Taking Southampton North!

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Bertrand is upset at me breaking a promise of first team football. In my opinion, 5 starts in the last 8 matches for a player on a backup contract, is pretty good. Not good enough for him though apparently, so I agree to move him on in January. This is why I wrapped up the deal for Kurzawa last week.

Two teams immediately come in for Bertrand. I negotiate, and Liverpool offer the most, 8.75m, so I accept their offer. He agreed terms a few days later.
 

English Premier League - Game 19 - Norwich City (Home)


Another win certainly wouldn’t go amiss today, as we aim to keep in touch with the continental qualification chasing pack. Norwich are a team we should always be beating.

In the 16th minute Pjaca opened the scoring by heading a Ward-Prowse free kick into the top corner. Our first player to double digit goals this season!

Augustinsson sent a great ball forward for Seager, who did well with his run but missed the target when he made it to the penalty area.

Seager doubled our lead in the 58th minute with his first league goal, after a great ball from Tadic.

Sindelar and Wanyama replaced Seager and Clasie in the 64th minute.

De Paul replaced Tadic in the 72nd minute.

Inui fired narrowly wide after a good run in the 76th minute.

A second consecutive comfortable win - not sure I’ve been able to say that for a while! Ward-Prowse, Pjaca and Luan were the most impressive players today, but everyone did more or less what was asked of them.


POM: Marko Pjaca (8.6, 1G, 0A)
 

English Premier League - Game 20 - Crystal Palace (Home)


We dismantled Crystal Palace in their own backyard on the opening day of the season, and a repeat of that would not go amiss today.

In the 3rd minute Pjaca worked the ball to Milik, whose first shot was saved, but he put away the rebound.

In the 22nd minute Kießling crossed to Pjaca, whose shot was blocked. The rebound fell to Tadic, who had an open net…and blasted over! Appalling miss!

McCarthy made a top save on Pjaca in the 43rd minute, sticking out a hand to deny him at the back post.

De Paul replaced Tadic in the 60th minute.

Balic replaced Ward-Prowse in the 67th.

Palombo replaced Kießling in the 75th and we moved into 4-3-3.

But then disaster, as Sako escaped at the back post and finished off a cross. He looked offside.

In the 92nd minute Augustinsson threw the ball in to De Paul, who turned his man and then shot without warning, piercing the tiny gap between the keeper and the near post! McCarthy was caught by surprise and didn’t move! What a goal!

What a way to win the match! A spectacular finish to rescue 3 points when it looked as if we’d thrown it all away! Huge result, and the extra two points could prove critical.


POM: Ludwig Augustinsson (8.2, 0G, 1A)
 

English Premier League - Game 21 - Aston Villa (Home)


Aston Villa are our next opponents, and it’s a match that comes just two days before our clash with Newcastle. It’s therefore quite likely we will field almost entirely different starting XI’s for the two fixtures. Aston Villa beat us last time with a late winner, so hopefully we can exact some revenge today. It’s a very inexperienced strike partnership up top, consisting of 17 year Sindelar, making his first start for the club, and 18 year old AMC Gitschier!

Dragowski made a great save on Traore in the 21st minute.

Cedric replaced an injured Luan in the 26th minute.

Guzan made a great save from Pjaca off a 55th minute corner, but Upamecano was first to the rebound and scored his first Southampton goal!

Milik replaced Sindelar in the 61st minute.

Slattery replaced Palombo in the 70th minute.

Not our best performance by any stretch, and a very boring game, but we picked up 3 points thanks to Upamecano’s first goal for the club. The youngster was a rock at the back, and deservedly picked up the POM award.


POM: Dayot Upamecano (7.9, 1G, 0A)
 
Great to see you slowly moving up the table! To bad about Bertrand though as he seems to have been a very good performer for you, atleast you managed to get a good fee for him and already got his replacement coming in soon.
 
TheOtherSpecialOne said:
Great to see you slowly moving up the table! To bad about Bertrand though as he seems to have been a very good performer for you, atleast you managed to get a good fee for him and already got his replacement coming in soon.
Click to expand...

Thanks man, it was frustrating to lose him because he always performed well, was a good tutor and was also home grown. Still, Kurzawa is an upgrade I think, so it's not all bad :)
 

English Premier League - Game 22 - Newcastle United (Away)


Pelle has come back to haunt us with late goals the last couple of times we’ve played Newcastle, but hopefully today we can have the last laugh.

