I was disappointed to be missing my first game of the season; however, in retrospect, I’m not too disheartened that I wasn’t there. Yes, it would have been nice to have witnessed a rare win, but other than Austin’s late header, what else happened in the game? I admit I’ve been limited to Solent commentary and two minutes of highlights on the Sky website, but from what I’ve seen and heard, it was a drab affair. I doubt the highlights on Quest tonight will show much more than the goal either.
As you may know, I am now head of the Southampton strand of 343 Futbol; a new footballing website that covers all Premier League teams. I produce match previews and reviews with the help of other writers, and today it was my turn to write a match review. I’m limited to 343 words, but I still struggled to reach the word count.
In the article, found here, I could only muster up this about the actual action in the match:
Southampton notched their first win of the season last night, as they came out 1-0 victors at The Amex, against Brighton in the second round of the Carabao Cup. In the 88th minute, Charlie Austin rose highest to meet Redmond’s inviting cross. He powered the ball past Button with his head, to put the 16/17 finalists one step closer back to Wembley.
The game had seemingly been heading for penalties, as despite chances for both sides, neither particularly looked like scoring. Elyounoussi, Yoshida, Gabbiadini and Ward Prowse all had efforts blocked or saved, whilst both Bissouma and Jahanbakhsh fired over for the home team. In the second half, Gyokeres drew two good saves from Saints debutant Angus Gunn, who kept a clean sheet on his first start; I still believe he will be our No.1 in the league sooner rather than later.
140 words. 140 words that I couldn’t be bothered to try and re-write again so took the lazy option and copied them.
Congratulations to our travelling support who were excellent last night, they came over loud and clear on the radio, and I’m so glad they were rewarded with a goal and a win. Just a shame that goal was from Austin, who will now start the next three games and offer nothing…
I’m joking, but it’s evident that Austin is more effective as an impact sub; higher intensity for shorter periods type player. He was one of three attacking subs made by Sparky, though these were arguably made with the impending penalties in mind. Redmond cemented his position as our ‘Player of the Season Thus Far’ with a brilliant cross to pick out Austin for the winner. I have a lot of respect for Nathan. On Boxing Day, I sat in the stands at Spurs away, horrified by chants of ‘You’re Not Fit To Wear The Shirt’ from our own supporters, directed at him. His confidence was low all season, but under Mark Hughes he has been reborn. He scored a vital goal at Goodison in that heartbreaking draw last season, and has started this term with the shackles off; he’s really benefiting from the free direct football we have been playing. He’s finally the player we thought we were signing, no longer restrained by Puel and Pellegrino. He will be key to us this season.
Also coming on was Sam Gallagher. He impressed at the Open Training Session, and I do think in time he will be important for us. He has the attributes we need in pace and strength, and he has the ability to hold balls up for all of our other strikers to get on the end of. In my 90Min Preview for Saturday’s game, I’ve been audacious and put him in my predicted lineup. Hughes needs to roll the dice as he doesn’t know his best team or formation, I think Sam might just add a needed dimension. Having said that, it won’t happen, I was surprised when he didn’t start yesterday.
Of the people that did start, who impressed? Angus Gunn. Regular readers would be aware that I am a huge fan of his, and think he will be our No.1 by the end of the season, and England’s in a due course. It would obviously be harsh to drop McCarthy in the Prem, but I can’t wait to see what our summer signing can do in the league. Two of England’s best goalkeepers vying for a starting berth is not a bad problem to have though. Harry Lewis making the bench last night over Forster shows just how out of favour Fraser is, but time is running out for him to be offloaded…
We’re still yet to see the best from Elyounoussi. He has the assets, he just needs to get up to speed with English football. I can’t see him becoming another Boufal; Moi has strength on the ball, just needs quicker decision making. That’ll come with game time so for now we’ll have to persevere. Armstrong seems to have waned since his impressive preseason, again a solid run of games would help.
From what I’ve heard, Yoshida and Bednarek played better than Hoedt and Vestergaard. I think we’re all in agreement that our strongest pairing would be Vestegaard’s dominance and Yoshida’s pace; hopefully we finally see that pairing at Selhurst. Our only real defensive issue is Cedric; he’ll have to play for his pace against Zaha this weekend, but he’s a liability and has no competition as last night proved. I haven’t heard positive reviews of Stephens’ shift in that position, and with Reed out on loan, who else do we have? Targett did great there against Celta Vigo, but was horribly exposed by Mönchengladbach. Why did we release Jérémy Pied?
It sounds as though both Davis and Gabbiadini are low down the pecking order, so I don’t expect to see much of them before the next cup game; drawn tomorrow night. Davis probably should’ve been sold given we have a replacement in Armstrong, but Gabbi I feel sorry for. Once again it sounds as though his runs were ignored, he was horribly isolated and needed another striker alongside him. Would him and Ings work? Once again I’d say him and Gallagher.
This post has turned out to be more of a squad assessment, but at least it’s been something as last night didn’t really give much to write about. This weekend we face Palace away, and I am excited to head on another away day. Cedric’s pace will be good for dealing with Zaha, but if I see him marking Benteke at the far post… Fingers crossed the win last night gives us the confidence to get our first league win, otherwise the Carabao Cup could become our escape from misery, like the FA Cup did earlier this year.
I’ll be back this weekend with another vlog and blog post!
Owen The Saints 