Neil Dawson
UTC Legend
Saints and Sinners
We'd hoped it would be one of those days, a Grimsby or Brentford day for older fans, a Bolton or Charlton day for younger fans - in the end it turned into what seems like every day for the last year... a tactically inept, confused, shot-shy game with technological kicks in the stomach thrown in for good measure.
I used to really understand and get Eddie but recently it has become a lot harder. His dreadful season had shown a splutter recently with a high press and a five man midfield. It wasn't perfect, it required work but it was infinitely better than the abject crap that preceded it giving an encouraging defeats at the two Manchester giants, an unlucky draw with Spurs and a win over Leicester. Some on social media questionned whether Eddie would return to his three flat lines for this game - most people scoffed, I was asked the question this morning by my elderly dad - 'no way Dad' I replied 'even Eddie will have seen that it wasn't working after the last four games. I was wrong. Eddie was wrong - back it came, a man with a love for 80's music giving us his tired museum piece homage to 80's football. The result it deserved followed and his team are now clinging on to their top flight status by a fractured finger nail.
Solanke and Gosling had clearly given too much to the cause in the last few games so gave way for a c jaded Brooks and hit or miss Phil Bil. Three flat lines and a clear determination to sit deep, get the ball forward early and bombard Southampton's giant defence with long throws from any throw in the final third. Fans that didn't want Pulis in January ( thats all of us) must have been so relieved he didn't come and we got to watch this instead.....
The surprise element worked to a degree and although it wasn't pretty it was semi-effective with a string of crosses causing Southampton problems - although the main problem for their defenders was wondering if unchallenged they had time to chest it or whether they should be safe - such was the lack of numbers in the box this formation affords. Wilson in particular was so off form when it came to anticipating anything.
The play was heavily based on the left side of the pitch with Brooks in particular poor on the right and Stacey and his understanding breaking down regularly. There was one shot of note from the home side to show for all the set pieces and throws - Kelly's deflected shot flying just wide. Southampton had more possession but our defence, Kelly and Rico in particular, was on top form. Ramsdale stopped smartly from Redmond though and Ward Prowse headers.
King was causing a lot of problems for Saints and when he broke clear and crossed it only Walker Peters knows how he managed to keep his interception from going into the net.
It was looking like we might get into the break level but Danny Ings had other ideas. Unfortunately it was Kelly at fault with a loose ball into midfield that saw Southampton break, INGS recieved the ball on the left and was allowed to cut in onto his good foot too easily by Stacey and fire across Rambo to deflate Bournemouth going into the break.
Bournemouth 0 Southampton 1
Bournemouth started the second half like a team that had just conceded. Eddie had strangely kept the same formation and swapped one out of form Welsh midfielders for one slightly less in form and Harry was soon into the action giving the ball away in a crucial position and then from the resulting corner wincing and putting his hands in front of his face like a small child to concede a penalty when the ball hit it. Ramsdale was on it though, diving left to keep out Ing's kick and rescue Harry's blushes.
It was then Eddie went a bit weird.... goodness only knows what formation we ended up with when our two best attacking threats were withdrawn for Solanke and Lewis Cook. I think it was the Leicester wing back formation but with Harry Wilson as one of those wing-backs - a man as hardy and steadfast as those polystyrene balls you get in packaging.........but slightly less mobile. Not content with the confusion and opportunities for Southampton to attack at will on their right this gave we then threw Surridge on for a 3-3-4. Unfortunately - as with every time we have ever tried this it leaves you without the ball or needing to launch it which was the only type of ball Vestergaard doesn't fear. We then compounded this with 45 long throws straight onto his willing Danish bonce. Three chances were created - two for Harry Wilson who wasted one and was brilliantly denied for the other by Mccarthy's fingertips. Solanke then had an effort miraculously blocked by Vestergaard. .
As Bournemouth pushed they understandably left holes at the back and they were exploited by Ings and Redmond - Ramsdale making a fantastic stop to deny the latter.
