Diary of a Season: St. Mary's Redemption

Wednesday 28th September, 2022

Preparation vs COVENTRY CITY (a)

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Coventry: 7/2; SAINTS: 4/6 (fav); Draw: 9/4

Next-up are 12th placed Coventry City, who have 7 points from the first 6 matches. They were our feeder club for the second-half of last season but their promotion as Championship runners-up put paid to that arrangement, due to Premier League rules. They are managed by Nigel Clough.

I’m pleased that Javi Rico is recommending that we work on Defending Set-Pieces because we haven’t trained that particular discipline recently. He expects City to play 4-4-2 and identifies the 15 minutes prior to half-time as their weak spot - which suits us since we’ve been scoring so many first-half goals. The squad comparison doesn’t auger well for them, either, so I think our 3-5-2 could be going on a road trip.
 
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Wednesday 28th September, 2022

John Griffiths and George Carter are both on-target again, in the U18s 3-0 home win against West Ham United. The other was an own-goal. Kieran Burke also played well (8.0) at right-back.

Back to the Champions League, Manchester United remain top of Group C despite only managing a point away to Shakhtar Donetsk, 1-1. Milan beat Osasuna 4-0 in the same group. Paulo Dybala, another former Saint, put Suttgart 2-0 up at Rapid Wien, but the Bundesliga Champions of 2019/20 and 2020/21 had to be content with a point in the end due to two Austrian goals in the last 5 minutes, in Group D. In the same group, Chelsea had two players sent-off during a disastrous 1-3 home defeat to Galatasaray of Turkey.
 
Thursday 29th September, 2022

25 Southampton players are called-up for the next round of international matches:

Cruse (GK), Shaw (D_L), Westley (DM, M_C), Ince (M/AM_L) and Ward-Prowse (M/AM_C) make the squad for England’s 7th October friendly with Japan, at Wembley. Ardean-Webb, Idris and Storrie are in the U21s. Burke, Rutter and Griffiths are called-up to the U19s.

Carl Storrie is waiting for me when I get back to my office after lunch. He seems cautious but his mood is fairly good:

CS: “This can stay between us for now but I feel I need to go out on loan to get some game time.”

rb (assertively): “A loan would be good for both of us. I’ll try to sort out a move for you.”

Storrie’s mood is improved. He says thank you and leaves.

The U21s draw 1-1 with Amkar Perm’s U19s. George Carter with another goal to add to his collection.
 
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Saturday 1st October, 2022

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We borrow a spare office for some early-morning business before this afternoon's match at Coventry. Rene Meulensteen updates me on how the players have progressed in training over the past month:

RM: “Ibrahim, Pinho and the young lad Smulders have been the stand-outs. But Migliorini and Radimov are both struggling and could do with a change of routine. I suggest we get Elias to work on his tackling and Sergey to improve his positioning.”

I ponder his recommendations for a second or two, and then in my best Patrick Stewart voice, I reply:

rb: “Make it so, No.1.”

He’s shaking his head at me as he leaves the room, so I'm not sure whether he heard me add: "You know, technically, you're a No.2!"
 
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Saturday 1st October, 2022

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It’s a Saints 1 and 2 for Premier League Player of the Month. Kostas Kabastanakis pips Christoffer Jorgensen to this month’s trinket, ahead of Liam Brennan of West Brom in 3rd. And yours truly is voted Manager of the Month, with Brendan Rodgers (Arsenal) and Jose Mourinho (Chelsea) completing the top three.

Young Billy Roberts, on-loan at Derby County, is runner-up in the Championship Young Player of the Month award. He has 2 goals in 5 league starts for them, so far.

The Board of Directors confirm that they are pleased with the job I’m doing, despite some grumbling about me allowing Nathaniel Clyne to leave the club, way back in the summer.
 
