Diary of a Season: St. Mary's Redemption

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Tuesday 25th October, 2022

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Manchester United triumph at Chelsea, 2-1, to reach the 5th Round of the Capital One Cup. League One York City go out, 0-2 at Liverpool.
 
Wednesday 26th October, 2022

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The club’s statisticians have confirmed that at just 16 years and 97 days, John Griffiths yesterday became the youngest goalscorer in the history of Southampton Football Club - beating Theo Walcott’s record of 16 years and 216 days.

The U21s continue their match-every-10mins schedule with a 2-2 draw at home to Manchester United. Marc Smulders does well on the left of midfield, with a match rating of 7.4.
 
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Wednesday 26th October, 2022

Preparation vs MANCHESTER CITY (h)

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SAINTS: Evens (fav); Man City: 11/5; Draw: 11/5

Manchester City are our next opponents, at home on Saturday. They are one of the few teams that are still beating us in the historical head-to-head of results during the course of this epic save; 11 victories to our 9, with 5 draws.

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After a 0-1 opening day defeat at Liverpool in my first competitive match in management, goals from Rickie Lambert and Adam Lallana provided my first win, against City at St. Mary’s on 24th August, 2013 - so that’s pretty much where it all began. City have had the better of us since, despite not having won the title again since that last-gasp Sergio Aguero goal against QPR in 2012 signalled a three-year period of re-asserted dominance by their quieter neighbours, Manchester United, and a similar three-season reign followed for Chelsea, before we won our first ever title in 2019.

We have won 5 of the last 9 meetings, but lost the other 4. And while we put 6 past them without reply in the corresponding fixture last season, they knocked us out of the Champions League at the Quarter-Final, 3-4 on aggregate, and derailed our Premier League title bid with a 0-3 defeat at the Etihad. Our form this season has been excellent against the weaker teams - but Arsenal and Chelsea both exposed weaknesses in our defence. So it’s reasonable to expect a difficult encounter against 3rd-placed City, now.

Javi Rico’s scouting report is unusually lacking in advice for training preparation, so I have opted for Defensive Positioning, just because I can’t remember the last time we concentrated on that specific area. They play 4-4-2 and are vulnerable to the same formation. The squad comparison is slightly in our favour, in part due to a City midfield comprising of Aaron Ramsey (31), Lorenzo Insigne (31) and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (29) being allowed to age together. But they do have some excellent younger players in their squad, too - I will elaborate on any who make it into their starting line-up when I provide the team news for the match itself. They have scored 14 goals in the first 15 minutes of matches, so far, but have conceded more than they’ve notched during the last 15 minutes.
 
Friday 28th October, 2022

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The draw for the 5th Round of the Capital One Cup - the Quarter-Final stage - provides us with the tricky away trip to Old Trafford to take on the current Premier League Champions and Europa League holders, Manchester United. I’m aiming to beat Liverpool’s record of four consecutive League Cups from the early-to-mid 80s, so this draw poses a significant threat to that ambition.
 
Saturday 29th October, 2022

Premier League - Matchday 10
SOUTHAMPTON vs MANCHESTER CITY
St. Mary’s Stadium, Southampton; Att: 38,783

SAINTS Team News - 3-5-2: Ibrahim resumes responsibility between the sticks, as he has for all but one of our league matches, so far; Tin Jedvaj’s recent poor form sees him drop to the bench so Radimov, Reyes and Kaminski line-up in the defensive three; James Ward-Prowse returns to his usual Deep-Lying Playmaker role, allowing Giammarco Stangoni to start as the Advanced Playmaker despite only being 80% fit; Pugliese starts; Calik and Ince are on the wings; Jorgensen and Idris are both in fine form and they begin up-front; Westley, Jorginho and Kabastanakis are among the subs.

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Man City - 4-4-2: A localised injury crisis has sidelined both first and second choice goalkeepers: Joe Hart (aged 35, lower back stress fracture) and Iain O’Donnell (sprained ankle) are both out, so 21 year-old academy product Daniel Minor starts, having made his Premier League debut against Norwich on 1st October; the back four is very solid, with Cesar Azpilicueta on the right, Samuel Umtiti on the left and the Romanian Iulian Mogos partnering the 6ft4in Serbian Milos Veljkovic in the centre; Aaron Ramsey is on the right of midfield with the Swede Melker Hallberg in the middle; Lorenzo Insigne has caused us problems from the left before; French attacking midfielder Gautier Lacourt is unknown to me but looks like a quality player; two more Serbians partner each other up-front - Zeljko Urosev, the captain, is partnered by the former Anderlecht and Schalke centre-forward, Aleksander Mitrovic; Ben Davies, the former Swansea left-back, and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain are on the bench, together with England international centre-forward, Martin Giddings.

