Leeds United fans on Whites passengers, selection mistake, QPR option and man who 'bottled it'

Here is what our YEP Jury had to say on the weekend reverse at St Mary’s including Whites ‘passengers’, a selection mistake, a particular option for Wednesday’s QPR game and a figure who ‘bottled it’.

NEIL GREWER

Strange unpredictable results often happen in football when you least expect them – and this game was one of those. Whilst the overall result conflicted with both recent results and the game’s actual stats, Southampton deserved to win the match.

Leeds simply were a yard off the pace, lacked intensity, suffered poor passing, poor marking and lacked concentration. Whilst all these improved in the second half, it was too late by then although Leeds did “win” the second half.

I do feel that the game could have taken a different course had Will Smallbone been given a second booking for a foul on Crysencio Summerville – the referee bottled it. The booking and sending off didn’t happen and Southampton hit a second goal from Smallbone. At 2-0 down Leeds could still have got a result until a third goal reduced that possibility even further.

When Joel Piroe missed a great opportunity on 60 minutes to make it 2-1 I felt the game had slipped away. Substitutions had little impact on a bad day at the office for all. Improvement will be needed next time out.Man of the match: Georginio Rutter – the best of some poor performances.

ANDY RHODES

This game could have gone one of two ways and, in the end, it went against Leeds United. After Southampton had suffered four defeats on the spin they were likely to provide a response but it is now United that must find something in midweek against QPR.

The Whites’ performance was lacklustre, missing drive and creativity and ultimately undid a lot of the hard work done earlier last month. The key was not letting Southampton get in front. Once the Saints found themselves ahead they didn’t need to commit as many players forward and leave the spaces in behind.

Instead, Leeds were the ones who were sloppy in defence. Without a natural right-back in Luke Ayling, United looked disorganised. In midfield, Glen Kamara and Ethan Ampadu looked like passengers as Southampton ran the show. After a run of quality performances from Daniel Farke’s side, this is a slight bump in the road. With the games coming thick and fast, there is no time to dwell on it.

Man of the match: Daniel James.

DAVID WATKINS

Well, I knew Southampton couldn’t be as bad as their recent results suggested… but I didn’t reckon on Leeds being so much worse defensively than of late.

At the time, during the game, Leeds looked very poor, particularly defensively, but in hindsight maybe we were not that bad!

Daniel Farke is convinced that Adam Armstrong was offside for their first goal and, if true, then conceding so early was a huge blow and huge boost to the Saints’ confidence.

The second and third Southampton goals didn’t reflect well on the Leeds defence though and I wonder if maybe we ought to have brought Joe Rodon straight back in? Who knows, but Farke himself was clearly not happy with us defensively judging by his post-match comments.

We were better in the second half and Pascal Struijk showed his alertness to win us the second 45 minutes but, in the end this was a game that just reminded us that you have to be really on it from the start of every game, so equal are the teams in this division. Maybe we just need to dial the optimism down a bit too. Until we can find consistency, results like this are always on the cards.

Man of the match: Georginio Rutter.

KEITH INGHAM

Why nearly all of us fans expected Leeds to turn up and Southampton roll over is clearly a ‘Leeds That’ moment because from the first whistle you knew the home side had a point to prove and boy they did!

Leeds were second best in their 3-1 defeat at St Mary’s where the Saints dominated from the moment Adam Armstrong netted the first of his two goals with less than two minutes played. Will Smallbone scored the second just after the half hour and Armstrong made it three before the break. Maybe Farke made a mistake in keeping the same side that played so well last weekend.

Joe Rodon may have made a difference to a defence that basically fell to pieces in less than 40 minutes. Liam Cooper and Pascal Struijk struggled to cope with the industrious Kamaldeen Sulemama and Armstrong. It was better after the break, it could hardly have been worse as Struijk reduced arrears from a corner and Joel Piroe should have made the game tighter but for once let a chance pass him by.

Only Jaidon Anthony made any impression and may be an option when Leeds face QPR on Wednesday. One to forget and move on to the next one. A response would be appreciated after a really poor performance.

Man of the match: Nobody.

MIKE GILL

The performance of both teams in this game was an example of what the Championship is all about. This was the Leeds side that took Watford apart a week ago and this was the Southampton side that lost the previous four games in a row.

The writing was on the wall after two minutes when Adam Armstrong chipped Illan Meslier to stun the Whites. He added another on 35 minutes after Will Smallbone had added a third goal after good work by Kamaldeen Sulemana. Although Pascal Struijk’s response came before the hour, United never looked as though they were going to alter the outcome.

Joel Piroe looked as if he had put his boots on the wrong feet and both Dan James and Crysencio Summerville were often bullied by the Saints defence. How the Whites deal with this setback will be a good indication of where they stand in this league.

One of the features of the Championship is that you don’t have long to wait before you’re back in action again. A positive response is needed against QPR on Wednesday night at Elland Road.

Man of the match: Ethan Ampadu.