Diary of a Season: St. Mary's Redemption

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Sunday 5th February, 2023

Preparation vs CHELSEA (a)

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Chelsea: 6/4 (fav); SAINTS: 13/8; Draw: 2/1.

Premier League leaders Chelsea are currently on course to claim their 8th English top flight title, and their 4th since 2015/16. They have 67 points from 26 matches, so any remaining ambitions that we have to pip them at the post depend on getting all three points at the Cole Stadium on Tuesday night. They have won 22, drawn 1 and lost 3 of their league games this season; of their last 13 they have won 10 and lost 3, which might be interpreted as a wobble in the context of an otherwise great season for Jose Mourinho’s men. In the same period, we have won 10, drawn 2 and lost just 1 - way back on 19th November (0-1 at home to Norwich City).

So far this season we have scored 17 goals more than Chelsea, in two fewer matches, and they have conceded 3 goals more than us. They play a 4-2-3-1 formation with which they picked us apart by 0-3 in our first meeting this season at St. Mary’s but the squad comparison is slightly in our favour. Chelsea goals tend to come most often during the 61mins to 75mins period and they concede them during the last 15mins.

Gabriel Borbosa, the Brazilian who scored the opening goal in the 0-3 defeat earlier in the season, is injured and will miss this game. Veljko Majstorovic, who scored the other two, is now at Paris Saint-Germain while his replacement Rob Tokaya was also out with a hernia when he joined from Vitesse and will remain so on Tuesday. So the goal threat will come from Joaquin (who has 12 for the season so far), Eden Hazard (11), the German Julian Brandt (with 6) and Oscar (5) - the Brazilian playmaker is their most creative player. Joaquin is in a rich vein of form, though, with 8 goals in 5 matches.

Javi Rico has not recommended any particular are of training, so I have opted for defending set-pieces which we haven’t worked on for a while.
 
Monday 6th February, 2023

James Ward-Prowse scores during his 60 minutes for the U21s, with Yvo Lucas getting the other in a 2-3 defeat at home to Newcastle United.

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Buti Ndou will be returning shortly from the African Nation’s Cup; South Africa are beaten on penalties by Senegal after a 1-1 draw in Witbank. So Senegal will face Morocco in the semi-final, while Tunisia take on Angola. Of those four nations, Tunisia have won the trophy on two previous occasions (2004 and 2015) and Morocco have won it once (1976). Senegal were beaten finalists in 2002 while Angola have never reached the Final.
 
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Tuesday 7th February, 2023

Premier League - Matchday 25
CHELSEA vs SOUTHAMPTON
Cole Stadium, London; Att:

SAINTS Team News - 3-5-2: Having now returned from the African Nations’ Cup, Abdel Aziz Ibrahim resumes his place as The Saints No.1; Roel Rutten, Diego Reyes and Tin Jedvaj line-up as the back-3; Luke Shaw starts on the left; Sercan Calik on the right; Mark Ardean-Webb and Mario Pugliese are either side of Giammarco Stangoni, the captain; Christoffer Jorgensen and Kingsley Idris are reunited up-front; John Stones, Shane Westley and Kostas Kabastanakis are on the bench.

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Chelsea - 4-2-3-1: Ousmane Diallo, the Ivory Coast keeper, makes his first Premier League appearance of the season with Thibaut Courtois out for two months with a broken ankle; the former Real Socieded defender Inigo Martinez partners Alper Minchev of Bulgaria at the heart of defence; left-back Kyle Metcalfe is an England international; Italian midfielder Leonardo Capezzi has an average rating of 7.45 for the season; Brandt, Oscar, Hazard and Joaquin have 34 goals between them this season, in all competitions; there are three Englishmen on the bench for The Blues - Jason Saville, Harry Hodges and Ben Addai.

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Hard tackling is instructed for our most important match of the season, so far. The pre-match team-talk goes well but again, over-confidence might be a problem.

1st Half Highlights
- 1sec: A slightly patched-up Chelsea team get the match started, attacking to the right.
- 4mins: Luke Shaw takes on Gonzalez down the left wing and crosses. Inigo Martinez heads it out but Shaw heads it to Idris and gets it back inside the penalty area. He passes square to Giammarco Stangoni but the Italian’s near-post shot is blocked by Minchev. Chelsea clear but Southampton come back at them, Shaw crossing from the left again and Kingsley Idris stealing in-front of Capezzi and Gonzalez to connect with a near-post header that goes wide.
- 8mins: Joaquin heads the ball down to Imbula on the halfway-line for Chelsea. The ball is returned to Joaquin via Oscar and he skips away from Reyes and outside Jedvaj to shoot from the left side of the D, but the shot goes wide of the right-hand post.
- 10mins: A heavy touch by Stangoni allows Oscar to slide in and win the ball. Joaquin skips around Reyes’s challenge on the halfway-line and sets off on a run for The Saints goal. He gets into the D before Rutten and Jedvaj converge on him, shooting over-the-bar with his left foot.
- 13mins: Yellow card for Mario Pugliese.
- 16mins: An excellent tackle by Sercan Calik on the edge of the penalty area dispossesses Eden Hazard as he was about to shoot, but at the expense of a corner.
- 17mins: Hazard sends the corner over from the left-wing and Inigo Martinez wins it among a clutch of players, directing his header to the unmarked JOAQUIN to head home at the near post. So much for working on defensive set-pieces! 0-1.
- 18mins: Southampton go straight on the attack with Stangoni passing to Shaw on the left wing. He goes past Gonzalez and crosses into the 6-yard box but Christoffer Jorgensen somehow heads over from 3-yards, with the goal at his mercy! It should be 1-1!
- 22mins: Brandt heads the ball on to Oscar inside the Southampton half, and he turns the ball forward to Joaquin. The former Barcelona man takes on Reyes and shoots from the edge of the area; wide of the far post.
- 23mins: Idris is kicked by Minchev but keeps going to get to the byline and cross low from the left. Jorgensen capitalises on some confusion between Minchev and Inigo Martinez to get an angled shot in from close range, but Diallo gets down low to block the shot. Then, Rutten and Ardean-Webb set-up a shooting chance from distance for Stangoni, but Diallo takes the ball into his mid-riff.
- 27mins: Chelsea have been putting in some stern challenges since the kick-off and Luke Shaw is left needing treatment from Oscar’s tackle.
- 33mins: Shaw puts a free-kick just wide of the left-hand post from 20-yards out.
- 45mins+1: Luke Shaw puts in a strong challenge on Julian Brandt and the German has to be substituted with Harry Hodges.

HALF-TIME: CHELSEA 1-0 SOUTHAMPTON

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Chelsea are quicker and stronger in the tackle than us, even though I have Hassle Opponents and Get Stuck In selected among the Team Instructions and Hard Tackles and Close Down Always in the Opposition Instructions. We have been second best. Jorgensen should have scored immediately after their equaliser, but they are moving through our midfield too easily. I don’t have any left-sided players on the bench so I’m reluctant to change formation, so I’ll have to rely on the half-time team-talk to do the trick: I aggressively challenge the players to show me something different in the second-half.

