Saints 1-3 Bournemouth: Start Off On The Blunt Foot

What a week it has been, genuinely the most surreal of my life. At the time of publishing, my On the March debut is at 206K views on Facebook alone. I am so thankful for all the support I have received this week, it has really meant a lot. To have people coming up and congratulating me on Friday was such a nice surprise, I never expected Kenzie Benali to come up and say well done! I’m so pleased with how well the video has been received. It seems it has been popular in Mali thanks to Djenepo’s solo effort, so I’m pleased I’ve been able to share the experience with people unable to be there. I know match vlogging has its detractors, but it is greatly appreciated by people who don’t attend the game. Hopefully I’ll be back for another one again soon! 

Of course, the video wasn’t without its abuse. If Twitter’s taught us one thing this week, it’s ‘if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all’. Purely coincidental that I haven’t Tweeted about the Bournemouth game since the final whistle… I’ll be honest, now that I’m associated with the club itself, I am unsure how scathing my assessments online can be. I’ve always aimed to bring perspective, but may have at times been guilty of passionate rants. From hereon in I’ll be doing my best to keep my opinions fair and balanced, unless we win and I’m feeling overly positive.

There’s no doubt about it though, Friday night was not good enough and we have every right to feel disappointed. I was optimistic before the game, even more so when it was announced that Redmond would be starting. The man who had stepped up in his absence, Djenepo, was ruled out of the Cherries clash, so it was a relief to see Nathan fit and starting… especially ahead of next week. The atmosphere before the game was one of the best I can remember for a long time. The minutes applause for Leon Crouch was well observed, and then followed by the fans roaring the Saints on as the game got underway. Everyone was in fine voice, singing about Tuesday, belittling Bournemouth. It really did feel like it was going to be a fun night… for all of nine minutes.

A Bournemouth corner, swung in from Diego Rico, somehow found the head of Nathan Aké, who’s powerful header fired the Cherries into the lead. From that point, we knew it was only heading one way, such is the predictability of our form. Hasenhüttl has drawn criticism for his team selection last night, which I will come onto, however some people are arguing it is harsh to judge him on one game, particularly given the results beforehand. To provide context, I have decided to summarise each of our first half performances this season:

BURNLEY (A)

Defence – Valery, Bednarek, Vestergaard, Stephens, Bertrand (Score at half time 0-0)

To be fair, the first half was our better half in this game. Burnley got the ball in the net after a slip by Jack Stephens, thankfully it was ruled out for offside. Nothing much else happened, Saints created very little.

LIVERPOOL (H)

Defence – Valery, Bednarek, Yoshida, Vestergaard, Bertrand (Score at half time 0-1) 

Our best first half performance of the season. We were guilty of missing good chances from Adams and Yoshida and were undone at the death by a world class strike from Mané. The only game where it could be argued we’ve come out fully motivated and up for it.

BRIGHTON (A) 

Defence – Valery, Bednarek, Vestergaard, Danso (Score at half time 0-0) 

For the first half an hour, Brighton were the only team threatening, and the game only became balanced once Andone was sent off for a horror tackle on Valery.

FULHAM (A)

Defence – Cédric, Bednarek, Danso, Højbjerg (Score at half time 0-0) 

Despite putting out an exciting, tricky and pacy attack, we failed to muster a shot.

MAN UNITED (H) 

Defence – Cédric, Bednarek, Vestergarrd, Danso (Score at half time 0-1) 

A strike eerily similar to Mané’s for Daniel James, the only moment of note.

SHEFFIELD UTD (A)

Defence –  Cédric, Bednarek, Vestergaard, Yoshida, Djenepo (Score at half time 0-0) 

Adams came close twice to scoring his first Saints goal, denied by the post and Henderson, but Gunn and poor finishing from McGoldrick were the only things to stop us conceding.

BOURNEMOUTH (H) 

Defence – Danso, Bednarek, Vestergaard, Cédric (Score at half time 0-2) 

Aké’s header was followed by a Josh King strike, which was subsequently overturned by VAR for offside. There was nothing wrong with Harry Wilson’s effort though to double their lead. Redmond drew a save from Ramsdale, but other than that we created nothing yet again.

7 games without a goal in the first half. An aggregate score of 0-4. Clearly, there is something fundamentally wrong with how we initially set up, and our mentality going into games. So far this season, our performances have been redeemed by wonder goals from Djenepo, but clearly you can’t rely on those, especially when he’s unavailable every other game. We have also been very fortunate with VAR, most notably on Friday with a Bournemouth goal ruled out and a penalty not given (that should have been?), but even that couldn’t save us. Our first half performance gave us a mountain too big to climb in the second half. But why do we put ourselves in this position in the first place?

Scroll back up and read the starting defence of each game. Not once have we had the same back line play two consecutive matches. Everyone knows the strongest defences are built on consistency, well our players haven’t had that. Okay, so maybe we haven’t found our strongest combination yet, but that’s no reason to try and be too clever and put square pegs in round holes. Højbjerg as left back? Solid but we need him in the middle. Djenepo as wing-back? Changed at half time. Danso as right-back? Off at half time. This follows his last appearance, at left back, ending with a sending off. He’s a centre back. In a new league. Stop stitching him up. He played well as a centre back at Fulham, why not try playing him there? Where was the logic in playing a centre back at right back, a right back at left back and leaving a left back on the bench? The back line is understandably nervous, so Bournemouth’s calamitous third was hardly a surprise. It’s something we became accustomed to last season and it seems we’re just carrying on from where we left off. It was poor from Angus Gunn, but he is not the reason we lost.