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I instruct hard tackling and the team-talk goes well. So, we’re ready to kick-off another Saturday lunch-time match on Sky TV…

1st Half Highlights
- 1 sec: Southampton begin the match, attacking the Northam Stand, from right-to-left. Straight away, the ball is worked out to the left-hand side where Tom Ince finds Kingsley Idris with a diagonal infield pass. He lays the ball off to Stangoni, about 40-yards out, and spins past Veljkovic to meet the return pass, before striking from the edge of the area to force Daniel Minor to concede the first corner of the match after just 17 seconds.
- 1min: The corner is headed clear but The Saints are quick to regain possession in midfield, with Stangoni orchestrating high tempo triangles on the left flank, leading to a deep cross from Ince that Jorgensen can’t quite reach at the far post. A bright start from the home side.
- 5mins: Ward-Prowse chips in a free-kick from left-of-centre, intended for Kaminski on the far post, but Samuel Umtiti intervenes, and in trying to head over his own crossbar, forces Minor into action again to prevent an own-goal. The young keeper leaps high to push the ball into the air at his top-right corner, and then reacts quickly to gather the loose ball on the ground with Idris sniffing for scraps.
- 11mins: Azpilicueta’s long throw is controlled by Mitrovic, inside the Saints penalty area, and returned to the Spanish full-back outside the box, where he squares to Lorenzo Insigne, to the right of the D. He takes a touch and then shoots narrowly over-the-bar.
- 16mins: From a throw-in on the left-wing, midway inside the City half, Saints quickly work possession over to the other flank. Calik beats Umtiti to send over a near-post cross, but Jorgensen’s header is well-saved by Minor at the foot of the post. Jorgensen handballs from Calik’s subsequent corner.
- 19mins: Sercan Caliks tracks back to slide-in on Insigne, at the expense of a corner. Insigne’s initial cross is headed clear by Kaminski, but Hallberg re-directs the ball back to the Frenchman on the left and his first time cross is headed goalward by Urosev, but Ibrahim reacts quickly to make the catch.
- 27mins: Diego Reyes gets up well to head Calik’s right-wing corner past Minor, but Insigne blocks it on the right-hand post, causing an almighty goalmouth scramble from which Umtiti eventually hacks the ball out for another corner. The first cross is headed clear, but Calik receives the ball again and his low cross is knocked into the side-netting by Umtiti as Idris closes in, for a third successive corner. This time, Calik pulls the ball back to the edge of the area, but Radimov’s shot is blocked.
- 28mins: Stangoni runs at Azpilicueta, forcing the former Chelsea man to make a slide tackle that diverts the ball to Tom Ince. His first-time cross towards Idris is poked behind by Veljkovic. Another pulled back corner to Ward-Prowse enables Calik to regain possession. He beats Azpilicueta and floats in a cross which Minor does well to take with Jorgensen and Idris both close-by.
- 33mins: Stangoni advances and lays the ball off to Tom Ince on the left-wing. With two to aim for in the middle, he picks out Idris with a deliciously inviting cross, but the striker’s connection is too slight and flashes across goal for a goal-kick.
- 34mins: Lacourt’s under hit pass at halfway is intercepted by Kaminski, and Ward-Prowse releases Stangoni to run at the City defence from deep. He crosses the edge of the centre-circle before passing low to Kingsley Idris. The academy graduate beats the offside trap and evades the reach of Azpilicueta to shoot from a tight angle from the left of the 6-yard box, but Daniel Minor pushes the ball over-the-bar. Good save from the rookie goalkeeper.
- 40mins: Jorgensen goes close with a near-post header from Calik’s right-wing corner, but again the touch is too feint and the ball goes across goal and out-of-play.
- 41mins: Hallberg is caught in possession by Stangoni. Ward-Prowse quickly finds Jorgensen, who has dropped deep, and his first-time pass puts Idris through the middle. Azpilicueta gets across to make a desperate sliding tackle, and as Stangoni surges into the area to connect with the loose ball, Umtiti clears it into touch on the near side.
- 42mins: Lacourt has to head behind his own goal from Calik’s cross that was about to reach Idris, 6-yards out.
- 45mins: Giammarco Stangoni latches onto Tom Ince’s pass to run past Veljkovic and the retreating Lacourt, but his left-foot shot goes wide of the far post.
- 45mins+1: Idris holds the ball up well, with two City players at his back. He passes back to Stangoni by the centre-circle, and the Italian finds Ince on the left-wing. Ince moves in-field and takes out Azpilicueta and Ramsey with a right-footed pass to Idris in the inside-left channel. From 30-yards out, Kingsley Idris takes on Veljkovic but his left-foot shot from inside the area is wide of the near post.

HALF-TIME: SOUTHAMPTON 0-0 MANCHESTER CITY

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We have dominated the first-half and should have something to show for it. Stangoni’s ability to run at the opposition at pace is creating openings for us, both in the inside-left channel and when we cross from the wings in advanced areas. Idris and Jorgensen have both had good chances to open the scoring and while City have also created a couple themselves, we ought to be ahead. Our passes have been more accurate than City’s and we have made several interceptions in midfield; we’re winning the ball back quickly and Ward-Prowse is feeding the more attacking players with quick and accurate passes. Despite the amount of possession we’ve had and the chances we have created, the half-time player ratings are quite low. So I assertively tell the lads that we can still this match and give a few of them some encouraging words to take with them, back out onto the pitch - including telling Kingsley Idris that he has been unlucky, so far.

