Before I embark on a description of what has happened at St. Mary's, I'd like to say a few words.
You see, I'm a rather emotional man. In the heat of the moment I can say or do something I can regret in a couple of days, or look down on as downright madness in a week. It doesn't mean that I'm fickle or shape my narrative to suit someone's views. So if you'd like to know my opinion on a sensitive subject I have a vested interest in, asking me straight after if occurred is a bad idea. Wait a little while, then go for it.
That's why I rarely write match reviews the day they are played. I know I wouldn't be objective in the slightest and would likely see the world in black-and-white. But even next day or two days after the game I sometimes find it hard to be reasonable.
The matter of being objective wasn't helped in the slightest when I joined Twitter several months ago. There I stumble on all manners of opinions and, while I mistrust the extreme ones, the not-so-extreme are usually reasonable enough to sound plausible. And, as I'm following people with different philosophies, my judgement becomes clouded further still. I try my best to give a fair assessment of what I see, but don't hold it against me if I sometimes get carried away in the heat of the moment. Rather, check back in a couple of days and see if I'm still sticking to my previous post. And now, onto the game.
If there was a part of it I enjoyed, it was the first half an hour. We saw the most of the ball and, despite some warning signs (Pelle hitting the post, Mane almost getting on the end of a dangerous low cross), most will agree we dominated the game during that period. Sanchez could have opened the scoring with a distance effort, Oxlade's shot flew just wide following a clever backheel from Sanchez and some fancy footwork from Cazorla. The Spaniard himself enjoyed the best moment of the half, but his effort was too close to the goalkeeper. I felt that wasted opportunity could cost us, and it did.
I'd say I was surprised by the absurdity of the goal we conceded, but I wasn't. It's Arsenal. If I may slightly paraphrase The Beatles "Run up, run up for the ludicrous goal, step right this way". When it comes to gifting the opposition such goals we are the absolute champions. If there was a trophy for that, we would have been it's holders for a number of years.
Seriously, how can you leave any midfielder in any team with so much time and space to make a pass? But the way the situation was handled after that still makes me want to cry. Why did Szczesny race off his line, but then backed off at the moment it mattered most? Why didn't Koscielny put more pressure on Mane? Why Mertesacker failed to make a clearance being as tall as he is? How could Szczesny, Mertesacker and Koscielny fail to communicate and cover for each other? It was pathetic defending and, though Szczesny is to blame the most (doubt the goal would have happened had he stayed on the line), the sheer horror of the situation is that our supposedly best back four screwed up big time in a relatively simple situation.
The goal knocked the wind out of our sails completely. We could have conceded another before half-time, but this time Szczesny saved. There was a brief period of resurgence at the beginning of the second half and we could have actually been level, but Sanchez's shot was brilliantly parried by Forster. And the we conceded another.
Warden-Prowse put in a low cross and Debuchy intercepted it. The danger seemed averted as Debuchy was ready to whack the ball clear after a first touch, but then Szczesny intervened. He panicked, probably thinking Debuchy didn't have the situation under control and instead of letting the Frenchman finish the job, poked the ball away from him. It fell to Tadic and the latter smashed the ball home from close range. It was game over and we were in damage control mode since then, with Soton having at least three more moments to make it 3-0. Only a combination of Prowse's wastefulness, incredible luck and Debuchy's cool head prevented a third goal from going in.
And that's my biggest problem with yesterday's game. We gave up. With almost thirty minutes to go. There was no hope among the players, no desire to change the situation (bar, probably, the efforts of a completely knackered Alexis). This team has to backbone, no desire to fight back and this baffles me. It's beyond my comprehension.
These are basically the same players as last year, right? Bar Sagna, Fabianski and Vermaelen, these are the same players who topped the table for two-thirds of the campaign. Our defence was at least second-best in the league overall and definitely the best until early February. We didn't have the pacy Welbeck and Alexis, yet we were deadly on the counter. We didn't have Chambers or Debuchy, yet our ability to absorb pressure and keep opponents at arm's length was unmatched.
I fear that our problem goes beyond the injured players. Yes, we have a depleted midfield and attack, but it wasn't because of them we lost yesterday. It was because our supposedly best back five made a complete blunder of the situation.
Some has once again pinned the blame on the manager, but really, was it him who cost us this game? Yes, he could have brought on Campbell and Akpom (earlier), but ask yourselves, do you really think these two would have made a difference? As for Walcott, I have no words. Theo spent thirty minutes on the pitch and do you know what impact he had? A grand total of seven touches and five passes.
We need to somehow pick up the pieces and carry on. We play Hull in two days and I'd suggest rotation should be our priority. Both because we have a lot of knackered players and because I'm starting to really doubt the ability of some. Bring in somebody fresh and see how they fare.
That's it for now. Back tomorrow or on 4th with a preview.