There was one time the throw worked - a moment that will long cause me stomach acid. I made a crucial mistake. I allowed myself to celebrate a goal with raw passion like I used to in the days before VAR. Surridge flicked on, Wilson flicked into the keeper and Surridge pounced on the rebound to fire home and send the watching hoardes of Dorset people into delerium. Back at the studio they watched....... Wilson's whole leg was offside and off it was chalked. At moments like this you almost want relegation so you can behave inhumanly and let the release go - it's the point of supporting a team afterall.
That was the moment and the only thing we didn't need to do then was concede again. This is 2020 though - the year that gives in so many ways and with the players minds clearly focused on unfairness Che ADAMS was given acres of space to spin and fire past Rambo for his second ever top flight goal. That in itself might prove pivotal.....
FT Bournemouth 0 Saints 2
Ramsdale 8 - An outstanding performance keeping the score down.
Stacey 6 - Stuttered a bit to link with the various Welsh wizards put in front of him
Cook 6 - Steady enough but never quite at grips with a lively forward line.
Kelly 7 - I thought he was very promising despite his pivotal loose ball.
Rico 7 - Good defending and use of ball in play but poor set pieces.
Brooks 4 - Just not really on the pitch mentally or physically.
(Wilson 3 - counting down the days until he leaves us)
Lerma 7 - Battled hard and put himself on the line continually.
Billing 6 - One of his more determined efforts but crowded out.
Stanislas 6 - Not as influential as recently but decent enough.
Wilson 4 - Once again offered nothing and inability to stay on side cost.
King 6 - Lively and direct although again over tricks when no need.
(Solanke - battled hard and made a few things happen, Cook one great ball and tidy, Surridge - thats a sickener but took it well will be good if we do drop).
MOM - Ramsdale - clear winner and also got the TV vote so I must be right - even if it was Glenn 'not so keen on differently abled folk' Hoddle that called it.
Verdict
Ultimately - if you stumble on a formation that turns your side from Sunderland (2016 to 2020) into one more than capable of a mid-table finish and you choose to return to the impotent one for the most important game of your season then you don't deserve to stay in the top flight. Eddie survives for me on ability and because he is the best championship manager option for us and I'm old-fashioned when it comes to loyalty for an incredible achievement but not for anything this year.
We are not world beaters whatever formation we play because we have lost zip and energy and belief. However we have two formations at play, one that just stretches the team and makes us less likely to have a shot and more open to concede. The other allows us to go up the pitch together, not be opened up between the lines and gets triangles into the oppositions penalty area. The lack of zip and energy still exists with a five man midfield and the personnel still misfire, I'm not claiming it to be mecca - but it keeps us in games. Only Eddie knows why his dogged obsession with a dated formation that served him so well in a different era of the game keeps coming back to cloud his judgement but ultimately it will define his career as well as the future of the club he loves and has put in the spotlight.
Also it blunts the potential of his side's shining light - Brooks, a player that can take teams apart on the edge of, or in, the box but one relegated to chasing full-backs up and down the pitch. Whether Harry Wilson could blossom in this position like he did in the Championship, I'm not as sure - but we will now never know as once again he was played in a position where he will never shine, and once again he didn't. This is what happens when formations, philosophies and structures are more important than the 15 bodies staring back at you on a training pitch.
Then ultimately the final breakdown of decent leadership with a Sunday League style attempt to get back in a game that the players clearly don't understand and against an in-form side that's well drilled in their own way of playing is just soccer suicide (one for our new American fans).
A wasted, opportunity in a season that rattles on because of the paucity of quality in the teams around us. Despite the fact that every chance has been afforded us in this lock-down we have taken it away with a series of baffling decisions that started with two right-footers on the left, persisted with a determination to play Brooks and Callum into form and is completed now with the abolition of the one formation that had chances. Shambolic - and a series of decisions that I fear, barring the last day win miracle that I will now spend the week convincing myself about, Eddie and us will always regret.
But, there may be a last day miracle - and if we are saving ourselves for it and deliver it it will top many of the stories that have gone before it. I can't see it now - but ask me again Thursday..........