2nd Half Highlights
- 53mins: Stangoni races over to the touchline to prevent a City attack, but he is kicked by Lacourt. He requires treatment. I consult Mullers but he says he will probably be able to run-it-off.
- 54mins: Mitrovic receives the ball on the centre-spot and plays a one-two with the on-running Lacourt before playing Insigne in on the left, where he beats Kaminski and is brought-down by the sliding tackle of Diego Reyes, a yard inside the penalty area. Mr Moss has no hesitation in pointing to the penalty spot…
- 55mins: …Gautier LACOURT steps-up to strike a left-footed shot into the left corner, sending Ibrahim the wrong way. 0-1.

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- 55mins: City immediately send on Slavko KOVAC, a 23 year-old Croation defensive midfielder of whom I have been a long-time admirer, and change their shape to 4-5-1 V-shaped midfield. I reset Opposition Instructions.
- 60mins: Kovac clearly trips Stangoni, as he attempts to line up a left-foot shot from outside the area, but the referee allows play to continue, with City launching a counter. Ward-Prowse steals the ball back from Hallberg and presents Idris with a golden opportunity to equalise after squeezing between the two centre-backs, but his shot is tame and easily caught by Minor.
- 61mins: Stangoni has been our best player, but he’s now at 65% condition after taking another knock, so I replace him with Jorginho. Yvo Lucas also comes on to put an end to Idris’s frustrating afternoon in-front of goal. Ward-Prowse takes the captain’s armband back from Stangoni.
- 66mins: Ince’s left-wing cross floats close to goal and has to be push over by Minor.
- 67mins: Minor gets up well to make an excellent save, denying Ward-Prowse the equaliser with a 25-yard free-kick from left of the D, that was over the wall and under the bar, heading into the top-left corner.
- 68mins: Jorginho shoots wide on the left, from outside the area.
- 69mins: Jorginho creates an opening for Yvo Lucas, unmarked to the left of the penalty spot, but the Dutch striker is unwilling to take it on his left-foot, allowing Mogos to slide in. Ince’s follow-up is narrowly over-the-bar.

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- 70mins: Remembering that City tend to concede goals late-on, I send on Kostas Kabastanakis with instructions for the whole team to attack with more fluidity, and alter some of the specific Team Instructions to achieve a fast paced, less retentive, more expressive style of attacking football. Sercan Calik comes off.
- 71mins: Ince and Jorginho work the ball into the box from the left and after a scramble also involving Lucas and Ward-Prowse, Minor repels Ince’s snapshot at the near-post, and blocks Ward-Prowse’s follow-up from the byline with his chest. The ball squirms across goal and Kovac clears before Kabastanakis can help himself to an open goal.
- 72mins: Yellow card for Mario Pugliese - the first of the match.
- 77mins: City substitute Gulasci flicks on Kovac’s forward pass to Urosev, who controls it in a central position, 40-yards from goal, before directing the ball into the run of Oxlade-Chamberlain in the inside-left. He races away from Kabastanakis to catch up with the ball to the left of the 6-yard box, steadying himself before shooting right-footed. Ibrahim guards his near post manfully and pushes the ball into the side-netting for a City corner…
- 77mins: …and Oxlade-Chamberlain’s low corner evades Pugliese at the near post to allow Iulia MOGOS to stab the ball home with his left knee, from close-range. 0-2.
- 79mins: From the restart, Saints work the ball out to Ince on the left, but he dwells on the ball and is dispossessed by the retreating Hallberg, who tries to send the ball back to Minor, but instead plays it straight to the on-rushing Christoffer JORGENSEN whose first-time strike hits the keeper on its way into the top-left corner. 1-2.

