Maybe Ederson Should Have Used His Feet if He's So Good At It
What do you know… Manchester City again, at the Etihad
again, this time in the Premier League. The question for most pundits leading
up to this game is simply, will Saints get absolutely trashed or will they keep
it tight and lose narrowly. There doesn’t seem to be many of the opinion that
we will get anything positive out of this game. Last year we came here under
Mark Hughes and he changed the formation to match up against Manchester City’s
4-3-3 and surprise surprise, they were slightly better replying it than we were
and we got completely dicked by 6-1…. But this was back in the days when 6-1
was classed as a dicking. We have of
course set new standards when in comes to what represents a dicking.
Having rested a few in the Carabao Cup during the week, we can expect Ralph to strengthen the team somewhat with the inclusion of Nathan Redmond and Danny Ings. No disrespect to those two players but it’s quite amusing when you put them up against the players that Pep will bring into the side to freshen them up, namely Ederson, Raheem Sterling, Kevin De Bruyne and David Silva.
The things I’m looking for in Ralph’s team selection are of course the inclusion of Alex McCarthy in goal and Kevin Danso playing at centre back. I’d also like to see JWP left out but with Pierre Hojbjerg likely to being deployed at left back, this seems very unlikely. Tactically I’m not expecting anything different to what we saw on Tuesday night. It’ll be five at the back and keeping things tight and not committing many bodies forward until the hour mark even if we go behind. Watch us blitz them off the pitch now. Ha ha fucking hah.
Having rested a few in the Carabao Cup during the week, we can expect Ralph to strengthen the team somewhat with the inclusion of Nathan Redmond and Danny Ings. No disrespect to those two players but it’s quite amusing when you put them up against the players that Pep will bring into the side to freshen them up, namely Ederson, Raheem Sterling, Kevin De Bruyne and David Silva.
The things I’m looking for in Ralph’s team selection are of course the inclusion of Alex McCarthy in goal and Kevin Danso playing at centre back. I’d also like to see JWP left out but with Pierre Hojbjerg likely to being deployed at left back, this seems very unlikely. Tactically I’m not expecting anything different to what we saw on Tuesday night. It’ll be five at the back and keeping things tight and not committing many bodies forward until the hour mark even if we go behind. Watch us blitz them off the pitch now. Ha ha fucking hah.
Team news and oh Christ… Vestergaard is playing. Just what you want against quick, nimble
footed strikers. I don’t get it…
especially as Danso was decent on Tuesday. Being decent as Tuesday has finally earned
Alex McCarthy a start in the league and I wouldn’t be surprised if there was at
least a part of Angus Gunn that was quite pleased to be dropped for this one. Unsurprisingly,
Jack Stephens gets another go and the rest of the team is as expected with Ings
and Redmond coming in for Boufal and Long. City have all the big guns playing, the four I
mentioned earlier plus the likes of Aguero, Stones, Gundogan & Fernandinho.
As with Tuesday we manage to make it to the 10 minute mark without letting a goal in which is a bonus and then something really fucking weird happens. Romeu puts Redmond away on the right hand side and he gets deep into the City penalty area on the right before pulling the ball back to Armstrong who has burst forward from midfield which is most unlike a Saints midfield player. He then does what Saints midfielders never do and hits it first time and Ederson, chosen by Pep to be his number one goalkeeper because he is good with his feet, proves that he is not so good with his hands and pushes the ball out and JWP has followed it in, unlike any Saints midfielders usually does and the rams it into the roof of the net for 1-0. Fuck me, this is just gonna make them angry isn’t it?
There’s not really much to talk about in terms of individual incidents in the first half other than the fact that we defended very deep and very well and they don’t manage a single shot on target at McCarthy despite having about 99% possession. Every time they shoot from the edge of the box, if it’s on target then one of the players gets a block in. Every time they get down the wings and cross the ball, Vestergaard, Stephens or Bednarek heads it away or McCarthy catches it. It’s simple and it must be frustrating as fuck for Manchester City but it is very very effective and we reach half-time still a goal to the good.