We'd hoped it would be one of those days, a Grimsby or Brentford day for older fans, a Bolton or Charlton day for younger fans - in the end it turned into what seems like every day for the last year... a tactically inept, confused, shot-shy game with technological kicks in the stomach thrown in for good measure.
I used to really understand and get Eddie but recently it has become a lot harder. His dreadful season had shown a splutter recently with a high press and a five man midfield. It wasn't perfect, it required work but it was infinitely better than the abject crap that preceded it giving an encouraging defeats at the two Manchester giants, an unlucky draw with Spurs and a win over Leicester. Some on social media questionned whether Eddie would return to his three flat lines for this game - most people scoffed, I was asked the question this morning by my elderly dad - 'no way Dad' I replied 'even Eddie will have seen that it wasn't working after the last four games. I was wrong. Eddie was wrong - back it came, a man with a love for 80's music giving us his tired museum piece homage to 80's football. The result it deserved followed and his team are now clinging on to their top flight status by a fractured finger nail.
Solanke and Gosling had clearly given too much to the cause in the last few games so gave way for a c jaded Brooks and hit or miss Phil Bil. Three flat lines and a clear determination to sit deep, get the ball forward early and bombard Southampton's giant defence with long throws from any throw in the final third. Fans that didn't want Pulis in January ( thats all of us) must have been so relieved he didn't come and we got to watch this instead.....
The surprise element worked to a degree and although it wasn't pretty it was semi-effective with a string of crosses causing Southampton problems - although the main problem for their defenders was wondering if unchallenged they had time to chest it or whether they should be safe - such was the lack of numbers in the box this formation affords. Wilson in particular was so off form when it came to anticipating anything.
The play was heavily based on the left side of the pitch with Brooks in particular poor on the right and Stacey and his understanding breaking down regularly. There was one shot of note from the home side to show for all the set pieces and throws - Kelly's deflected shot flying just wide. Southampton had more possession but our defence, Kelly and Rico in particular, was on top form. Ramsdale stopped smartly from Redmond though and Ward Prowse headers.
King was causing a lot of problems for Saints and when he broke clear and crossed it only Walker Peters knows how he managed to keep his interception from going into the net.
It was looking like we might get into the break level but Danny Ings had other ideas. Unfortunately it was Kelly at fault with a loose ball into midfield that saw Southampton break, INGS recieved the ball on the left and was allowed to cut in onto his good foot too easily by Stacey and fire across Rambo to deflate Bournemouth going into the break.
Bournemouth 0 Southampton 1
Bournemouth started the second half like a team that had just conceded. Eddie had strangely kept the same formation and swapped one out of form Welsh midfielders for one slightly less in form and Harry was soon into the action giving the ball away in a crucial position and then from the resulting corner wincing and putting his hands in front of his face like a small child to concede a penalty when the ball hit it. Ramsdale was on it though, diving left to keep out Ing's kick and rescue Harry's blushes.
It was then Eddie went a bit weird.... goodness only knows what formation we ended up with when our two best attacking threats were withdrawn for Solanke and Lewis Cook. I think it was the Leicester wing back formation but with Harry Wilson as one of those wing-backs - a man as hardy and steadfast as those polystyrene balls you get in packaging.........but slightly less mobile. Not content with the confusion and opportunities for Southampton to attack at will on their right this gave we then threw Surridge on for a 3-3-4. Unfortunately - as with every time we have ever tried this it leaves you without the ball or needing to launch it which was the only type of ball Vestergaard doesn't fear. We then compounded this with 45 long throws straight onto his willing Danish bonce. Three chances were created - two for Harry Wilson who wasted one and was brilliantly denied for the other by Mccarthy's fingertips. Solanke then had an effort miraculously blocked by Vestergaard. .
As Bournemouth pushed they understandably left holes at the back and they were exploited by Ings and Redmond - Ramsdale making a fantastic stop to deny the latter.