Saturday 1st October, 2022

Premier League - Matchday 7
COVENTRY CITY vs SOUTHAMPTON
Ricoh Arena, Coventry; Att: 30,671

SAINTS Team News - 3-5-2: Ibrahim’s turn in goal; Radimov replaces the injured Rutten in the defensive three, alongside Reyes and Jedvaj; Migliorini and Kabastanakis are on the wings; Ward-Prowse and Pugliese are rested so Ardean-Webb comes back in together with Jorginho and Westley; both Lucas and Jorgensen scored hat-tricks in their previous matches; Pugliese is on the bench, with Stangoni and Pinho also hoping to get involved.

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Coventry - 4-4-2: Goalkeeper Fraser Forster was with The Saints from 2014 to 2017; Nathaniel Chalobah lines-up in central midfield; Irish striker Dylan Malone’s last Premier League goal was for Watford in 2020/21.

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1st Half Highlights
- 1sec: The Sky Blues kick off, attacking from left-to-right.
- 3mins: Sergey Radimov controls Kabastanakis’s right-wing cross but shoots wildly across goal.
- 5mins: Chalobah receives treatment due to a foul by Jorginho.
- 6mins: Gauthier gets up well to meet Christie’s high corner, but it flashes across the goalmouth.
- 11mins: Jorgensen takes a heavy touch and loses the chance to shoot from right of the goal, so he stands a cross up to Jorginho in the middle, but the Brazilian heads wide.
- 13mins: Kabastanakis sends over a free-kick from the left-hand side. Jorgensen controls it but Fraser Forster is equal to the shot, pushing the ball away to the right with a full-length diving save. From the throw-in, Kabastanakis gets free but his shot from a tight angle goes over.
- 16mins: Excellent approach play from Jorgensen down the right-hand side. With two defenders for company he pulls it back to Kabastanakis, who pulls it back further to Jorginho - but Forster makes another impressive save.
- 21mins: Christoffer Jorgensen holds the ball up, back-to-goal, 40-yards out. He plays it back to Westley in midfield and the England international finds Kabastanakis near the right corner of the penalty area, with Christie marking him. He waits for Jorgensen to make his run into the area and slips the ball infield to him. JORGENSEN steps around Maguire, works the ball onto his left-foot, and fires an angled low shot past Forster. His 11th goal of the season. 1-0.
- 23mins: And Jorgensen makes it two with a near identical move! This time, it’s Jorginho returning the False9’s lay-off directly back to JORGENSEN, who again steps around his man in the inside right channel, to shoot left-footed - this time sending the ball in off the far post. 2-0.
- 29mins: Westley does well to win a corner on the right-hand side. Kabastanakis crosses to the near-post, aiming for Jorgensen, but the ball bounces against the standing foot of Scott Wootton, hits the underside of the crossbar and bounces inches over the line. Own-goal. 3-0.
- 31mins: Yvo Lucas is denied a goal by the linesman’s flag, after Jorginho’s driving diagonal run from the halfway line and short pass behind the Coventry centre-backs plays him in for a confident left-foot finish.
- 36mins: Chalobah intervenes in the centre-circle to disrupt an imminent Southampton counter and Maguire pings an excellent 30-yard pass to Dylan Malone, who controls and turns to find himself in on-goal through the middle. He strikes the shot from inside the D firmly enough, but Ibrahim dives full length to make a one handed save to his left.
- 38mins: Jorgensen reminds the St. Mary’s faithful of his prowess from long-range, receiving Jorginho’s pass from centre to turn onto his left foot and bring an excellent reflex save out of Fraser Forster, from 25-yards.
- 39mins: Jorgensen again demonstrates his ability to turn defenders, controlling a short diagonal past from Kabastanakis before surging into the penalty area, just inside the right-hand edge. He beats two defenders by crossing to Yvo Lucas, whose weak left-foot volley is parried by Forster, but LUCAS smashes home the rebound at the left-hand post. 4-0.
- 41mins: A 25-yard free-kick from Kostas Kabastanakis sails narrowly over. Then Malone’s flick-on allows Gauthier to surge between the Saints defensive three, but he runs too close to Ibrahim before taking the shot, allowing the Egyptain keeper to smother the ball into his mid-riff.
- 45mins: Lucas takes Migliorini’s angled pass into his stride, glides away to the left of two Coventry defenders, into the penalty area where he shifts to his right-foot and loops a shot over-the-bar.
- 45mins+1: The half-time whistle is music to Coventry ears!

