Taking Southampton North!

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English Premier League - Game 8 - Stoke City (Away)


A crucial match as we see if we can do it on a Sunday afternoon at Stoke. The only change from the recent Premier League starting lineups is Balic for Clasie, who is a little bit tired, but is on the bench. We need to win to keep pace with the other challengers.

In the 8th minute Tadic played an excellent ball for Pjaca, whose shot was parried by Krul, but Ward-Prowse was first to the rebound and opened the scoring!

Two minutes later Augustinsson found Ward-Prowse at the back post with a fantastic cross, but his volley was brilliantly saved.

In the 18th minute Dragowski made an unbelievable save to deny what should have been a tap in for Gregoritsch!

He followed it up with a ridiculous reflex save from Williams’ point blank header in the 28th minute!

Wanyama had a crack from distance in the 34th, but Krul did very well to push it aside at full stretch.

Tadic should have done better from inside the box in the 38th minute but fired straight at Krul.

A minute later Balic passed the ball straight into Wanyama, and they countered. Williams surged through the defence with blistering speed but couldn’t beat Dragowski from close range.

From the corner Dragowski tipped Gregoritsch’s header onto the bar!

Two minutes after half time they finally found a way through, Bakambu doing the damage with a close range volley.

Augustinsson’s 30 yard thunderbolt in the 56th minute seemed destined for the top corner but Krul made an insane save to keep it out somehow!

Bakambu beat Chambers on the dribble in the 63rd minute but curled his effort wide.

Clasie and De Paul were introduced in place of Balic and Pjaca in the 65th.

Two minutes later Wanyama powered a header goalwards from a corner and it was headed off the line by Bakambu. Tadic was alert though, and fired a half volley home from the penalty spot!

Palombo replaced Ward-Prowse in the 72nd, dropping to DM and shifting Tadic to the right wing.

In the 88th minute a corner wasn’t cleared well and Arbeloa put a cross back in, where Williams met it with a bullet header to equalise! **** it!!

That one was a real kick in the teeth! You know you’re unlucky when once again the opposition keeper takes out the Man of the Match award, despite conceding two goals. And to think when I saw the lineups I was shocked to see Krul starting ahead of Butland!


POM: Tim Krul (Stoke City - 9.1, 2 Conceded, 10 Saves)

Best Southampton Player: Dusan Tadic (8.4, 1G, 0A)
 
I really admire those who manage to win the BPL the La Liga and the other big leagues. No matter what team who are having this year FM is realy difficult in my opinion ! I watch your efforts with the Saints and I see the exact same things in my save as well !
 
kolas79 said:
I really admire those who manage to win the BPL the La Liga and the other big leagues. No matter what team who are having this year FM is realy difficult in my opinion ! I watch your efforts with the Saints and I see the exact same things in my save as well !
Click to expand...

Definitely, I never had any trouble in previous versions but this year's game is much harder. Definitely a good thing in my opinion, as frustrating as it can be at times :P
 
Injury News...

Tobias Andersson has been doing very well out on loan - in fact, he looks to have overtaken Linus Persson, also out on loan, in his development - but this is a disappointing setback.

I was offered the role of Holland manager after they failed to qualify for the World Cup. After careful consideration, I rejected the offer, as there were no major tournaments on the horizon for Holland, so I’d rather keep my focus on Southampton.


I've just realised that I haven't posted a transfer summary yet, so I will screenshot that and post it soon
​
 

Here is the transfer summary, as promised. As you can see we made a profit of around 100m. The second screenshot shows the rest of the departures, which wouldn't fit in the first shot.







And the top transfers from around Europe. Our sale of Zivkovic was the biggest deal. Manchester United were particularly active in an attempt to break back into the top 4.
 

English Premier League - Game 9 - Swansea City (Home)


The top 8 of the Premier League is pretty much as expected, and pretty close together too. We need to win to stay amongst the lower half of that, to keep ourselves in the mix for a Champions League place. A strong lineup takes the field, with Bertrand starting in place of Augustinsson at left back due to a first team football promise.

Things started badly though, as a 5th minute corner was headed in off the crossbar by Poulsen.

2 minutes later Sigurdsson missed a golden chance to double their lead, firing wide when played through.

Eder scored with a volley in the 24th minute but was comfortably offside.

Ward-Prowse finally equalised in the 47th minute from close range off a good Pjaca square pass. He and Tadic had switched positions.

Two minutes later Sigurdsson sent a free kick from the centre circle over the top, and Ayew ran through and volleyed it in. Terrible defending!

Kießling replaced Milik in the 52nd minute.

De Paul replaced Tadic in the 55th and moved JWP back to the wing.

In the 66th minute Chambers equalised with a bullet header from a De Paul corner! His first goal since rejoining the club!

Two minutes later Cedric curled in a cross which was somehow allowed to bounce, and Kießling met it at the back post and smashed it home!