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- 80mins: City have reverted back to their original 4-4-2 formation. I instruct the players to play at a Much Higher Tempo and tell my goalkeeper Ibrahim to go forward for corner kicks, to try and salvage something from this game…
- 80mins: …City almost hit us back immediately, with Lacourt passing across halfway to Gulasci. His square pass finds Urosev and the Serbian forward spots the run-from-deep through the centre of ex-Saint Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain - who goes clean through, behind the Southampton back-three. He takes aim and drives a firmly struck effort against the left-hand post, before striking the rebound against the legs of Phillip Kaminski for a corner.
- 81mins: Southampton hearts are in mouths as Gulasci’s floated corner is pushed high by Ibrahim, but drops at the back post, where Veljkovic climbs above Reyes to head back across, enabling Mogos to head at goal from 6-yards - but Ibrahim thrusts up his left-hand to push the ball onto the top of net. Gulasci floats over another corner, this time from the right, and Ibrahim climbs above a ruck of players to punch the ball clear, releasing Yvo Lucas on the counter-attack; his cross from the right-wing, about 12-yards from the byline, has Jorgensen challenging for the near-post header, but Umtiti heads the ball out. Ward-Prowse intercepts Gulasci’s flick-on and passes to Jorginho inside the D. The Brazilian takes a couple of touches to turn and hits a low, left-footed shot wide of the target.
- 85mins: Urosev shows excellent dribbling skills to get through the Southampton defensive line, skipping around Kaminski but eventually being dispossessed by the German defender’s recovery tackle inside the area. Gulasci’s subsequent corner from the right is low to Lacourt, on the corner of the 6-yard box, but Ward-Prowse slides low to block the shot, and Ibrahim holds-on to Hallberg’s follow-up drive from just behind the penalty spot.
- 86mins: Jorginho drives forward from central midfield and exchanges passes with Kabastanakis on the right, before floating the ball to Yvo Lucas in the middle, 30-yards out. He juggles the ball to bring it under control and shoots just wide of the right-hand post.
- 90mins+1: With Southampton committing men forward, we are vulnerable to the counter-attack. Urosev picks out Hallberg on the right-hand side, with a looped 40-yard pass from behind the halfway-line, and he shoots high-and-wide from inside the area, as Radimov closes him down.
- 90mins+2: A promising build-up comes to nothing as a move involving Jorgensen, Lucas and Jorginho ends with the Brazilian shooting wastefully wide when a through ball to Lucas would have put him in on-goal with just the keeper to beat.
- 90mins+3: Kaminski and Reyes snuff out an attempted City attack, just behind the halfway line, and Jorginho receives the ball on the advanced side of the centre-circle. He takes on Gulasci with a diagonal run towards to the left flank, and then plays a short pass to Yvo Lucas, who has his back-to-goal, 30-yards out. He turns in-field onto his right-foot, spots the run of Jorgensen, and slides a diagonal pass into the penalty area between Mogos and Umtiti. Mogos tries to slide-in, but Christoffer JORGENSEN hits an unstoppable first-time left-foot thunderbolt into the top right-hand corner, beyond the flying Minor’s outstretched left hand. A dramatic late equaliser from the Great Dane; his 16th Premier League goal of the season. 2-2…
- 90mins+3: ...Yellow card for Slavko Kovac for dissent - he thought Jorgensen’s equaliser was offside.

FULL-TIME

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MAN OF THE MATCH:
CHRISTOFFER JORGENSEN (SOUTHAMPTON) - 8.8
False9_Support; 2 goals; 0 assists.

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VERDICT:
The team showed tremendous character and fighting spirit to come back from 0-2 down to ****** a point, from a match that we should have been leading at half-time. The loss of Stangoni was a blow but Jorginho came up trumps in the end, initiating the move for Jorgensen’s equaliser, despite being wasteful with possession a couple of times before that. Idris was poor this time out, but he’s young so I have to be patient with him. All-in-all, despite the desperate nature of our late goals, the draw flatters City. The stats reveal that we battered them in terms of shots on goal and on target, with only an impressive performance by their third-choice keeper preventing us from taking all three points. I assertively tell the players that I am happy with the positives that I saw from them in today’s match.
 
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Saturday 29th October, 2022

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Two goals from Veljko Majstorovic help Chelsea to win 4-2 at West Brom to remain 4 points clear at the top of the Premier League table from Manchester United, despite the Red Devils’ 5-0 mauling of Leeds United at Old Trafford. We remain 4th, now 8 points behind the leaders.

We are still the top scorers with 34 goals from 10 matches, with Christoffer Jorgensen leading the scoring charts with 16 league goals - double his nearest rival. Southampton players dominate the Average Rating list, with Jorgensen, Kabastanakis, Jorginho and Migliorini currently considered the most consistent performers in the Premier League, so far this season.
 
Sunday 30th October, 2022

Preparation vs ATLETICO MADRID (a)

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Atletico: 7/1; SAINTS: 1/3 (fav); Draw: 3/1

We have put 19 goals past Atletico Madrid in our last three meetings, so we are unsurprisingly the overwhelming favourites to triumph at the Estadio de Madrid - a 70,000 capacity all-seater stadium that Atleti moved into in 2015. Javi Rico recommends working on Attacking Set-Pieces and we know from the previous match against them that we can get at their two centre-backs with our 3-5-2 formation.
 
Monday 31st October, 2022

George Carter is on target again for the U21s in a 1-1 home draw with Wolves. Kevin Egan took part in the match, as he begins his comeback from recent injury.
 
Tuesday 1st November, 2022

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As we prepare for flight to Madrid, Mullers and I grab a table at a fast food joint at Heathrow Airport to hold our monthly review meeting. He’s upbeat about the players’ progress in training, singling out Sergey Radimov, Yvo Lucas and Jose Pinho for praise for their hard work, and assuring me that there have been no slackers this month.

Christoffer Jorgensen claims the Premier League Player of the Month award for October, thanks to 6 goals in 4 games. So I go over to him to give my congratulations and his mood improves, as a result. Will Beautyman, the young goalkeeper that I sold to Swansea City during the summer, wins the Young Player award, with another ex-Saint Bentley Gouano of Tottenham pipping our own Jorginho for second place, for a strange sort of Southampton 1-2-3.

Nicolas Cruz is also mentioned in despatches, coming second in the League One Young Player category after some impressive displays on loan with Charlton Athletic.

I receive a message from Simon Blitz, the club chairman, telling me the Board are still fully behind my management of the club - but some fans are questioning my decision to sign Jose Pinho, calling it “an aberration”. I chuckle to myself and head back to rejoin Mullers, as he tucks into a bacon double-cheeseburger at our small table in one of the airport’s many Burger King outlets.