Until then
Follow me on Twitter (@AlexBaguzin)
You see, I'm a rather emotional man. In the heat of the moment I can say or do something I can regret in a couple of days, or look down on as downright madness in a week. It doesn't mean that I'm fickle or shape my narrative to suit someone's views. So if you'd like to know my opinion on a sensitive subject I have a vested interest in, asking me straight after if occurred is a bad idea. Wait a little while, then go for it.
That's why I rarely write match reviews the day they are played. I know I wouldn't be objective in the slightest and would likely see the world in black-and-white. But even next day or two days after the game I sometimes find it hard to be reasonable.
The matter of being objective wasn't helped in the slightest when I joined Twitter several months ago. There I stumble on all manners of opinions and, while I mistrust the extreme ones, the not-so-extreme are usually reasonable enough to sound plausible. And, as I'm following people with different philosophies, my judgement becomes clouded further still. I try my best to give a fair assessment of what I see, but don't hold it against me if I sometimes get carried away in the heat of the moment. Rather, check back in a couple of days and see if I'm still sticking to my previous post. And now, onto the game.
If there was a part of it I enjoyed, it was the first half an hour. We saw the most of the ball and, despite some warning signs (Pelle hitting the post, Mane almost getting on the end of a dangerous low cross), most will agree we dominated the game during that period. Sanchez could have opened the scoring with a distance effort, Oxlade's shot flew just wide following a clever backheel from Sanchez and some fancy footwork from Cazorla. The Spaniard himself enjoyed the best moment of the half, but his effort was too close to the goalkeeper. I felt that wasted opportunity could cost us, and it did.
I'd say I was surprised by the absurdity of the goal we conceded, but I wasn't. It's Arsenal. If I may slightly paraphrase The Beatles "Run up, run up for the ludicrous goal, step right this way". When it comes to gifting the opposition such goals we are the absolute champions. If there was a trophy for that, we would have been it's holders for a number of years.
Seriously, how can you leave any midfielder in any team with so much time and space to make a pass? But the way the situation was handled after that still makes me want to cry. Why did Szczesny race off his line, but then backed off at the moment it mattered most? Why didn't Koscielny put more pressure on Mane? Why Mertesacker failed to make a clearance being as tall as he is? How could Szczesny, Mertesacker and Koscielny fail to communicate and cover for each other? It was pathetic defending and, though Szczesny is to blame the most (doubt the goal would have happened had he stayed on the line), the sheer horror of the situation is that our supposedly best back four screwed up big time in a relatively simple situation.
The goal knocked the wind out of our sails completely. We could have conceded another before half-time, but this time Szczesny saved. There was a brief period of resurgence at the beginning of the second half and we could have actually been level, but Sanchez's shot was brilliantly parried by Forster. And the we conceded another.
Warden-Prowse put in a low cross and Debuchy intercepted it. The danger seemed averted as Debuchy was ready to whack the ball clear after a first touch, but then Szczesny intervened. He panicked, probably thinking Debuchy didn't have the situation under control and instead of letting the Frenchman finish the job, poked the ball away from him. It fell to Tadic and the latter smashed the ball home from close range. It was game over and we were in damage control mode since then, with Soton having at least three more moments to make it 3-0. Only a combination of Prowse's wastefulness, incredible luck and Debuchy's cool head prevented a third goal from going in.
And that's my biggest problem with yesterday's game. We gave up. With almost thirty minutes to go. There was no hope among the players, no desire to change the situation (bar, probably, the efforts of a completely knackered Alexis). This team has to backbone, no desire to fight back and this baffles me. It's beyond my comprehension.
These are basically the same players as last year, right? Bar Sagna, Fabianski and Vermaelen, these are the same players who topped the table for two-thirds of the campaign. Our defence was at least second-best in the league overall and definitely the best until early February. We didn't have the pacy Welbeck and Alexis, yet we were deadly on the counter. We didn't have Chambers or Debuchy, yet our ability to absorb pressure and keep opponents at arm's length was unmatched.
I fear that our problem goes beyond the injured players. Yes, we have a depleted midfield and attack, but it wasn't because of them we lost yesterday. It was because our supposedly best back five made a complete blunder of the situation.
Some has once again pinned the blame on the manager, but really, was it him who cost us this game? Yes, he could have brought on Campbell and Akpom (earlier), but ask yourselves, do you really think these two would have made a difference? As for Walcott, I have no words. Theo spent thirty minutes on the pitch and do you know what impact he had? A grand total of seven touches and five passes.
We need to somehow pick up the pieces and carry on. We play Hull in two days and I'd suggest rotation should be our priority. Both because we have a lot of knackered players and because I'm starting to really doubt the ability of some. Bring in somebody fresh and see how they fare.
That's it for now. Back tomorrow or on 4th with a preview.
Until then
Follow me on Twitter (@AlexBaguzin)