Sparta match thread

Enjoyed that

Have to say well played Puel. Brilliant tactics of playing the ball over the top allowed Chazza & Shlong to tear them to shreds.

When they defended deeper 2nd half we adapted & held the ball really well.

Wobbles from some but we rotated some key players & sit top of the group rather than playing catch up like the mancs & spuds.

Martina shaded Chazza as motm for me

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Thought Martina had a good game and JWP benefitted from a little more time in midfield. Virgil and Hojbjerg are total class.

A comfortable 3-0 win. Good last goal.

Didn’t seem to be that maany empty seats to me and thought it was a good atmosphere tonight.

A win on Sunday now please and upwards and onwards.

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Shit hot that lads and commenting on QT is also funny, love you boys!

Can only echo what others on here have said, confortable 3-0 win.

Martina looked OK, Yoshi had his one heart-in-mouth backpass moment, Austin took his chances well but looked knackered after about 40 mins.

Well taken goal by J-Rod at the end there.

Thought atmosphere in the ground was a bit muted towards the end of the first half but better in the second.

Chaps behind me were determined that Cuco wasn’t going to have a good game, they shut up after about 5 mins.

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Wish I could have been there tonight

Even though it wasn’t packed, it was intense in its own way.

The Saints end was 100% Saints; there was no reason for it not to be.

The away end was about 1/3 full, but it was rowdy. Hats were removed to reveal skinheads, and a dude that looked like an extra from Mad Max 2, stood bare-chested facing the Northam, fronting the fans there. For once, Itchen North was denied the whites of their eyes.

My mad lone Itchen North moment involved the invention of a new song inspired by our bare-chested visitors.

To the tune of Kum By Yah.

"Go to Primark, Prague. They sell shirts
Go to Primark, Prague. They sell shirts
Go to Primark, Prague. They sell shirts
Wo-oh-oh, they sell shirts"

Got a few chuckles, but no sustained singing along. The promising singers that sit in front of me enquired as to my presence during the Sunderland game.

“We missed your voice”, they said.
Which is a euphemised way of calling me a literal loudmouth :lou_lol:

After it was announced that the North Car Park was getting closed off, we saw spots of trouble between the Prague fans, with stewards not wanting to let them out, but not wanting them causing shit either.

I’ve just got back to my ma’s place after having an on-the-way beer with Goaters. She was worried about me because apparently there were fights in town.

Fave chants; “top of the league”, because for once, it was actually true. Notable only for progression, the Itchen North went from “we drink all your beers” to “we drink all your whores”.

Great to see Saints grab their first competitive win, but Sparta were poor. Think Fraser had one shot on target to save, Yoshi’s blunder wasn’t punished. The chances Sparta did get they snatched at. They still had to be beaten though. Don’t ask me about the first penalty. I thought it was a corner, haven’t read much of this thread and still have no clue. Glad to have got it though.

It was also encouraging to see forward players hitting the net, but again, Prague were poor. Premier League defenders seem much better at blocking shots and just all round pressing.

I’ve seen quite a few people say that the diamond formation needs ditching. I can’t argue formations, but I’m personally not convinced that’s the issue. The ideas are often exactly right; the implementation leaves something to be desired. Personally, I’d look at form before formation. Even today, when we won 3-0, you could see elements of that. You could see a clear path to goal, a plan to get there, a heavy pass or similar would let us down. That’s coachable, and while we may not perfect it for the fixture against Swansea, I am not seeing fundamental problems with the style of play.

We’ve been largely bereft of the finished product before tonight’s game, but we’ve been consistently trying to be inventive with our play to get there. One swallow doesn’t make a summer, but hopefully, this will be beginning of a return to form.

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I did note the empty seats, piss poor on what could be our best result in recent Euro history #wankfans

Before the same, saw a tweet which bemoaned the selection, saying Puel wasn’t taking this seriously.

The people behind me were moaning a little bit about some of the mis-passes, etc, but we were in control at 2-0, have an arguably harder test on Sunday, another first.

I wasn’t at all surprised to see us rotate, score goals, and take the foot off the gas a little, It’s what them big European clubs do.

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I couldn’t get to Southampton

They’re not really playing at home.

Lee Dixon reckons when Arsenal did it, it felt more like an away game, and because it was Wembley, other teams were more up for it,

He would say that though, wouldn’t he?

But you did from Liverpool etc.

From what initially looked like a poor 4 man turn up at our bar, due to the match being on the Main Screen in The outdoor Dome as well, our numbers were spread out, but a move from the Francis Benali Stand to The Dome at HT and the sight of some Saints Gear swelled our group to about a dozen thanks to a fair few tourists and newbies. Quite noisy at the end … roll on Sunday!!

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Hey, you have a Francis Benali stand!

Yep. Barasti got us a spanking new telly, & a “surround” for it is being organised by our twit meister.

Franny is aware via twitter, has liked the tweets & has been invited.

Danny Wellbeck was our 1st celeb visitor this year.

Sorry I was not at work yesterday and ended up watching the game in a pub in Putney. Pleasant surprise to find several others watching it. Mostly it was people who just wanted to see another game after the Utd match finished, but met two other saints fans! :lou_lol:

Except that they left at half time - when I asked why, they said “Its too easy, we are going to win by a mile, so cant be bothered” :lou_facepalm_2:

Originally posted by @pap

Great to see Saints grab their first competitive win, but Sparta were poor. Think Fraser had one shot on target to save, Yoshi’s blunder wasn’t punished. The chances Sparta did get they snatched at. They still had to be beaten though. Don’t ask me about the first penalty. I thought it was a corner, haven’t read much of this thread and still have no clue. Glad to have got it though.

From my view in the Chapel I thought that Martina (??) was arguing for a corner, apparently the penalty was given for a handball by the 5th (??) official. BBC site said it was a bit harsh as it was close but if you raise your arms…

Maybe SaintBitch could tell you if he could see it through the snowflakes on his dodgy stream.

It was also encouraging to see forward players hitting the net, but again, Prague were poor. Premier League defenders seem much better at blocking shots and just all round pressing.

I’ve seen quite a few people say that the diamond formation needs ditching. I can’t argue formations, but I’m personally not convinced that’s the issue. The ideas are often exactly right; the implementation leaves something to be desired. Personally, I’d look at form before formation. Even today, when we won 3-0, you could see elements of that. You could see a clear path to goal, a plan to get there, a heavy pass or similar would let us down. That’s coachable, and while we may not perfect it for the fixture against Swansea, I am not seeing fundamental problems with the style of play.

This, diamonds, 4-4-2, christmas trees they all mean nowt to me. It’s the players that are important. Austin need to get fit quick, Long needs to get some confidence and start learning to control the ball, can’t fault effort

We’ve been largely bereft of the finished product before tonight’s game, but we’ve been consistently trying to be inventive with our play to get there. One swallow doesn’t make a summer, but hopefully, this will be beginning of a return to form.

Amen brother.

Great confidence booster for the lads and good to see that Puel is confident enough in the squad to rotate. What is it with Yoshida though? It seems now that every match he feels he has to give the oppo a scoring opportunity. Still, onwards and upwards and lets hope this proves to be the point at which we kick on in the league. Didnt want to tempt fate by gloating about Spuds before the game but am having a quiet gloat now :lou_sunglasses:

Quiet?

GLOAT AWAY!!

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Spuds and Utd. Almost too many Gloating opportunities. Almost :lou_lol:

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