Once in Madrid, we get some light training in during the early evening and then retire to a local restaurant for dinner, with Barcelona’s Group B match away to Evian on the TV; a comfortable 5-0 victory for the away side confirms their qualification for the 1st knock-out round, with two group matches to spare.

They will be joined by Paris Saint-Germain (4-1 winners at Standard Liege), Galatasaray (2-0 winners at VfB Stuttgart) and both Manchester United and Shakhtar Donetsk, whose 2-0 away win at Osasuna and 3-1 home defeat of Milan respectively, puts them out of reach at the top of Group C. A win for us tomorrow night would also put our name into the hat for Champions League draw in December.
 
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Wednesday 2nd November, 2022

European Champions League, Group F - Matchday 4
ATLETICO MADRID (Spa) vs SOUTHAMPTON (Eng)
Estadio de Madrid, Madrid; Att: 68,566

SAINTS Team News - 3-5-2: Louis Cruse comes back, in goal; John Stones and Tin Jedvaj are recalled into the back-three, while Reyes retains his place; Giammarco Stangoni shakes off the knock he suffered against Manchester City to lead the team from the Advanced Playmaker role again; Mark Ardean-Webb and Shane Westley will be his midfield minders; Kabastanakis and Migliorini start on the wings; Jose Pinho gets a rare start in the False9 position as Jorgensen is rested, while Kingsley Idris will be hoping to produce more of the magic that saw him plunder 4 goals the last time these two sides met.

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[Occasionally, I forget to take the screenshots as I progress the game!]

Atletico Madrid - 4-2-3-1: Kepa Arrizabalaga makes only his second start of the season, in goal; the Brazilian centre-back Doria will be looking to put up a more effective defence against Idris than he did at St. Mary’s; Timo Werner starts on the left; Leo Baptistao is the lone striker, ahead of Adam Maher in the No.10 position.

I instruct normal tackling and an assertive team-talk sends most of the players onto the pitch in good spirits…

1st Half Highlights
- 1sec: Southampton, in their black-and-white away kit, kick-off, attacking from left-to-right.
- 4mins: Kingsley Idris lobs the ball over Arrizabalaga an into the goal, but he was offside from Stangoni’s short through ball. No goal.
- 13mins: Yarmolenko picks the ball up deep inside the Ateltico half and carries it out to the left-wing, taking on Tin Jedvaj to go almost level with the 6-yard box before centring for Leo - but the Brazilian striker’s header is high-and-wide.
- 15mins: A drop-kick from Louis Cruse is collected on the halfway-line by Idris. He advances out to the left-wing, escaping the clutches of Merazga to send an inviting cross to the near post, but Stangoni can only head it into the side-netting from the corner of the 6-yard box.
- 19mins: Mallo takes a long throw from the left, but with bodies in the box, directs it to Timo Werner inside the D. The German finds Leo 8-yards out, on the left, but his shot is deflected wide by Reyes.
- 27mins: Arrizabalaga saves a John Stones header after a Kabastanakis corner was only headed half-clear by Tol.
- 31mins: Stangoni leads the charge into the Atletico half, plays a one-two with Idris and takes the ball out to the left before finding Ardean-Webb with a short pass. He feeds Migliorini at inside-left and his pass is struck, left-footed, by Idris - forcing Arrizabalaga to save at full stretch to prevent a shot flying into the far corner.
- 32mins: Stangoni pulls the strings again, this time spreading the play to the right-wing where Kostas Kabastanakis has space to attack Mallo before crossing to the near post. Stangoni heads it back to the Dutch winger, now inside the area, and he stands-up a cross to the back post. Migliorini has the whole goal to aim at, but directs his header wide of the right-hand post. A good chance goes begging.
- 33mins: Maher, from the centre-circle, passes to Leo and then makes a run for the return, controlling it on his chest to beat Jedvaj on the inside and charge into the penalty area. He gets his shot away as Reyes slides in, but it’s narrowly over the angle of post-and-bar.
- 36mins: Idris has a second goal ruled out for an offside against Kabastanakis.
- 39mins: Jedvaj has to make a strong sliding tackle to prevent Leo getting loose behind Southampton’s high line, after good control and vision from Maher.
- 40mins: Another long throw from Mallo, on the right, reaches Werner outside the area. He finds Leo to the right of the area but the left-foot shot flies wide.
- 41mins: Amidu Salifu wins the ball from Westley and Kabastanakis on the halfway-line, finds Leo and his pass releases Maher, with the Southampton defence all over the place. But Louis Cruse narrows the angle to make an impressive save from the Dutch playmaker’s shot.
- 42mins: Stangoni fouls Maher, 25-yards out, right of the D, and the Dutchman’s free-kick is saved by Cruse. But his kick to Migliorini on the Saints left is short, allowing Yarmolenko to head back into the area for Leo to chase. Diego Reyes sticks out his left leg and trips him. Penalty to Atletico - the second that Reyes has conceded in as many matches. Yellow card for Reyes. Timo WERNER strikes into the right hand side of the goal, sending Cruse the wrong way. 0-1.
- 43mins: Southampton surge forward straight from the restart, Pinho playing Idris in. His close range shot is athletically saved by Arrizabalaga, but Idris is offside.
- 45mins+1: Stangoni rides a challenge in midfield to feed Pinho, right of the D. He hits a strong, low shot on-the-turn, but it’s just wide. Then Arrizabalaga saves an angled shot from Migliorini, about 20-yards out on the left-hand side.

