting is incredible or you have gems in your youth academy.

Ultimately we are a poor team who struggle to score and that was with Benteke actually playing. Southampton are a decent top 10 team so I really didn't see much today apart from limited possession and hoping the defence would hold out and nick a point or even a 1-0.

So I'm happy with the point but very unhappy at the situation that has developed which makes undeserved points like today so crucial.

[mattjpa]

Is this what "starting from scratch" looks like?

Albrighton for all his crosses never really put in a great ball, not there was much to aim at as we failed to get numbers in the box.
Delph plays far too deep, nobody supporting the strikers, not that there was any decent service to them.

Shame Robinson came on so late, he certainly added a bit of muched needed energy to the side.

Overall, 'meh'. What a wasted season.

Not sure what u are on about re albrightons crosses, he put in 2 or 3 really quality balls. Just because our lame duck strikers wearnt on the end of them doesn't mean they were not quality

[seanthevillan]

I know it is incumbent on managers to be insanely positive in interviews, even if this borders on the insane, but Lambert's nonsense beggars belief. I heard Gary Monk being interviewed after the Jawdie Swansea game and he was everything Lambert isn't - chiefly  articulate and believable.

I don't know why people put so much importance on interviews - most managers decide their interview style and stick to it. The important thing is how they motivate, set up the team and influence the game, and that's where Lambert's problem is - he can be as uncommunicative as he likes for all I'm concerned.

[mr underhill]

but that was part of my point. He comes across as an incoherent mess who can't communicate and media management is a significant element of the job

[seanthevillan]

but that was part of my point. He comes across as an incoherent mess who can't communicate and media management is a significant element of the job

Ok but his interviews won't determine his fate or legacy when he leaves - it will be the team he builds. Look at Brendan Rogers - rightly pilloried for acting the pseudo-tactical genius in interviews, but doing a great job and got his team playing well and I'm sure Liverpool fans aren't that bothered.

[silhillvilla]

I thought Wanyama played well. Like a good version of Sylla .

[supertom]

Albrighton put in some great crosses today, and was consistently our biggest threat. That the movement from Gabby and Weimann was so piss poor was not Alby's fault. Ironically one forward who would have thrived on that kind of service was Darren Bent. Also unfortunately for Holt he never really got into the box when he came on. Then again it took him all of 20 minutes to run from the technical area when he came on, to the edge of the Southampton box. 5 more minutes of playtime and he might have made it to the 6 yard line.

I thought the Albrighton and Shaw battle was one of the few entertaining aspects of the game.

[Somniloquism]

but that was part of my point. He comes across as an incoherent mess who can't communicate and media management is a significant element of the job

Ok but his interviews won't determine his fate or legacy when he leaves - it will be the team he builds. Look at Brendan Rogers - rightly pilloried for acting the pseudo-tactical genius in interviews, but doing a great job and got his team playing well and I'm sure Liverpool fans aren't that bothered.

Brendan has done well in that he has totally changed his normal style of play to suit the players he has at his disposal. Last year (and at Swansea) he would play a possession game but that meant they weren't actually creating much but would have all the possession. This year he has gone onto almost a counter attacking and pacy side. It helps when you have Suarez probably playing out of his skin and you can get Gerrard playing the passing role to pick out the three strikers bombing forward. It is just a shame that we have a manager who used to tailor his formations against the opposition who now always tries to play 4-3-3 even though we don't have the personal or it just doesn't suit what the opposition are doing to combat it.

[Legion]

The most entertaining aspect of the game today for me was chatting to the bloke sitting directly behind me. He is not renewing his ST either.