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Southampton At Wolverhampton Wanderers The Verdict

Saints had plenty of chances to win this one and really should have got something out of it, but once again individual errors and a dodgy VAR call or two cost us dearly, we really can't go on throwing games like this away.

I was slightly surprised that Ralph Hasenhuttl picked an unchanged team for this one, although in my preview I alluded to the fact that under Rasmus Ankersen, Brentford played exactly the same 3-5-2 formation that was selected against both that club and again here.

Wolves are a side who like to defend deep and go on the break with pace, they have done this to us before and they did it again here, playing three at the back left us not only a little short of pace at the back, but in Nathan Tella & Romain Perraud two players who are not natural wingbacks.

I was surprised that Stuart Armstrong did not start in this position, a player who knows how to hold his position.

But we started the game well and looked the better side before the break until yet again more moments of madness at the back, Wolves won the ball in midfield and suddenly swarmed forward, Jan Bednarek dived in and appeared to have played the ball although if he did so it was the slightest of touches, the referee didn't give a penalty but he went to the screen, personally I thought there was not enough evidence to convict Bednarek, although he appeared to bring down the man on the follow through.

However we didn't let it disrupt our rhythm and we had our chances not least a wonder save from the Wolves keeper, there was also a call of our own, Romeu got a toe in to a ball and was then kicked and brought down in the follow through, why did that one not get spotted and reviewed.

Then came another individual goalkeeping error, Fraser Forster had a decent game and indeed has been very good since his return to the team, but he got this one all wrong and came for a ball he had no chance of getting and was left stranded, the header bounced off the post, Wolves had followed in, our players had given it up for a goal and could not get to the rebound and we were 2-0 down a score we did not deserve.

We got a life line when James Ward Prowse scored perhaps his best free kick of all, certainly the longest distance he has netted from and it sparked a late rally with Perraud almost nicking an equaliser but the ball came back off the woodwork, when it isn't your day it isn't your day.


With Saints pushing forward in injury time, Wolves broke and caught us at the back, our pace was exposed and Traore raced through to fire home.

I do give Wolves their due though, they played to their strengths and took their chances when they came, this was a win in their style, but we should not have let them impose their style on us.

So a disappointing result in a game we really should have done better in, compared to the recent games we lacked a little bit of spirit, a little bit of organisation and we seemed a bit flat.

We still played well at times, but we seemed too sure of ourselves, we didn't seem to think that we had to graft, that the goals would come, we didn't work as a team as we did against West Ham. Spurs, Swansea & Brentford.

This was not a 3-1 result in many respects, what it was though was a trademark Wolves win and a trademark Saints defeat littered with lapses of concentration and individual error.

For me I think the formation was wrong, especially against a team like Wolves who like to catch you on the break, if you want to play 3 at the back then the wingbacks need to be wingbacks and not playing outside of their natural game.

On the right Romain Perraud got forward well, but he doesn't seem to be a player who can get up and down the line, he can defend and he can attack, just not at the same time so to speak.

On the other side Nathan Tella is either an attacking winger or a forward, he is not a defender and even though he can chase back he hasn't got the awareness to know where he should be chasing, where he should be tucking in behind one of the back three when we are on the back foot.

I have nothing against playing 3 at the back, it is a handy tool for the armoury, but you have to play it with the right personnel, in this game if we did it, then Kyle Walker Peters should have been our right wingback.

So yet more dropped points that really should not have been, but in many respects I would rather drop points due to error than be totally out played, if we were battered then that would be worrying, but we can look at errors and hopefully rectify them going forward.

We are a work in progress, sadly like the majority of the other Premier League teams that is probably always going to be the case.

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