HALF-TIME: COVENTRY CITY 0-4 SOUTHAMPTON

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It’s becoming a routine, but we have again blown a lower-ranked team away in the first-half and will now just have to see out the second. They can’t get to grips with our surging runs, either in midfield or into the penalty area - we’re often going past them like they weren’t there. Only Migliorini is not rating 7.1 or higher at the break. Coventry have had a few chances but they have rushed a couple when more composure was needed. I’ll be looking to get Stangoni involved again during the next 45 minutes.

2nd Half Highlights
- 48mins: Kabastanakis plays a square pass to Jorginho from the right flank. His first-time ball is met by Jorgensen, who turns past Maguire and hits the side-netting with a strong effort.
- 49mins: Christie crosses a free-kick from the right touchline into the near-post area, where Dylan MALONE holds off Migliorini to slot home from the edge of the 6-yard box. 4-1.
- 51mins: Jorgensen holds the ball up just outside the D. He tries to play Lucas in but Wootton’s sliding tackle diverts the ball back to Jorgensen who side foots narrowly wide.
- 52mins: Jedvaj has to intervene twice in quick succession to prevent Malone playing substitute Banvo in on-goal.
- 56mins: Luke Shaw comes on for Migliorini on the left-hand side.
- 57mins: A short passing move around the D frees Malone to shoot, but Ibrahim pushes the ball away.
- 59mins: A neat triangle from Christie, Malone and Chalobah allows Paterson to run from deep and strike a fierce low drive at Ibrahim, which the keeper scoops around the post…
- 60mins: …Christie’s in-swinging corner drops in the 6-yard box and is prodded away by Jorginho - but only as far as Maguire. His well-struck shot is blocked on the line by the chest of Kabastanakis, but the ball falls to Scott WOOTTON to make amends for his earlier own-goal. 4-2.
- 61mins: I bring Mario Pugliese on to add a bit more steel to the midfield, in place of Mark Arden-Webb, and switch the tackling instruction to hard in the OI.
- 65mins: Jorgensen latches onto a misplaced pass by Casey but his left-foot shot from 25-yards goes wide of the right-hand post.
- 67mins: Another left-foot attempt from a similar distance also goes wide, with Lucas having strayed offside to rule out a through ball.
- 69mins: Jorgensen heads straight into the arms of Forster from 8-yards after meeting a high cross from Kabastanakis’s free-kick from the right.
- 70mins: Yellow card for Thompson of Coventry. John Stones comes on for Radimov; Jedvaj shifts to the left of the defensive three.
- 80mins: Jedvaj plays a low pass to Pugliese, but the Italian is half asleep and allows Thompson to re-direct the ball to Anderson BANVO, unmarked in the D. He turns and shoots right-footed into the bottom right corner. It’s FC Lorient all-over-again! From 4-0 to 4-3.

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- 81mins: I switch to 4-4-1-1 to try to see out the remainder of the match. Lucas is in an unfamiliar role on the left of midfield, but he is left-footed; Jorgensen doesn’t usually play as Shadow Striker but I’m hoping his impressive performance this far into the match will see him through; Westley is now operating as a DLP_Defend. I reset the OI and continue to instruct hard tackling.
- 83mins: Yellow card for Nathaniel Chalobah for pulling Jorgensen down 30-yards from goal. Kabastanakis fires the free-kick just over.
- 90mins: 2 minutes of added time indicated by the fourth official.
- 90mins+1: Kabastanakis charges forward on the counter after a Coventry free-kick breaks-down, but he doesn’t have the pace (or the energy) to go clean through, so he moves to the right of the penalty area, pulls it back for John Stones to cross and Jorginho heads directly at Forster from close-range. Then Coventry try to go through the middle but Jedvaj clears Malone’s attempted through ball into row Z, with Banvo lurking behind him. Then Paterson crosses and the ball drops inside the Saints 6-yard box, but Banvo can’t sort his feet out quickly enough and the ball is scrambled away.
- 90mins+2: Westley receives the ball from a Saints throw and just launches it out-of-play at the far end, to waste time.
- 90mins+2: This time it’s Southampton who are happy to hear the referee’s whistle!

