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Southampton V Swansea City The Verdict Sunday, 19th Oct 2025 11:03 This wasn't a bad performance in terms of domination and chances created, but it was a terrible one in terms of the way we were set up and once again a raft of strange selections & poor substitutions left us all over the place. When the team news came through before the game the reaction from most fans was baffling, Will Still had switched back to a back 3 with wingbacks, but the two wingbacks were Elias Jelert with around 18 minutes to his name since his arrival at the end of August and Welington who had not played since limping out of the defeat to Stoke City two months ago. This was that was not the only strange thing about these two selections, in simple terms both are traditional full backs in playing style, rather than wing backs, yes Welington has a marauding style, but he isn't a wing back. Neither Jelert or Welington had particularly bad games, but their were players that deserved to be in the team ahead of them.
Will Still was not short of options in this position, he could have played Leo Scienza who seemed to be playing in front of Welington, he could have played Ryan Fraser, perhaps the most consistent of our performers this season aside from Shea Charles who was on the bench, he could have played Tom Fellows, he could have played Jay Robinson, in fact he could have played any of these in front of two players who in essence have played no Championship football for us in the last two months. This stank of an air of desperation from Will Still, he doesn't know his best team and he keeps chopping and changing in order to try and find a winning formula. I honestly couldn't quite work out our starting formation and come the last 20 minutes I couldn't see any sort of pattern to where our midfielders & attackers were meant to be playing or any sort of game plan. The fact that we had a decent go in the final 20 minutes to try and win the game, was down to those on the pitch being professional and to be blunt far better quality than the opposition, than Will Still's tactics.
In his post match interview Still said: "I couldn't be happier with the way the team's played. I think that's probably one of our best performances of the season. "We have totally controlled, dominated, and created so many chances. I am really proud of what the team has shown today. "We performed to a level that we want to perform at. I know that sounds stupid because we are missing a goal, but you can't do much more than what we have done." There is some truth in this, we did indeed dominate the game, the stats were very impressive apart from the one that counted, goals scored ! But if Still couldn't be happier with the way the team played then he is in a minority in those in attendance at St Mary's, we dominated through rolling up our sleeves and battling, in spite of Still's baffling tactics, not because of them. Yes we missed some sitters, hit some posts and at times produced a save or two from the keeper, but Swansea were well drilled and organised and we were not.
Still's next comments were actually quite offensive to Southampton supporters: "I think the fans understand where this is going. Those who really understand football know how good that first half was but also the second half. We have hit the post twice and I don't think Al [McCarthy] has had a save to make. "We have an XG over three and with an XG of over three, we should be scoring four or five goals." He is basically saying that if you don't think I am great and my team was brilliant then you don't know anything about football, it is arrogance in the extreme, to follow that up with an XG quotation over 3 is naïve, the only stat that counts when you are in our position is the one that on this occasion read 0-0, supporters don's stand in pubs before and after the game discussing XG's. I have not spoken to one supporter who actually knows where this is going, I speak to a few who are willing to give him more time, but that is due more to the fact that they feel that we have sacked so many managers in the past 3 years, we don't want another on the CV, no one can actually pinpoint where we are going. Yes we should have won this game and we should have won it well, but it was not an impressive performance, at times it was disjointed you could not see any pattern in the play, you looked at the bench and you saw players on it that have performed this season and performed well, Ryan Fraser, Jay Robinson, Flynn Downs, Tom Fellows, Ryan Manning, even Finn Azaz who has not been given the chance to find the form that he has at his previous clubs in this division.
Whilst I would not say all could have started, certainly all of them had more of a claim to be in the starting line up than some of those on the pitch. I see a team that is lacking in confidence, that has no pattern in it's play, no identity, Will Still says it is playing with fear and he is right in that respect, you could see that they were scared to try and play the killer ball or pass at times, that is bred by the fact that they know the manager will drop them, you don't get much of a rung in games in this side under Still, one mistake or one bad half and you are out. The players are confused by the formation, they don't know where they are supposed to be on the pitch at times, I remember one pass by Ronnie Edwards who under pressure on the touchline, played the ball up the line into space, but there was no one there, it looked a poor pass, but the reality is that when your full back has the ball in that position that is his only outlet, the attacking players & wide men know that and would normally be looking for that ball, not on this occasion, there was just no one near there to close down the Swansea left back. The truth is Still is not backing his own judgement, he does not know his best players, his best line up, his best formation indeed his best team, Russell Martin was under fire in some quarters two years ago, but you knew what you were going to get from his side and we went on a long unbeaten run because we played to a pattern, everyone knew the job they had to do.
I would suspect that most of this team in their own minds were unsure whether they would actually be playing or not, at the moment I would say that there were only 5 or 6 players who before the team was announced were sure that they would be in it, in fact there might have been one or two more who thought that, but got a nasty shock come the team announcement. That is not a settled side and it is settled sides that win games. The last 10-20 minutes in most of our games this season have been a shambles, sometimes it works as it did against Wrexham, but in all the other games including this one it hasn't. We haven't lost many games because as I keep saying we have a good squad, the issue isn't the players, it is the manager who has created an atmosphere of indecision and a lack of confidence, the players themselves will know that things are not right. We could have sneaked a goal that would have won this game, but that would only have papered over the cracks.
As most regular readers will know, I am usually an advocate of giving managers & players time, but in this case I really cannot see a way forward, I see a manager who does not know what to do next, he cannot back his own judgement and have faith in himself, so how does he expect the players and indeed the supporters to do that. Of course I have not played the game at the level that Will Still has, but I'm probably not far off it and there are probably quite a few Saints supporters that could say that, certainly in England, so Still is right I could not see how good the first half was or indeed the second, I just saw a lot of good players running around not really knowing what the pattern of play really was. As it stands looking at results Will Still is getting just one thing right, yes the fans do know where this is going and not in a positive way ! All Photos Via Reuters Please report offensive, libellous or inappropriate posts by using the links provided.
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