Saints threw away the game and their unbeaten record away from home by effectively handing the game to Manchester City on a plate in the first 20 minutes.

Saints played as badly as they have all season in the opening 20 minutes at the Etihad, it wasn't just that City started at blistering pace, it was also the fact that Saints did not seem comfortable as a team, nor individually as they continuously gave the ball away and you just can't keep doing that when you are away to a team like City.

This was emphasised with the opening goal, I'm not quite sure why Ronald Koeman keeps interchanging Cedric Soares and Yoshida at right back, but the Japanese defender is just not good enough in that position. Throughout his Saints career Yoshida seems to suffer from these lapses in concentration that have on too many occasions cost Saints dearly and this was one of them, he was caught in possession, didn't take the opportunity to put the ball into the stands when he had it and within seconds Saints were a goal down.

This then saw an awful 20 minutes from Saints, they just could not keep the ball and kept giving it away cheaply, there wasn't just one culprit, even the likes of Van Dijk and Wanyama, normally reliable kept getting caught out.

Towards the later part of the half Saints regained their composure and made sure that the score did not get worse than Fabian Delph's second on 20 minutes and it could have been so much worse had it not been for some good goalkeeping and the odd bit of luck.

With 10 minutes to go before the break, Steven Caulker came on for Jose Fonte who had a nasty cut on the knee, in fairness Saints looked stronger at the back with Caulker in it, no reflection on Fonte, sometimes a change, any change can alter the spirit.

At half time Ronald Koeman reshuffled and brought on Dusan Tadic and that soon looked to be paying dividends, with Shane Long reducing the arrears and Tadic having a great chance saved by the City keeper, for 25 minutes after the break there looked to be a way back for Saints, but with 20 minutes to go Saints were caught out again and were never going to come back from 3-1 down.

So what cost Saints the game ? that is easy a combination of individual error and perhaps changes that didn't need to be made, too many players did not look comfortable out there, they gave away the ball too often and struggled to find any sort of shape.

Saints had more possession than City with 54% and only slightly less chances on goal 12 to the home sides 16, of those we had 8 on target and City 9, the stats were fairly similar so why did we lose so badly.

I think Ronald Koeman had one eye on Wednesday night's game with Liverpool and I also think that he felt he had to use the squad a little more after the jaded performance against Stoke last week.

Sadly it didn't work out, but in the main it wasn't the likes of Romeu, Long or Caulker who let the side down with slack play, but Wanyama, JWP even Virgil Van Dijk and Steven Davis, usually so reliable gave the ball away too cheaply at times.

But Ronald Koeman did have a few questions answered, firstly he should not use Yoshida at right back whilst their is a fit Soares, secondly he should use Shane Long a lot more this was the Irish strikers 5th goal of the season in all competitions, only Pelle and Mane have scored more, but Long has done it in only 4 starts plus 6 appearances off the bench, he has a knack of scoring and is flying for his country.

Thirdly Steven Caulker should be used more, for a player who barely missed a game in the past three seasons, he is suddenly out in the cold, with Yoshida making so many errors you have to ask why, perhaps the manager learn't something yessterday.

A bad day at the office, but many teams will suffer the same fate at City, in many respects it was a free hit, no we have to do what we did last season at this time when we suddenly went off the boil and that is get back to form with venom

Photo: Action Images

perazi added 10:21 - Nov 29 A good summary of the game. Completely agree about Caulker - he slotted in at CB very well and looked comfortable in combination with VVD. The non selection of Clasie was the surprise for me - RK has talked a lot about not resting or rotating players yet Tadic, Soares and Clasie all failed to start. I'm also wondering when RK and team start to question the continued presence in midfield of JWP who for the umpteenth time was an uninfluential figure in the game.

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aceofthebase added 10:23 - Nov 29 Yoshida played out of position and received the ball with no Saints player to pass it to within thirty yards. No one would have expected him to boot it into the crowd as initially Sterling several yards away. Sad fact is that we sold Clyne and have not replaced him with a player of quality.
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SonicBoom added 10:36 - Nov 29 A big part of the problem yesterday was the baffling selections. You can blame the players for individual errors but let's be fair Yoshida is a decent CB to have in your squad as cover. He's not a first choice and everyone knows that. He's definitely not a first choice RB and by playing him there Ron exposes his weaknesses. He simply should not have been there. I'm not sure why Ron does it as he about the only person who thinks it's a good idea.