The second-half starts in much the same fashion, only with added shithousing at every opportunity, taking ages over throw-ins and McCarthy doing that thing that all goalkeepers like to do which is to catch the ball and then dive forward with it, having already caught it when stood up. It’s the sort of thing that would drive us absolutely mental if another team was doing it when we were behind. Even the bench are getting in on the act and not giving the ball back very quickly when it ends up in among the Saints coaching staff. Pep is going mental as he does and the technical area obviously doesn’t apply to him as he is running up and down the line chastising the ball-boys and getting the ball back into play as quickly as possible. I can totally get where he’s coming from but at the end of the day he supposed to be in his fucking technical area and Lee Mason and the fourth official are supposed to be policing that but they seem quite happy to let him get away with whatever he wants.
On about 65 minutes, a cross comes over from the left and Aguero is totally free in the middle of the penalty area despite us having about 10 players back there but he puts his header well over the bar. Is it time to start believing when Aguero, who has about 100 career goals against Southampton, misses a chance like that? The answer is “of course it fucking isn’t“.
The ball gets played out to Kyle Walker on the right hand side and he takes a shit touch which seems to unsettle all the defenders. Walker, more by luck than judgement I reckon, drills the ball across low and there is Aguero, who has managed to find himself a yard in amongst eight Southampton defenders and he dispatches it from close range past McCarthy to level things up with 20 minutes to go. Fuck it. To be honest, we were never going to hold out but fuck it anyway.
Having found a way to score, City go for it again with Sterling tricking his way to the same point that Walker crossed from. He pulls it back and the ball finds its way to Bernardo Silva who smashes it from the centre of the penalty area but McCarthy pulled off a decent reaction save to knock it over the bar.
From the resulting corner, Saints clear it and are breaking with numbers but fat bald twat Lee Mason, gets in the fucking way. We get the ball back from it from the drop ball but City very sportingly chase down the pass back to McCarthy who has a bit of a brain fart and picks it up. Free kick about 10 yards out and I am 100% convinced that this is going to end up in the net. It gets rolled back to De Bruyne who thankfully drills is it a foot wide of the far post. If you want an example of the commitment being shown by Saints today then watch this free kick back as about eight players throw themselves at the ball.
Five minutes to go and more City pressure and Angelino slings in across from the left-wing and McCarthy comes out and has a bit of a flap at it and Kyle Walker manages to volley it into the net. Fucks sake. 2-1.
Ralph sends Adams on for Bednarek but our main hope is Djenepo who cam on earlier for Ings. Every time he gets the ball he manages to wave past two or three players but we can’t fashion another decent chance. Pep is still acting like a fucking dickhead from within his technical area this time and miming to throw the ball away.
Because we’re throwing men forward now, we are wide open to a quick break only Lee Mason doesn’t get in the way of their break. Sterling managed to show an amazing level of brainlessness by not passing the ball to Jesus and eventually getting tackled by JWP, the one Saints defender who was made it back. The next break sees De Bruyne carry it forward and he does decide to pass it to Jesus and maybe proves why Sterling didn’t pass to him earlier as Jesus shoots but McCarthy makes himself big to pull off a great save.
Fuck. You have to say that that was a magnificent defensive performance full of heart and guts and all the things we did not do last week. It was however undermined by two mistakes with no one taking charge to pick up Aguero from the first goal and McCarthy, unfortunately blotting an excellent couple of games by flapping at a cross for Walker’s goal.
After all my moaning about Vestergaard, he was superb today because we defended so deep the he didn't have to run - just head everything and get in the way and he was excellent. There was one headed clearance from a corner that reached the half way line. I grimaced at the thought Vestergaard and Stephens in defence but the pair of them were superb today, ably supported by Bednarek. Hojbjerg and Valery had great games in the full back positions, particularly Pierre who played for most of the game on a yellow card. There was ridiculous hard work from the midfield three and Redmond and Ings must’ve run more without the ball than they ever have in their careers. Another major plus was the form of Djenepo when he came on, gliding past three or four players at pace whenever he got the ball. It certainly is going to make next week’s team selection interesting because Ralph really has to try to find a place for him.
There’s no doubt that Pep Guardiola is a brilliant manager and he is a breath of fresh air for the way the game should be played but when he stressed and things are not going all his own way, he is a fucking nightmare. Remember the last time we ran them close - the Nathan Redmond incident. Today's referee Lee Mason allowed him to get away with being constantly outside his technical area but what do you expect when you play one of the big boys away from home. Also, Kyle Walker, you can go and fuck yourself mate. His interview after the game was a classic case of top six bollocks where he just moaned about Saints defending all the game. Fuck right off, if you could defend in a disciplined way, you still be in the England side you absolute twat. A few facts for you. City’s starting 11 today cost £400 million in transfer fees and would be worth considerably more than that in today’s transfer market. Saints starting 11 cost £83 million, so roughly a fifth of theirs. 10 players in City’s starting line-up cost more than our record buy, of which 5 cost more than double our record. So Kyle, we are not really going to compete on the same level are we, you prick. It’s like these entitled wankers expect everybody to just roll over and make it easy for them. To quote a line in a Pearl Jam song…. The Have’s Have Not a Clue.
