Taking Southampton North!

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English Premier League - Game 3 - Aston Villa (Away)


I really want to beat Aston Villa today, I don’t like them in this save. Let’s hope Milik is fired up and can score a few against them, show them what they missed out on. Dario Rodriguez is back and takes his place on the bench.

In the 11th minute Milik held the ball up well before releasing Augustinsson down the left. The full back broke forward and whipped in a cross, which De Paul volleyed home from close range!

In the 39th minute Milik played Pjaca in, but the winger missed the target with just the keeper to beat!

In the 59th minute Destro headed Diouf’s cross onto the post, but Grealish fired home the rebound.

In the 62nd minute Luan put in a brilliant low cross, which Milik fired straight into Guzan from no more than 3 yards out! Shocking miss!

Seager and Rodriguez replaced Milik and Pjaca in the 63rd.

Two minutes later Guzan made an insane triple save, first denying Seager, then Rodriguez, then Seager once more, all from very close range! Unbelievable!

Sinclair was then denied by Dragowski in the 75th minute.

Kießling replaced Tadic in the 80th and became a second striker.

Shane Long then scored an 87th minute goal from outside the box as we tried to push for a winner. Why couldn’t he do it for us?!

Dragowski made a diving save from a stoppage time Canales free kick.

Wanyama picked up a late knock too.

God that’s a frustrating defeat. We did everything right for the first hour, except finished our chances. Really disappointing to lose it so late, too.


POM: Sergio Canales (Aston Villa - 9.0, 0G, 1A)

Best Southampton Player: Ludwig Augustinsson (7.7, 0G, 1A)
 

English Premier League - Game 4 - Tottenham Hotspur FC (Home)


I’d love to keep up our excellent form against Spurs, but the truth is that this will be a really tough match. Last season’s runners up were very strong last year, but they’re even more stacked now, having added players like Insigne, Balde Keita and Depay during the offseason.

Dragowski made a great diving save on Eriksen after a good run in the 3rd minute.

In the 13th minute Bertrand won the ball near our own corner flag and sent a long ball up the side for Kießling, who took it into the box and cut it back for De Paul. He had just Lloris to beat, and gave him no chance, slamming it into the top right corner!

Dragowski made another good save, this time from Depay, in the 25th minute.

In the 52nd minute Tadic should have done better after dribbling into space, but he missed the target.

In the 54th minute Eriksen equalised with a tap in from a first time Lamela cross.

Rodriguez replaced Pjaca in the 66th.

Balic and Milik replaced Clasie and Kießling in the 72nd.

Within seconds of taking the field, Milik buried a close range header from Bertrand’s cross to put us back in front! I love it when that happens!

Just two minutes later Eriksen had his second with another point blank finish, this time from Keita’s through ball. He was just a fraction onside.

Dragowski made a top class save on Keita in the 82nd minute after Eriksen raced into the box and squared for him.

Palombo picked up a late knock.

Not the worst result ever, but it’s a shame we couldn’t hold onto the lead after taking it twice. Perhaps choosing to sit back after we took the lead so early cost us. Dragowski had an excellent game between the posts, whilst both fullbacks played well too.


POM: Christian Eriksen (Tottenham Hotspur - 9.0, 2G, 0A)

Best Southampton Player: Ryan Bertrand (7.8, 0G, 1A)
 

Injury News...


Palombo misses the first week of the international break.


Deadline day certainly wasn’t without it’s drama. It started when Man City made an offer for Wanyama. He was on the transfer list by request, but I wasn’t impressed with what they were offering, particularly as a rival in the same league, so I rejected it.

This sparked a dressing room divide, with Tadic, Dragowski and (surprise, surprise!) Milik, taking Wanyama’s side.
 

I held a meeting with the concerned players. Fortunately, it went well. Now it’s just Wanyama who is offside with me, but hopefully he will come around. If not, there’s always the January window, and I know who I would sign as his replacement, too.



I signed this talented right back, and immediately loaned him out to Novara, as he couldn’t secure a work permit. He wouldn’t have displaced Luan and Cedric anyway.
 

