De ja vu - the second half was terrible to watch. Saints had several clear cut chances and deserved to win, they bossed the second half.
This team don't graft enough to deserve to win games, too many think they can waltz through games and individual talent will see them through. The press from the front is not good enough because we have an ageing Ronaldo who does not have the legs anymore and two 'wingers' who choose to chase back when it suits. Ronaldo is now slow and is brushed off the ball easily as opposed to the monster he was in his prime. Rashford, assist aside was poor and as has been said already, his decision making is questionable.
As JSP said, we lose possession far too much and often quite cheaply. We still cannot play in simple triangles to get out of a tight area on the pitch, something Southampton and other teams do with ease. I thought Bruno was poor again today, I admire his work ethic but your no. 10 should not need to help out your defence. McTominay would often go past 1-2 players and then squander possession. The only player good on the ball today was Pogba, but he's off in the summer.
Maguire's lack of all round defensive qualities were highlighted today by a youngster with a bit of pace and strength. Broja ran him ragged and this is why when Shaw attacks on the wing Maguire is left exposed. Players simply switch the ball between their feet and are past him and he is often caught high up the pitch. I can't believe we have Varane at the club and are wasting him by having to partner him with Maguire. Top class defensive partner for Varane is needed. Shaw didn't have the best game defensively today and I feel his regressing to the Mourinho 'I have to think on the pitch for him' player.
We all know about our midfield.
Up front, we obviously couldn't foresee the events with Mason but it has left us woefully short of striker options, and a shocking lack of mobility on the pitch. Cavani will be off in the summer along with Ronaldo I would think. I have said before I don't think Haaland what we need, we need medium-long term stability and Haaland, Haaland Snr and Riaola would only bring unnecessary noise. Rashford is neither a striker or winger. We still do not create enough clear cut chances during the game, the players certainly have the talent however the decision making is awful at times. We opt to go for the elaborate rather than simple, compare with Saints today who cut through us many times with simle passing.
I think Ralf is the right man to come in as he is completely unemotional and picks players on form. Ole needed the friendly approach when he first came in to stabilise the club but had to develop his methods instead of playing his favourites. We need Ralf to identify who in the current squad will fight for the club, has the right approach to training and will carry out instructions on the pitch and give blood, sweat and tears, everyone else must be discarded. It will be brutal but we need to get back to basics, again! It will be brutal but necessary,.