It was very disappointing to lose in the end but you could absolutely see it coming from about the hour mark onwards. For those saying that we should’ve gone for it more, it was notable that when we did go for it after we went 2-1 behind, that every time we lost the ball, City engineered a three versus two break and only good fortune, poor decision-making and excellent goalkeeping stopped us letting in another one. Teams like us cannot afford to commit to many bodies forward against a team like City, no matter what dickheads like Kyle Walker would like us to do.
It does annoy me the way the media keep saying things like “that’s what champions do“ and all that sort of stuff. Look at the money their squad cost compare to ours. We did incredibly well to get anywhere fucking near them and that’s before you consider the backdrop of getting stuffed 9-0 in our last game
So, well done Ralph and the boys. A bit of pride restored and now we have a new challenge which is to actually win a home game next week against Everton. We have four or five games now where we have to pick up some points otherwise we really are going to be down amongst the dead man. It starts now.
As with Tuesday we manage to make it to the 10 minute mark without letting a goal in which is a bonus and then something really fucking weird happens. Romeu puts Redmond away on the right hand side and he gets deep into the City penalty area on the right before pulling the ball back to Armstrong who has burst forward from midfield which is most unlike a Saints midfield player. He then does what Saints midfielders never do and hits it first time and Ederson, chosen by Pep to be his number one goalkeeper because he is good with his feet, proves that he is not so good with his hands and pushes the ball out and JWP has followed it in, unlike any Saints midfielders usually does and the rams it into the roof of the net for 1-0. Fuck me, this is just gonna make them angry isn’t it?
There’s not really much to talk about in terms of individual incidents in the first half other than the fact that we defended very deep and very well and they don’t manage a single shot on target at McCarthy despite having about 99% possession. Every time they shoot from the edge of the box, if it’s on target then one of the players gets a block in. Every time they get down the wings and cross the ball, Vestergaard, Stephens or Bednarek heads it away or McCarthy catches it. It’s simple and it must be frustrating as fuck for Manchester City but it is very very effective and we reach half-time still a goal to the good.
The second-half starts in much the same fashion, only with added shithousing at every opportunity, taking ages over throw-ins and McCarthy doing that thing that all goalkeepers like to do which is to catch the ball and then dive forward with it, having already caught it when stood up. It’s the sort of thing that would drive us absolutely mental if another team was doing it when we were behind. Even the bench are getting in on the act and not giving the ball back very quickly when it ends up in among the Saints coaching staff. Pep is going mental as he does and the technical area obviously doesn’t apply to him as he is running up and down the line chastising the ball-boys and getting the ball back into play as quickly as possible. I can totally get where he’s coming from but at the end of the day he supposed to be in his fucking technical area and Lee Mason and the fourth official are supposed to be policing that but they seem quite happy to let him get away with whatever he wants.
On about 65 minutes, a cross comes over from the left and Aguero is totally free in the middle of the penalty area despite us having about 10 players back there but he puts his header well over the bar. Is it time to start believing when Aguero, who has about 100 career goals against Southampton, misses a chance like that? The answer is “of course it fucking isn’t“.
The ball gets played out to Kyle Walker on the right hand side and he takes a shit touch which seems to unsettle all the defenders. Walker, more by luck than judgement I reckon, drills the ball across low and there is Aguero, who has managed to find himself a yard in amongst eight Southampton defenders and he dispatches it from close range past McCarthy to level things up with 20 minutes to go. Fuck it. To be honest, we were never going to hold out but fuck it anyway.
Having found a way to score, City go for it again with Sterling tricking his way to the same point that Walker crossed from. He pulls it back and the ball finds its way to Bernardo Silva who smashes it from the centre of the penalty area but McCarthy pulled off a decent reaction save to knock it over the bar.
