Saints At Vitesse The Verdict
Friday, 7th Aug 2015 08:22

Saints did everything to plan as they cruised past Vitesse and into the play off round of the Europa League.

I said in the preview of this match that ideally we would get an early goal and that would put us in total control of the tie leaving with them needing to score 5, this was exactly what happened as Pelle put the tie to bed with a goal after only four minutes.

From then on it was just a case of keeping it tight and making sure that Vitesse didn't get a glimpse of a comeback, Saints did just that as the hosts had the lions share of the ball but never got a chance to make it tell with Ronald Koeman getting his tactics just right.

Midway through the second half he made three key substitutions to keep fresh legs on the pitch and it was great to see Jay Rodriguez returning to competitive action.

Once again Victor Wanyama was dominant and the icing on the cake came in the final minute when Sadio Mane nicked the ball and ran through to make it 2-0 on the night and 5-0 on aggregate.

Saints now await their opponents in the play off round but can go forward with confidence knowing that they are a side in form.

Photo: Action Images via Reuters

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DPeps added 09:42 - Aug 7

5-0 on aggregate was a bit flattering, and if Vitesse had a finisher the tie might have been a lot closer. Our second half displays in both games were quite flat, but perhaps understandable in the circumstances.
I thought Martina played well and will prove decent competition for Cedric. Yoshida played decently out of position. Caulker looked shaky at times but consecutive relegations will do that to a player - he'll improve.

halftimeorange added 09:42 - Aug 7

I personally thought over the two legs that Vitesse were a poor side who would struggle in our Premier League. They lacked penetration and took risks passing the ball back to a keeper who looked vulnerable when pressed. Having said that they did manage to open Saints defence up on a few occasions and more clinical finishing would have tested us more. There was no doubt that Saints were the superior team and I hope Caulker slots in quickly and Clasie returns to fitness and quickly finds his best form. Ward-Prowse doesn't do enough for me and Tadic faded after the first half, the same as he did at St Marys. Good to see Pelle score but he received little service thereafter.

Zambucco added 09:46 - Aug 7

We need to keep gold of big Vic, he's just hitting his stride. So good to see him getting into the box and during of a few shots. The best is yet to come my friends.
Stickleback is looking a worthy stand in for Forster, not a mauve fan of Pelle, but neither a hater, thought he had a very good game. Everything else looked fairly solid.
For me the jury is still out on Martina, JWP and Reid

Overall exciting times for Saints, with the possibility of a couple more good signings too

SaintBrock added 10:15 - Aug 7

A strangely disjointed affair in which we defended quite well but with regular alarming lapses, the strikers were unable to hold the ball up to provide any sort of threat and the midfield nowhere to be seen for most of the night which meant we were under a barrage of attacks all evening. Our ball possession was absolutely dreadful a key part of our game in recent seasons honed initially by Nigel Adkins. Common moans a lot about poor possession at press conferences but nothing seems change. Tadic was poor again and never beat a man all evening. Some serious question marks there. Caulker sadly seems to be confirming most people's fears that he must have been at least partly instrumental in those two relegations from the PL.

Vitesse like all Dutch teams are a league or two lower in quality than Saints of the premier league at least on paper and of course once again despite all the concerns we scored twice from breakaways to make it look far more easy than it was. A few first picks were rested again but my expectation of securing any sort of result on Sunday is low on this somewhat inept performance.

SaintBrock added 10:16 - Aug 7 Common = Koeman
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bstokesaint added 12:35 - Aug 7

I've been really impressed with some of our new signings. Think Stekelenburg has looked solid and his handling has been decent when called upon. Juanmi looks a lively prospect upfront and Cedric (Soares) has impressed me so far as a Clyne replacement. Still to make my mind up on the other new guys. What I do know is that Caulker needs to wake up a little, especially on set pieces, but I appreciate forming a new centre back partnership can take a little time. On a different note it's going to be interesting seeing who gets the most goals this season between Pelle, Mane and J-Rod. They all look hungry and I. could see them all bagging between 15-20 with Long and Juanmi also chipping in with a few.

leighsaint added 19:28 - Aug 7 We did overall what was wanted. I think we must wait until after Sunday to see what formation we are going to play before anyone can slate any Saints player. This is when it begins.
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