HALF-TIME: ATLETICO MADRID 1-0 SOUTHAMPTON

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A poor first-half display from us. We were wasteful in-front of goal and have been caught too open at the back several times. I have a right-go at the players during the break, which fires most of them up. I’m going to swap things around at half-time and try to get Stangoni further forward in central areas. So we go to 4-4-1-1, with Luke Shaw coming on at left-back, John Stones moving to right-back and Reyes partnering Jedvaj in the centre. Jose Pinho is the Complete Forward_Support with instructions to Work the channels and Shoot more often, ahead of Stangoni as Trequartista_Attack where he can run at the opposition’s back four. I’m now instructing hard tackles for the second-half:

2nd Half Highlights
- 62mins: Yellow card for Tin Jedvaj for a trip on Leo. Then Arrizabalaga reacts quickly to prevent Stangoni reaching Migliorini’s left-wing cross.
- 64mins: Another impressive save by Arrizabalaga, diving low to stop Pinho’s volley from Migliorini’s cross - but the flag is up against Pinho.
- 66mins: Yellow card for Stangoni for simulation, as he goes over Doria’s outstretched leg inside the Atletico penalty area.
- 67mins: Yvo Lucas replaces Pinho up-front for Southampton.
- 70mins: Leo heads away Migliorini’s long-range effort.

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- 71mins: I tell the team to attack with greater fluidity, and instruct both full-backs to get forward on the overlap.
- 75mins: Reyes heads Maher’s corner out but Tol knocks it back into the danger zone. Ardean-Webb challenges Leo but only gifts the ball to DORIA whose weakly struck shot creeps over the line as Cruse tries to scramble it away. 0-2.
- 76mins: Rodrigao replaces John Stones at right-back. I instruct Much higher tempo attacking.
- 80mins: Yellow card for Shane Westley for a foul on Maher.
- 84mins: Rodrigao releases Stangoni down the right-hand side with a throw-in. The Italian playmaker almost gets lucky when his intended cross forces Arrizabalaga to punch away from under his crossbar, but Leo’s attempted clearance strikes Salifu on the back, rendering Yvo LUCAS onside when he smashes the rebound into the top-left corner from close to the penalty spot. 1-2.
- 86mins: Mallo again causes confusion with his long throw. It’s headed away by Migliorini but he re-driects the ball to Werner whose long-range shot is blocked, the ball bouncing in the danger zone with Cruse on the ground, but Saints scramble it away.
- 87mins: Rodrigao plays Stangoni into the inside-right channel, behind the Atleti defence, from a deep free-kick on the right-hand side. The Saints skipper runs onto it and takes it first-time, on his right foot, from a narrow angle. Arrizabalaga appears beaten but the ball smacks the crossbar and bounces clear.
- 89mins: Yellow card for Elias Migliorini - our fifth of the match.
- 90mins+2: Timo Werner gets in down the inside-right, but shoots into the side-netting while under pressure from Reyes.
- 90mins+3: Jedvaj is lucky to stay on the pitch with a shove on Werner in the middle.

FULL-TIME

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MAN OF THE MATCH:
KEPA ARRIZABALAGA (ATLETICO MADRID) - 7.4
Goalkeeper; 3 saves.

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VERDICT:
Our worst performance of the season in a match we should have won. I shout my dissatisfaction at the players and get a positive response from them. But secretly I knew it was a risk to rotate so many squad players into this match and am not altogether surprised that it didn’t work out. There is a muted atmosphere on the flight back to Heathrow, but I tell the players to take Thursday off and report back for training on Friday. Some of them will stay in London overnight, but I’m happy to turn a blind eye as long as they all report to training on Friday, fit and ready to take on Wigan.
 
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Wednesday 2nd November, 2022

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So we have missed our chance to qualify for the next round tonight, but a win at home to Lorient will still send us through. In the meantime, the French side were also in action in tonight’s other Group F match:

AMKAR PERM 0-0 FC LORIENT

Elsewhere, Manchester City’s chances of Champions League progression are seriously under threat after a 2-4 defeat at Nancy leaves them bottom of Group E, with just 1 win from 4 matches. Genoa (1-0 at Basel) and Real Madrid (3-1 at Red Star Belgrade) book their passage from Group G. And it’s between Celtic and Juventus for the remaining spot from Group H after an emphatic 3-0 win at Celtic Park against Dinamo Zagreb put the perennial Scottish Champions on 6 points, level with Juve whose 0-2 home defeat sends Bayern Munich through.
 
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Thursday 3rd November, 2022

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The players get the day-off but Mullers and I are proudly surveying the now completed section of our ground that has had an additional 9,210 seats installed, taking the total capacity of St. Mary’s Stadium to 52,000.

The U21s are making heavy-weather of their European campaign. They draw 0-0 with Atletico’s U19s at Staplewood, but they could still get through if they win their two remaining matches.
 