Nope - Pelle opened the scoring in the 33rd minute with a tap in after Wijnaldum skinned Kurzawa. His third goal of the season, two of which have been against us!

In the 53rd minute Milik had a brain explosion and slid in on Mbemba as he attempted to pass back to his keeper. Red card.

Tadic should have equalised for us 3 minutes later, but couldn’t beat the keeper after being picked out by Kießling.

Pjaca replaced Balic in the 58th, shuffling Ward-Prowse inside.

Alisson doubled their lead in the 65th minute, stepping inside two defenders and picking out the top corner from the edge of the box.

Rodriguez replaced Tadic in the 74th.

In the 79th minute Kießling was fouled in the box as he leapt for a corner. He buried the penalty.

Clasie came on for Ward-Prowse immediately afterwards.

Rodriguez played Kießling through brilliantly in the 83rd, but Asenjo once again came up with an excellent save.

That was a disappointing loss, particularly as we were the better side even after we went down a man, as the stats show. We had enough chances to draw the game at least, even win it if we were clinical enough. Milik’s red card made things difficult though, and Alisson’s worldie was enough to clinch the win for the Toon.


POM: Alisson (Newcastle United - 8.3, 1G, 0A)

Best Southampton Player: Stefan Kießling (8.1, 1G, 0A)
 

Transfer News...


Xabi Alonso joins for a nominal fee. His experience will be very useful, and he will make a great tutor too!

The marquee signing now. Asensio was transfer listed by request at Real Madrid, and whilst 26m is hardly loose change, I am confident he can prove to be worth every penny. Still just 21, he has a huge future ahead of him.

A young centre back who I’ve tracked for a while, and when all the big clubs came in, I decided to make my move.
 

FA Cup - Third Round - Watford FC (Home)


Some youngsters get their chance in the FA Cup, including Romanian keeper Daniel Burtic. I’d have liked to use more of them, but I need to show respect to Watford, a Premier League outfit.

In the 13th minute Rodriguez picked out Seager with an excellent cross, and the young striker provided a cool finish.

In the 59th minute Kurzawa sent in a looping cross, and Sindelar met it with a header, but was unfortunate to see the ball hit the underside of the bar and bounce clear.

In the 62nd minute De Paul, Balic and Upamecano were replaced by Jacobsen, Muller and Jurcik, the latter two making their debuts.

In the 93rd minute Muller chipped a ball to Rodriguez, who brought it down well and then squared for Sindelar, who buried it in the bottom corner! First senior goal for the young striker!

I’m very happy with the performance and result today, as young players and new signings gelled very nicely. Kurzawa was excellent in defence, both young strikers got on the scoresheet, Burtic kept a clean sheet, and Dario Rodriguez was outstanding, laying on both goals!


POM: Dario Rodriguez (9.0, 0G, 2A)
 

English Premier League - Game 23 - Tottenham Hotspur FC (Away)


If we beat Spurs today we will jump up to 5th in the table, ahead of Man United on goal difference. If we lose though, we’ll be in 7th, and only a point or two clear of the couple of teams below us, including Spurs. So it’s a very important match. New signing Asensio starts in a 4-3-3 formation, whilst Milik’s suspension denies us our best striker.

I was almost celebrating in the 12th minute when Wanyama looked to have scored a 30 yard beauty, but his shot hit the inside of the post and bounced into Lloris’ arms. ****.

In the 27th minute Asensio played a ball through for Tadic, who whipped it across goal, and Pjaca finished to give us the lead!

Two minutes later they were level though, as Eriksen’s brilliant pass left Depay with a tap in.

In the 38th minute disaster! Keita raced through on goal, and Chambers brought him down just outside the box. Red card. Particularly frustrating as we had 60% possession and double the shots at that point, and were now going to struggle to get anything from the match.

Radu replaced Clasie to plug the hole, as Lamela sent the free kick over the bar.

Palombo replaced Asensio in the 65th, and both he and Wanyama dropped to DM. Pjaca and Tadic also swapped flanks and dropped to the midfield strata.

A minute later Depay kept the ball alive by smashing a first time cross into the box. Radu missed his header, and suddenly Keita was in play, left with a tap in at the back post - or so he thought. Dragowski had other ideas, sticking out a hand and turning it behind!

The corner was cleared but worked back in, and then Keita had his goal. More positional shuffling ensued.