FULL-TIME

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MAN OF THE MATCH:
CHRISTOFFER JORGENSEN (SOUTHAMPTON) - 9.0
False9_Support: 2 goals; 1 assist.

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VERDICT:
As in the Lorient match, an excellent first-half effort is nearly undone by sloppy play and an inability to respond to a resurgent opposition during the second-45. Something will have to be done about this. Jorgensen was brilliant in the first-half but missed some good chances to wrap up the points after the break. I calmly tell the players that their second-half display was not acceptable and five of them take it badly - which might not be a bad thing, if over-confidence is the cause of that collapse.
 
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Sunday 2nd October, 2022

The international break means I now have two weeks to plan for the Chelsea match on the 15th, and to try to get to the bottom of our Jekyll and Hyde, 1st-half/2nd-half performances.
 
Tuesday 4th October, 2022

Bad news from the Bosnia camp: Dragan Hrustic, who rotates with Luke Shaw (when we play with a left-back), has torn ankle ligaments and will be out for 3 months.
 
Wednesday 5th October, 2022

The young right-back Rodrigao is called-up for Brazil’s friendly in the United States, despite having hardly featured for me so far this season.
 
Friday 7th October, 2022

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Tom Ince opens the scoring for England, in a 3-0 home win against Japan, with his 18th international goal in 77 appearances. John Griffiths also gets one, for the U19s, in a 2-0 win against Luxembourg.

Yvo Lucas and Kostas Kabastanakis score two each in a 6-0 with for The Netherlands against Andorra, in European Championship Qualifying, Group A. Zivkovic of Chelsea made sure all six goals came from Premier League players by notching the other two. In Group C, Jose Pinho made his international debut for Portugal in a 0-1 defeat at home to Belgium.

But there’s bad news regarding Giammarco Stangoni, who will now be out for another week due to bruising ribs in Italy’s match against Malta - effectively ruling him out of the Chelsea game.
 
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Saturday 8th October, 2022

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Buti Ndou has successfully completed a course of individual training to encourage him to knock the ball past an opponent. Given that he’s prone to picking up yellow cards for fouls, I don’t think it’s a good idea for him to argue with officials, as well, so I instruct Andrea Maldera, one of our coaches, to work on his discipline. Andrea is sceptical but he’s going to give it a try.
 
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Sunday 9th October, 2022

Now Kieran Burke is injured with a broken jaw, sustained against Slovenia U19s. Next international break, I'm taking the whole squad to Center Parcs (...despite the umbrage that I take at their spellings of the words "Centre" and "Parks")!

I have offered Carl Storrie for loan to anyone who will take him.
 
Monday 10th October, 2022

Jay Rodriguez scores a penalty, 8 minutes into injury time, as he and John Stones both get full run-outs with the U21s vs Arsenal at Meadow Bank, in Borehamwood. Our boys win 3-1.

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Watford want Carl Storrie on-loan, for 3 months. I have accepted their offer.
 
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Monday 10th October, 2022

Preparation vs CHELSEA (h)

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

Jose Mourinho has his team at the top of the Premier League after 7 matches, with 19 points on the board. They are certainly going to be the best team we have played so far this season. Eden Hazard is 31 years-old now, but shows no signs of losing his powers. Veljko Majstorovic is also excellent for them. He’s formerly of Borussia Dortmund, from whom I tried to sign him several seasons ago but couldn’t convince them to part with their wonder kid left-winger, despite a big money bid.

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They don’t concede many goals, but they might be vulnerable in the first 15 minutes. They are strongest during the last 15 minutes, which is worrying given our occasional habit of conceding late goals.

