Southampton manager Claude Puel has certainly changed the atmosphere at the club with four successive wins in just 10 days! Prior to the match, both teams had combined for only two PL wins this season. Keeping in mind that the Saints and us finished 6th and 7th respectively, that is not a good start for either side. Speaking of good starts, after playing six matches last season, we were third, whilst our opponents were 16th. You may have picked up on some similarities by now. What we can learn from Southampton’s poor start to the season is that form is temporary, and class is permanent.
At the start of the season, many pundits and bookies would have predicted a top eight finish this season. This is because, last season, we lost two home league matches from our first 17. Moreover, we have already lost two home league matches from just three. My point is that these stats are meaningless (only time you will hear me say that), as they are fixating on last season’s results, which ingrains the message that our team is a one-season wonder. I’m sure fans and players alike are looking for a source of inspiration from last season, but it is very damaging, as we need to stop looking for an element of luck, and play well in form, as Southampton have just done. And before you complain that they don’t have as much pressure on them, they have a new manager and have actually managed to stay in the Europa League!
We have conceded 15 goals in our opening six top-flight matches for the first time since the 1988-89 season, in which we were relegated, finishing in 19th. The prospect of relegation is all too real looking at our performances, with the skipper rightly calling our defending “laughable”. It doesn’t help that he has the pace of a snail, but he is right to say so. Last week, I mentioned that the manager had started doing things his own way. He subbed Noble off at HT at the Hawthorns, and this time, chose to sub him off for 20 year old Edimilson Fernandes, who came on for his PL debut, albeit with less remaining time on the clock.
The team is playing as a group of individuals, in particular, the defenders. That is why there were so many errors that lead to goals. The partnership of Ogbonna and Reid wasn’t particularly good, but it will take some time for them to start playing well again. I feel that the gaffer won’t want to change much in defence, aside from perhaps reintroducing Byram. Slav is very honest, as are our players, so what he says will have a discernible impact. “It is my responsibility, it is my team” means that he is taking action by removing James Collins from the starting XI, as well as Calleri and Tore. We have lost four successive PL matches for the first time since April 2014, so I can understand why Bilic said: “We can say the season is only just started. But it’s happening for four games now and we have to change it big time.”
We have made a bit of a habit of conceding a few goals early on, only to end up fighting for the ultimate comeback. We saw a lot of that last season, but we are conceding so many goals now, it is virtually impossible to chase the game. But given the heightened tensions amongst the defence, it is easy to disregard our attacking display. This is the first time that we failed to score in the league in half a season, which is all the more frustrating, as Southampton were that team! Plus they played about an entire half with 10 men. Payet had little to no presence in the first half.
At the break, Lanzini was subbed off for Feghouli. I’m not sure if this was the manager’s way to get Payet to play a more central role, but subbing a winger on for a central player was unusual to say the least. I personally feel that our entire team is partly to blame for its defensive work-rate, including the wingers. Antonio, in particular, was to blame for the first and last goals, as Ryan Bertrand and James-Ward Prowse were not back-tracked. He may be topping goals, shots, shots on target, opposition box touches, crosses, dribbles, and sprints for us this season, but it doesn’t mean he can’t be a team player. Our defence may not be faring well, but that’s not to suggest our attack isn’t as well.
Our main style of attack was trying to cross into the box (without Carroll). Southampton are renown for their heading abilities, and we played to their strength. van Dijk was WhoScored MOTM winning 88% of his aerial duels, along with 16 clearances. Our attackers haven’t been particularly inventive in recent weeks, despite applying pressure well. I feel that this is because they are lacking confidence. It is painstakingly obvious that our defence certainly isn’t oozing in confidence, but neither is our attack.
We will get a license for 60,000 when we resolve some safety, segregation, and antisocial issues. dg https://t.co/Zn0W4S6CGh
— David Gold (@davidgold) September 25, 2016
One of the few positives from the game was that security seems to have improved with no recorded scenes of violence across the Twittersphere. I certainly hope I haven’t missed anything on that front that could prove me wrong. However, we are seriously lacking support from the fans. We didn’t have many fans turn up to watch Accrington Stanley – only 39,877 showed up. It’s a good thing we didn’t lose, otherwise there would have been rumours that our boys aren’t having their dose of Vitamin D. I may have been born in 1997, but even I recognise that milk ad! Many will attribute the quietness to our new stadium, but for me, it is because we are on a poor run of form.