Hello and welcome back to the Owen The Saints blog. A lot has happened since I last posted on here, for the club, and me personally, so we have a lot to get through…
We’ll start with last Tuesday, when St Mary’s hosted England’s Euro 2020 qualifier against Kosovo. This was the first time Southampton had hosted an international since a 2-2 draw versus Macedonia in 2002 (Euro 2004 Qualifier), and the first time England had played a competitive fixture away from Wembley since 2006. A big opportunity for the club… so how did they do?
In my opinion, very well.
Things got off to a bad start when the M27 was closed due to a van fire, resulting in the roads being gridlocked for miles. Of all the days to happen, it had to be this one. It is likely that there were many England fans travelling from further afield that got stuck in it and missed a fair amount of the game. The benefit of it being at St Mary’s meant we knew all the back roads, and dad managed to carve out a route that saw us avoid the queues. Genuinely saw a part of the local area I never had before, despite living here for twenty one years…
We arrived at the stadium at half seven, but then had to queue twenty minutes to get in, meaning we missed the first two goals (oh well, there were plenty more…) There were obviously disgruntled fans in the line outside the ground, but I assume everyone just arrived around the same time due to the traffic. It was a long line but still moved fast, and, best of all, it meant we didn’t witness the absolute shambles that was Kosovo’s opening goal.
I’m not going to analyse the game itself, because this is a Saints blog, and frankly I don’t care enough, but it was very entertaining evening. I really struggle to sit through England matches on the telly normally, every game usually just feels flat. The competitive ones feel no different to friendlies. Of course, I’m fickle and become obsessed during tournaments, but still. Having said that, and in fairness I don’t know how it came across on TV, I thought everything about the game on Tuesday was brilliant. The atmosphere was one of the best I’ve known at a football match, I loved the noise coming from the Chapel Stand. And then the game itself. How many games have six goals in the first half? How often do England score five in 45? How often are you nervous, despite having a 5-1 lead? England are a strange team. They have a forward line to match the best in the world, but the mentality feels like they could crumble at any point.
Kosovo played well, and when they pulled it back to 5-3, I honestly thought they’d go all the way but it wasn’t to be, thankfully. It was a dramatic game that had everything, including Kane missing yet another penalty at St Mary’s. I hope they continue touring England around the country as it definitely made a difference to the atmosphere, which I think directly impacted the quality of the game. Needless to say, I think Southampton gave a very good account of ourselves.
Right, shall we get onto the reason you’re reading this post then? On Monday night, Twitter went into a classic #SaintsFC meltdown when Southampton FC tweeted this.
Yes, I am delighted to have been asked by the club to feature in their On the March series, covering some away games for their YouTube Channel and social medias! Some people may be wondering why I’ve returned to vlogging in some capacity, given what I’ve said in the past, and this is completely understandable. I don’t want everyone thinking that me leaving and returning was all attention seeking or something. There were genuine concerns for my safety at matches last season, and I had little choice but to stop. However, being offered such an opportunity by the club itself is very difficult to turn down. I have discussed with them the issues I’ve faced in the past, and they’ve ensured my safety is paramount, and have been amazing with their support for my protection. This means I can focus on those that appreciate the videos, and hopefully continue to produce more in the future.
With very little to moan about on the pitch though, people on Twitter had a field day Monday night, moaning about modern football and arguing between themselves. It does seem I caused a meltdown, and I do feel very sorry for The Chase’s Mark Labbett who was inadvertently caught in the crossfire and tagged in most of the tweets! I’m pleased with how the video came out though, especially considering it was the first time I’d vlogged since January. And for all the abuse, there has been a lot of love for the video, with so many people pleased to see me back in some form. Thank you for all the support everyone, it has been greatly appreciated! Certainly didn’t expect Tom Deacon and Kenzie Benali to be praising it too!
You can watch my On the March debut, in full, here:Â
And so, that brings us onto the day itself. I have to say, it was one of my favourite away days for a long time. I always love visiting new grounds, and this was my first ever trip to Sheffield, so I enjoyed exploring the area. When I had told people I was going up there, they all gave a look and sarcastically commented on it being ‘a lovely part of the world’. My expectations were low, but I was pleasantly surprised. It was all very modernised, though admittedly it seemed as though we were walking around a university campus. The high street was a picture, especially with trams rolling down through it and out onto a bridge. To me, it seemed quite a quaint little town with clear evidence of its heritage, despite being urban-contemporary. Just don’t ask me whereabouts in the country it is though, as I still don’t really know.
I was disappointed to miss the Brighton game last month, as I was on holiday, but I didn’t need to worry, as I basically witnessed the same game unfold once more. There are eery similarities between our 0-2 win at the Amex, and our 0-1 win at Bramall Lane, obviously not really in the scoreline though… Let’s go through them.