2nd Half Highlights
- 46mins: Straight from the restart, Sercan Calik gets down the right wing and crosses to the 6-yard box, but Idris can’t make the connection and Diallo scoops the ball up. From the keeper’s punt upfield, Oscar passes back to Capezzi from the centre-circle and gets the return via Joaquin, running on beyond his striker to exploit the gap in the heart of The Saints’ defence. He shoots from 25-yards, forcing Ibrahim to dive low to his right, but the ball bounces wide of the left-hand post.
- 49mins: Ever Gonzalez goes in strongly on Luke Shaw and comes off worse. He is replaced by the Irish midfielder Aidan Butler, who slots into central defence with Kyle Metcalfe moving to right-back and Inigo Martinez to the left. A reshuffled Chelsea defence that might be vulnerable.
- 51mins: Jedvaj carelessly gives possession away with a throw in from the left, deep inside his own half. Capezzi passes square to Imbula and his forward ball to Joaquin on the right of the D is pushed infield for the on-rushing Eden Hazard. The Belgian beats Reyes and shoots from behind the penalty spot bur Abdel Aziz Ibrahim makes an athletic save high to his left for a corner. Capezzi crosses from the right and Gianelli IMBULA climbs above Stangoni and Jedvaj to head Chelsea into a 2-0 lead from 10-yards. Another goal conceded from a set-piece. 0-2.
- 53mins: From the restart, Stangoni coughs up possession cheaply and Joaquin shoots from outside the area - just over the top.

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- 54mins: I change formation to 4-5-1 Assymetric and switch to Attacking and Fluid play. Jorgensen and Pugliese come off to be replaced by John Stones, who will go to right-back, and Kostas Kabastanakis, who I will use as a makeshift left-winger. Diego Reyes has moved in the DM position, with Stangoni now operating as a Trequartista.
- 57mins: Chelsea have moved their two holding midfielders back as defensive midfielders and Oscar has dropped into the MC position.
- 59mins: Joaquin moves across the centre-circle towards the Chelsea right, side-steps Rutten’s lunging tackle and passes into the run of Hodges in the inside-right channel. He moves across the front of Southampton’s defensive line to play Eden Hazard in on the left, the Belgian shooting from the edge of area to pull a low diving save out of Ibrahim.
- 61mins: Ibrahim tries to throw the ball out to John Stones, midway inside The Saints half, but Joaquin reads it and takes the ball down on his chest, beats Jedvaj and shoots from inside the area. Ibrahim redeems himself by pushing the ball wide for a Chelsea corner.
- 66mins: Kingsley Idris controls a near post corner from Sercan Calik on the left, but with too many defenders between him and the goal, returns the ball to Calik. He picks out Giammarco STANGONI to the left of the penalty spot, who swerves the challenge of Capezzi and strikes a left-footed rasper off Diallo and into the roof of the net. A lifeline for The Saints! Stangoni grabs the ball from the back of the net and races back to the centre-spot. 1-2.
- 67mins: Andrew Powell comes on in place of Kingsley Idris up-front.
- 71mins: Shaw takes a throw on the left and Calik stands it up to the front post. Andrew Powell climbs well to beat Michev in the air but can only divert the ball into the side-netting.
- 79mins: Imbula and Joaquin work an opening for Harry Hodges in the inside-right channel, for Chelsea, but his shot goes wide of the far post.
- 82mins: Diego Reyes passes to Kostas Kabastanakis on the left wing, and he plays the ball down the line for Stangoni to run onto. Imbula appeals for offside before deciding that he ought to chase the Italian, who is making his way to the corner flag. He whips in a delightful cross from level with the 6-yard box and Andrew POWELL again leaps high to meet the ball, this time thumping his header past Diallo at the near post to level the scores. 2-2.
- 88mins: Hodges slips the ball to Joaquin, who runs from the D into the area, but four red shirts descend upon him with Shaw, Rutten and Reyes all managing to get something on the ball. Chelsea regain possession and Hazard is flagged offside when he looks like scoring the winner from the left of the 6-yard box.
- 89mins: Powell advances down the right for The Saints, with plenty of Chelsea players back defending. He holds the ball up on the wing and passes back to Ardean-Webb just outside the area. He squares to Luke Shaw who strikes right-footed, only to see the ball go wide of the left-hand post.
- 90mins: Chelsea are back to their original 4-2-3-1 so I have to reset the OIs. Then, Diego Reyes makes a well-timed sliding tackle on Imbula to deny a shooting opportunity from inside the D, with The Saints pressed back by Chelsea’s attack.

FULL-TIME

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MAN OF THE MATCH:
GIAMMARCO STANGONI (SOUTHAMPTON) - 7.7
Advanced Playmaker_Attack/Trequartista_Attack: 1 goal; 1 assist.

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VERDICT:
A very difficult match. Chelsea cut through our 3-5-2 at will but after the switch to 4-5-1 Assymetric when we were 0-2 down, they struggled to contain Stangoni in the more advanced position and Powell’s freshness and aerial prowess also caused problems for them. I’m kicking myself for not having had a more balanced subs bench, with no left-sided players meaning that I had to play Kabastanakis out of position. Some of our passing was sloppy, particularly in our own half, and only the excellence of a World class player has salvaged anything from the match for us. Our title dreams, slight as they were, are in tatters.
 
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Tuesday 7th February, 2023

Manchester United draw a blank at bottom-of-the-table Birmingham City; 0-0. Manchester City beat Tottenham 2-1 with two more goals from Zeljko Urosev, who is now three goals ahead of Christoffer Jorgensen in the Premier League scoring charts on 24. Jonjo Shelvey is on target as Arsenal lose 2-3 at home to Norwich City, having been 2-1 up with 8 minutes to go.
 
Wednesday 8th February, 2023

Preparation vs NEWCASTLE UNITED (h)

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SAINTS: 1/4 (fav); Newcastle: 9/1; Draw: 4/1.

A home FA Cup tie against the team we beat 5-0 here a month ago. Kingsley Idris soared a hat-trick in that match and could feature again. Andrew Powell is in better form than Jorgensen at the moment, so he could also be involved from the start.

We’re working on defending set-pieces, after conceding both goals from corners against Chelsea. Newcastle’s large diamond midfield had me concerned going into the previous match but our midfield-five was better at covering the ground and retaining possession. They are still afflicted with a number of injuries and a few exhausted players, so I’m confident we can progress in the Cup on Saturday.
 
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Saturday 11th February, 2023

FA Cup - 5th Round
SOUTHAMPTON vs NEWCASTLE UNITED
St. Mary’s Stadium, Southampton; Att: 52,000

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SAINTS Teams News - 3-5-2: Louis Cruse gets a recall, having kept a clean sheet the last time we played Newcastle; Rutten, Reyes and Phillip Kaminski are at the back; Tom Ince rotates back into the team, together with Shane Westley; Stangoni retains his place with Pugliese; Kabastanakis starts on the right; Andrew Powell’s impressive substitute display against Chelsea earns him a starting spot, alongside Kingsley Idris; Mark Ardean-Webb drops to the bench; Jorginho and Marc Smulders are also among the subs.

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Newcastle - 4-4-2 Large Diamond: Tim Krul is still Newcastle’s No.1; Koo Jong-Duk is a South Korean international centre-back with 60 caps, who is rated as potentially World-class; Wilfried Zaha starts on the right of midfield; 19 year-old attacking midfielder Timothy Naylor is making his full professional debut; Andrea Petagna was identified by former Southampton captain Morgan Schneiderlin as the visitors’ key threat prior to this match; substitute Martin Brown, a right-back, will hope to get his first appearance of the season for this patched up Newcastle United team.

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I instruct normal tackling and tell the players that I expect them to win, today.