I think our 3-5-2 is a bit too cavalier to take-on the likes of Chelsea, so I will switch back to 4-4-1-1. They are supposed to be vulnerable to 4-4-2 and we have beaten them a few times playing this way, including a 3-0 win at St. Mary’s last season, thanks to a Christoffer Jorgensen hat-trick. They beat us 0-2 in the return match, when Jorgensen was kept quiet and limited to a rating of 6.3. But he’s in excellent form at the moment and will start up-front against them again.

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Our historical record, during this save, has us on level-pegging: PL 26; W 11; D 4; L 11; F 42; A 39; GD +3; Pts 37. But when you consider that they won 5 out of the first 7 meetings, and we have won 5 of the last 7, you can see that the pendulum has swung in our direction recently, and we are the bookies’ favourites. Even so, I’m wary of this match and I know it’s going to be a difficult one to win. After winning the Premier League for the first time in 2018/19, and the Europa League, it was the then European Champions Chelsea who brought us back down to earth with a 0-6 thumping on the opening day of the 2019/20 season and a 0-4 humiliation in the European Super Cup, in Liege, soon after.
 
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Tuesday 11th October, 2022

In the full internationals, Andrew Powell (Wales) and Yvo Lucas (The Netherlands) added to their international goal tallies - and Jose Pinho opened his Portugal account with the last goal in a resounding 4-0 victory against Gibraltar.

Kingsley Idris scores the second goal in England U21s’ 3-1 victory over Hungary, with a 56th minute longe-range effort, at St. Andrew’s. Mark Ardean-Webb also played the whole match. Carl Storrie, whose 3-month loan to Watford was confirmed this afternoon, was on the bench.
 
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Wednesday 12th October, 2022

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I call Jose Pinho to congratulate him on scoring his first goal for Portugal. He’s in a superb mood, at the end of the conversation, and thanks me for helping him to achieve this particular dream.

The rookies suffer a disappointed 0-3 defeat at home to Eastleigh, in the 2nd Round of the U18s Cup. They should be winning matches like that, but hopefully it will be a harsh lesson in complacency well-learned.
 
Friday 14th October, 2022
- The Echo Online

HOT-SHOT JORGIE EYES SAINTS GOALS RECORD

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SAINTS STRIKER Christoffer Jorgensen has told the club’s fans that he is delighted with the start the team has made to the current season, and has set his sights on Derek Reeves’s 63 year-old club record for goals scored in a single league campaign.

The Danish hit man was chatting with fans via the club’s official Twitter account, during an organised Meet the Players online event hosted by The Echo Online on Thursday evening, and responded to a question from one fan about whether he thought he could maintain his impressive early-season goal ratio throughout the rest of the season and break Reeves’s record.

“Sure, why not?” he said. “I feel great, the team is playing very well and we’ve got players who create lots of chances for a striker to score goals. If I can stay fit, this could be a great season for me and for the team. So, who knows?”

Jorgensen, 27, who joined Southampton from the Danish side Brondby for 11.75-million in August 2016, has started the season in scintillating form, firing home 12 goals in just 7 matches in the Premier League. And with his manager rocheyb preferring - so far, at least - to rest him for cup matches, he is currently on-track to smash the record set by the late Derek Reeves more than three-score-years ago.

Reeves, who scored a total of 145 goals in 273 appearances during his 8 year spell with the club from 1954 to 1962, plundered a staggering 44 goals for The Saints in the old Third Division, in the 1959/60 season - which still remains a divisional record to this day. To date, Jorgensen’s best single-season tally for league matches is the comparatively paltry 16 he scored during last season’s charge to the runners-up spot, behind Manchester United. He also scored an additional 10 goals in cup competitions, but so far this season he has only featured in Premier League matches, with rocheyb preferring to rotate Yvo Lucas, Andrew Powell and academy graduate Kingsley Idris against weaker opposition.

If he were to remain free of injury, and maintain his current rate of 1.72 goals per game, the man affectionately known as Jorgie among his team-mates would end the 38-game season with a whopping total of 65 goals, which would not only set a new Southampton Football Club record, but it would smash the highest Premier League haul of 34, set by Andrew Cole for Newcastle United in 1993/94.

