Southampton made the difficult trip up to Anfield at the weekend to face Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool side.
With their form and current winning streak it was never going to be an easy game, but the frustration for fans was once again we seemed to make life easy for the opposition by sitting off and effectively inviting pressure onto ourselves – and defensively we cannot withstand pressure – and they took a 3-0 lead within the opening 45 minutes.
Arguably you can say we improved second half but for many that was owing to Liverpool relaxing rather than us actually showing signs of improvement.
Centre-half Wesley Hoedt hasn’t had a great time of things so far in 2018/19 but manager Mark Hughes seems incapable of actually making changes to our backline and giving Maya Yoshida or Jan Bednarek a proper chance, so I can’t blame the player here as his confidence must be shot and Hughes keeps hanging him out to dry.
Hoedt foot work shocking for first goal, Vastergaard missed timed his jump for matip goal, and the third they were all too slow to react to the free kick rebound. Just poor defending
— Craig Stewart (@CraigSFC) September 22, 2018
Don’t understand what Hoedt has to do to get dropped. Two seasons of watching bambi on ice now
— Matt (@MattForeman1) September 22, 2018
Actually no reason #saintsfc should be down 0-3 in #LIVSOU. Oh wait, Hoedt has been awful, cannot defend a set piece and no guts inside the 18… that'll do it.
— Erik Franzo (@EFranzo17) September 22, 2018
Men against boys. Shambles. Hoedt and vestergaard are garbage. Get Yoshida back in #saintsfc
— Tom Forder (@tomforder69) September 22, 2018
Yes! Rubbish! Poor concentration. Yoshida or Bednarek are more commanding. No consolation but Pompey are currently losing their unbeaten record.
— Emma Allen (@EmmaRAllen) September 22, 2018
What does Hoedt have over Mark Hughes ????
— Dan Johnson (@Daniel_Johnson9) September 22, 2018
And I just have no words for Hoedt
— April Terry (@aprilterry) September 22, 2018
Hoedt has had enough chances to prove himself. Don’t care what the club promised him he’s not premier league level. #saintsfc
— Basheer Al Salabi (@BSalabi) September 22, 2018
The own goal certainly didn’t help his standing from the day but as the above comments show, some aren’t quite as understanding as I’m trying to be as he’s almost being hammered by fans on social media in each and every game now and he needs taking out of the firing line so he can relax up and refocus as he hasn’t become awful overnight.