1st Half Highlights
- 1sec: Newcastle, dressed as Brazil, start the match, attacking the Northam End.
- 17sec: They almost get straight through on-goal from McCormack’s defence-splitting pass for Petagna, but Louis Cruse is out quickly to gather.
- 3mins: Tom Ince throws the ball over the halfway-line, on the left wing, to Kingsley Idris. He plays a forward diagonal pass further infield to Giammarco Stangoni and the Saints skipper surges past Arthur Girard to attempt a cross shot from the corner of the 6-yard box, but it goes across the goalmouth and out of play on the far side.
- 4mins: A quick counter-attack by Newcastle requires a smart catch by Cruse from Wilfried Zaha’s effort on the right-wing. Then Southampton go straight up the other end, with Idris carrying the ball at pace from centre-field to left of the Newcastle penalty area and crossing to Andrew Powell whose header flashes wide of the far post with only the keeper to beat.
- 5mins: Craig Dawson does well to head the ball behind for a corner from a Kostas Kabastanakis driven cross, from the right, with Mario Pugliese threatening to get a crucial touch.
- 7mins: A clever back-heel from Petagna in the centre-circle finds McCormack leading the line for Newcastle. With Southampton players retreating into defence, he slips the ball behind them, back to Petagna, and his first-time pass puts Eduardo VARGAS in behind Phillip Kaminski, to take a touch into the area and place a low left-foot shot past Cruse. An early lead for the visitors. 0-1.
- 7mins: Idris and Powell restart the match and, by playing triangles with Stangoni, work their way forward down the middle. Powell holds it up in the middle of the Newcastle half and Kingsley IDRIS bursts across the front of Koo Jong-Duk, leaving the South Korean in his wake as he bears down on Tim Krul’s goal to send a left-footed side foot finish into the top right-hand corner for an immediate Saints equaliser. Two goals in a minute - it’s already a fantastic cup tie. 1-1.
- 9mins: A partially cleared free-kick from the left falls to Giammarco Stangoni who lets fly from left of the D, firing narrowly over-the-top.
- 13mins: Stangoni’s header in midfield releases Tom Ince to surge down the left wing. His cross is pushed into the air by Krul, with Powell at his back, but it drops behind him in the centre of the 6-yard box - Girard somehow managing to force the ball over his own crossbar with his head to deny Stangoni a tap-in.
- 14mins: Southampton begin to pile pressure onto the Magpies, picking up clearance after clearance to win more corners and keep them pegged back. Stangoni receives a pass from Kaminski in the middle of the Newcastle half and takes a touch to set-off on another run. But before he can get going, Kevin McCormack comes flying in with a reckless two-footed tackle that leaves Mike Dean, the referee, with no option. RED CARD for Kevin McCormack. Newcastle are down to 10 men.
- 16mins: Newcastle’s formation now consists of a back-four; one defensive midfielder, one central midfielder, one attacking midfielder - all playing through the middle, and two up-front!
- 20mins: Ince takes a throw-in, level with the edge of the Newcastle penalty area, on the left-hand side. Stangoni receives and after a short burst forwards with the ball at his feet, he cuts a square pass infield to Westley. A strong challenge by Timothy Naylor sends Westley to ground, but Giammarco STANGONI is onto the ball in a flash, taking two strides into the area and firing across Krul into the far bottom corner. 2-1.
- 21mins: Newcastle’s turn to hit straight back from the kick-off! Allievi plays the ball forward from deep and Petagna, with his back to goal midway inside the Saints half, lays the ball back to Naylor. His chipped past drops perfectly over the head of Rutten to put Eduardo VARGAS in possession inside the D, and his right-foot effort flies into the top right corner of the net for his 2nd goal of the match. 2-2.
- 28mins: Stangoni receives a pass from Andrew Powell and then wriggles his way into the Newcaslte penalty area, only to be denied by a last ditch tackle by Koo Jong-Duk, blocking his shot and deflecting it wide for another Southampton corner. Petagna gets his head to Kabastanakis’s near post corner, but only succeeds in flicking it on to Roel Rutten in a deeper position. The Saints centre-back sends a forceful header towards goal and Tim Krul throws up a hand to push the ball into the air. He drops to the ground but gets up quickly to catch the dropping ball within a ruck of players - but carries the ball over his own goal-line! Own goal by Tim KRUL. 3-2.
- 29mins: Newcastle go on the attack again, but Roel Rutten’s sliding tackle halts Zaha’s progress as he attempts to cut in on-goal from the right of the penalty area.
- 36mins: Koo heads Tom Ince’s cross away but from his second attempt, Ince finds the head of Andrew Powell who will be disappointed to have missed the target from 12-yards.
- 38mins: Ince passes infield to Stangoni and then makes the diagonal run into the area to receive the lay off from Idris. Ince’s well-struck drive glances off the side-netting.
- 40mins: Kabastanakis receives the ball from his own cleared corner, on the left, and squares to Stangoni on the left of the D. He brings a parried save out of Krul at the left-hand post before Koo scrambles it behind for another corner. Shane Westley connects with the cross from Kabastanakis but again, the ball hits the side-netting.
- 44mins: From just in-front of the halfway-line, Shane Westley spreads the play to the left wing, where Tom Ince is unmarked. Jack Hunt can’t keep up with Ince’s surging run and the cross is met by the head of Andrew POWELL, scoring off the underside of the crossbar from 6-yards out to give Southampton some daylight in the scoreline. 4-2.

HALF-TIME: SOUTHAMPTON 4-2 NEWCASTLE UNITED

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A 6-goal thriller in the first 45 minutes! By overloading through the middle of the pitch since McCormack’s red card, Newcastle have turned this match into a shoot-out; they know to exploit the No.10 area to release strikers between our back-3, but in doing so they have left Jack Hunt exposed at right-back and made this an easy match for Tom Ince. He’s burning past the full-back like he isn’t even there, and Stangoni has also been lively through the middle and in the channels. Powell and Idris have both been on target, and our squad has a lot of stamina and is used to playing high tempo football - so I’m optimistic we can see out the second-half. I tell the players that they can still improve.

2nd Half Highlights
- 46mins: Jack Hunts intercepts a pass in the right-back position for Newcastle, but allows Kingsley Idris to steal the ball off his toe. An exchange of passes with Tom Ince and Shane Westley creates an opening for Ince to try an angled drive but Krul pushes it away for a corner.
- 47mins Westley picks out Ince on the left corner of the Newcastle penalty area and his high cross into the middle is headed just wide by Andrew Powell.
- 52mins: Rutten passes to Ince, just past the halfway-line on the left-hand side. He plays the ball forward to Kingsley Idris, who makes the run from the inside channel out to the wide area, with Koo Jong-Duk trying to track him. Idris sends in a low cross which Krul has to dive low to his right-hand post to block. But Allievi also slides in, getting in his keeper’s way, the ball diverting onto the post and bouncing back for Andrew POWELL to help himself to his 2nd goal of the match from 2-yards. 5-2.
- 53mins: Newcastle have switch to 4-1-3-1.
- 62mins: Stangoni runs from midfield to cross from the left flank, but Idris can’t get enough on the header. glancing it wide of the far post. That proves to be Stangoni’s final contribution to the match, as he makes way for Jorginho.
- 66mins: Zaha gets in down the right wing for the visitors and centres to Andrea Petagna. His acrobatic over-head kick lacks direction but Vargas manages to get his head on it at the back post - too far out to trouble Cruse, though, as the ball drops wide.
- 67mins: Andrea Petagna receives a pass from Brown, inside the centre-circle, and sets-off on a macy run that takes him away from Reyes and past Kaminski, and into the penalty area, but he can’t keep his shot down.
- 68mins: Kevin Egan gets a run-out in place of Kaminski, for The Saints.
- 69mins: Dawson clears a cross from Kabastanakis but Rutten squares to Jorginho, inside the D. His shot is well-struck but Krul is well-positioned to grasp the ball to his chest.
- 70mins: Krul has to react sharply again to save Kabastanakis’s 25-yard free-kick from the left.
- 78mins: Morrison steps forward from Newcastle’s back four to intercept a pass intended for Idris, but then dwells on the ball long enough for Westley to force it on to Idris, the young striker hitting a fierce drive from inside the D which Krul does brilliantly to save.