And with recent hat-tricks against Reading and Swansea City, followed by a brace against Coventry City in The Saints’ last three Premier League outings, Jorgensen, who heralds from Tarnby in the southern suburbs of Copenhagen and bagged a hat-trick for his country against Northern Ireland in September and another goal against Armenia last Friday to take his international tally to 30, could be well on his way to writing his name into the history books for a very long time to come.

Such an impressive vein of form has inevitably stirred the interests of other top clubs in the talismanic striker, with Manchester City being the latest believed to be preparing a move for the 29.5-million rated front-man. But Jorgensen is happy to stay where he is, for now:

“You get used to the speculation linking you with other clubs,” he told the fans. “The Man City rumours have been around for a couple of years now, but I’m happy at Southampton and I enjoy playing for the club and I know that I can win things and achieve my ambitions here.”

“I’m surrounded by good players,” he added. “And the new role that the manager has found for me this season, as a False9 in the 3-5-2, is bringing the best out of my game. So, long may it continue - hopefully starting with a goal or two against Chelsea on Saturday.”
 
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Friday 14th October, 2022

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Former Saints skipper Morgan Schneiderlin, now in Serie A with Genoa, has been quoted on Sky Sports News praising Mario Pugliese for settling in quickly in his new role at St. Mary’s and making a positive contribution to the team’s impressive early-season form. I’m pleased with Pugliese myself. He’s a steady-Eddy who adds discipline to our midfield and provides insurance against too many players flooding forward at once.

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Schneiderlin went on to single-out the threat posed by Chelsea’s 26 year-old Brazilian striker, Gabriel Barbosa, ahead of tomorrow's live early kick-off.
 
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Does anyone know how to remove that Attached Image at the end of the previous post? I loaded it into my post and then realised that I hadn't removed the background, so deleted it, edited it and reloaded it. But the post seems to have retained both versions. A similar thing happened a few pages back. EDIT NOTE: Resolved - click the 'Go Advanced' button when editing and it allows you to select those additional thumbnails and delete them.
 
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Saturday 15th October, 2022

Premier League - Matchday 8
SOUTHAMPTON vs CHELSEA
St. Mary’s Stadium, Southampton; Att: 38,673

SAINTS Team News - 4-4-1-1: Ibrahim continues in goal; Shaw, Radimov, Jedvaj and Ndou will operate in a flat back four; James Ward-Prowse passes a late fitness test (con. 92%) to partner Mario Pugliese in midfield; Tom Ince replaces Migliorini on the left-wing; Kabastanakis’s fine recent form and better fitness gives him the nod over Calik, who drops to the bench; Jose Pinho, who scored his first goal for Portugal midweek, will line-up behind Premier League topscorer Christoffer Jorgensen; there’s no goalkeeper among the substitutes, allowing cover for all areas of the outfield.

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Chelsea - 4-2-3-1: Thibaut Courtois is now in his 7th season as Chelsea’s first-choice keeper; Kyle Metcalfe is an England international left-back who came from Chelsea’s academy; the Spaniard Fermin Trabanco is a world-class centre-back but his partner Capradossi is a little weak in the air; Ben Addai, in central midfield, came from West Ham’s academy; their front four are all established internationals; Jason Saville, their recent signing from Reading, is among the substitutes.

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We’re at home, so I have instructed the players to Control possession with Balanced fluidity. I want them to close down all midfielders and forwards always and tackle hard. As usual, we should show their players onto their weaker foot. During the team-talk, I calmly remind everyone of our 0-2 defeat during our last match with Chelsea, which gains five good responses, and manage to encourage most of the others with brief one-to-ones.

