With no Andros or Ward the right side of the pitch has been imbalanced and it has been costing us and last night it was properly exploited. Hopefully both will be back fit for 1 February and we can perhaps return to 442 with two hard working players up top in Tosun and Ayew.

The failure to sign a right back or cover in the wide positions has cost us a lot of points this season in my mind.

Soton exposed how slow our back four are and just passed their way through our midfield. The only good thing to come out of last night is that our next game is 10 days away.

Very disappointing performance maybe Roy is right that the games have finally caught up with them.

Anyway here's hoping that we are feeling fresh for Sheffield united and maybe have a few more players back.

COYP

One more point

Do you really think that Roy stops Wilf from running in different directions ? This isn’t a computer game with Wilf controlled by a joy stick.

I do think Wilf is being asked to play in a very rigid fashion and is not being given freedom to roam - otherwise he would so.
Hodgson’s rigid tactics do not get the best out of Zaha or Townsend.
Those who think Hodgson is the greatest manager in our history are entitled to their opinion.
For me I beg to differ and would like us to occasionally venture into the opposition half and not have the worst goalscoring record in the division.
I will always support the club, but in my opinion I can’t stand the way we are set up and despair at the football served up.
Being a fan for me doesn’t mean blind loyalty and inability to see faults staring one in the face.

Absolutely dreadful performance.
Excreta on stilts.
If there is a look termed 'Designer outrage' I was certainly wearing it last night.
I was hyperventilating,steam coming out of ears,and boiling with enmity as hot as a deep-fat fryer.
Disgraceful.

Edited by Willo (22 Jan 2020 8.38am)

I think this is a very fair statement.

Was talking with my brother on the way home last night and he thought Southampton looked like Barcelona against us and I was of the opinion that the obvious gap in quality was the fact that one team showed up and gave it a good go and one did not. Any time you have that imbalance in a top flight game it is going to make one team look much better than the other unless there is a huge and obvious gap in quality (Man City/Liverpool vs. x club).

Whether this is down to fatigue, tactics or an inability to motivate players is not something I have an answer for.

I am very grateful of the job Roy has done for us and he has been hung out to dry by the board in terms of playing staff but last night was very poor and especially hard to take mid week.

I understand his tactical approach to this season as frustrating as it is and although it has yielded a decent points amount so far I struggled to fathom what we were trying to achieve yesterday, if anything, after going 1-0 down with a 1/4 of the match gone at home.

Now Zaha's got a bit of green grass ahead of him here... and finds Ambrose... not a bad effort!!!!