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- 79mins: Yvo Lucas comes on to replace Kingsley Idris and I change to my right-footed F-9/AF combination.
- 86mins: Arthur Girard tries an angled drive from distance, on the left, but Cruse catches the ball at his near post.
- 87mins: A mix-up in midfield between Pugliese and Westley allows Brown to release Petagna through the middle, but the Italian striker fails to keep his composure, merely passing the ball into the hands of Louis Cruse from the edge of the area when he had time to advance further and pick his spot.
- 88mins: Jorginho rides a heavy challenge by Girard, after Lucas’s lay-off, but his shot from outside the area goes too high.
- 89mins: Jorginho runs onto Westley’s forward pass, skipping around the lungeing challenge of Sean Morrison on his way into the area. Hunt manages to divert the Brazilian’s shot across the goalmouth - but only into the stomach of Yvo Lucas. With an open goal at this mercy, the Dutchman can’t sort out his feet and Krul manages to dive on the ball.
- 90mins+1: Kabastanakis fizzes a free-kick just over-the-bar, from the right of the area.
- 90mins+2: From the middle of the Newcastle half, Shane Westley sprays a 30-yard pass out to Kabastanakis on the right wing. He controls the ball, goes past Storey, and delivers a cross into the area, just advanced of the penalty spot. By controlling the ball on his thigh, Andrew POWELL wrong-foots Tim Krul and the ball bounces over the line to complete the Welshman’s hat-trick. 6-2.

FULL-TIME

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MAN OF THE MATCH:
ANDREW POWELL (SOUTHAMPTON) - 9.7
False-9_Support: 3 goals; 1 assist.

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VERDICT:
We were clear favourites going into this match but while it was wide open early-on, Newcastle had a chance. Kevin McCormack’s reckless red card put paid to their chances, though, and we punished their reduced numbers by pulling them all over the park, exploiting the flanks and playing at a tempo that they couldn’t live with. I’m pleased for Andrew Powell, who has struggled to gain a regular place during his first season at St.Mary’s and I now with a selection headache choosing between him and Christoffer Jorgensen. Tom Ince was also excellent and so was Giammarco Stangoni who I often rest, once a game is won, by bringing on Jorginho who was also very lively.
 
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Sunday 12th February, 2023

A capacity crowd of 52,000 witnessed our 6-2 victory over Newcastle United, yesterday, in the FA Cup 5th Round. That’s an attendance record that cannot be broken - unless we build another 10,000 seats into the Kingsland Stand!

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The draw for the 6th Round takes place today and we get another home tie, against Sheffield Wednesday. They are 11th in the Championship at the moment, so we will undoubtedly be strong favourites to progress to the semi-finals.

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Morocco are African Champions for the second time in their history, after beating Tunisia 3-0 in the Final of the Nations’ Cup at the Puma Rugby Stadium in Witbank, South Africa. All three of their goalscorers play their football in France.
 
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Sunday 12th February, 2023

Preparation vs VITESSE ARNHEM (a)

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Vitesse: 7/1; SAINTS: 1/3; Draw: 3/1.

Peter Bosz is the manager of the Dutch side, Vitesse Arnhem - as he was in 2014 when his team put a premature end to my first ever foray into Europe by overturning our 5-1 first leg Europa League Qualifier victory at St. Mary’s to beat us 0-4 at Gelredome in the return, and go through at our expense, on the away goals rule. That was at the beginning of the second season of this save and frankly, I’ve been holding a grudge ever since!

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So, Vitesse now stand between us and the last 8 of the Champions League. They still play the same 3-4-3 formation that we came up against in 2014, and they are in a good run of form despite losing their star player Rob Tokaya to Chelsea during the January transfer window. Robert Yaw Agyei is their danger man, with 13 goals for the season so far. He’s 19 years old; he has failed to make an impact during a couple of seasons with Manchester United but has come into his own during this current loan spell in Eredivisie.

They have quite a small squad and injuries they could certainly do without to two midfield regulars, so there could be one or two youth players in their match day squad on Tuesday night. Javi Rico advises training on defensive set-pieces. They are uncomfortable facing 4-4-2 but I will stick with our 3-5-2 - just to see how it matches up against their system. I anticipate quite an open match, like the beginning of the Newcastle match, yesterday. Most of their goals come in the first-half of matches, but they tend to concede during the middle of that half, too. They are also vulnerable late in matches; possibly a consequence of having such a small squad and being unable to freshen things up with substitutions near the end.
 
Tuesday 14th February, 2023

Tin Jedvaj pulled his hamstring during training this morning and will miss the next 3 weeks. That’s a disappointing blow, particularly as I planned to rotate him back into the team tonight after leaving him out of the FA Cup match on Saturday. With Sergey Radimov out for the season, Kevin Egan is going to get his chance in the first team. Jedvaj will also miss the Capital One Cup Final on the 26th. I may have to reconsider my 3-5-2 formation for the Vitesse match, with Liverpool coming to St. Mary’s on Saturday.

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I decided to allow Arthur Semka and Marc Smulders to travel with our youth team to participate in the Italian Youth Club Invitational [which I believe is actually called the Coppa Carnevale in which teams compete for the Viareggio Cup] where they faced Barcelona’s U19s at Torquato Bresciani, tonight. John Griffiths joins Smulders on the scoresheet in a 2-0 victory against the Spanish side.

32 teams entered the Group Stage, with 10 advancing teams being joined in the 2nd Round by seeded teams, such as ourselves. Atletico Paranaense of Brazil, USM Alger from Algeria, Morelia from Mexico and Lille of France join eight Italian teams in what is now a straight knock-out competition.
 
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Tuesday 14th February, 2023

European Champions League - 1st Knock-Out Round, 1st Leg
VITESSE ARNHEM (Ned) vs SOUTHAMPTON (Eng)
Gelredome, Arnhem; Att: 24,570

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SAINTS Team News - 4-5-1 Assymetric: Ibrahim in goal; Luke Shaw comes into a back four, with Buti Ndou on the right and Kaminski and Rutten at centre-back; Mario Pugliese is in the defensive midfield role, with Mark Ardean-Webb operating as a deep-lying playmaker from the centre; Tom Ince starts at left-midfield, where he’ll operate as a winger; Sercan Calik will do the same from a more advanced position on the right; Giammarco Stangoni will be the team’s Trequartista; Christoffer Jorgensen comes in for his first participation in this season’s Champions League, as a Complete Forward; Kevin Egan is among the subs, with Dragan Hrustic, James Ward-Prowse and Yvo Lucas.

