STOKE CITY AT ST MARYS

Has 0 - 0 written all over this one!

Subject to any injuries, I'm thinking Saints' team (apart from midfield) for this week will pretty well pick itself. Forster, Clyne, Fonte, Toby, and Bertrand must surely be at the back; Pelle, Tadic and Mane (perhaps I am wrong but Mane seems hungrier and more of a threat than Long) should be up front; while in midfield we should have Schneiderlin plus 2 of Cork, Davis and Wanyama.

Is Targett still injured??

yeah do not expect much change but may be he will think it was Long who meant we had a sluggish start though I thought he had a better game than previous ones.. midfield will be the tough call, Cork Davis, Wanyama for 2 spots . as Stoke wonder if he might start Wanyama which will mean cork on the bench

http://metro.co.uk/2014/10/24/southampton-must-be-wary-of-stoke-citys-win-at-all-costs-mentality-4919933/?


I'm not going to make a forecast at the moment, I keep changing my mind.

Well as expected no goal fest in this game but the 1 nil win over Stoke was just as satisfying. Second in the table though the fixture list has been kind to us but have only conceded 5 goals in 9 games and no matter who you have played that is a pretty good statistic for the premier league.

Saints started much brighter than last week and could have gone ahead within first couple or minutes  ball was knocked wide to mane on left side of box attacking Northam end when he curled a cross/shot which Pelle just missed and only just went wide, then Pelle tried a shot which went wide, have to give Pelle credit he never stops trying and going for goal and while many go wide or high if you don't shoot you wont score.  Stoke, despite the rubbish Hughes spouts were pretty much all about Crouch, long balls hit to him and play off the knock downs. You have to give Crouch credit as even though you know will happened still hard to stop him and he had a good chance but header well wide in what turned out to be  area event, a Stoke attack.

Tadic was again looking a threat down the right side and played several decent balls into the box and on one occasion cut in from the right and had a hot low down to right which Bergovic got down well to knock past the post. Tadic then set up Schneiderlin from a short corner play with Morgan slightly leaning back and unfortunately hit the bar and went over, one of four occasions we hit the woodwork. Finally got the breakthrough when yet again Adam committed a foul not far outside the box, another player who seems more intent on arguing and fouling than trying to do something positive. Ball was played in and a Stoke player got a poor header out. Pelle brought down and swivelled and shot but hit the post, beginning to get that feeling but ball went back to Mane who side footed high and into far side of goal, possible in off the post. Wait for some old blazer pillock at the FA to award as an own goal!

Expected then Stoke to change formation but never happened in first half, in fact Bergovic carried on taking forever with their goal kicks which just seemed odd, they were losing but seem to have a mentality lets keep it 1 nil to last 10 minutes then might put some attacking players on to sneak a point.

Second half was not very old when we again hit the wood work, decent cross in and Pelle rose well with a header that had goalie well beaten only to hit the woodwork and bounce clear, would it be one of those days? Finally Stoke took off Adam, what a poor player, overweight, slow and commits to many fouls and brought on Diouff who injected a little bit of pace and some skill up front but Crouch seemed to drop deep, aim being flick on to Diouff. Just when it looked like Stoke may be getting a foothold into the game without threatening saints brought on Wanyama for Cork and that seemed to restore the balance as gained us control of the midfield. Pelle and Tadic both had shots high and wide then Pelle should have done better from a corner but headed well wide. Stoke still didn't really have much of a threat though Diouff nearly got on the end of a long deep cross but couldn't make contact but aside from that hard to remember any saves that Forster had to make. Towards the end a few high balls thrown in the box but either defended well or caught by Forster. 4 minutes extra time  but wasn't really much to worry about, saints kept the ball most of the time in Stokes half and when it did come forward mostly long ball  which saints coped comfortably with, Gardos had come on for Davis.

So another win at home, no goals conceded and 19 points from 9 games. Not sure who he will play on Wednesday at Stoke, Targett, Gardos, Long should all start, would also start Wanyama, possibly Harrison Reed and wonder if he might start mayuka. At the end Pelle looked knackered, great hold up play all day and got pretty battered by Shawcross but didn't give an inch. Have to say league is beginning to look more important than cup, especially as seem to be getting away games but playing the guys mentioned above should not be a weak team, players with a point to prove.

Forster 7 did okay but would still like to be more dominant in box
Bertarnd 7 not as good as last week but solid game
Fonte 6 couple of poor clearances but solid
Toby 7 surprisingly looked more comfortable today
Clyne 7 another good game
Schneiderlin 7 some good link play probably should have scored
Cork 6 not as effective as last week
Davis 7 usual level of effort
Tadic 7 good first half , quiet second half.
Mane 7 took his goal well and good for 60 minutes faded towards the end
Pelle8 probably should have scored with his header but great all round game, never stopped working and excellent hold up play.

subs
Wanyama 7 shored up the midfield when he came on, should start wed
Gardos 6 only on for 5 mins another who should play Wed

Another great result and great report, thanks Matty!

From the highlights on Sky it seemed Saints played quite well, although a number of players were looking tired late in the game.   I was surprised that Long was not put on for the last 20 minutes or so, to give someone a rest and liven things up.

I am not impressed by Davis on corner-kicks and would like to see him kept off them.

Thanks for the report Matty.

Thanks Pete, an interesting point to note when managers say they are looking at playing attractive football, look at the size of the team they put out! Stoke were a throw back to the days of the championship, everyone well over 6 ft, broad as well as tall, okay all except Crouch. Then you look at saints, Tadic, Mane, Cork, Davis and its not hard to see what team actually play attractive attacking football as opposed talking about it.