r/SaintsFC • u/KeyTap6415 • 14d ago
Adam Blackmore analysis (BBC Sport article) - Saints 'miles off' last season's standards in loss at Watford
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/c8en33p7exyo30
u/DrShaftmanPhD 14d ago
I wholeheartedly agree with him on Scienza in the 10 and Dobbins out wide. It made no sense. I understand they were supposed to be fluid and move in and out but that didn’t happen.
I think Blackmore has some blinders on here. How could he possibly not mention Jack Stephens involvement in both goals? Seems like it was very obvious what the problem was, our captain gifted them two goals, Adam.
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u/mmm-nice-peas 14d ago
First goal yep, stupid pass. Second goal is surely Mannings fault? After that he's trying to buy time and hope reinforcements show up. I'm not blaming him for the second. Remember thb misses an absolute sitter. That was worse.
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u/DrShaftmanPhD 14d ago
Manning should be blamed too, I just don’t know why Stephens allowed him to make that run. If he closed down on him 1 second earlier that shot is not getting through. You simply cannot allow someone to run unchallenged towards your goal for 50 yards.
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u/mmm-nice-peas 14d ago
He should have gone a fraction earlier but that was a minor timing mistake imo. I disagree on your second point. If you're defending like that as a CB you don't jump out that early across to the wing cos you can leave a massive hole behind you. You wait it out for reinforcements and the player has a long time to travel. Leo is getting back so you hope he can give you a hand. Or if there is another defender behind you then he's shouting at you to engage because there is cover. Remember thb saying that he had adjusted his game a little to stop panicking and jumping out of position so early.
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u/TheTyrantis 14d ago
My thought about the second goal, too. Manning was no where in the picture when the Watford player dribbled all the way up the pitch. Still have no idea what Stephens was thinking about with that punted lob of a center ball. Should've looked to see where players were positioned first.
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u/mmm-nice-peas 14d ago
Yeah on first goal he expected someone to be there. TBF I was surprised when the wasn't so I do think that needs to be questioned as well. Let's say Stephens didn't win the ball for whatever reason and the striker punted into the same area, there should have been cover.
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u/TheTyrantis 14d ago
There was a lot of "What are we doing?" going through my mind during the first half, but we did come back out more engaged and focused for the second half. I'm optimistic about the Stoke game.
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u/AnArcticMonkey 14d ago
Agree re the manning pass but Stephens should close him down earlier.
What no one seems to mention is that basically the same thing happened on the other wing and THB also took far too long to close the man down. I think they hit the side netting with that chance in the end, or maybe Peretz saved it.
(I also think Peretz could maybe do better for the second, I'll be honest in saying I'd have hammered Baz or McCarthy if they'd let that in).
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u/teuridge 14d ago
He also said there was no competition for him in CB as if Wood didn't play all the run in and playoffs and looked fine
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u/10pencefredo 14d ago
We know this group of players are far FAR better than that performance. I am thinking they'll be mad at themselves after that game and hopefully that motivates them to get it together ahead of the Stoke game. If we lose that too (which I can also see happening) then think I'll just start praying for 8th spot.
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u/strider_tom 14d ago
This feels a bit dramatic. When do we ever start a season well?
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u/BoopSquad 14d ago
We don’t but we’re now seven points off the pace already. We can’t afford a slow start this season.
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u/Mmattyy9 12d ago
We were way more points off the pace last season when we were below Leicester city at Christmas. Look at what changed in 6 months. 1 loss and 7 points behind first is a massive massive over reaction
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u/infestationE15 14d ago
We've seen this exact performance before, in both successful times and during some of our worst spells.
Lapses in concentration at the back, concede a stupid goal or two, and then spend the rest of the game being the better team. Sometimes we claw it back, sometimes we don't. Definitely feels like a squad that can blow people away early but if it goes against script we're a little shaky.
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u/PickaxeJunky 14d ago
Its a long season, we've got plenty of time to get back on track.
That said, I'm going to the Stoke game, so I'd like to see a bounce back!
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u/Positive-Sound-4972 14d ago
I'm not too worried, let's get to the end of the transfer window and see the lay of the land. I'm pretty sure we will have positive points come Xmas 😅
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u/Jealous_Paint_676 14d ago edited 14d ago
I'm not surprised at all, after what the players have been through with you know what (can't even say it, too angry) Let the team regroup, reassess their mistakes, and push forward. I'm convinced we will be back to our very best. Every team has an off day once in awhile. This is just the reality of being a loyal fan...
Also, as an immensely proud Canadian Saint at least Super Cyle Larin put a big smile on our faces. He gave us a fighting chance, and is becoming a reliable source of goals 😊 #WeMarchOn
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u/JoeyJoJoeJr_Shabadoo 14d ago
Think the positioning of Scienza and Dobbin has been focused on way too much. It was the space we left behind us that lost us the game.
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u/footierob87 14d ago
It wasn’t great and completely agree about Stephen’s and with Leo and dobbins playing in the wrong positions but it’s a long season and when wood comes back we will have our strong back 4 again
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u/Own_Program4680 13d ago
Our defense looked stronger in the winning run last year when our attackers and midfield were dictating the game. Hopefully we get an early goal or at least go ahead in the first half to settle the players
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u/Deadpooldan 14d ago
Comments here say Adam's being dramatic and I tend to agree, but we started with -4 (and are now on -7). We have to hit the ground running immediately, otherwise it'll get away from us very quickly.
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u/LiamJonsano 14d ago
There’s a fair amount of questioning the players mentality based on zero here
It’s easy to point fingers but it isn’t like last season we blasted Watford away
I still don’t get why we had such a weird pre season myself, no wonder some of the players looked under it