Palombo replaced Ward-Prowse in the 73rd, moving to DM and seeing Pjaca go to the right wing, and De Paul to the left.

Well that was a very encouraging result, as we managed to find a way to get the three points despite not being at the races in the first half. We showed excellent resilience and fight to stay in the game, and eventually win it. Not our best performance by any stretch but we got the job done.


POM: Gylfi Sigurdsson (Swansea City - 9.0, 0G, 2A)

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

UEFA Europa League Group Stage - Game 3 - Lokomotiv Moskva (Home)


A handful of changes for this Europa League tie, as we face 4th placed West Ham in just 3 days time. Our group is in the balance, with each team recording a win and a loss so far, and therefore a win today is critical.

In the 24th minute Dragowski’s flying save denied Corluka’s header from a corner, and he recovered in time to deny Niasse’s followup too!

3 minutes later Corluka made a vital block on Milik’s effort from a Clasie cross.

Cedric somehow contrived to miss the target from close range in the 33rd minute after Palombo split the defence for him.

Radu put us in front in the 37th minute with a powerful header from De Paul’s corner!

In the 61st minute Pjaca and Clasie, with an eye on the West Ham match, were replaced by Gitschier and Slattery. De Paul went to the left wing to accommodate Gitschier.

In the 74th minute Rodriguez blocked a Boussoufa shot, and Niasse crashed the rebound off the bar! Very lucky.

Chambers replaced Cedric a minute later.

Milik teed up De Paul in the 87th minute but he somehow missed the target altogether!

We weren’t particularly fluent in attack, but Radu’s set piece goal was enough to seal all three points today. He’s been very good so far this season, long may it continue!


POM: Stefan Radu (8.8, 1G, 0A)
 

English Premier League - Game 10 - West Ham United (Away)


West Ham have made a fantastic start to the season, and are two points clear of us. With all of the big teams winning so far this week, other than Liverpool, we need to stay in touch with them, and leapfrog the Reds and the Hammers too.

In the 14th minute Enner Valencia scored a ridiculous goal, skinning both centre backs and burying it in the top corner.

In the 21st minute a Ward-Prowse corner was headed onto the crossbar by Wanyama! Radu met the rebound with a header, and it also cannoned back off the bar! Unbelievable.

In the 28th minute we executed a brilliant counter, JWP sending a ball over the top for Kießling, who drew the defenders and laid off for Pjaca to finish.

In the 45th minute West Ham launched their own counter, and Valencia was through all alone. He was denied not once, not twice, but three times by the brilliant Dragowski! What a keeper!

He then proceeded to drop Ogbonna’s header from the corner at the feet of Valencia, who scored. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing, especially as the commentary for his first save was “Dragowski saves and holds the ball”.

He was back to heroics in the 50th minute, denying a vicious Valencia strike at full stretch.

Kießling played Pjaca through 1v1 in the 59th but the save was made, and the flag was up.

De Paul replaced Ward-Prowse in the 61st, switching wings with Pjaca.

Balic was on for Wanyama in the 66th.

Seager replaced Kießling in the 89th.

**** it!

POM: Enner Valencia (West Ham United - 9.0, 2G, 0A)

Best Southampton Player: Dusan Tadic (8.7, 0G, 0A)
 

English Premier League - Game 11 - Wolverhampton Wanderers (Home)


I decided to experiment with a 4-4-2 today against Wolves. We’ll see how it goes I guess!

Milik slipped Tadic through in the 27th minute but Zoet made a great save.

Kießling headed over from Ward-Prowse’s cross a minute later.

In the 67th minute Palombo and Pjaca replaced Wanyama and Milik as we reverted to 4-2-3-1. We had been utterly dominant, with almost 70% possession, but couldn’t find a breakthrough.

Then of course, in the 71st minute Ince scored with a tap in after a cleared corner was sent back in.

De Paul replaced Clasie in the 77th minute.

Radu was sent off in the 85th minute as we had bombed forward and looked like getting hit on the counter.

De Paul should have scored in the 89th but fired tamely straight at Zoet.

Clough scored in the 93rd minute with another tap in.

That match was complete robbery. We were a million times better than them, and deserved to win comfortably. Our player ratings were excellent, as you can see, as we thoroughly dominated. The statistics were even more lopsided until their goal against the run of play forced us to go for broke. Unbelievable. On a bright note the 4-4-2 looked good.


POM: Dusan Tadic (8.8, 0G, 0A)
 

UEFA Europa League Group Stage - Game 4 - Lokomotiv Moskva (Away)


A win against Lokomotiv Moskva today would see us virtually assured of qualification for the knockout rounds, but with a massive league match against Arsenal in just 3 days, it’s a rotated lineup that takes the field in Russia.

Forster made a good save on Ionov in the 14th minute.

