Southampton turned in a disgraceful, unforgivable and simply unacceptable performance on Saturday as they succumbed to a pathetic 3-0 defeat at Newcastle.
Saints were beaten before the referee blew his whistle for the first time. It was a mentally weak display from a group of players devoid of confidence as a by-product of total and utter incompetence and ineptitude on the manager’s part.
Mauricio Pellegrino’s side were behind after only 63 seconds after some absolutely laughable defending allowed Kenedy to tap home for the hosts.
It was soon 2-0 to Newcastle, with Kenedy netting again. One of Saints’ characteristically poor set-pieces rebounded out to Mario Lemina, who completely lost his balance and landed on his backside, allowing Newcastle in for a counter-attack. Chaos then ensued as Saints’ defenders forgot that they were actually required to defend, and allowed the Magpies in to stroke home their second of the afternoon.
Pellegrino then made one of his absolutely genius tactical decisions at half-time. He brought on Shane Long, who has netted on exactly one occasion in the space of the year, as opposed to bringing on Manolo Gabbiadini, who bailed the manager out at Burnley only a couple of weeks ago. Well done, Mauricio. Well done.
Newcastle made it three through Matt Ritchie, who caressed the ball beyond Alex McCarthy from the edge of the box. He had acres of space and time to pick his spot, largely because Pellegrino took our best player and best midfielder off. Again, well done, sir.
Saints had a few pathetic attempts on goal between then and the end of the match but it was a shameful performance and the travelling fans were sent home with nothing to show for their efforts.
Here are my player ratings.
Alex McCarthy - 5
He was, as he so often has been this season, stitched up by some embarrassing defending from his teammates. McCarthy was helpless to prevent the goals and made a couple of decent stops.
Cedric Soares - 1
Offered nothing going forward and was roasted down the wing by Paul Dummett, who had the freedom of the St James’ Park turf coming forward from left-back.
His lackadaisical defending for the opening two goals was disgraceful and his body language summed up the mood.
I’m a fan of Cedric’s, but he had a total shambles of a match.
Jack Stephens - 2
It doesn’t matter how good you are on the ball, if you are unable to cope under pressure as a centre-back, you will not succeed at this level.
Embarrassing defending for the first goal.
Wesley Hoedt - 2
Three things are certain in life. Death, taxes, and Wesley Hoedt unnecessarily hammering a basic clearance up the field into Row Z.
He couldn’t cope with the intensity of Newcastle’s attack and had a shocker. Hoedt almost stuck one in his own net to make it four, too.
Ryan Bertrand - 2
It’s time to start acting like a captain. Bertrand spoke in midweek about how everyone needs to rally together, stand up and be counted. He hid on Saturday. He didn’t stand and he certainly wasn’t counted.
There is no leader in this Southampton team. He did not lead by example, he didn’t contribute anything going forward and his defending was embarrassing also. Again, there’s an issue with body language. At least look like you care, or mean the words you say.
Mario Lemina - 2
Lemina is, in my opinion, Saints’ best player. He’s been the club’s star performer this season. Against Newcastle, though, he had an absolute shocker.
The Gabon international lacked awareness, was not his usual energetic self and his lack of judgement ultimately led to Newcastle’s counter-attack for the second.
He was having a mare, admittedly, but it was a peculiar decision to take him off at half-time. You need players who can bring the ball forward and make things happen in difficult times; Lemina is one of those players.
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg - 3
Worked tirelessly but also had an awful match. He couldn’t keep hold of the ball, struggled to influence the game and left Matt Ritchie totally unmarked for the third.
James Ward-Prowse - 2
Another player who seriously struggled was Ward-Prowse. Like Hojbjerg, work ethic was not the issue, but a lack of direction and composure both in and out of possession.
His attempt to close Jonjo Shelvey down moments before the third was almost comical. But then again, so was Pellegrino’s decision to play him in holding midfield when it just does not work.
Dusan Tadic - 0
The worst 45 minutes I’ve seen from Tadic in a Southampton shirt. He was absolutely shambolic. There was no desire to show for his teammates, no quality on the ball and no effort to influence the match.
How he started the game in the first place is beyond me given his recent displays and this performance did him no favours. He was rightly withdrawn at half-time because he was horrendous.
Nathan Redmond - 2
Redmond worked hard and looked for openings but he looked like a lost dog out there. He was forced backwards on numerous occasions and failed to impact the game in any way at all. Anonymous.
Guido Carrillo - 3
Carrillo had absolutely no service. However, he was not good at all. He didn’t hold the ball up, he didn’t contribute to the match and showed no signs of quality. He worked hard as usual but was totally ineffective.
Players need time to settle in at clubs. Playing as a striker under Pellegrino, who Carrillo quite incredibly labelled as a “master”, is a thankless task. However, it’s hard to see what he offers that Gabbiadini doesn’t. I’m not entirely sure what we’ve seen in Carrillo to splash out £19 million.
Substitutes
Josh Sims – 6: The only player who looked even capable of creating something. He actually had a shot, which must have deeply angered Pellegrino. Sims should be starting every week.
Shane Long – 1: I can’t actually remember one single thing that he did well when he came on. He was presumably introduced to try and stretch Newcastle but he was totally ineffective.
Manolo Gabbiadini – 3: Barely had a touch. He tried to get involved but the performance was a total shambles and there was no hope or belief in attack. His cross into the side netting late on just about summed up the afternoon.