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SaintNick added 10:47 - Nov 29 Yoshida initially has plenty of time to lay the ball down the line, that is basic full back play when you are being closed down and no short ball on, you lay it down the line for a forward to chase and it means that the opposition have to defend it. When he found himself closed down by Sterling he should have put it into the crowd, he didnt he tried to play his way out of it and got caught out. At times Yoshida thinks he is better than he is and has lapses in concentration it happens every game, it has done since he arrived here

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SanMarco added 11:58 - Nov 29 We have big problems at right-back, in midfield and we are a bit light up front. Those who say that the squad is stronger than last year have some awkward questions to answer at the moment. Is Martina good enough? Does Koeman rate Cedric? What is Juanmi's role. Last season we were solid enough to cope with games like yesterday. Alright we might still lose but we wouldn't have looked that awful in the first half hour.

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SalisburySaint added 12:11 - Nov 29 Nick Yoshida didn't play it down the line because no Saints player was there, it wasn't an option He then tried to find someone inside and made the cock up
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IWOZTHERE added 12:27 - Nov 29 I think we're united in believing that RK is an outstanding manager, but he has made some surprising choices lately, which have shown up weaknesses in our allegedly strong squad. He also didn't resolve the 'being caught in possession ' problem, so obvious in the Stoke game and I'm not referring to Yosh's first cock-up. ManC were always going to press us, but we persisted with the over intricate stuff, blindly playing into their hands.This was our top players, so it rather points a finger at the 'set up' for this game or not having a Plan B again. Encouraging that we came back, pleased for Long , Caulker and Stekelenberg. Van Dijk started poorly, but ended up looking like a latterday Beckenbauer striding out of defence. Mane was Mane! As for the rest, including Ron.........Extra homework, cos we've got to get in Liverpool's faces from the off!

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IWOZTHERE added 12:46 - Nov 29 Salisbury Saint.......I've got some sympathy for Yoshida as well. Sterling was on him like lightning for the first goal and for Kolarov's, he moved inside to cover someone who was free in the middle...a bit like a centreback surprisingly? Cold facts are though, that two goals were directly attributable to his mistakes and I think 'enough is enough'.
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mikesaint added 15:38 - Nov 29 Surely this must be the last time Yoshida is played at right back he is at fault for far to many goals. Why does Ronald Koeman keep starting in JPW midfield he is absolutely US. Ihope neither of these two play against Liverpool or we will be out of the Cup. When is Juanmi going to get a start?
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SaintNick added 17:57 - Nov 29 Salisbury, I know there was nothing up the line for Yoshida, but under pressure he should have put it long into the corner, its basic tactics taught to any full back, if there is nothing on then you put it in the corner and then its out of danger and the opposition can be closed down and have to defend it. Problem was Yoshida tried to be too clever and got caught out

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StRipper added 21:42 - Nov 29 I'm surprised that we had exactly the same problems down the right as at Stoke. Long kept leaving Cedric horribly exposed by abandoning the wing. Was it the same against City? Long constantly wants to play through the middle which makes him a root cause why we lose the ball so much when he plays. Wanyama and JWP I agree have been very poor recently. You never expect to see anything from them, which is a sad endictment

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SalisburySaint added 09:58 - Nov 30 Nick not trying to defend Yoshida just trying to explain why he did what he did, to those not at the game as this was not apparent on TV coverage It can be difficult for defenders at times as they are obviously encouraged to keep possession which is what he was trying to do, but he obviously made wrong choice and as you say should have thumped it down the line
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SaintJez added 14:46 - Nov 30 The first goal was a poor error but caused by a guy who was trying to use the ball and not just hoof it into no mans land. if we want to improve as a team, we need to be comfortable in possession and use the ball. The fact that he screwed it up is simply that he's playing off the wrong foot out there on the right and he's just not that good anyway! That aside, the "covering" play from Fonte for that goal was laughable and Bertrand was caught on his heels too. I'm not particularly criticising either of those 2 there as they are both excellent players for us but just saying that Yoshi was not alone! As for their 3rd, it's very harsh to blame Yoshida for that. His job is to cover the run of their winger - which he did. if their fullback suddenly appears in the box, it's the midfields job to cover that. Alas, our midfield was busy giving the ball away cheaply in centre field and then not tracking back as quickly as they broke....

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SaintBrock added 17:15 - Nov 30 Long has been seriously injured all season and only just coming back now so your comment about him being played a bit more often Nick is daft. Other than that we seemed to panic after that stupid mistake from Yoshi which is surprising as apart from tea setback at SMS last week we've been doing well. Not much backbone and character in the team right now, seem to have a bunch of flakey's on our hands who surrender at the first sight of the enemy.

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