They countered from a free kick of ours in the 27th minute and once more Forster came up trumps, turning a Niasse shot wide. I thought he was offside anyway, but there was no flag.

Dario Rodriguez appeared to have broken his hand, so he was replaced by Ward-Prowse in the 33rd minute.

Within 3 minute of taking the field, Ward-Prowse fired us in front, picking out the bottom left corner from a Luan cutback. Great finish!

Seager replaced Milik in the 65th minute.

Pjaca replaced Slattery in the 72nd minute, and switched with Ward-Prowse.

In the 76th minute some nice passing around the area culminated in Ward-Prowse finding De Paul, who swivelled and curled the ball into the top right corner!

Boussoufa was allowed far too much space in our area two minutes later, and he picked out the bottom corner to make for a tense finish.

3 minutes later Boussoufa attempted to chip Forster, but his effort floated wide.

In the 91st minute Ionov raced through at shot from a tight angle. Forster parried his effort, before turning his second attempt wide.

A good performance today, which puts us in the driving seat for qualification for the knockout rounds. Dario Rodriguez’s latest injury is another frustrating setback for the young winger though, who is running out of time to impose himself on the first team.


POM: Moritz Gitschier (9.0, 0G, 0A)


* Turns out Rodriguez was fine! My assistant got the in-game diagnosis wrong apparently
 

English Premier League - Game 12 - Arsenal FC (Home)


If we don’t beat Arsenal today, we can more or less kiss top four goodbye. If we’d won our last two games we’d be at the business end of the table, but after those two poor losses, we’re playing catch up. Radu is a huge loss at centre back, serving his suspension for his late red card against Wolves.

I’ve mentioned before how annoying Oxlade-Chamberlain has been on this game so far, and so it proved once again, as he wriggled free of Augustinsson and crossed to the back post for a Sanchez tap in, in the 15th minute.

In the 23rd minute Kießling squared the game for us though with a finish aided by a deflection, after Tadic’s sensational run had ended in a slide tackle, but the ball came straight to the German striker. Cech still managed to get a hand to the effort somehow, but couldn’t keep it out.

And in the 35th minute Kießling had his second, slamming a close range volley past Cech after Cedric had overlapped down the right and put in a great cross!

In the 45th minute Cazorla equalised for Arsenal with a cracking effort from outside the box. He’s another one who seems to overperform against us on a regular basis.

Walcott went for a run right from the second half restart, and found himself through, but his fairly soft effort went wide.

In the 65th minute a Cedric cross was cleared to Augustinsson, who sent the ball back in for Kießling, who diverted it home at close range! The flag was up.

De Paul replaced Ward-Prowse a minute later and switched wings with Pjaca.

Bertrand replaced Augustinsson in the 72nd.

Two minutes later Kießling played Tadic through, but somehow he couldn’t beat Cech! Shocking miss!

Gitschier replaced Tadic in the 75th.

In the 87th minute Walcott finished off a Cazorla through ball.

3 consecutive defeats. We were the better team today and at the very least deserved a draw, but poor performances from centre backs Upamecano and Chambers cost us, as well as a distinct lack of clinical finishing up the other end of the pitch. So frustrating!


POM: Stefan Kießling (8.8, 2G, 0A)
 

Injury News...


A big blow as Cedric is ruled out for 6 weeks!

Seager joins him on the sidelines

Another really frustrating injury, to arguably our most important player.

Luan no longer wants to leave, but he still has a concern about wanting a new contract. I’ve offered him one, but I think the same work permit issue is going to just crop up again.



Lowly Walsall may well be in luck
 

English Premier League - Game 13 - Burnley FC (Away)


Burnley are overachieving this season, and are actually ahead of us in the table now! It’s critical that we win today, though our task will be much harder without star player Tadic. Radu’s return is a boost though, and we roll out the 4-4-2 again to see how it fares.

In the 10th minute Clasie sent Kießling through with a ball over the top, and he squared for Milik, who buried it emphatically from the edge of the box!

Dragowski was too good for Gray in the 33rd minute, making a simple save in the end after some great passing from Burnley.

De Paul slipped Milik through in the 58th minute but he fired tamely at Heaton when he should have scored.

In the 64th minute Arfield scored with a back post tap in, but Walker, who provided the cross, was offside.

Palombo replaced Balic a minute later.

Radu missed a header from a free kick in the 70th minute, and Berisha was through alone, but Dragowski made the save.

Milik was replaced by Sindelar before the corner was taken.

Pjaca replaced Ward-Prowse in the 75th.

Sindelar played Bertrand through in the 83rd, but he hit the post!

A solid win today, and a vital one, as it snaps our losing streak. Onwards and upwards - hopefully.


POM: Michael Keane (Burnley - 8.3, 0G, 0A)

Best Southampton Player: Arkadiusz Milik (8.2, 1G, 0A)
 
Hope this win bring back the confidence in the team in order to recover from the bad run !
 
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