Cracking the top 4

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Starting XI - Horn, Bertrand, Van Dijk, Chambers, Cedric, Bender, Tadic, Hesketh, Strootman, Lucas, Benteke.

Finally at the 3rd time of asking we have a win in the Capital One Cup, and it was a hard fought one at that against a surprisingly competent Huddersfield side. A new counter attacking away tactic was used and it worked well as we defended deep and then made an effort to make good use of the ball rather than just lumping it towards Benteke. Lucas Moura was superb on the right wing and got the only goal of the game but unfortunately picked up an injury shortly after.

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This is going to be a serious blow to how we play.
 
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Starting XI - Horn, Bertrand, Van Dijk, Chambers, Cedric, Wanyama, Strootman, Hesketh, Insigne, Ward-Prowse, Pelle.

A disappointing home defeat to Newcastle in the league. It just happened to be one of those games where almost every effort on goal ended up going in. We played superbly going forward and made good use of our possession but unfortunately our defence had a rare off day to concede one more than we scored. A big shoutout to Graziano Pelle who is battling for his place against Benteke heroicly.
 
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Starting XI - Horn, Targett, Van Dijk, Fonte, Cedric, Bender, Tadic, Hesketh, Slattery, Ward-Prowse, Pelle.

Not a single shot on target. Seriously poor from the lads as we are well beaten by the Belgian Minnows. We know better than to panic at this stage of the season but the form is a concern. We are going to have improve and fast.
 
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September Review​

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A poor month all round. It started so well with back to back wins against Derby and Saint-Etienne but then trailed off with really poor losses against Stoke, Newcastle and Charleroi.
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The fans are starting to become a little worried but morale in camp is still reasonable and we have the belief that we can turn our fortunes around. We are still in and around teams like Everton, Arsenal and Tottenham so we are still in touch.

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The Europa League is really not of great importance this season but even so we want to be competitive. We shouldnt have lost to Cherleroi but we have plety of time to turn it around.

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The Capital One Cup has drawn us against Everton in the 4th round.


Player of the Month​
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James Ward-Prowse has been the pick of the bunch this month with a couple of goals and a couple of assists. Some good performances make him the Southampton player of the month.

October Preview​
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Starting XI - Horn, Bertand, Van Dijk, Chambers, Tete, Wanyama, Strootman, Insigne, Tadic, Ward-Prowse, Pelle.

A good performance against Manchester United saw us grab a point as a dominant defensive display kept United out. We kept good possession for the match but both sides struggled to make any chances count whatsoever. We move on.
 
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Starting XI - Horn, Bertrand, Van Dijk, Chambers, Tete, Bender, Wanyama, Hesketh, Insigne, Ward-Prowse, Benteke.

A complete away performance saw us take all the points away at Blackburn to follow up fro the strong showing against United. James Ward-Prowse continued his fine form to put us ahead early on and from then on we absolutely bossed the game. We were unfortunate not to score more but Blackburn never looked like being a threat. A happy manager tonight despite Van Dijk getting himself sent off late on.
 
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Starting XI - Horn, Bertrand, Van Dijk, Chambers, Tete, Wanyama, Strootman, Hesketh, Insigne, Ward-Prowse, Benteke.

More promising signs as we put in a very good performance but just couldnt quite grab a winner. Neither Benteke or Pelle seem to be in form right now and that is hurting us a little bit in terms of our presence in front of goal. Sporting are perhaps the toughest team in our group so this is a good result in my book.
 
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Starting XI - Horn, Bertrand, Fonte, Chambers, Tete, Wanyama, Ward-Prowse, Hesketh, Insigne, Lucas, Benteke.

A good point against Arsenal as we perhaps shaded the game and deserved more. Higuain opened the scoring for Arsenal but our pressing and insistence on getting forward finally paid off as Christian Benteke broke his drought to hammer us level. Drawing towards the end of the game it was all going our way but we couldnt quite win it.
 
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Starting XI - Horn, Bertrand, Van Dijk, Chambers, Tete, Wanyama, Ward-Prowse, Hesketh, Insigne, Lucas, Benteke.

Like London buses! you wait for 3 years for a win in the Capital One Cup and two come along in a row! Another really promising performance as we controlled the game throughout and really worked to break Everton down, making sure to remain patient so that any chances we got were good ones. We left it late with Lucas Moura squaring to Pelle in the 91st minute to take the lead, but better late than never! This result means that we have only conceded 1 goal in the last 5 games, keeping 4 clean sheets.
 
Cracking stuff mate, some immense signings. Shame about the injury to Lucas
 
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Starting XI - Horn, Bertrand, Van Dijk, Chambers, Tete, Bender, Strootman, Hesketh, Insigne, Rodriguez, Benteke.

A great performance see's us pick up another win and yet another clean sheet to make it one conceded in the last 6 games. The addition of Chambers pace next to Van Dijks ability as a stopper is working perfectly and Timo Horn offers an assured presence in goal. Van Dijk got us off to the perfect start by heading in a corner in the 2nd miute. Jay Rodriguez then got his first of the season with a close range tap in to secure the result. Perfect.
 
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October Review​

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A fantastic month as we go unbeaten, including two really good points against United and Arsenal and a fantastic win against Everton in the Capital One Cup.
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Chelsea are flying at the top of the table with Ancelotti in charge after Mourinho left for the Man City job. Arsenal are in a complete mess with just one win from their first 11 games! Mancini has been sacked from his position and Andries Jonker is currently caretaker manager while they search for a new boss.

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A shaky start to our Europa campaign and yet somehow we are in the qualification spots.

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The Capital One Cup Quarter Final has draw us against Swansea. This is a game that we are more than capable of winning.


Player of the Month​
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Virgil Van Dijk has had a wonderful month and is a massive part of us conceding just the one goal all month. He has formed a superb partnership with Calum Chambers and I am so happy with our defending right now.
November Preview​
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Starting XI - Horn, Bertrand, Van Dijk, Chambers, Tete, Wanyama, Strootman, Ward-Prowse, Insigne, Lucas, Pelle.

"No no no no NO! what the **** happened to all the positives we have been building on!" Right back to step one with a really poor performance against Sporting. We are going to have to do very well now to progress in the competition.
 
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Starting XI - Horn, Bertrand, Van Dijk, Chambers, Tete, Wanyama, Ward-Prowse, Insigne, Hesketh, Lucas, Pelle.

Frustration just isnt the word. Where has our form gone all of a sudden? we were outclassed by bottom of the table Everton and didnt even really look like a threat. This inconsistency is really not good enough but I am starting to run out of answers.
 
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Starting XI - Horn, Bertrand, Van Dijk, Chambers, Tete, Wanyama, Strootman, Davis, Tadic, Lucas, Benteke.

We pushed the League leaders all the way with a superb performance but just lost out in the end thanks to a Carlos Tevez goal mid way through the first half. A more encouraging performance as I tried to slow our play down and make the most of possession which allowed Kevin Strootman to assert his authority on the match, but it just wasnt to be.

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Going through a bad spell, maybe changing up the formation could do the trick. Nevertheless great story.
 
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Starting XI - Horn, Bertrand, Van Dijk, Chambers, Tete, Bender, Slattery, Insigne, Hesketh, Lucas, Benteke.

A really good match and a decent result. I watched the full 90 minutes of the match and the lads are starting to pick up on the slight tactical tweaks that I am employing. We bossed the whole game, more than the stats suggest, and were unlucky not to come away with the win. Benteke grabbed our equaliser and our only goal of the game.
 
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