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Vitesse - 3-4-3: Goalkeeper Wim Guerts has 10 caps for the Netherlands; Midfielder Massimo Luongo is a former Coventry City and Aston Villa player who has 86 caps for Australia; Lucas Andersen on the right of midfield is an experienced Danish international; Robert Yaw Agyei starts in the middle of the front-3.

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Normal tackles are instructed and I tell the players to pick up where they left off last time.

1st Half Highlights
- 1sec: Vitesse kick-off, in yellow-and-black shirts, white shorts and white socks, attacking from right-to-left.
- 2mins: Koopman wins an aerial contest with Rutten and Shaw, midway inside the Southampton half, nodding the ball to Lucas Andersen on the right wing. As Andersen charges into the penalty area, Luke Shaw makes a lungeing challenge, catching the winger’s ankle just inside the box. Mr Zwayer points to the penalty spot. Lucas ANDERSEN takes the kick himself, sending Ibrahim the wrong way as he strikes into the bottom left-hand corner. 0-1.
- 6mins: Christoffer Jorgensen finds some space on the right wing and crosses to the penalty spot. Mark Ardean-Webb leaps for it with Mormon, but neither player can reach it - the ball continuing to Tom Ince who smashes it home at the far post. But the offside flag goes up. The replay shows that Ardean-Webb did get a touch, rendering Ince offside from that header rather than from Jorgensen’s cross. No goal.
- 10mins: From a free-kick next to the right-wing corner flag, Sevki Varligun sends over a left-footed in-swinger. Mormon gets up well to head at goal from 5-yards, but the ball smacks the front of the crossbar and Jorgensen hooks it clear.
- 13mins: Koopman wins another long ball from the keeper in the air, and amid the defensive confusion, Rutten gives the ball straight to Daal in Vitesse’s midfield. He swaps passes with Luongo before playing Koopman in behind Shaw, but his shot is saved by Ibrahim at his near post.

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- 15mins: Vitesse work the ball into the D for Agyei and he shoots wide. Our 4-5-1 is not working! I switch to 4-4-1-1, which I can do without making any change to personnel.
- 20mins: An instant result! Stangoni, Jorgensen and Ardean-Webb play a triangle from the centre-circle, the latter spreading the play to Luke Shaw near the halfway-line. He chips the ball forward for Tom Ince to cross to the edge of the 6-yard box where Christoffer JORGENSEN heads past Geurts to level the scores. 1-1.
- 25mins: Luke Shaw’s attacking run down the left draws Andersen back, creating space for the England full-back to cut a pass back to Tom Ince. He again finds Jorgensen’s head with a cross to the 6-yard line, but this time Wim Geurts dives low to his left to push the ball wide of the far post.
- 26mins: Jorgensen has a shot blocked 8-yards out, after a period of sustained possession on the Southampton right.
- 28mins: Geurts has to save a cross from Sercan Calik at the feet of Jorgensen, as The Saints continue to ramp up the pressure.
- 34mins: A training ground corner routine almost yields dividends for Ince, but his shot is charged down.
- 38mins: Agyei takes a pass from Badjeck and runs at the heart of the Southampton defence. But his shot lacks power and is comfortable for Ibrahim.
- 43mins: Calik’s corner from the right is headed away by Mormon, but as the Vitesse defence pushes up, Stangoni collects the ball in midfield and threads an intricate pass back to Calik, by the right corner of the 6-yard box. Geurts pushes the shot over for another corner, which Vitesse manage to scramble away at the third attempt.
- 44mins: Stangoni and Jorgensen almost stumble over one another as they one-two their way up the middle of the park, the Danish striker eventually hitting a left-foot shot wide from outside the area.
- 45mins+1: A left-wing throw is worked out to the right side by Pugliese; Sercan Calik shoots wide of the near post with two defenders closing him down.

HALF-TIME: VITESSE ARNHEM 1-1 SOUTHAMPTON

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I was wrong to start with the 4-5-1 Assymetric formation, but we have moved the ball around with a lot more confidence since the change to 4-4-1-1. A few players are struggling with their performance at the moment - a legacy of that bad start to the match - so I will try to gee them up with my half-time talk. Vitesse are very strong in the air, at both ends, so we are going to have to be patient and try to keep working openings inside their box. We’ve had 66% possession but both teams’ players are averaging 6.64. Vitesse have been more combative than us in midfield, so I switch to hard tackling. I tell the players to keep working hard and the result will come, then do one-to-one chats to get as many of them motivated for the second-half as possible.

2nd Half Highlights
- 48mins: Stangoni feeds Sercan Calik on the right corner of the Vitesse penalty area, but Sevki Varligun slides in to knock the ball out to towards the touchline. Buti Ndou sprints to beat the defender to the loose ball and hammers a low cross into the middle where the unmarked Christoffer JORGENSEN gives Southampton the lead with a right-foot volley inside the far post from 7-yards out. 2-1.
- 54mins: Massimo Luongo chips the ball forward to Badjeck in the inside-right channel. He uses his thigh to control it and lays it off to Andersen on the right wing, before making the run into the area for the return pass. He has to take the shot early with Ardean-Webb breathing down his neck and Ibrahim parries behind for a corner. Kaminski heads the first corner over for a second; Stangoni’s weak clearance on the back post presents half-chance to Alberto, but he sweeps his shot wide of the right-hand post.
- 60mins: Sevki Varligun sends a deep free-kick into the area for Vitesse, and amid a clutch of players, Buti Ndou is adjudged to have pushed Cedric Badjeck in the back. The referee awards Vitesse their second penalty-kick of the match. Lucas Andersen steps up again, but this time his shot, to Ibrahim’s right, is parried out by the keeper and The Saints get the ball clear.
- 62mins: Tom Ince shoots over from the left of the area, after being played-in by Jorgensen.
- 63mins: Giammarco Stangoni is not playing well, so he is replaced by James Ward-Prowse who will operate as an attacking midfielder.
- 67mins: Mario Pugliese receives possession in the middle, midway inside Vitesse’s half, and plays the ball out to Calik. He runs out to the right side of the penalty area, beat Sevki Varligun as he goes, and whips a high cross into the centre where Christoffer JORGENSEN leaps to nod a cushioned header past Geurts from 5-yards, to complete his hat-trick and make it 29 goals in all competitions this season. 3-1.
- 71mins: Roel Rutten’s back-post headers goes wide after a free-kick delivery from James Ward-Prowse, deep on the right-hand side.
- 74mins: Dragan Hrustic replaces Luke Shaw at left-back.
- 78mins: Yellow card for Mario Pugliese.
- 84mins: Kaminski slides in to half van der Wal’s progress on the edge of the Southampton box, but the ball falls to Lucas Andersen. His first-time shot is wild, though, and goes well wide of the far post.
- 85mins: Shane Westley comes on in place of Pugliese in midfield.
- 86mins: Yellow card for Dragan Hrustic.
- 90mins: Jedial Daal intercepts Tom Ince’s infield pass and hits it long behind the pushed-up Saints defence. Van der Wal runs onto it and evades the retreating runs of Rutten and Kaminski long enough to strike at goal from inside the D, but Ibrahim sees the ball go wide of his left-hand post.
- 90mins+2: Westley, Ardean-Webb, Ndou and Calik conduct a game of keep-ball to run down the clock - Mr Zwayer obliging with the final whistle.

FULL-TIME

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MAN OF THE MATCH:
CHRISTOFFER JORGENSEN (SOUTHAMPTON) - 9.5
Complete Forward_Support: 3 goals; 0 assists.

