[Albion] Player Ratings - Southampton

[Horton's halftime iceberg]

All of the Saints fans I spoke to yesterday reckon they were rubbish and are on the way down..... and I went with three.

I sort of agree, but if Jose puts that sitter in early doors then we win 2-1 what does that make them. I sort of agree because I said the same comimg back from WBA about them, and they won 2-0.

Its all tight and tense at the bottom, just need to hold our nerve, I think CH, TB are bloody experts at this and us fans not so good.

 

[chaileyjem]

There is simply no way on Earth that Hughton will start Murray and Ulloa this weekend. It will be one of them with Gross behind.

I'm not sure why anyone thinks that could happen given what we have seen so far.

Exactly. He won't change formation until Locadia is fit. (Stoke ?). Ulloa is there to replace Hemed not to accomodate 4-4-2 with Murray / Ulloa up front.

 

[Gazwag]

A Saints fan on the way Home suggested that we were the worst team he had ever seen in the premier league. On that performance he might be right. A good point gained, but awful performance


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Did he mention they really should be beating teams like Brighton

 

[Sarisbury Seagull]

Ryan - 7 - Brilliant keeper, gives me so much confidence;

Schelotto - 7 - Defended well, worked hard and offered more going forward than any of our midfield;
Dunk - 8 - Class;
Duffy - 7 - Best game for a while but still the odd error;
Bong - 6 - Did ok;

March - 5 - Inconsistent as usual this season. Worked hard at times but terrible decision making and culpable for the goal;
Stephens - 6 - Ok as per, worked hard and defended well but offered nothing going forward;
Propper - 6 - See Stephens;
Izquierdo - 5 - See March;

Gross - 4 - He looked shattered after 5 minutes and seems to get slower every match;

Murray - 8 - Best game for a while. Thought he worked incredibly hard on his own with no support and the Saints defenders knew they were in a game;

Ulloa - 6 - Did ok in limited time;
Kayal - 7 - Made a big difference to us when he came on with his energy alone. Needs to start the next game.

Hughton - 4 - All a bit predictable unfortunately - starting 11, tactics, approach when we went ahead and then substitutions. I think we all knew what was going to happen. If we're going to stay up, that was a game we should have won, Saints are a very average team incredibly low on confidence. We're not going to get much very chance to win away.

 

[biddles911]

It amazes me how so many people on here seem to have a forensic knowledge of what is going on in Mr Hughton's brain.

On more than one occasion I have heard him express disappointment at the way we failed to attack with any teeth, which seems to give the lie to an all out defensive mindset. I also can't help thinking that Southampton have some decent players, people who are capable of coming up with a moment of sublime skill, like Boufal for instance. maybe we did well to contain them.

And although Norwich seem a bit negative about him, Mike Ashley has admitted it was a mistake to sack Hughton.... when they were 8th(?) in the Premier League, and he is always very well received when he goes back up to the North-east.

I have a nephew who is a Birmingham City supporter - another one of CH's former clubs. The week we announced his appointment, I got a 4 word text from Matt which just said "Chris Hughton - Good manager".

Let's just see how the rest of the season goes, with more attacking options. I share the view already expressed on here by some that Ulloa's brief cameo last night was promising.

I’ve got a huge amount of respect for CH and what he’s achieved with a fairly limited squad but we’ve patently struggled over the past couple of months and I do not know how we can expect to score when our main striker is permanently isolated. Murray is good but he’s not Suarez or Aguero.

Our defence is still pretty good, as the stats show, but they’re permanently under the cosh and look increasingly more jaded.

I would like to at least try two up front to give us half a chance of scoring and/or push the midfield up a bit to support more.

I also fundamentally disagree with CH’s tactic of only giving subs 10 minutes or so when we’re clearly out of ideas.

Half the league is in the relegation zone at present so I’m not panicking yet, particularly now we’ve got Leo back, but I do think CH needs to change the mindset....

As an aside, am disappointed with the transfer window whatever PB says. We’ve got a striker who’s injured so may miss our most vital games and I think we need more shoring up in midfield if only to give Stephens/Propper a rest.

Who’d be a football manager!? Oh hang on, a massive salary might help.....?