Pjaca sent Kießling through in the 71st minute but he couldn’t beat Lloris. **** it!

Ward-Prowse replaced Wanyama in the 77th. We had a 4-1-3-1 formation going.

In the 82nd minute we were hit on the counter, and Eriksen put the game out of reach.

Ward-Prowse should have kept us alive from the kickoff when Tadic teed him up, but he was denied by Lloris.

Frustration as for the second consecutive league game we were let down by ill-discipline. Spurs attacked at will after their go-ahead goal, but we still could have drawn the match, as Kießling and Ward-Prowse missed gilt-edged chances, the first of those at 2-1. We now have the difficult task of trying to bounce back in just 3 days time at the Etihad, without our best striker and best centre-back. Lose that and it’s 3 on the bounce.


POM: Christian Eriksen (9.0, 1G, 2A)

Best Southampton Player: Dusan Tadic (8.0, 0G, 1A)
 

English Premier League - Game 24 - Manchester City (Away)


Man City away is always a difficult fixture, but it’s compounded by the suspensions of my best striker and centre back. Their lineup is just terrifying. It would be great to snap our two game losing streak, but I’m not expecting fireworks.

Tadic picked up an injury and was replaced by De Paul in the 30th minute. De Paul and Pjaca switched wings.

3 minutes later City countered from a free kick, but Dragowski denied Silva from close range.

In the 44th minute we should have scored! A corner was cleared to Luan, who put it back in, and Kompany cleared Radu’s effort off the line, before Hart’s incredible reflex save denied De Paul from the rebound!

In the 53rd minute Silva put them in front with a first time finish from the edge of the box. So frustrating, as the shot count was 13-4 in our favour!

Agüero then showed the value of an elite striker, running himself from halfway and finishing with ease. From total control to 2 goals down in 4 minutes!

Xabi Alonso and Kießling replaced Clasie and Gitschier on the hour mark.

Agüero was at it again in the 66th, but this time Dragowski tipped his shot over.

In the 77th minute Wanyama summed up our day when he let fly from 25 yards with a peach of a shot, only to see it hit the underside of the bar, then the inside of the post, then bounce clear.

Radu was forced off by injury in the 81st minute, ending any hopes of a comeback. Alonso dropped back to central defence.

Dragowski was forced to make a good save from Volland in the 84th.

Well that was as frustrating as they come. We took the game to City and played really well, but all we have to show for it is a 2-0 defeat and a pair of injuries. Radu was stretchered off and could be seriously hurt. So disappointing - 3 defeats in a row, yet in all three of them we were the better team for much of the contest.


POM: Jose Gaya (Manchester City - 8.9, 0G, 0A)

Best Southampton Player: Victor Wanyama (7.5, 0G, 0A)
 
Unlucky with the red cards hopefully you can find some good form and push your way up the table

Edit and bad luck with the injuries
 

Reed departs after failing to make an impression on the first team. I wish him well.
P$G’s latest offer for Augustinsson is nearly at 30m, but it is rejected too.
More bad news as Kießling, a year and a half after joining the club, is homesick. He has been granted a leave of absence. We will need our young strikers to really step up now.
 
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FA Cup - Fourth Round - Huddersfield (Away)


I’m not taking many chances with the team selection today. There’s some rotation, and some youngsters on the bench, but it’s still a very strong lineup. Hopefully we can secure progression to the next round today.

We dominated the first half without creating any real chances of note, and our shooting was wayward, so we went into the break all square.

We finally went in front in the 58th minute, as Kurzawa’s excellent cross was turned home by Asensio for his first Saints goal.

Odjidja made a vital block to stop Milik doubling the lead in the 61st minute.

Sung-Ryong made a top save to deny De Paul a minute later, turning it over the bar.

From the resulting corner it was another maiden Saints goal, this time for Kurzawa, who turned home the rebound from Asensio’s acrobatic volley.

In the 68th minute it was Jurcik’s turn to pick up his first for the club, rifling an exquisite low volley past the keeper after Luan sent a cleared free kick back into the area.

Slattery and Sindelar replaced Alonso and Milik in the 71st.

Rodriguez replaced De Paul in the 74th.

A comfortable win in the end, which was nice to see, and three new names on the scoresheet too! Huddersfield didn’t test Forster all game as the defence did an excellent job too. Through to the 5th Round! None of the big teams have fallen so far.


POM: Layvin Kurzawa (9.0, 1G, 1A)
 
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