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Zaman Siddiqui's Match Review

Oh, when the Saints go 3-1 down

I imagine former Saints Jose Fonte and Michail Antonio now have a new chant to bond over. Both players are very experienced, having played in both the Championship and League 1. In addition to that, Fonte is practically native with the time he has spent playing in several tiers of English football, whilst Antonio has played non-league football. I’m sure that they both appreciate the finer things in life. Given where they came from, the chances of both playing Premier League football when they started out were slim to none.

“When the Saints Go Marching In” was initially an American gospel hymn. We have Louis Armstrong to thank for the vocal and instrumental renditions of the song that arose when he turned it into a renown pop tune in the 1930’s. His sister had informed him that she thought the secular performance style was irreligious. But, he didn’t stick to tradition. Instead, he turned the churchgoers, who once sung the traditional church tune, into a brass band. Fonte could have stayed in the Primeira Liga with a rather undeserved, untouchable status, and Antonio could have been aggressive with the non-league players who went for his ankles every time he played. But, they had a vision. These men have made football what it is, be it through a chant or through performances on the pitch. Sure, they didn’t always get the approval of everyone around them, but they never gave up.

Prior to this match, we failed to win any league matches in which we were in a losing position. With debutant Manolo Gabbiadini scoring after just 12 minutes, we easily could have rolled over and accepted our fate. But, that wouldn’t be a fitting ending for a team with players that have earned top-flight football the hard way. Fonte and Antonio are at the heart of what our club is all about. They are gifted and talented players, who will always put in a good shift for their teams. That is why the former Southampton captain Fonte can be proud having just walked away from his old club with three points. The Saints sing the traditional lyrics. Fonte and Antonio singing the unconventional 3-1 lyrics typifies how unique they both are. Now, with the support of the fans they want to play in front of, there is no limit as to what they can achieve.

The first few lyrics of the song are in dactylic tetrameter (simply put, that means they are in four parts/syllables). The four parts I remembered were 0-1, 1-1, 2-1, and 3-1. After conceding just five goals in their first eight home Premier League games under Claude Puel, Southampton have conceded nine goals in their last four matches at St. Mary’s. It is a real cause for concern that they are starting to concede so many goals, because their defence was the only thing keeping them afloat. Their transfer deadline day signing of striker Gabbiadini for a reported fee of £14M was a crucial one – only Boro and Hull have scored less than them. For a team that has finished in 6th, 7th, and 8th in the last three seasons, I think they should have bought a few more reinforcements instead of selling their older, more experienced players like Fonte and Pelle.

Furthermore, they had great chances in the match, but failed to capitalise on them. Gabbiadini spurned a great chance to score early on in the second half, as well as failing to punish Kouyaté’s poor clearance, missing the target from 10 yards. There were other attempts for a grandstand finish at 3-2, but it didn’t come. They had 21 shots of which only seven were on target. Louis Armstrong was also skilful at scat singing. Perhaps he could have used it as part of a montage of Southampton shooting. By comparison, we had six shots of which four were on target. This highlights the lack of striking options the Saints have. The fact that they didn’t have anyone on the bench to play there meant having to rely on the new signing to score again.

With a 4-0 defeat to City just a few days ago, going 1-0 down early on in the next match doesn’t help morale. When the goal was conceded, I was devastated. Southampton had lost five of their last six matches, so this wasn’t the day to go missing. Something that has to be applauded is our team’s bouncebackability (all one word – click the hyperlinked word). When we lost 5-1 to Arsenal, we responded with a 2-2 draw against Liverpool. Also, when we lost 5-0 to Man City, we responded with a 3-0 against Palace. Most football clubs wouldn’t be able to bounce back like we have, which makes this feat all the more amazing! The thing is, if we are deadly serious about challenging for Europe, then we’ve got to start beating more of the top teams. I hope our players think about it sensibly taking baby steps like not losing 2-0 or worse. We need to defend at all times. We can beat the majority of teams below us, but can’t go on perfect runs. 19 points from a possible 30 is not bad going, but we can’t expect it again.

We had quite a few vulnerabilities in the match, such as playing Kouyaté as RB. Sure, he made more tackles than any other player on the pitch, but he wasn’t static in his position. Southampton kept attacking down his side, as they knew that the space there could be exploited. Thankfully, we kept our composure after conceding that first goal. We did well to make sure Southampton didn’t get into dangerous areas, which is why they only managed to score one goal, yet have 21 shots.

I have to give a special mention to Obiang, who I think has given one of the performances of the season. He is the first West Ham player to score and assist in a Premier League game this season. He has been playing phenomenally well for us in midfield, as well as scoring a wonderful goal right before HT. To think that we were going to offload him in the Summer!


We have ended the matchweek in 9th, though that’s not to say that we are destined for a top-half finish. For instance, if we lost the match yesterday, then we would be on 28 points, which would leave us in 13th – how unlucky that would’ve been! With a win, if Stoke had beaten West Brom, and if Burnley had beaten Watford, we would have gone down two places to 11th. The lowest we could have finished this matchweek was 14th, whilst the highest finish available was 9th. We are very fortunate to have finished in such an impeccable position this week, but we won’t be so lucky later on. There is still a long season ahead, and we will get a few blips every now and then. The five points between us and Bournemouth may not seem like much at the moment, but it can all change very quickly as Southampton have found out dropping from 7th to 13th in the space of seven matchweeks.

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