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VERDICT:
Once I fixed our formation, we got to grips with the match and exerted our authority in midfield. Vitesse had enough chances to get something from the game, but we created more and with a striker like Christoffer Jorgensen in form, we always have a chance. I’ll start with the 4-4-1-1 and hopefully avoid all this penalty drama in the 2nd Leg. I tell the players that it’s a good solid win, before we board the coach to the airport for our return flight to Southampton.
 
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Wednesday 15th February, 2023

On the flight back from Holland, in the wee small hours of Wednesday morning, Mullers informs me that the 9th Man of the Match award picked up by Christoffer Jorgensen last night sets a new club record. I tell him to shut-up and go back to sleep. Jorgensen has 29 goals for the season, putting him in a strong position to set a new single-season scoring record, too. 32 is the total to beat, shared by Jay Rodriguez and Erik Gomez who both finished on that number in the 2019/20 season.

Manchester United also triumphed in Europe last night, 3-0 at home to the Spanish champions, Real Madrid. There will be two more matches tonight and the other four ties commence next week. And later on Wednesday, Atletico Madrid win 1-0 at home to Galatasaray and Genoa beat Benfica 3-2 at the Luigi Ferraris Stadium. All to play for in the 2nd Legs.
 
Wednesday 15th February, 2023

Preparation vs LIVERPOOL (h)

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SAINTS: 1/3; Liverpool: 7/1; Draw: 3/1

The Capital One Cup triumph over Cardiff City in 2012 remains Liverpool’s most recent trophy; their Premier League form has been in steady decline since 2003, with only a couple of positive blips during the Rafa Benitez era. Last time we met, in our first Premier League encounter of the season at Anfield in October, we recovered from giving up a two-goal lead to win the match 3-2. We have beaten The Reds 15 times during this save, losing to them only 5 times and drawing 3. They aren’t quite the force you would expect them to be and currently sit in 11th position with 30 points from 27 matches, in which they have only scored 25 times. Ronald de Boer has some good players at his disposal and they are still capable of springing some good results - although they are currently in a run of only 1 win in 9 matches, in which they’ve suffered 6 defeats and scored only 4 goals.

We’re working on defending set-pieces, again. Their goals are fairly evenly spread throughout matches, but they tend to let them in from 16mins to 45mins and during the last 15mins of the match. The squad comparison is poor from their point of view, but I have a few tired players after our midweek excursion to Arnhem. They play a 4-5-1 *** 4-3-3 formation with a defensive midfielder, two wide men in advanced positions and a lone striker. I intend to play 3-5-2 but a lot will depend on the fitness of my defenders.
 
Saturday 18th February, 2023

Premier League - Matchday 26
SOUTHAMPTON vs LIVERPOOL
St. Mary’s Stadium, Southampton; Att: 51,569

SAINTS Team News - 3-5-2: Ibrahim continues in goal; Diego Reyes returns to the defence after missing the midweek match in the Netherlands; Rutten and Kaminski retain their places; Luke Shaw starts on the left of midfield; Shane Westley comes in for Pugliese, who is rested; Ardean-Webb and Stangoni continue; on the right, Kostas Kabastanakis comes in for Calik, who drops to the bench; Christoffer Jorgensen will be looking for his 30th goal in all competitions this season, while Kingsley Idris will be happy to last the 90 minutes after having been substituted in each of his last 6 appearances; Egan, Ndou and the in-form Andrew Powell are also on the bench.

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Liverpool - 4-5-1 V-Shaped Midfield: Bulgarian keeper David Ivanov starts; ex-Saint Dejan Lovren is partnered by Martin Kelly in the centre of Liverpool’s defence; right-back John Flanagan is the club’s vice-captain; Mark O’Hara usually plays as a centre-back but starts as the defensive midfielder today; Jordan Henderson and Blaise Matuidi are ahead of him in midfield; Mohammed Salah was part of the same disappointing Egypt squad at the recent African Nations’ Cup as our keeper, Ibrahim; Duvan Zapata, the Colombian striker, scored against us last time; Saphir Taider - a free-signing I had for a season and sold to Liverpool for 9-million the next - is on the bench.

Confidence is low among the visiting team after their poor recent run of results. I instruct normal tackles and tell the players to pick up where they left off against Vitesse.

1st Half Highlights
- 1sec: The Saints get the match started, attacking the Northam End to the left. Liverpool are in their crime-against-eyes changed kit of white shirt with utterly stupid design, black shorts and white socks.
- 4mins: Matuidi needs treatment after a foul by Diego Reyes.
- 10mins: Kingsley Idris plays a short diagonal pass to Mark Ardean-Webb, on the left of the penalty area, inside the box. He passes back to Luke Shaw whose shot flashes across goal and out on the far side.
- 11mins: Idris peels off the centre-back to work the left flank and wins a corner for Southampton. From the cross by Kostas Kabastanakis, Mark ARDEAN-WEBB runs from deep to steal in at the near post and head his 3rd goal of the season from close range. 1-0.
- 13mins: Christoffer Jorgensen passes to Idris, who, as he tries to turn his man, is tripped by Dejan Lovren. The former Saints player goes to the referee, expecting to see a yellow card; he and 52,000 others are stunned to see Martin Atkinson flourish a RED CARD. Liverpool are down to 10 men. O’Hara has shuffled back into defence and Matuidi is now in the DM position, with a gap left where he was in the left-of-centre MC role.
- 15mins: Ardean-Webb picks out Luke Shaw on the left wing, and he shows a clean pair of heels to John Flanagan before crossing into the area. Stangoni gets a glancing header onto the ball but David Ivanov makes a safe catch.
- 16mins: Ardean-Webb feeds the ball into the box from the right and Jorgensen knocks it down with his back to goal. Roel Rutten smashes left-foot volley inside the right-hand post but Ivanov makes an excellent one-handed stop and the ball is hacked clear. From the corner, Kaminski’s header is repelled by the head of Zapata and Jorgensen is blocked at the near-post from a subsequent Kabastanakis cross.
- 17mins: Rekik and Kelly both slide in to block Kabastanakis on the edge of the area, right of the D, from Ardean-Webb’s through ball. But the Dutch winger still gets his shot away, just over-the-bar.
- 19mins: A poor pass out from the back by O’Hara is intercepted by Jorgensen. He passes square to Idris on the left, and his pass back enables Ardean-Webb to free Luke Shaw on the wing. Flanagan can’t keep up and Shaw whips a low cross into the area. Southampton’s captain misses the ball, initially, but it bounces back to him off Matuidi and Giammarco STANGONI makes no mistake, firing just inside the far post to extend the home side’s lead. 2-0.
- 23mins: Ivanov has to react fast to deny Stangoni a second goal from a byline cross on the left that was flying straight in.
- 26mins: Kelly heads out Shaw’s cross but if falls to Shane Westley whose half-volley is wide of the left-hand post.
- 29mins: Shaw brings the ball down the left wing and plays an angled pass into the area, into the run of Jorgensen . The Dane looks to have run too far wide but sends a blistering strike on target from an acute angle, Ivanov having to dive low to his left to parry it to the far side.
- 30mins: From the throw, Ardean-Webb receives possession in midfield, squares to Stangoni and Ivanov is called upon again to dive low to his right and make the save.
- 32mins: Rutten pushes the ball forward to Mark Ardean-Webb, who is having an influential game in midfield, and he plays it short to Luke Shaw who has stepped infield from the left-wing. Another short forward pass gives Kingsley Idris the space to shoot left-footed from the edge of the area, the ball beating Ivanov but smacking off the crossbar and over.
- 37mins: Shaw’s pass from left wing plays Idris to the byline and he stands up a cross for Jorgensen to head at goal, but Ivanov gets across quickly to make another save.
- 40mins: Stangoni’s cross is headed out by Salah and flicked-on by Homer, but Roel Rutten is able to knock it down to Shane Westley in the D and his right-foot drive whistles past the left-hand post with Ivanov at full stretch.
- 42mins: Shaw and Ardean-Webb work an opening for Stangoni but his shot is wide, too.