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Friday 4th November, 2022

Squads are announced for the next round of international matches. Five Southampton players make the full England squad, three get into the U21s and three more the U19s. They are among 27 players called up to their respective international sides.
 
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Saturday 5th November, 2022

Another early kick-off for the benefit of Sky TV viewers. I overlooked the scouting report on Wigan this week, so hopefully it won’t affect us in the match, too much. They are still bottom of the Premier League, with only 3 points - gained as three draws - and they concede a lot of second-half goals. One thing is for sure: We can expect fireworks!
 
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Saturday 5th November, 2022

Premier League - Matchday 11
SOUTHAMPTON vs WIGAN ATHLETIC
St. Mary’ Stadium, Southampton; Att: 43,653

SAINTS Team News - 3-5-2: Ibrahim’s back; Jedvaj, Radimov and Kaminski make-up the back-three; the whole of the midfield five from midweek stands down to be replaced by Ince, Ward-Prowse, Jorginho, Pugliese and Calik; Jorgensen will be looking to add to his 16 Premier League goals so far this season, and Kingsley Idris gets another go alongside him; Jay Rodriguez is recalled to the first-team squad, among today’s substitutes. There is no place for John Griffiths, who scored one his debut against Wigan in the Capital One Cup, 11 days ago.

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Wigan - 4-2-3-1: Scott Carson is replaced in goal by 23 year-old Icelander Hannes Gardarsson; Ex-Saints midfielder Jack Cork captains the visitors today; Jake Bidwell, usually a left-back, is now at centre-back to face Jorgensen; Cordisco starts up-top in a line-up that is unrecognisable from the team we faced the week before last.

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Normal tackling is instructed and I assertively remind the players that we are firm favourites to win this match and challenge them to go out there and claim all 3 points.

1st Half Highlights
- 1sec: It’s raining as Wigan get us started, in their all-dark blue changed strip, attacking from left-to-right.
- 3mins: Pugliese passes, from the centre-circle, to Calik on the right. Jorgensen drops deep to meet the Belgian winger’s diagonal ball and sidesteps Bidwell to try his luck from 25-yards with a low placed shot. Gardarsson gets his right hand to it but can only spoon the ball into the path of Kingsley IDRIS, following-up as all good strikers should, to claim his 8th goal of the season with a low drive into the far corner from left-of-goal, tight to the byline. 1-0.
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- 5mins: Jorginho’s effort from the edge of the area hits Jorgensen, so he tees-up Ince, but the winger’s angled shot goes wide.
- 9mins: Yellow card for Jedvaj for holding Cordisco, in the centre-circle. From the free-kick, the ball is worked out to the Wigan left, then centre where Cordisco’s lay-off midway inside the Saints half is played out to the right-wing by Fyvie. Hajrovic beats Ince to the ball and gets into the area before squaring to Zulj. His half-volley is well-struck but Ibrahim saves with his left-hand, pushing the ball away to the Saints left where the retreating Ince can clear.
- 11mins: Jorgensen shoots wide after a combination of Pugliese and Jorginho plays him into a shooting chance from just outside the area.
- 19mins: A misunderstanding between Cordisco and Fyvie enables Ward-Prowse to steal the ball midway inside the Wigan half, dead centre. The Southampton skipper rolls the ball to Jorginho and he turns it on to Jorgensen at inside-right. Calik checks his run behind Jerome Williams to stay onside, skipping past the full-back when he receives Jorgensen’s pass, before shooting past Bidwell and across Gardarsson - but wide of the left-hand post.
- 20mins: Zulj plays Cordisco in behind Radimov, about 45-yards from goal. But the striker is unable to inject the necessary pace to get away from the Saints defence and shoots from the edge of the area to produce another one-handed save fro Abdel Aziz Ibrahim. Sercan Calik heads the right-wing corner off-the-line after it drops over Ibrahim’s head.
- 21mins: Jedvaj intercepts the ball and passes over halfway to Ward-Prowse. He feeds Tom Ince on the left and the former Liverpool and Blackpool man sets-off down the wing before crossing low into the area. Jorginho gets in front of Fyvie, causing the Wigan No.8 to lunge in and concede a penalty…
- 22mins: …Tom INCE smashes it left-footed, beyond the reach of Gardarsson, who had guessed the right-way. 2-0.
- 26mins: Another foul by Fyvie on Jorginho leaves the Saints midfielder needing treatment.
- 27mins: Jorgensen heads wide of the near post from Calik’s right-wing cross.
- 29mins: Jorgensen runs into Ward-Prowse, allowing Fyvie to play-in Drulak through the centre - but Radimov gets back to divert the ball behind for a corner with a well-timed sliding tackle.
- 32mins: A speculative long-range effort from Tom Ince, 45-yards from goal on the left-wing, has Gardarsson panicked, but the Icelander manages to turn the ball round the post for a corner. It’s initially cleared but then Calik sends a high looping cross to the back post where Jerome Williams has to head the ball out for another corner, close to his own goal-line.
- 33mins: Calik sends the ball over again and Kaminski flicks it on from atop a Wigan defensive ruck. Radimov converts at the bcd stick and wheels away in celebration - but the referee Kevin Friend rules it out for handball by Radimov. No goal - it remains 2-0.
- 35mins: Calik runs onto Pugliese’s headed clearance, controlling the ball on chest and thigh before moving infield near the right side of the penalty area and playing a short pass to Jorginho. He squares it further infield to meet Ward-Prowse’s run-from-deep, and a first-time pass to the left finds Tom Ince in space on the edge of the area. He shoots for the far top-corner and the ball dips to crash against the crossbar and away on the far side.
- 44mins: Jorginho’s run is blocked but the ball falls to Pugliese. He passes to Jorgensen who turns and shoots from right of the D. Gardarsson stretches out his 6ft4in frame to save, diving high to his right.

