WEST BROM AWAY

Can Saints manage to make it back to back wins? The season will certainly start to look brighter if they can

well more intrigue probably in team selection than game. will Berahino play, will Wanyama? Awful game last season with Pulis just lumping the ball forward and them time wasting from 10th minute, we need to score first to make a decent game. As I said on another thread seen 1 nil win and 1 nil defeat so must be 1 - 1 draw

0 0 half time and at least saints have looked solid. Not many chances for either side but saints had best chance with a header from j rod which just went past the post following a decent cross from Tadic. Jrod also had a shot saved but no real power. No major scares at back aside from what I thought was a penalty when targett got caught out and trying to recover slid in and certainly did not play the ball. Assume ref felt a dive over his leg but no booking. Atwell is ref and quite poor at start soares pushed over blatant push 5 yards in front of him yet plays on allowing WBA attack.

Wanyama started, sluggish to begin with but got better as half went on. Virgil looks a class player impressive.

Second half we really should have won the game lots of possession and plenty of crosses but always seemed wrong choice. Tadic would either chip and easy for goalie or want to beat 4 or 5 players, actually just 1 player 4 or 5 times. Mane came on for J Rod and made a difference with his pace and had a couple of shots wide. WBA only chance came with a hopeful long cross drifting to far post and with no one challenging Stekelenburg managed to drop and very nearly prodded in. Looks like has a couple of blunders in him.

Yoshida came on for Soares with 10 minutes to go and looked good which means we have the RB position covered now, shame that Juanni was not given a chance towards the end to try and win it. Wanayama and Virgil looked tired towards the end. Ward Prowse and Davis had little creativity. They both work hard but Ward Prowse's touch is poor and he had a couple of chances one a great one where his first touch was poor and chance gone. Davis again a mix of really good bringing the ball out then playing a poor pass.

But another clean sheet and unbeaten away from home in league, Virgil looks a class signing and with Bertrand due back in full training next week back line looking solid, unlike the early games. Midfield with Wanyama and Romeu is strong, I would look to play both and with Classie due back he may be able to add some creativity and at some stage Juanni will have to be given a chance so not all doom and gloom if you look on other sites

Stekelenburg 6 very little to do and the dropped catch is a worry
Targett 6 tried to get forward well and battles but can get caught out of position but still learning. doesn't have the physical aspect Shaw had.
Fonte 6 mixed game some typical Fonte blocks but some stray passing put us under pressure.
VVD 7 best defender and also probably made most of our best passes, looks a real prospect shame we didn't get him in earlier.
Soares 6 thought a bit iffy first half defensively but got forward well and more solid second half. Him and Tadic makes the right side quite light weight
Wanyama 6 overall a decent game considering had not played for a few weeks tired late on and also a bit slow but the effort was there
Davis 6 mix of good and awful, doesn't have the pace when bring out from defence so needs to improve his passing
JWP 6 again a mix of good and bad but plenty of effort just seems not quite to be in the right place at the right time
Tadic 6 he does have the ability but often picks wrong option and always blaming others, Soares went to break second half and Tadic about 50 yards away so gave up.
JRod 6 think will be several months before we see him back anywhere near his best, we need to be patient.
Pelle 6 typical Pelle game, won plenty of knock downs and close on a couple of occasions but not very mobile, though looked better than Ricky who got a good reception from the saints fans.

Subs
Mane 6 main threat and a couple of good mazy runs across the pitch
Yoshida 6 came on at RB and looked comfortable plus his height was useful to have, unlike when played at LB looked quite comfortable

Thanks Matty, a good report.

What a great report, Matty, I hope you do one every week!

matty07uk wrote:...with Classie due back he may be able to add some creativity...

When he was signed I watched some YouTube clips and the two things that registered with me were his creativeness and his toughness.  Oh! and his rather nice touch.  Wish he was taller but you can't have everything ;)  What a damn shame he got injured so soon and has taken so long to recover.

EDIT - I forgot to add my own opinion of the match.  I watched it on a blurry stream.  Saints were pants, a bunch of damp squibs.  There!  Concise and technical

It's a good job you don't restrict editing, Mike

Thanks for another great report Matty....and thanks for your comments Sista.    Feel a bit happier now, after watching on Sky last night I was inclined to agree with Sista that it was pretty useless.

The most positive thing for me was Van Djik's performance, definitely man of the match.   I thought both backs looked out of their depth, hope Bertrand is soon back, and thought we really missed Clyne.    I  thought Pelle had one of his poorest games, made me wish again that Saints had signed Austin, I am inclined to think that had he been playing, we'd have the 3 points. And I was a little surprised Long didn't replace Pelle for the last 20/25 minutes as he might have wanted to show West Brom that he could do it.

Saint_Sista wrote:What a great report, Matty, I hope you do one every week!

matty07uk wrote:...with Classie due back he may be able to add some creativity...

When he was signed I watched some YouTube clips and the two things that registered with me were his creativeness and his toughness.  Oh! and his rather nice touch.  Wish he was taller but you can't have everything ;)  What a damn shame he got injured so soon and has taken so long to recover.

EDIT - I forgot to add my own opinion of the match.  I watched it on a blurry stream.  Saints were pants, a bunch of damp squibs.  There!  Concise and technical

I normally do the home games as season ticket holder but only a few of the away games, unless I win the lottery and can afford to pack in work!

As far as Pelle goes he doesn't get a great deal of support when we play 4 3 3 as Tadic and JRod stay out wide. I would like to see maybe 4 4 2 occasionally with Mane off Pelle, and use the full backs, especially with Bertrand back providing the width. Soares looks better going forward and he suffers from having Tadic in front who gives little cover.

If J Rod gets back to his old form then he could play the CF role as more mobile than Pelle. saw the Leicester game and Vardy's goal was similar to chance we had where j rod just didn't want to stretch and take a risk. Understand completely why he is still tentative but we do need that penalty box striker.