Right before the deadline, Chelsea made their third offer for Slattery. I’d rejected the first two immediately, but this time I negotiated. 21m straight up, plus 50% of his sell on fee. To put in perspective, that’s a better offer than I got for Wanyama! It was a tough decision as I’ve been developing him over the last couple of seasons and truly saw a future for him here, but that kind of money for what is essentially a backup player is just too good. Besides, chances are he won’t make it at Chelsea, and I can buy him back in a year or two for a cut price fee, which I’ll get half of. It’s like a very lucrative loan :P
 

And then it fell through! I guess he’ll be sticking around after all :)

Balic was the unfortunate player who had to miss out on Europa League registration.

More drama! He accepted a contract, the work permit failed again, I re-offered, yet he’s upset! I talked some of the concerned team mates around, but man this is frustrating! Two key players unhappy now, whilst Chambers and Upamecano are both taking sides with Luan here too.
 

English Premier League - Game 5 - Liverpool FC (Away)


Huge match at Anfield today. Liverpool have started well in the league, and if we lose today we will be well off the pace for top 4. Luan starts despite his unhappiness, but Wanyama misses out.

Chadli opened the scoring with a close range volley from Clyne’s cross in the 3rd minute.

Shaqiri sent a great ball over the top for Muto in the 9th, and he dodged Fonte’s sliding tackle before picking out the top corner.

Chadli hit the post in the 23rd before Dragowski saved the rebound.

We moved to 4-2-3-1 a minute later.

In the 28th minute Shaqiri tapped in at the back post from Henderson’s header.

Kießling, Ward-Prowse and Pjaca replaced Milik, Clasie and De Paul for the second half.

In the 47th minute Coutinho tapped in a loose ball after an unlucky ricochet. Nothing going right.

Tadic released Kießling on the counter from a corner in the 49th, and he picked out Pjaca, who was unlucky enough to hit the bar, and it was cleared behind.

From the corner the ball was worked to Pjaca, and this time Mignolet made a good save.

In the 55th minute Ward-Prowse’s cross was acrobatically scissor-kicked home by Tadic!

But yet another ridiculous ricochet rolled into space a minute later, and Shaqiri couldn’t miss.

Mignolet tipped Ward-Prowse’s powerful 61st minute effort over the bar.

Palombo hit the post after headers from Fonte and Chambers on a corner.

Mignolet turned another Ward-Prowse effort around the post in the 90th minute.

What a disgraceful performance! Wow! And I was hoping we had left that kind of capitulation behind. We were trounced by the Reds today, despite having a reasonable amount of possession and shots ourself. Mignolet playing yet another blinder against us (7.8 this time) didn’t help. Some of our players seem to be affected by the Luan and Wanyama situations. Let’s hope they can be resolved fairly quickly.


POM: Xherdan Shaqiri (Liverpool FC - 9.4, 2G, 1A)

Best Southampton Player: Dusan Tadic (7.2, 1G, 0A)
 

UEFA Europa League Group Stage - Game 1 - RSC Anderlecht (Away)


Changes for our first European fixture, as we travel to Belgium to take on Anderlecht. They’re a tricky side but we should be winning, and it would be nice to end our run of poor form today. There’s a lot of young players on the bench too, including Gitschier, who has returned to training.

We dominated from the start, but Dragowski was forced into the first meaningful save in the 14th minute, somehow brilliantly snatching Okaka’s volley out of the air!

Palombo curled a ball towards the top right corner from just outside the box in the 18th minute, and was unlucky to see it rebound off the bar.

Palombo then picked up an injury and was replaced by Slattery in the 25th minute.

In the 43rd minute a free kick was headed only as far as Praet, who cracked a sensational volley from the penalty spot past Dragowski. Classy goal, but frustrating to find ourselves behind.

Pjaca equalised for us in the 51st minute after Bertrand played him in with an excellent pass.

Gitschier replaced Tadic in the 62nd minute.

In the 65th minute Kießling played a brilliant pass for Pjaca, who was through, but Kara made a last ditch sliding tackle just as he got his shot off.

The corner was swung to Slattery, who powered a header goalwards. Roef made a diving one-handed save, but knocked it into the back of Tielemans, and it crossed the line for an own goal!

Right from the kickoff they came forward, and Dabbur brilliantly slipped Frey through, but his vicious shot flew narrowly high and wide.