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[Machiavelli]

I thought Gross worked his arse off first half, the ground he covers is amazing. I expect if you looked at his stats, he wouldn't be far off the player that ran the most last night. Ineffective maybe especially into the 2nd half, a bit slow yes, not lazy though. If he is aware he is the one likely to come off on 70mins, then he is definitely making sure he's got nothing left in the tank.

Murray, did okay, but too many offsides, and sometimes he is just slow to react to get into positions instinctively that would help out his team mates – Ulloa for example did this much better when he came on, he seemed to be more available.

Corners – do you mean conceded or taken? I thought the corners we took were shocking, so I assume you meant the corners we defended.

Yes, the claim that Gross is lazy is one of the most bizarre NSC comments about one of our players. We're all aware that there's plenty of rivalry for that mantle.

 

[Machiavelli]

Well, I have March-tinted spectacles, but I think he did better than most on here. The same with Propper.

Ryan 6
Schelotto 6
Duffy 7 -- best game in a long time
Dunk 7.5 MotM -- half a point off for his part in the goal; otherwise class
Bong 5.5 -- solid, but a poor footballer
March 6.5 -- half a point off for giving away a cheap free kick for their goal, but the rest of his defending was good against one of the best left backs in the country, and he did some good stuff going forward too. Won some clever free kicks. One dreadful corner.
Stephens 6
Propper 6
Izquierdo 5 -- did alright defensively, but he's so predictable, his touch is poor too often, and he doesn't exactly have the best footballing brain
Gross 4 -- needs a rest
Murray 7

Ulloa 7 -- looked well up for it
Kayal n/a

 

[One Teddy Maybank]

A Saints fan on the way Home suggested that we were the worst team he had ever seen in the premier league. On that performance he might be right. A good point gained, but awful performance


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But apparently as good as them [emoji2]


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[chaileyjem]

We’ve got a striker who’s injured so may miss our most vital games

He's recovering from injury. CH quoted yesterday saying he hoped he'd play a part v Stoke, (and i guess a 90 mins v Coventry) so presumably will be here/contributing in full to our last 11 league games.

 

[hans kraay fan club]

A Saints fan on the way Home suggested that we were the worst team he had ever seen in the premier league. On that performance he might be right. A good point gained, but awful performance

What reactionary bullcrap.

They beat Sunderland at St.Mary's in the Prem, EIGHT NIL!

 

[stingray]

Ryan 5
Schelotto 6
Duffy 6
Dunk 8 MotM
Bong 5.5
March 5 too many basic errors despite the good stuff.
Propper 6
Izquierdo 5 - failed to deliver when given opportunity in key areas
Gross 5
Murray 6

Ulloa 7

Hughton - 4 subs too late, shape all wrong second half

 

[Johnny RoastBeef]

For the first 15-20 minutes Southampton couldn't live with us and had Jose buried his chance early on we would have battered them. Unfortunately, as the game went on, nerves kicked in and we struggled to maintain our good start and Saints grew in confidence.

We just need to get more pace up top, then we can effectively play the on the counter as we did last season. At the moment we defend well, get the ball into midfield, lack options and end up giving the ball back.

Overall I think Chris got his tactics spot on. Not a lot else we can do until we have all the tools we need to do something different. We are still evolving from a Championship team into a Premier League one.

 

[Brighton Mod]

Why is anyone surprised at the tactics by hughton?

We all know that he started the season with 38 points. His mindset is that he wants To finish with at least 38 points. So therefore, especially away from home at the moment, he sets the team up to keep the 1 point.

By some fluke, we managed to get ahead and suddenly we have gained 2 points.

So, his mindset kicks in and he now thinks, if we defend like hell for the next 80 minutes, they have to score two, and I back my team not to let two
For us fans it is frustrating...to him it is job done. He came away with his point in tact.

It is not as if we didn't know this was coming. Newcastle and Norwich both got rid of him as the fans fell out with his style of football. So as we all love him apart from a few vocal fans on here, we are to put up with this.

Which then brings us back to our signings.....we have signed two out and out strikers...BUT we struggle with three wingers and Suttner and schelotto to get decent balls into the area for an centre forward. So I assumed when we brought ulloa that he would compliment Murray upfront...but looking at last night, no...he is there to replace him when he or hemed gets tired. Gawd knows why we bought the other guy if we are not going to play 2 or three up front, especially at home.