HALF-TIME: SOUTHAMPTON 2-0 LIVERPOOL

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Liverpool can’t find a foothold in the match, Lovren’s dismissal making their task an enormous one, today. Luke Shaw has John Flanagan on toast every time we get the ball to him and Mark Ardean-Webb is having an excellent game in midfield, especially for such a young player. Neither of my forwards have got in on the goalscoring action yet, but they look up for it and I hope for more goals in the second-half. I tell the players that they are capable of playing even better and send them out in good spirits.

2nd Half Highlights
- 49mins: Rekik wins a header just behind the halfway-line for Liverpool, and finds Zapata in the centre-circle. He plays Salah in through the middle and the Egyptian advances into the area before pulling a World-class save from his international team-mate Ibrahim. Stangoni picks up the lose ball and carries it forward down the left-hand side, the ball eventually arriving on the right corner of the penalty area via Ardean-Webb, Reyes and Westley. Kabastanakis strikes for the top-left corner but Ivanov produces another fine save to push the ball behind for a corner.
- 50mins: Stangoni receives Kabastanakis’s pulled back corner just outside the area and slips the ball to Roel Rutten whose left-foot drive is athletically saved by Ivanov, at full stretch again.
- 53mins: Jordan Henderson’s near-post corner has to headed behind for another by Kaminski to prevent Salah converting from close range.
- 62mins: Yellow card for Martin Kelly, for a trip on Christoffer Jorgensen - 20-yards out, just right of the D. Kostas KABASTANAKIS steps up to fire the free-kick into the top-right corner, for his 7th goal of the season. Not even David Ivanov, who has been excellent for Liverpool today, can keep that one out! 3-0.
- 69mins: Yellow card for Luke Shaw for a foul on John Flanagan.
- 70mins: Kevin Egan comes on in defence, to give Roel Rutten a rest.
- 78mins: Ruben Loftus-Cheek chips a pass into the path of Victor Ibarbo, who gets free behind the Saints defence and takes the ball to the edge of the area before striking for goal, but Ibrahim is equal to it, saving to his left.
- 79mins: Ibarbo gets his head to Henderson’s near post corner, but directs it into the side-netting. Then, Jorginho - for Stangoni - and Andrew Powell - for Jorgensen - come on to play the last 10 minutes or so for The Saints.
- 82mins: Southampton sweep forward once more, Jorginho carrying the ball across the centre-circle before passing to Idris who sprays the ball into space ahead of Luke Shaw on the far side. Shaw’s ball from the left of the area gets Idris to the byline, the striker passing low across goal to find Andrew POWELL unmarked to score from 4-yards. 4-0.
- Liverpool have a lot of possession towards the end but can’t create any clear cut chances.

FULL-TIME

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MAN OF THE MATCH:
KOSTAS KABASTANAKIS (SOUTHAMPTON) - 9.1
Wide Midfielder (right)_Support: 1 goal; 1 assist.

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VERDICT:
Dejan Lovren’s red card made the match much easier for us than it might otherwise have been. Liverpool huffed and puffed but couldn’t keep up with us, especially when we played Luke Shaw in down the left to run at poor John Flanagan. Very good performances all round and I got to rest three key players ahead of a congested list of fixtures, too.
 
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Saturday 18th February, 2023

Manchester City drop points at Wigan Athletic with a 2-2 draw, but Chelsea’s title bid is further enhanced with a 3-1 win at Cardiff City.

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A penalty shoot-out victory over Ternana, after a 1-1 draw, puts our youth team through to the Final of the Coppa Carnevale, in Viareggio. Marc Smulders scored his 2nd goal of the tournament during the match itself, before the 3-2 shoot-out win. We’ll face Udinese in the Final, on Monday.
 
Sunday 19th February, 2023

Preparation vs READING (h)

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SAINTS: 4/7; Reading: 4/1; Draw: 5/2.

We beat Reading 5-1 at the Madejski in September, with a hat-trick from Christoffer Jorgensen playing in a 4-4-1-1 formation. Paul Lambert likes his side to play 4-4-2 and he has them riding high in the Premier Leauge this season, in 8th place. The goals are evenly spread, time-wise, both for and against, although they are not very prolific. Their top scorer with 12 goals is the Northern Ireland striker Liam Brown, but he has a hip injury that might keep him out for the rest of the season. Onisiforos Rousias from Cyprus and the veteran Jay Emmanuel-Thomas both have 7 goals in all competitions - and the next best total is 2. But their January signing from Al-Hilal in Saudi Arabia may offer some threat; Milcho Angelov, a 28 year-old Bulgarian international who has also played in Poland and Greece.

We’re working on Attacking Set-Pieces because Javi Rico thinks that Reading will be vulnerable to good deliveries into the box. The Capital One Cup Final against Manchester City is next Sunday, then we have Arsenal at home on the following Wednesday, so I will look to use the Reading match as an opportunity to rest a couple of players and possibly get some of my recently recovered back into full-fitness.
 
Monday 20th February, 2023

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The youth team is successful in the Final of the Coppa Carnevale, beating Udinese 4-2 with goals from Marc Smulders, a trainee called Tim Younghusband and two from John Griffiths. Josh Rutter has the honour of lifting the Viareggio Cup, which is presented to him by Genoa’s Italian international midfielder Claudio Bosi.

With Abdel Aziz Ibrahim and Louis Cruse both fully fit and in good form, I decide to terminate the loan of Vivian Rolland to save us a few quid in our already stretched wage bill.
 
Tuesday 21st February, 2023

Premier League - Matchday 27
SOUTHAMPTON vs READING
St. Mary’s Stadium, Southampton; Att: 52,000

SAINTS Team News - 4-4-1-1: Ibrahim continues in goal; Dragan Hrustic and Buti Ndou come into the side as full-backs; Rutten and Kaminski will start as the centre-backs; Mario Pugliese returns in the ball-winning midfielder role; Jorginho starts as the deep-lying playmaker; Tom Ince, who captains the side, and Sercan Calik are on the wings; Jose Pinho gets a rare start in the No.10 role as shadow striker; Yvo Lucas comes in as the deep-lying forward; Andrew Powell, James Ward-Prowse and Luke Shaw are all on the bench.

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Reading - 4-4-2: Goalkeeper Alex McCarthy has 5 England caps; Spain U21 right-back Dani is on loan from Manchester United; Frickson Erazo has 107 caps for Ecuador, but only 1 goal; skipper Jem Karacan is in his 15th season at the Madejski; his midfield partner Gareth Barfoot was a January signing from Manchester City.

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I’m putting out a weakened team here to rest players ahead of the Capital One Cup Final on Sunday and also to get Pinho and Hrustic fully-fit for the remainder of the season. I instruct normal tackles and calmly tell the players to pick up where they left off. The doesn’t work so I end up talking to most of them individually to get them motivated.