Reed replaced Clasie in the 75th minute.

In the 78th minute an Anderlecht clearance was sent straight back downfield by Chambers, and Kießling was through! From an angle he fired across the keeper, and the ball hit the inside of the far post before rolling into the grateful arms of Roef.

A good win in the end, and a very important one too. The players showed good resolve to come back from a goal down at the half. Hopefully this year, unlike last year, we can translate our European form into domestic results, but I’m not holding my breath. Palombo is a vital player for us, especially considering how Wanyama is unsettled, so I’m praying he’s not seriously hurt.


POM: Marko Pjaca (7.6, 1G, 0A)
 

English Premier League - Game 6 - Manchester City (Home)


Huge game at home against Manchester City, and it’s already shaping as a must win if we want to fight for Champions League qualification this season. Wanyama starts in the absence of Palombo, which is something of a risk, but I’m hoping he can put in a strong performance. We’re going to need him to.

In the 21st minute we almost got hit on the counter, but Dragowski somehow caught Rafinha’s cracking volley.

He was called on again in the 30th minute and didn’t disappoint, turning De Bruyne’s shot aside.

Augustinsson’s 34th minute cross found Pjaca for a close range volley, but Hart saved his effort, before turning to deny Ward-Prowse on the rebound too! Top class goalkeeping unfortunately.

In the 48th minute Ward-Prowse’s free kick was cleared back to him, and when he sent it back in, Kompany fouled Milik - penalty! Milik ran up, and hit the post! The rebound went straight into the arms of Hart. Nothing is going right!

Kießling replaced Milik in the 51st minute.

Radu then confirmed our misfortune by crashing a header into the post from a 56th minute corner.

They countered, but we won the ball and came straight back at them. Eventually Kießling played Clasie in and finally, finally, we scored! Brilliant play from Kießling, and an ice cold finish from Clasie!

De Paul replaced Pjaca in the 72nd minute.

Clasie dropped to DM, Ward-Prowse to CM and Tadic went to right wing in the 78th.

In the 81st minute Radu powered a header into the net from a Ward-Prowse corner! Get in!

Gitschier replaced Tadic a minute later.

Fantastic win today! Dragowski kept us in it early, before we began to dominate, and we finally made our chances pay. Radu’s return from injury made a big difference, in my opinion. I must admit I feared the worst when we hit the post twice, including from a penalty, but credit to the team who never gave up and finally found a way to get the ball into the back of the net. Huge result, but we need to follow it up with a win in our next Premier League outing, or it’s all for nothing.


POM: Jordy Clasie (8.3, 1G, 0A)
 

Capital One Cup - Third Round - Reading FC (Home)


Lots of rotation against Reading in the League Cup today, including no less than 5 youth team players on the bench. Hopefully this side can get the job done against the Championship outfit.

Forster made a diving save from Quinn in the 8th minute, but it rebounded fortuitously off the post straight to Samuel, who tapped it in.

Rodriguez played a clever ball for Seager in the 26th, who was denied by an excellent save. He was offside anyway.

Blackman missed a point blank header in the 31st minute.

Gitschier sent Seager through with a brilliant ball in the 33rd minute, but he was denied by the keeper in a one on one.

In the 48th minute a desperate clearance from Reading went straight to Fonte, who completely missed it! It was a two on one for poor Upamecano, and Samuel squared to Blackman, who found the bottom corner.

Jacobsen, Sindelar and Lovell replaced De Paul, Seager and Fonte in the 51st minute. Jacobsen swapped wings with Rodriguez.

Sindelar was denied by a great save from a tight angle in the 65th minute after Reed sent a long ball over the top for him.

Reed sent another raking pass forward in the 81st for Rodriguez, who was tripped in the area! Balic to the penalty spot, and straight at the keeper! We’ve now failed to convert all 3 penalties we’ve won this season.

Very disappointing outcome in the end, as we didn’t capitalise on the chances we managed to create. Senior players like Fonte and Forster could have done much better too, whilst Reading’s goalkeeper played a blinder, picking up the Player of the Match award for his efforts. It’s also extraordinary that we haven’t converted a penalty yet, despite a different player taking it each time!


