| Midland Saint Match Report 06:44 - Oct 2 with 857 views | saintwizzler |
SAINTS 3 LEEDS UNITED 1
“…Want more and more
People just want more and more…”
In his pre-match presser Russell Martin expressed the view that “outcomes are not important”. But it seems his views might have changed under the imminent threat of five defeats in a row. Because for the first half at least the languid passing game was replaced with a much direct approach with a high press. It seemed to catch Leeds offguard as they must have been expecting our usual style. By the time they came to grips with the game Saints were already three goals up and at last we achieved the sort of comfortable win not seen since Broja and KWP devastated Brentford.
With another lunchtime kick-off we had to make an early start. I could have done without it since very late on Friday night I flew back from Stockholm to Birmingham. Almost miraculously though a Ryanair flight was on time so it was a good start to the weekend. Even better though was that the M3 is now, for the moment at least, finished. That meant our journey was back to the usual two hours.
The weather for late September was very good, a pleasant temperature and some bright sunshine. There was yet another surprisingly good crowd of over 30,000. That number was swelled by a large Leeds contingent – not all from Yorkshire, their success in the 60s and 70s spawned a good number of glory hunters, including at my school in Southampton.
With the players warming up in their special rainbow-inspired shirts it was clear that significant changes had been made to the team. Adams was dropped to the bench with Armstrong leading the line with Alcaraz behind him in what people tell me is a “false nine” position. I was delighted that we prevented Adams leaving in the transfer window. Now it seems like a major mistake as we seem to be stuck with a player content to go through the motions until his contract runs out.
It was interesting to see Russell Martin on the touchline alongside Farke, they could be the same person separated by 10 years of hard living.
Leeds seemed to win the toss and decide to switch ends so Saints started the game by attacking towards the Chapel. They didn’t mess about, the way the ball was boomed forward signalled a clear change in style.
In just the second minute the splendid KWP picked up the ball on the right came inside and played a perfect through pass into the penalty area for Adam Armstrong to run on to. If there was VAR in place he might have been a fraction offside. Although running rather wide of the goal, Armstrong drew the keeper and flicked the ball gently over him and into the far corner of the net. It was a truly delightful goal. Such a shame that he hardly ever got that sort of service to work with in the Premier League.
A immediate comeback for Leeds as prevented by our commitment to pressing, with Alcaraz in particular putting in a major effort. It seemed to throw Meslier off his game and for once we could see the discomfort of an opposition keeper in dealing with backpasses.
The determination to stop Leeds attacking meant that the feared Piroe hardly got a kick. It also mean that the players were trying a little too hard and Armstrong and Smallbone got early yellow cards.
I have remarked previously that Mr Brooks is utterly incompetent. Now he seems to have added a level of malevolence. If Mike Dean is the Sith Lord, Darth Youcannotbeserious, Brooks is his apprentice. The yellow cards we got were generally correct, but equal challenges by Leeds players did not get yellow cards. And a player in a blue shirt merely had to fall over to get the freekick.
There was a worrying time when Smallbone had a mild clash with Summerville that caused the Leeds player to writhe in the ground to seek a second yellow card. But even Brooks realized that would have been ridiculous.
A pleasant note from the game was that Bazunu had one of his best games, including a very good if rather Hollywood save to push away a long range shot.
Sulemana earned the MOTM award, he might have been by Top Man had he played more than an hour. At times his close ball control and pace made him look unplayable. At other times, like many other wingers, he would mis-control or run into a virtual brickwall. If he continues this way then his departure in January is a certainty.
It was Sulemana who really turned the game in our favour just after the half-hour. He got the ball on the left, strode to the byline and then picked out Smallbone who had made a late run into the penalty area. Smallbone opted for precision rather than power as he guided his shot towards the goal. In games when your luck is not with you the ball would have bounced away off the post. Today it hit the post and ran delightfully into the opposite corner of the net.
Sulemana was not done yet. In a couple of minutes his ball from the left picked out Armstrong on the right of the penalty area. Full of confidence, the number 9 twisted this way and that before rolling the ball through the keeper’s legs. The ball had a very slight touch off a defender that might cause it to be regarded as an own goal. That doesn’t matter. It was Armstrong’s goal all the way.
With Leeds running scared, Alcaraz went close with a header from a corner that Meslier tipped over the bar.
3-0 at half-time. What could possibly go wrong? Well the ghost of November 2005 loomed when we lost 4-3 after being the same score up against Leeds.
Strangely, Leeds made no subs at halftime. Neither did Saints. It was a rather different game as Leeds went on the attack and our game switched to defence. Saints did in fact defend rather well, with Harwood-Bellis and Bednarek at last looking comfortable together. KWP was tenacious on the right and the only weakness was the rather lost looking Manning on the left.
Defend as well as you might, when a team has the opportunity to build chances like Leeds did then there is always going to be trouble. Just before the hour a corner was not cleared and Struijk was able to turn and prod the ball into the net.
The immediate response was to sacrifice Sulemana for the pedestrian Fraser. It was important not to concede a second immediately and the players rallied to keep Leeds at bay. There was a funny moment when a shot was blazed well wide but rippled the net on the rebound, giving the Leeds fans the impression they had scored.
Smallbone made way for Charles to add a bit more steel to midfield and remove the risk of a second yellow, although the sub soon got one of his own. At the same time Adams replaced Alcaraz. I assume the hope was that the change would cause the ball to stick more up front. It didn’t because Adams just wasn’t involved in the game.
The final changes were to swap Bree for Stuart Armstrong, who had had a decent game and Aribo for Adam Armstrong.
Even with five minutes added on Saints managed to hold on for an important morale-building win. My prediction at the start of the season was that we would have 11 points at the end of September. So with 13 we are slightly ahead of my own schedule. Clearly, when played in the right way we do have the players to thrive in this division. Let’s hope Martin appreciates that it is a division for pragmatism not dogma.
It was great to be able to drive home without hiding from the football news. And even better that we had a clear run on the M3 back to the A34.
Saints team: 31Bazunu 2Walker-Peters 21Harwood-Bellis 35Bednarek 3Manning 16Smallbone (Charles 69') 4Downes 17S Armstrong (Bree 85') 9A Armstrong (Aribo 85') 22Alcaraz (Adams 69') 20Sulemana (Fraser 59')
Substitutes: 1McCarthy 6Holgate 7Aribo 10Adams 14Bree 18Mara 23Edozie 24Charles 26Fraser
Summary: Outcomes are important Top Man: KWP
Next report: Stoke
Lyrics: Gala – Freed from desire (always thought her boyfriend doesn’t sound like that much of a catch). |  |
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| Midland Saint Match Report on 12:24 - Oct 2 with 694 views | Berber |
A good report, thanks. |  | | |
| Midland Saint Match Report on 15:53 - Oct 2 with 627 views | SaintNick |
A fair report, although I would say that I didn't think Saints used the high Press much, they used the ball from deep for all three goals, I felt we were more content to sit and let the opposition come on than press high in the final third and thus get caught on the break.
Also I was a little surprised with the comment that "Harwood-Bellis and Bednarek at last looking comfortable together" given that this was only their second game in the starting line up together and before that just 34 minutes against Ipswich when a goal wasn't scored, I think it was more about how quickly they have gelled rather than at last.
The 190 minutes before then came together had seen 10 goals conceded, the 215 minutes since they first appeared in the same side together has seen just 3 conceded, not quite their yet but a very marked improvement |  |
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