Whilst no one can disagree with the words of Saints defender Jannik Vestergaard after the defeat at Wolverhampton Wanderers, Saints fans would rather see action than fine words !
Jannik Vestergaard hit the nail on the head after the defeat at Molineux.
"I think we were on top in the second half, dominating possession in their half, but in the key moments we are not defending well enough — as a team or as individuals, that hurt us a lot today."
"I think it was an even game so the first goal was always going to have a very good chance of winning it, especially closing in on the 90 minutes.
"The first goal would’ve been very important for us as well, but we weren’t as effective at both ends.
"We need to get better at winning games. We can’t just pat ourselves on the back and say we’re going in the right direction.
"We can take positives out of this game and say we were dominant in the second half, but it’s not going to give you points if you don’t win.
"We have to be better with the chances we create, but obviously it’s easier to win with a clean sheet and we haven’t been doing that in the last few weeks.”
There isn't a Saints fan present in the West Midlands on Saturday who will disagree with that, but most would say at present Vestergaard is part of the problem not the solution.
It had been hoped that the big Danish central defender would be the missing link and provide the steel in the centre of the defence that would help Saints shore things up at the back and give them something to build on, but although initially Vestergaard looked good, going forward he seems to have struggled to come to terms with the pace of the Premier League.
Wesley Hoedt has come in for some criticism from Saints fans, but the truth of the matter is that Hoedt is not the issue in the defence, an unlucky own goal at Anfield aside he has been generally strong and not at fault for any of the goal conceded.
But that cannot be said for Vestergaard, he has seemed a yard off the pace, that showed in the home game against Leicester when he should really have blocked their last minute winner, against Brighton he was not dominant in the air and although you could also criticise goalkeeper Alex McCarthy for not coming off his line for both the first goal and the build up to the corner that lead to the penalty, fingers were also pointed at Vestergaard for failing to dominate the box and mark up his man.
Likewise at Anfield, he should really have blocked the cross for the first goal and he was outjumped for the second.
At the moment he is quite simply not good enough although there is enough evidence to show that he could be, he doesn't seem to lack ability but at the moment he is just floundering.
I have said that we should judge the Hoedt and Vestergaard partnership when around a dozen games are gone and tat is still wise words, not every player is an instant success and Saints history is littered with examples of those who have gone on to be club legends but initially were not great in their first months at the club.
Therefore to write Vestergaard off would be folly, but he will know that the words have to stop and the actions need to do the talking so far he has only played six times in the Premier League, but time is running out and he needs to get up to speed fast.
At 26 and with many games in both the Bundesliga and the International stage to his name, he should now be approaching the peak of his career and he needs to step up to the plate at St Mary's.
The partnership between Vestergaard and Hoedt is in it's early days, those calling for the return of Yoshida and Jack Stephens should remember that a year ago we were just as bad if not worse, we have to look forwards not backwards, Vestrgaard and Hoedt might not be the answer, but we do not know that for sure yet, we have to find out, yes time is running out for them but it's not critical yet.
Tonight at Everton I would expect Yoshida and Bednarek to play, I would hope that they would play out of their skins to put pressure on the pairing that is first choice at the moment, there is something there to play for, even if it is only Mark Hughes reverting to a back three and an extra place becoming available.
So Jannik Vestergaard is right in all that he says, we all know that, but he is the one in the position to do something about it !