POM: Ali Al-Habsi (9.2, 0 Conceded, 6 Saves)

Best Southampton Player: Ryan Bertrand (7.1, 0G, 0A)
 

English Premier League - Game 7 - Derby County (Home)


A win against Derby today is pretty much vital. Hopefully the same side that saw off City can also dispatch the Rams. Palombo is back from injury and takes his place on the bench.

Clasie gave away a free kick just outside the box in the first 20 seconds, and Morrison curled it towards the top corner, but Dragowski acrobatically tipped it over!

In the 2nd minute we countered and Kießling played Pjaca through. He did very well to outpace his man but sent his shot whistling past the post.

In the 7th minute Tadic was fouled as he contested a Ward-Prowse cross. Kießling to the spot to try and convert one at last…top left corner! About time!

In the 10th minute he had his second, blasting a Tadic through ball into the bottom right corner!

Two minutes later it was game on though, as Derby capitalised on some confusion just outside the area, and a loose ball fell to Morrison, who touched it through for Delort, who had no trouble finishing.

In the 17th minute a Ward-Prowse corner was touched down by Wanyama to Pjaca, who belted it, and it struck a defender and went in for an own goal!

In the 30th minute lovely passing brought our fourth, as Wanyama passed to Kießling, who touched it through for Pjaca, who buried it.

Ward-Prowse dinked a clever pass in for Kießling in the 44th, who scored, but was offside. That would have been the hat trick!

Chambers sent Delort through with a terrible back pass seconds later, but Dragowski was up to the task.

Gitschier and Balic replaced Tadic and Clasie in the 65th.

Upamecano replaced Cedric in the 74th, and Chambers went to right back.

Wanyama and Kießling combined once more seconds later, this time sending Ward-Prowse through, but Szczesny made an acrobatic save.

In the 80th minute Augustinsson sent a low ball to the top of the box, and Wanyama sidestepped two challenges before blasting the ball into the bottom right corner from just inside the ares! What a strike!

Dragowski made an incredible point blank save on Delort in the 86th.

An emphatic win which ensures we don’t fall too far behind the pace in the league, and cancels out the goal difference hammering we took at Liverpool. Our attack was electric and our defence mostly solid, with Dragowski making a couple of world-class saves too. Wanyama’s screamer was delightful, but his reaction to my post-match praise suggests he still hasn’t forgiven me.


POM: Stefan Kießling (9.1, 2G, 1A)
 
Form looks to have picked up hopefully you can keep it up. Also, I've found you go through random spells where you can never score a penalty but, hopefully it is over for you
 
ninjaskill said:
Form looks to have picked up hopefully you can keep it up. Also, I've found you go through random spells where you can never score a penalty but, hopefully it is over for you
Click to expand...

Hopefully you're right on both counts! :)
 

UEFA Europa League Group Stage - Game 2 - SC Braga (Home)


Some rotation as we host Braga at St Mary’s. Milik gets the chance to impress up top, whilst De Paul, Gitschier, Palombo, Upamecano and Bertrand are also included. A win here would continue our good run and put us in a strong position to qualify from the group.

The first half was as boring as they come, as we lacked penetration whilst Braga kept shooting from range.

Braga then took the lead in the 58th minute as Hassan’s quick shot after Upamecano mis-controlled a cross seemed to catch Dragowski by surprise, and it slipped through him into the net! Very soft way to fall behind.

Pjaca replaced Gitschier in the 62nd minute and swapped with De Paul.

Kießling replaced Milik in the 69th.

In the 80th minute a long cross from Bertrand was headed in off the bar by Ward-Prowse at the back post!

Just two minutes later a Braga corner went through everyone and was chased down and sent back in, where it was slammed into the roof by Dodo!

Seager replaced Upamecano in the 83rd. Palombo dropped to CB, Clasie to DM, and Seager went up top.

Disappointment once more as we continue to shoot ourselves in the foot every time we seem to be making progress. A pair of very soft goals did for us today, made even more annoying as the winner came so soon after we had equalised.


POM: Andre Pinto (SC Braga - 8.5, 0G, 1A)

Best Southampton Player: Ryan Bertrand (7.7, 0G, 1A)
 
It would be such a shame not to go through from this group. I wish you best of luck !
 
Tough break v Braga mate. Looking good so far in the league though!!
 
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