HALF-TIME: SOUTHAMPTON 2-0 WIGAN ATHLETIC

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A decent first-half. We’ve created a few chances without playing exceptionally well. Wigan have had some openings but have lacked composure in front of goal. I tell the players to step things up a little in the second-half, as I think this game is there for the taking and the scouting report identified Wigan as being vulnerable after the break. Jorginho is looking tired, but I will have him begin the second-half and then swap things around a bit later.

2nd Half Highlights
- 48mins: Sergey Radimov makes a late run to meet Calik’s right-wing corner, but can only head it against the top of the bar and over.
- 52mins: Jorgensen and Jorginho link-up through the middle and a back-heel by the Danish striker plays Calik in from the right-hand angle of the penalty area. He squares for Jorginho who lets fly from the back of the box, only to be denied by an acrobatic flying save by Hannes Gardarsson to the keeper’s top-right. Peel doesn’t deal with the loose ball so Ince passes to Idris who pulls another world-class save from the Wigan keeper with a left-footed smack. The ball goes upward and hits Williams on the shoulder and comes out to Sercan Calik on the right of the area, who is faced with three Wigan defenders as he controls and crosses to the near post where Christoffer JORGENSEN heads his 17th goal of the season on his 150th appearance for the club. Gardarsson makes contact with the ball on its way in, but is powerless to stop it flying into the top-right corner. 3-0.
- 54mins: Jorgensen’s surge into the penalty area is prematurely halted by Jack Cork’s trip, at the top-left corner of the box. James WARD-PROWSE curls a beautiful free-kick over the wall and inside the near post. 4-0.
- 57mins: In the interests of rest and rotation, I remove Jorgensen and Jorginho, who has been carrying a knock since the first-half, and replace them with Shaw and Pinho, switching to 4-4-1-1. Radimov goes to right-back.
- 58mins: Calik’s left-wing corner is sent wide with a looping header by Kaminski.
- 68mins: Calik is injured in a collision with Drulak. He has to be substituted. On comes Jay Rodriguez to take the Shadow Striker role with Pinho moving out to the right.
- 77mins: Pinho crosses from the right. Idris’s poor first touch takes him away from the near post but Bidwell’s lunge pushes the ball to Rodriguez who squeezes a low shot past Peel to draw good reactions from Gardarsson, low at his left-hand post.
- 78mins: Drulak beats Radimov to Butterfield’s pass from halfway, flicking the ball round the corner to enable Zulj to run at Kaminski at inside-left. His skips outside the German defender and then immediately across the front of him before placing a delicious chip over the head of Ibrahim and into the far side of the goal, via the inside of the post, from the edge of the area, left of the D. A beautifully taken goal by the Austrian, Robert ZULJ. 4-1.
- 82mins: Yellow card for Jake Bidwell of Wigan, after Rodriguez freed Idris to advance on goal in the inside-left. Luke Shaw takes the free-kick, thumping the left-hand post from 25-yards out.
- 89mins: A posse of Southampton defenders smother Zulj at the left-hand post as he threatens another Wigan goal, after good work down the left by Cordisco.

FULL-TIME

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MAN OF THE MATCH:
CHRISTOFFER JORGENSEN (SOUTHAMPTON) - 9.2
False9_Support: 1 goal; 2 assists.

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VERDICT:
Javi Rico was right about Wigan being weak defensively in the second-half, despite some heroics from their Icelandic goalkeeper. We performed better second-half and put them to the sword - even if Zulj’s was the goal of the game.
 
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Saturday 5th November, 2022

The first match after the completion of our recent stadium expansion sets a new club attendance record of 43,653. The previous record was 42,790 for a Champions League Group B match against Barcelona, in November 2020 (which we won, 3-1).

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Antonio Fernandez Gere, our Head Physio, advises that Jorginho will be out for 6 days with a bruised shin. But the news is worse for Sercan Calik, who has a groin strain that will keep him out for 3 weeks.

Chelsea play on Monday but Manchester City win 3-1 at West Bromwich Albion, while Manchester United drop two points with a 1-1 draw at home to Swansea City. We remain 4th.
 
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Sunday 6th November, 2022

There is an international break now, so our next match isn’t until the 19th when we’ll be at home again, to play Norwich City who are two places and three points behind us, in 6th place.
 
Monday 7th November, 2022

Sergey Radimov is sent home with a virus, which will keep him out of Russia’s upcoming friendlies with Iran and Macedonia.

Chelsea are 8 points ahead of us again, after a 3-0 win at their local rivals Fulham.
 
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