There was one time the throw worked - a moment that will long cause me stomach acid. I made a crucial mistake. I allowed myself to celebrate a goal with raw passion like I used to in the days before VAR. Surridge flicked on, Wilson flicked into the keeper and Surridge pounced on the rebound to fire home and send the watching hoardes of Dorset people into delerium. Back at the studio they watched....... Wilson's whole leg was offside and off it was chalked. At moments like this you almost want relegation so you can behave inhumanly and let the release go - it's the point of supporting a team afterall.
That was the moment and the only thing we didn't need to do then was concede again. This is 2020 though - the year that gives in so many ways and with the players minds clearly focused on unfairness Che ADAMS was given acres of space to spin and fire past Rambo for his second ever top flight goal. That in itself might prove pivotal.....
FT Bournemouth 0 Saints 2
Ramsdale 8 - An outstanding performance keeping the score down.
Stacey 6 - Stuttered a bit to link with the various Welsh wizards put in front of him
Cook 6 - Steady enough but never quite at grips with a lively forward line.
Kelly 7 - I thought he was very promising despite his pivotal loose ball.
Rico 7 - Good defending and use of ball in play but poor set pieces.
Brooks 4 - Just not really on the pitch mentally or physically.
(Wilson 3 - counting down the days until he leaves us)
Lerma 7 - Battled hard and put himself on the line continually.
Billing 6 - One of his more determined efforts but crowded out.
Stanislas 6 - Not as influential as recently but decent enough.
Wilson 4 - Once again offered nothing and inability to stay on side cost.
King 6 - Lively and direct although again over tricks when no need.
(Solanke - battled hard and made a few things happen, Cook one great ball and tidy, Surridge - thats a sickener but took it well will be good if we do drop).
MOM - Ramsdale - clear winner and also got the TV vote so I must be right - even if it was Glenn 'not so keen on differently abled folk' Hoddle that called it.
Verdict
Ultimately - if you stumble on a formation that turns your side from Sunderland (2016 to 2020) into one more than capable of a mid-table finish and you choose to return to the impotent one for the most important game of your season then you don't deserve to stay in the top flight. Eddie survives for me on ability and because he is the best championship manager option for us and I'm old-fashioned when it comes to loyalty for an incredible achievement but not for anything this year.
We are not world beaters whatever formation we play because we have lost zip and energy and belief. However we have two formations at play, one that just stretches the team and makes us less likely to have a shot and more open to concede. The other allows us to go up the pitch together, not be opened up between the lines and gets triangles into the oppositions penalty area. The lack of zip and energy still exists with a five man midfield and the personnel still misfire, I'm not claiming it to be mecca - but it keeps us in games. Only Eddie knows why his dogged obsession with a dated formation that served him so well in a different era of the game keeps coming back to cloud his judgement but ultimately it will define his career as well as the future of the club he loves and has put in the spotlight.
Also it blunts the potential of his side's shining light - Brooks, a player that can take teams apart on the edge of, or in, the box but one relegated to chasing full-backs up and down the pitch. Whether Harry Wilson could blossom in this position like he did in the Championship, I'm not as sure - but we will now never know as once again he was played in a position where he will never shine, and once again he didn't. This is what happens when formations, philosophies and structures are more important than the 15 bodies staring back at you on a training pitch.
Then ultimately the final breakdown of decent leadership with a Sunday League style attempt to get back in a game that the players clearly don't understand and against an in-form side that's well drilled in their own way of playing is just soccer suicide (one for our new American fans).
A wasted, opportunity in a season that rattles on because of the paucity of quality in the teams around us. Despite the fact that every chance has been afforded us in this lock-down we have taken it away with a series of baffling decisions that started with two right-footers on the left, persisted with a determination to play Brooks and Callum into form and is completed now with the abolition of the one formation that had chances. Shambolic - and a series of decisions that I fear, barring the last day win miracle that I will now spend the week convincing myself about, Eddie and us will always regret.
But, there may be a last day miracle - and if we are saving ourselves for it and deliver it it will top many of the stories that have gone before it. I can't see it now - but ask me again Thursday..........
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