Saints came within five minutes of coming away from White Hart Lane with a point on Saturday.

Saints should have left North London with a valuable point on Saturday, but when your luck is out its outand a late Gareth Bale goal left us looking over our shoulders.

It cannot be denied that it was a battling performance and that every player on the pitch put in maximum effort and that for periods of the game we dominated the home side, but the problem was what was available to us off the bench and the substitutions that we made.

The inclusion of Guly was a surprise although it was clear that Pochettino was trying to freshen things up a little and try something different, the Brazilian had a decent game and was injured making a decent tackle back and winning it, it typified the spirit in a Saints side that stayed true to its passing game and formation, we had our chances not least when Lambert struck a post and Davis saw his header saved by the keeper from the resulting Guly cross, but in the main it was a game that for all our possession we looked a little toothless going forward in open play. 

But the departure of Guly changed things, on reflection the manager might have been better bringing on Jamie Ward Prowse to replace Guly, kept the workmanlike midfield and kept us chasing and harrying the Spurs midfield and not letting them get a grip on the game.

Mayuka being a forward upset that balance, I can see why we might want to offer a bit of pace to proceedings, but how do you fit him into our formation ? in truth we were now unbalanced and relied on Rickie Lambert to drop deeper, a role which defensively wise doesnt suit him or Mayuka to chase around a bit.

Puncheon coming on for Lallana on 80 minutes should have helped in that he is marginally better at defending and getting back, but didnt really, it was a great goalo that won the game for Spurs, but we had a lot of players behind the ball at that stage and we allowed him to run a long way to cut inside and score.

In terms of effort we couldnt have asked for more from the team, in terms of strength in depth there lies the problem, the old issues still remain in key areas and that will always put pressure on a side, whether Mauricio Pochettino doesnt see us in being in trouble from relegation I dont know, but for me putting on Mayuka for Guly seemed a strange move, it wasnt the obvious swap, it was either a bold gamble that didnt pay off or the manager sees us as safe and it was an experimental one, it was certainly strange in that Mayuka from being totally in the cold for the first three months of Pochettino's reign suddenly is getting game time.

But at the end of the day it was still a defeat and one that we could have done without given Wigan's win.     

Photo: Action Images

SanMarco added 10:19 - May 6 I thought that Luke Shaw looked a bit slower than usual and as he tired Bale, who had done nothing all game, took his chance. When he brought Mayuka on I thought he was doing the right thing in going for the win as Spurs were there for the taking - but from then on we seemed to settle back and be content with the point that we didn't get. It was a very good performance overall and if we had have scored one of those first half sitters we might well have gone on to win. I was in the home end and those around me all said that Saints were the better side. You don't get points for that though...

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Whatsforpud added 11:16 - May 6 After the West Brom performance, this was a game that very few gave the team any hope of getting anything. Well, we didn't in the end, but we seem to be able to match most sides in this division. Defensively, our away record has been excellent lately. That was the first conceded after three clean sheets. However, our scoring has now dried up. We are not setting up enough chances, and when we do, we are not sharp enough. Clyne and Davis spurned good enough chances to have won that game.

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TreeHugger added 11:54 - May 6 Soooooooooooo frustrating! The lads put in a great performance and I think shaw just ran out of steam for that goal, especially as it was his first full game for a while. Apart from that bale didn’t get a sniff. It’s easy to forget shaw is only 17 and still developing. It was still a wonder strike so he can hardly be blamed. I thought mayuka could have helped him out by at least putting some pressure on him. I thought Guly played really well. I think his natural body language can give off the wrong impression sometimes but he was being a real nuisance to spurs all day. we had two clear chances with clyne and davis, plus lambert hitting the post. It was just one of those days. The only problem is that we are still in the thick of it and need a turn of luck. I think sunderland and wigan will win their games in hand so it’s going to be a very nervy two weeks. Lets make sure we get behind the boys and get them over the line. There is no hiding in a relegation battle. Together as one!

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IanRC added 16:14 - May 6 Tactics were poor again. As I said last week and you mention above it is a big mistake to play Lambert so deep and rely on Rodriguez to lead the line for the time being. Not that we played badly far from it but we again failed to create many good chances. I agree about Luke looking a little slower but he was returning from injury so I am guessing that could be why, hopefully he will be back to full fitness next week. I am a great admirer of Adam too bu I do think he has not reproduced his per-injury form. I have always felt that Guly is better than most on here seem to give him credit for and I thought he had a pretty good game all told. Our future is in our hands but unless MP sorts himself out tactically we could struggle and we should not be in this position IMHO.

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saintmark1976 added 18:01 - May 6 Good post Nick. I said the same on the Echo site reference the substitution of Guly and got slated. Have you any stats in regard to our success rate with or without Adam? Maybe it is me but he seems to make the attack unbalanced by holding the ball for too long particularly away from home. In regard to Sunderland on Sunday I would go and play for a point which irrespective of tonight's result should be enough surely?

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Santos added 10:27 - May 7 Certainly do not want to lose at Sunderland but equally there must be the view that a big effort for an away win and we are safe. Basically looking as though we have 2 bites at the cherry and Ignoring all results going our way one win will be enough.
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