From the resulting corner, Saints clear it and are breaking with numbers but fat bald twat Lee Mason, gets in the fucking way. We get the ball back from it from the drop ball but City very sportingly chase down the pass back to McCarthy who has a bit of a brain fart and picks it up. Free kick about 10 yards out and I am 100% convinced that this is going to end up in the net. It gets rolled back to De Bruyne who thankfully drills is it a foot wide of the far post. If you want an example of the commitment being shown by Saints today then watch this free kick back as about eight players throw themselves at the ball.
Five minutes to go and more City pressure and Angelino slings in across from the left-wing and McCarthy comes out and has a bit of a flap at it and Kyle Walker manages to volley it into the net. Fucks sake. 2-1.
Ralph sends Adams on for Bednarek but our main hope is Djenepo who cam on earlier for Ings. Every time he gets the ball he manages to wave past two or three players but we can’t fashion another decent chance. Pep is still acting like a fucking dickhead from within his technical area this time and miming to throw the ball away.
Because we’re throwing men forward now, we are wide open to a quick break only Lee Mason doesn’t get in the way of their break. Sterling managed to show an amazing level of brainlessness by not passing the ball to Jesus and eventually getting tackled by JWP, the one Saints defender who was made it back. The next break sees De Bruyne carry it forward and he does decide to pass it to Jesus and maybe proves why Sterling didn’t pass to him earlier as Jesus shoots but McCarthy makes himself big to pull off a great save.
Fuck. You have to say that that was a magnificent defensive performance full of heart and guts and all the things we did not do last week. It was however undermined by two mistakes with no one taking charge to pick up Aguero from the first goal and McCarthy, unfortunately blotting an excellent couple of games by flapping at a cross for Walker’s goal.
After all my moaning about Vestergaard, he was superb today because we defended so deep the he didn't have to run - just head everything and get in the way and he was excellent. There was one headed clearance from a corner that reached the half way line. I grimaced at the thought Vestergaard and Stephens in defence but the pair of them were superb today, ably supported by Bednarek. Hojbjerg and Valery had great games in the full back positions, particularly Pierre who played for most of the game on a yellow card. There was ridiculous hard work from the midfield three and Redmond and Ings must’ve run more without the ball than they ever have in their careers. Another major plus was the form of Djenepo when he came on, gliding past three or four players at pace whenever he got the ball. It certainly is going to make next week’s team selection interesting because Ralph really has to try to find a place for him.
There’s no doubt that Pep Guardiola is a brilliant manager and he is a breath of fresh air for the way the game should be played but when he stressed and things are not going all his own way, he is a fucking nightmare. Remember the last time we ran them close - the Nathan Redmond incident. Today's referee Lee Mason allowed him to get away with being constantly outside his technical area but what do you expect when you play one of the big boys away from home. Also, Kyle Walker, you can go and fuck yourself mate. His interview after the game was a classic case of top six bollocks where he just moaned about Saints defending all the game. Fuck right off, if you could defend in a disciplined way, you still be in the England side you absolute twat. A few facts for you. City’s starting 11 today cost £400 million in transfer fees and would be worth considerably more than that in today’s transfer market. Saints starting 11 cost £83 million, so roughly a fifth of theirs. 10 players in City’s starting line-up cost more than our record buy, of which 5 cost more than double our record. So Kyle, we are not really going to compete on the same level are we, you prick. It’s like these entitled wankers expect everybody to just roll over and make it easy for them. To quote a line in a Pearl Jam song…. The Have’s Have Not a Clue.
It was very disappointing to lose in the end but you could absolutely see it coming from about the hour mark onwards. For those saying that we should’ve gone for it more, it was notable that when we did go for it after we went 2-1 behind, that every time we lost the ball, City engineered a three versus two break and only good fortune, poor decision-making and excellent goalkeeping stopped us letting in another one. Teams like us cannot afford to commit to many bodies forward against a team like City, no matter what dickheads like Kyle Walker would like us to do.
It does annoy me the way the media keep saying things like “that’s what champions do“ and all that sort of stuff. Look at the money their squad cost compare to ours. We did incredibly well to get anywhere fucking near them and that’s before you consider the backdrop of getting stuffed 9-0 in our last game
So, well done Ralph and the boys. A bit of pride restored and now we have a new challenge which is to actually win a home game next week against Everton. We have four or five games now where we have to pick up some points otherwise we really are going to be down amongst the dead man. It starts now.
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