1st Half Highlights
- 1sec: Reading kick-off, attacking the Chapel End, in their changed strip of all black.
- 8mins: Yvo Lucas charges down Erazo’s clearance and gets to the byline, on the right-hand side. Tom Ince receives the cross inside the area, but unable to shift the ball to his left foot, he lays it back to Jorginho just outside the box. Alex McCarthy saves the side-footed shot.
- 9mins: Yellow card for Tom Lees for a foul on Yvo Lucas. From the free-kick, Sercan Calik chips the ball for Ince to collect in the inside-left channel but McCarthy parries at the near post.
- 11mins: Buti Ndou slides Calik in down the right of the penalty area. He fires in a low cross that Lucas pushes back to Jorginho, the Brazilian’s lobbed effort looping just over the bar.
- 12mins: Ince, Jorginho and Lucas combine with a set of passing triangles to get through the Reading defence. Jose Pinho goes down off the ball under a heavy challenge from Erazo, sparking penalty claims, but the ball is smuggled behind for a corner.
- 13mins: The corner is cleared as far as Jose Pinho, 30-yards out, and he passes to Tom Ince to the left of the D. Jem Karacan gets his foot in but Ince retrieves the ball on the left wing and whips a cross beyond McCarthy to the far post where Sercan CALIK arrives to side-foot home into an empty net. 1-0.
- 16mins: Tom Ince plays a one-two with Jose Pinho to get down the left wing, his cross almost catching out Alex McCarthy who pushes it onto the top of the crossbar and behind for a corner.
- 18mins: A poor clearance from Dani is intercepted midway inside the Reading half by Mario Pugliese, who passes to Jose Pinho, 20-yards out. He turns and tries to bend a shot into the top-right corner but can’t bend it enough so it goes wide of the right-hand post.
- 19mins: From a throw-in on the left, Pugliese receives possession at the left corner of the Reading penalty area and crosses right-footed to the far post. Calik gets above two defenders to head at goal by McCarthy makes the save.
- 20mins: Jorginho’s pass finds Tom Ince on the left wing and, with Dani and Palmroos both tracking him, he crosses between them for Jose Pinho to connect with a header that loops over McCarthy but off the top of the bar.
- 25mins: Pugliese sends over a cross from the right corner of the area, for which Calik is again the target. His header goes wide of the far post.
- 27mins: Sercan Calik has been injured by a very heavy challenge by Rousias that didn’t even earn a free-kick. John Stones comes on to play at right-back and Buti Ndou shifts forward to replace Calik on the right of midfield.
- 29mins: Dragan Hrustic’s throw from the left, inside his own half, releases Jose Pinho behind the Reading defence, but McCarthy saves his low drive.
- 30mins: Jose Pinho’s pass into the area comes back to him just behind the D, via a tackle, but he can’t wrap his right-foot around it enough and the shot goes wide of the right-hand post.
- 41mins: Erazo is caught possession on the edge of his own penalty area, but Lucas rushes the shot and it goes wide.

HALF-TIME: SOUTHAMPTON 1-0 READING

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An understrength Saints team leads at the break against Reading and should be at least another goal to the good. We are moving the ball around in the final third quite well and getting joy on either wing. Reading like to play out from the back but their defenders are not that comfortable on the ball and can be closed down quite easily, which has presented us with a few chances. Tom Ince is playing well for us but losing Sercan Calik was a blow because he was the only other impressive performer for us, so far. They haven’t had any shots yet, but Jay Emmanuel-Thomas is coming on for them at the start of the second-half. I tell the team not to get complacent.

2nd Half Highlights
- 46mins: Buti Ndou steps inside Rausch on the right wing and lifts the ball forward on the diagonal. Pinho gets above Tom Lees to head it down to Yvo Lucas, who steps around Dani, drawing the foul inside the D. Yellow card for Dani - he’s lucky it’s not red. Jose Pinho strikes the free-kick towards the top-right corner but McCarthy makes a flying catch.
- 48mins: Rutten passes out to Hrustic on the left and he finds Ince 15-yards further upfield. Dani and Palmroos offer little resistance as Ince goes past them both and crosses to the edge of the 6-yard box where Jose Pinho gets under the ball, only to head over when he really should have scored.
- 51mins: Jem Karacan’s tackle halts the progress of Lucas and Pinho through the middle, but the Portuguese forward lays it off for Tom Ince to try an angled drive that flies narrowly over the bar.
- 56mins: Pinho drops deep to chip a pass out to Ndou on the right-hand side. The South African gets into the area and evades two defenders before pulling the ball back to the D, where Jorginho strikes it on-the-run, but McCarthy makes the catch.
- 63mins: Yellow card for Frickson Erazo.
- 63mins: Andrew Powell comes on to replace the ineffective Yvo Lucas. He’ll play as a Complete Forward_Support with Jose Pinho swapping to an Attacking Midfielder_Attack.
- 64mins: Tom Ince sends a free-kick from the right into the area and Phillip Kaminski controls it 16-yards out before shooting for the bottom-right corner. McCarthy parries the shot and Erazo clears into touch.
- 72mins: Buti Ndou gets away from Barfoot and Rausche to cross from the right-wing byline but Andrew Powell’s header from 5-yards goes narrowly over.
- 74mins: Yellow card for Jem Karacan.
- 76mins: Rausche sends the ball into the Saints area from the left, and Rousias controls it and shoots inside the far post - but he is ruled offside. No goal.
- 78mins: Ryan McLoughlin trips Tom Ince on the left wing. Pugliese pulls the free-kick back to Pinho, 25-yards out, and he slides it forward to Buti Ndou just inside the area. His right-foot shot is well-struck but too high. Then, James Ward-Prowse comes on to replace Jose Pinho.
- 83mins: Jorginho passes forward from the centre-circle, finding James Ward-Prowse midway inside Reading’s half. With a right-foot pass, he plays the ball straight down the middle and Andrew POWELL gets away from Erazo to latch onto it and fire into the bottom-left corner from close to the penalty spot. McCarthy didn’t even dive. 2-0.
- 84mins: Ward-Prowse is the provider again, playing Ndou in down the inside-right, but the South African’s shot hits the side-netting.
- 90mins+1: Another through ball from Ward-Prowse puts Powell away in the inside-right channel but a heavy first touch forces him wide and his shot is comfortably saved.

FULL-TIME

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MAN OF THE MATCH:
TOM INCE (SOUTHAMPTON) - 7.9
Winger (Left)_Attack: 0 goals; 1 assist.

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VERDICT:
A more dominant performance than I was expecting from a makeshift line-up, but the players rose to the occasion and controlled the midfield throughout. Tom Ince captained the side and led by example, constantly stretching Reading’s right side where they couldn’t contain him even when they doubled-up. Jorginho had a good game in the centre of midfield, but Jose Pinho struggled to make an impact, before James Ward-Prowse came on for a late cameo to remind us of his range of passing. With the exception of the goal that was ruled offside, Reading didn’t have a single shot in the whole 90 minutes. With the team already brimming with confidence, I decide not to deliver a full-time team-talk.
 
Last edited:
Tuesday 21st February, 2023

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Sercan Calik’s injury is a broken ankle - so he is now out for the rest of the season. A cruel blow for both the player and the team. He has provided 13 assists this season, and scored 4 himself in 21 first-team appearances for an average match rating of 7.74. Kostas Kabastanakis usually rotates with him, but Buti Ndou and Jose Pinho can both also play on the right-hand side for us, if required.
 
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