It will be interesting this weekend how we play against the shites from London. If we play one up front, we will lose. The shites are a decent team and we need to be at them for at least 80 % of the game, not sit back and hope the goal comes our way at some time.

I can agree with your sentiment regarding taking an away point but if the opportunity arises to win then surely this must be secured. CH would be aware of all the stats and his own players. Last night was a great opportunity to take three points, but the strategy employed, as we have all seen this season, is adopt a siege mentality, from which we ended up conceeding and luckily didn't concede a second. We are never going to get any different from CH, thankful as we all are, theres no time for sentiment with these amounts of money at stake.

 

[Brighton Mod]

Good morning Solly.

ha ha you never know.

 

[Falmer Flutter ©]

Ryan 6. One dodgy kick, one spilled shot, but pretty solid overall. Quick off his line in the first half, generally sound distribution throughout.
Bong 6. The only player willing to get forward and get a first-time cross in. Unfortunately, didn't happen often enough. Don't remember him getting done in defence at all.
Dunk 8 (MOTM). Superb. Won every tackle, put his body on the line and nothing got past him.
Duffy 5.5. A mixed bag. Won every header, but my god some of his passing, even simple stuff, was woeful. Just hasn't been on it for weeks.
Schelotto 5.5. Seems like he's playing a different game at times - and not in good way. Saying that, did his job at the back, just couldn't get anything going with March going forward.
Izquierdo 4.5. Terrible miss in first minute, the most frustrating of players going forward. So predictable. Beats defender for pace, cuts back in on his right foot, shot gets blocked as he's surrounded by three defenders waiting for him to do this. Not one cross into the box all game. Go on, have a swing with the left just for once. Or how about swapping with March of whoever is on the right just for five minutes? Go on, give it a go. Just try something different FFS.
Stephens 5. Ran and ran, but rarely won the ball, passed the ball or kept the ball. If our midfield are pressed and have little space they don't have the quality to work a way out.
Propper 5. Ditto
March 5. At least tried to take people on, although rarely came off. Defended well, apart from absolutely suckered into giving away that free-kick.
Gross 6. Surprised at comments that he's lazy. Apart from Murray, seemed to be the only player willing to chase and harry, and try and make life difficult.
Murray 7. Won almost every header, a constant handful, calm penalty. Fed on scraps.

Ulloa 6. Looked lively, some neat touches and a sign of what's to come. Should have been on 10 minutes earlier. Get the ball to him.
Kayal 6. Harried, drove forward. Think he and Ulloa were the sparks for our mini late effort. Finally had Saints players running backwards.

 

[Triggaaar]

Don't agree with Murray as MOTM as he had offsideitis again, but sadly I couldn't pick an alternative candidate. March had a nightmare, I'd stick him down to 4/10.

March 7 Worked hard, had several good runs, crossing not so special and got
booked, but he was up for it.
Murray 9 One almost everything in the air, held the ball, laid it off and supported in
defence, could not have done any more.

 

[BensGrandad]

Dunk 8 (MOTM). Superb. Won every tackle, put his body on the line and nothing got past him.

Except for the most important one............................................................................................ that they scored from.

 

[Falmer Flutter ©]

Except for the most important one............................................................................................ that they scored from.

Wow, that must have taken a bit a time to type all those dots. At your age I really, really wouldn't have bothered.

 

[Guinness Boy]

In hindsight I might have been harsh on Murray. Dunk and Duffy are both good shouts for MoM too. Murray certainly worked hard and took his penalty coolly but his continuing inability to stay onside really grinds my gears. March though - all he did was lose it or get beaten. I presume the 7 refers to the number of times Bertrand beat him.

 

[Machiavelli]

In hindsight I might have been harsh on Murray. Dunk and Duffy are both good shouts for MoM too. Murray certainly worked hard and took his penalty coolly but his continuing inability to stay onside really grinds my gears. March though - all he did was lose it or get beaten. I presume the 7 refers to the number of times Bertrand beat him.

Strange. You and I were watching a different game last night re March. I was there, like I suspect you were.