1st Half Highlights
- 1sec: The Saints start the match, attacking the Chapel End. Chelsea are in their changed strip of all black.
- 7mins: Chelsea have been on the front foot during the early stages without creating anything. But Zivkovic receives a pass in space from Imbula in midfield, turns and plays the ball into the inside-right channel to free Gabriel Barbosa between Radimov and Luke Shaw, who is flat-footed as BARBOSA runs onto it and strikes a first-time shot with his left foot that sails over Ibrahim, into the far corner. Looking at the replay, Radimov was also slow to close Zivkovic down. A disappointing start to an important match. 0-1.
- 14mins: Eden Hazard escapes the attentions of Pugliese and Ndou to latch onto Metcalfe’s pass, dribbles into the area from the left edge, and side foots a shot straight at Ibrahim who saves on his goal-line.
- 16mins: A poor clearance from Radimov is intercepted and immediately turned forward again by Imbula from the right-hand side. Zivkovic controls and hits on the turn but his shot is wide of the far post.
- 17mins: Southampton’s first attack: Ince’s left-wing charge is halted by Gonzalez, so a pass infield enables Pugliese to switch to the right flank, a challenge on Kabastanakis sending the ball to Ndou, whose cross is deflected over-the-bar for a corner. The Saints fans get behind their team with a roar of encouragement.
- 20mins: Ndou slides in to concede a corner to break-up a promising Chelsea attack on their inside-left. Trabanco heads over-the-bar at the back post, from the corner.
- 30mins: Imbula’s short diagonal pass into centre enables Zivkovic to glide past Jedvaj, but he takes the shot earlier than necessary and Ibrahim makes the save.
- 41mins: Pinho’s pass out wide is intercepted by Metcalfe and Chelsea are on the attack again. Majstorovic infield to Zivkovic on the advanced edge of the centre-circle, and he plays in the on-running Hazard who is in behind Radimov - Chelsea have 3-against-3. Gabriel Barbosa is the one who latches onto the ball, running from the right, but he runs into Jedvaj and the ball bounces back to Hazard, who shoots over from just outside the D. We’re not in this game. Changes coming at half-time.
- 43mins: Addai picks up possession in the centre of the field and pushes the ball forward to Imbula. He finds Zivkovic who has again dropped off the centre-backs, and he lobs the ball onto the chest of Veljko Majstorovic who nips in behind Buti Ndou, 30-yards out, coming in from the left-wing. Once he gets the ball down, MAJSTOROVIC confidently surges into the penalty area and shoots from an angle left of goal. Ibrahim gets hands to it but the ball flies into the roof of the net. The keeper will be disappointed he didn’t make the save, but it’s no less than Chelsea deserve. 0-2.
- 45mins+1: Yellow card for Pugliese. Then Barbosa charges through a weak challenge by Shaw, skips around Radimov and shoots straight at Ibrahim from the right edge of the area.

HALF-TIME: SOUTHAMPTON 0-2 CHELSEA

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We are not at the races - not at all! It’s been a long time since we’ve been so outplayed. Despite slightly more possession, we haven’t managed a single shot while Chelsea have had 10; 5 of them on target.

I suspected it while I was picking the team and looking at my own players’ current ability ratings and Chelsea are proving that they have better players on the field at the moment. We’re second best all over the pitch, so I’m going to use the second-half as an opportunity to see how our 3-5-2 formation works against a team with such good wingers. We’ll probably get torn apart, but I’m hoping I will see enough to gain some positives - perhaps towards future tactical development. For one thing, our play has been very slow in midfield, so the switch to that higher tempo tactic might bring a little joy.

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I’ve noticed before that if you make a half-time substitution before giving a negative or challenging team-talk, you can upset your sub! Rene Meulensteen has critical comments about several players so I aggressively demand that the players show me something else in the second-half. They are all motivated or fired-up. Then, I switch the formation to 3-5-2 and bring both of the full-backs - Ndou and Shaw - off to be replaced by Reyes and Jorginho respectively, sending them out with assertive encouragement. Pinho, as the AF_A, partners Jorgensen as False9. As ever, I reset the Opposition Instructions.