- RED CARD FOR OPPOSITION – Florin Andone was sent off at the Amex for a horror tackle on Yan Valery. Graham Potter was so unimpressed that he shipped him out to Galatasaray. Sounds familiar. Well on Saturday, former Saint Billy Sharp also saw red. He received affectionate applause from the away end as he entered the fold, we’re all pleased to see him get his chance in the Prem, but his late tackle on Stuart Armstrong wasn’t his finest moment. And this wasn’t the only officials’ decision to go in our favour.
- VAR DISALLOWED GOAL FOR OPPOSITION – Lewis Dunk thought he had headed in the opener at the Amex, but VAR intervened, and ruled it out for an offside player obstructing Gunn’s view, and there was arguably a foul on the keeper in there too. At Bramall Lane, McBurnie thought he had put the home side ahead when he tucked in at the far post, but VAR came to our rescue once more, and the goal didn’t stand due to John Egan being in an offside position when he attempted to play the ball. That’s two goals that would have stood last season, and both could have massively impacted the momentum in the game and lead to different outcomes. VAR might have its detractors, probably the same people moaning about vlogging, but it has proven it’s worth and been our friend so far. Just shows how unfairly we’ve been treated in the past. The VAR intervention on Saturday kicked our away support into life, the atmosphere peaked and look what happened next…
- DJENEPO WONDER GOAL – Our new Malian winger truly announced himself with his long range curling effort into the top corner of Matt Ryan’s goal at the Amex. Straight away he started drawing quite lazy comparisons to Mané, lazy because Mané took half a season to settle… Well, the new fan favourite followed that up with a stunning solo effort. After claiming a loose ball, he shrugged off both Norwood and O’Connell with some fancy footwork, good strength and drops of the shoulder. He could have gone down but instead found the space to get a shot off and place the ball in the bottom corner. Two goals. Two world-class efforts. This guy is special. What he isn’t though, is a wing back.
- AWAY CLEAN SHEET – Our biggest concern last season was our defence, and many people felt as though a centre back should have been our number one priority over the summer. We signed Kevin Danso on deadline day, who so far has only played one game in that position, against Championship side Fulham. Twice he’s featured at left back in Bertrand’s ongoing absence, but a second yellow against Man U saw him suspended at the weekend. Our defence has been constantly changing, Yoshida came in on Saturday, and things started off bleak this season when we lost 3-0 to Burnley. Fast forward a month, and only three teams have conceded less than us. With the Brighton and Sheffield victories sandwiching our 1-0 triumph at Craven Cottage, Saints have won three away games (in all competitions) without conceding for the first time since 1986. First back to back away Prem wins since March 2017. In the four league games post Burnley, we’ve conceded as many goals as we did in that one match. And this is despite still looking shaky at times. Gunn was a big presence against the Blades, denying McGoldrick to spare us our blushes.
- NO GOALS IN THE FIRST HALF – This is a similarity between all of our matches so far this season. At least this time we had chances in the first half. Ché Adams couldn’t have gotten closer to his first goal for the club without scoring, only the post and a brilliant stop by Dean Henderson denying him. I believe it was definitely his best game for us, and perhaps he’s just saving the goals for next Tuesday… However, no one seems to be able to find the net in the opening 45. It isn’t a major concern as long as we remain defensively astute and potent in the second half, but it is bizarre how long this streak is going on for.
That’s really the only minor quibble we can have about the on pitch performances. Players are all putting shifts in, and it’s great to see Romeu and Cédric revitalised. And we’re 10th in the table! Admittedly the table means nothing yet, but to be there having played both Liverpool and Man U confirms this has been a far more promising start to the season than we’ve had in recent years.
Next up, we play the team directly above us… and next to us. No not that way, we’re playing the irrelevant lot in the other direction first. Yes, Saints take on Bournemouth in the Friday Night Kick-Off. It will be good to be back at St Mary’s under the lights, hopefully the game is as entertaining as the evening match there last week… It certainly was a dramatic affair when the Cherries last came to town, a 3-3 thriller that confirmed our safety. They’re coming off the back of a 3-1 win over Everton, with us both sitting on a respectable 7 points from 5 games. We’ll be looking for our first home win of the season, which would increase the momentum ahead of next week. They’ll be looking for their first win at St Mary’s, yet again.
I’m excited for Friday night. The team are playing well and we have a historic night ahead of us to come. The atmosphere under the lights will be electric, and a win could lift us to third, albeit for one night. I will be back this weekend with a match report from the Bournemouth game, and a look ahead to the season defining clash at Fratton Park.
Only 6 days to go people.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this post and my On the March debut. Please feel free to subscribe to the blog, and follow my Twitter @Owen_The_Saints!
Owen The Saints 