2nd Half Highlights
- 51mins: Chelsea are still dominating possession and could be 3-up but for a poor cross from the right by Barbosa.
- 52mins: Jorgensen forces Courtois into a save at his left post after a build-up down the right-hand side involving Kabastanakis and Pugliese.
- 57mins: Hazard and Zivkovic are both in the penalty area for Majstorovic’s left-wing cross, but Ibrahim pushes the ball into the air to deny the lurking Hazard, and Radimov heads the ball out from under the crossbar with Zivkovic trying to connect with his own head. Jedvaj heads Barbosa’s headed return upfield to Ward-Prowse and Saints mount a counter-attack which is closed-down by Capradossi and Metcalfe with a challenge on Jorgensen on the edge of the D.
- 58mins: Pugliese, Ward-Prowse, Pinho and Jorginho put together our first real passing move in the match, with Jorgensen receiving possession just right of centre, about 25-yards out. But his right-foot shot is rushed and flies wide of the left-hand post.

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- 60mins: I tell the team to attack and adopt a more fluid mentality, and adjust the Team Instructions to try and inject more urgency into our play.
- 61mins: Ince’s deep left-wing cross catches out Capradossi on the edge of the area, but Metcalfe comes across from left-back to push the ball back to Courtois before Jorgensen can capitalise.

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- 62mins: We are asserting some possessional dominance in midfield - confirmed by a quick comparison of the Action Zones graphics for Half-Time and Last 5mins - but Chelsea are blocking our through balls and our attempts to run at them. The Players Stats reveal that they are also in good shape physically, where I was hoping to see a tired player among their defenders that we could perhaps target.
- 64mins: Gonzalez wins a challenge with Ward-Prowse on the Chelsea right, and passes to Barbosa on the halfway-line. He advances midway inside the Saints half and, as three red shirts attempt to close him down, shuffles the ball infield to Hazard, who stops his run and turns to his left. Jedvaj moves towards him, leaving two men over on the Chelsea left. The Belgian playmaker opts to play in the furthest of the two, and MAJSTOROVIC strides forward to strike a well-hit shot against the ribs of the diving Ibrahim, for another finish into the roof of the net. A very well taken goal from an incisive Chelsea attack. 0-3.
- 65mins: Jose Mourinho has shifted his team into a 4-5-1 with two defensive midfielders, with Hazard now sitting a little deeper than normal in the M_C position. I throw Yvo Lucas on for Pinho, in the hope of at least reducing the margin of the visitors’ victory.
- 66mins: A last-ditch tackle from Radimov prevents Barbosa from profiting from a Chelsea counter, with the Southampton defence at sixes-and-sevens. Barbosa then fouls him in an attempt to keep the attack going.
- 68mins: Ibrahim produces a magnificent save from Imbula’s close-range header, pushing the ball over-the-bar, after the midfielder met Hazard’s cross from a free-kick close to the left-wing corner flag.
- 69mins: Yellow card for Giannelli Imbula of Chelsea for a trip on Ward-Prowse.
- 73mins: Yellow card for Tin Jedvaj.
- 75mins: Hazard passes to Barbosa from the centre-circle, and with Southampton still operating a high line, he splits the defence with a low through ball to release Zivkovic. The Dutch striker’s pace takes him away from Reyes, but as he closes in on Ibrahim’s goal, he attempts to go round him to the right, allowing Radimov to slide in and flick the ball away from danger.
- 88mins: Ward-Prowse’s pass plays Ince in on the left, inside the area, but the close attentions of Gonzalez unsettle him and he shoots wide of the near post.
- 90mins+1: Mark Clattenburg calls time on a frustrating afternoon for The Saints.

FULL-TIME

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MAN OF THE MATCH:
VELJKO MAJSTOROVIC (CHELSEA) - 9.1
Attacking Midfielder-Left; 2 goals; 0 assists.

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VERDICT:
Chelsea were simply too good for us, in all departments. We were slightly better with the 3-5-2, playing at the higher tempo, but we were still vulnerable to their counter-attack and Mourinho’s own tactical switch nullified what little threat we could muster. Their three attacking midfielders - Barbosa, Hazard and Majstorovic - were outstanding. Proof, perhaps, that the current Southampton squad is one for the future rather than the present. Hopefully I can do well enough to still be here by then! I tell the team, assertively, that I am far from pleased with their performance, and leave it at that. Most of them respond positively.
 
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