Now, our confidence will only be lower. How is Danso feeling right now? Josh King’s disallowed effort and Wilson’s strike both came down his side, Bournemouth clearly targeted him. It wasn’t a surprise to see him pulled off at half time, the only surprise was that it wasn’t sooner. We ended the game with Bertrand at left back and Cédric right. How it has been for multiple seasons past. Why don’t we start like that? I don’t know if Bertrand and Ralph have had a falling out or not, but they need each other, and we need both. I do want to credit Cédric though, who in two games now has had to swap sides midway through, but he hasn’t put a foot wrong and has been one of our best players upon his return. What has happened to Valery though?

Why Ralph is making these bad tactical calls, I am unsure. There are signs of stubbornness and arrogance that we experienced with Pellegrino and Hughes. I’m not saying he’s anywhere near as bad as them, and at least he does make alterations, albeit against Bournemouth too late. He’s a likeable and passionate manager and us fans love him, but I do have to question how much the departure of Danny Rohl is hindering us. Last season, we enjoyed a thrilling chess match between Saints and the Cherries, both managers outmanoeuvring each other to a 3-3. This season, we handed the game to them. We fought hard in the second half, just like we have done against every team we’ve played bar Burnley, but it’s becoming tedious having to come out from the break with a reaction. Okay so it has worked at Brighton and Sheffield, we managed to scrape a point against Man U, but Liverpool and even more so, Friday night, we asked too much of ourselves. I’m not saying we couldn’t have won, stats don’t say that either and if Ward-Prowse could have found the target, maybe we would have, but we needlessly gifted them the advantage to begin with.

I guess the consistency issue extends to up front, though this is mainly due to injury. Our attack has potential, but with so many flair players, we need to give them a run of games together to understand each other. Boufal was the brightest spark and is really working hard for the team, but we just need to get him on the same wavelength as Redmond and Adams, as very little was actually created during the game. Stats will say we had 25 shots, but all I really recall are Redmond and Boufal’s long range efforts, not the type of shots you can rely on. Add in Ward-Prowse’s skied shots from similar range and you realise most of our shots were from too far out. Bournemouth’s defence has to be praised, the amount of times they blocked shots was impressive, but we were never going to find a way to break them down bar the gift of the penalty. Once again, the press works well against teams that come to St Mary’s to play, but when we face a team behind the ball waiting to counter, we run out of ideas. We can huff and puff as much as we like but there is no end product. Our home form is turning out to be our undoing, for yet another season.

I guess the most frustrating thing about the game was that it was a missed opportunity. Whilst it would have been nice to sit third for a night, ultimately this was about getting 10 points on the board. Double figures three months earlier than last season. 7 points from 6 games is not a bad return, but 10 would have really taken the pressure off our next run of games:

Spurs (A)

Chelsea (H)

Wolves (A)

Leicester (H)

Man City (A)

Everton (H)

Arsenal (A)

I struggle to see many points for us in that list. I fear we’re going to plummet down the table. I doubt we’ll be in the relegation scrap come the end of the season, but we may be lingering down there longer than maybe we first expected this season.

So the Cherries had their ‘historic night’, winning at a place with statistically one of the worst home records in recent times. Congratulations.

Our night is Tuesday.

After all I’ve said about lethargic first halves, it’s important that we come out all guns blazing at Fratton. And I’m confident we will. On Friday night, Kenzie came up at half time and asked me to record a message for the players, which will be shown to them before the game.

So when we score in the first half for the first time this season, and smash the Skates, you’ll know who to thank. (Admittedly I don’t know how motivating I was having just watched the first half and us trailing 0-2 at the time…)

Both teams lost this weekend, however we sit 12th in the Premier League whilst they sit 20th in League One (As of time of writing, Sunday morning). Have we ever played a weaker Pompey team? The fans are screaming for Jackett out, and losing heavily to us might just be the final nail in the coffin. I’m nervous though, we made a meal out of beating Fulham in the last round and I do worry about our mentality. The game is going to get physical, and this is where I fear the protective nature of the Prem will disadvantage us. We have to be up for the fight, giving as good as we get. From minute one. Their players will be up for it, and I just hope our lads do realise the significance, and aren’t fazed by the occasion. As long as we give our all, we should win comfortably. If we can get through the evening with a win, clean sheet and no injuries, then that is cloud nine. I’m excited and nervous and confident and apprehensive, how it should be before a derby. Just please don’t put us through penalties against them.

So here we are. We’ve waited seven years and now have only two days to go. Even writing this now I can feel the knots in my stomach. The next couple of days are going to drag. I remember clock watching before Swansea away, starting the day before and it seems I’ve started two days before here. At first I was glad it was an F1 weekend so I could forget about Bournemouth, now I’m glad it’s an F1 weekend so I have something to distract me from this wait.

However you’re watching the game, from the stands in Fratton, the Fanzone at St Mary’s, in a bar, at home, across the world, I hope you all enjoy the game. To those going, I hope everyone stays safe and makes the most of this rare memorable experience. The Saints fan base can be divided all too often, but on Tuesday night we come together and cheer our boys on to putting Pompey in their place. We’ve been put through the ringer over the last couple of seasons. Win this one game though, and these players will be written into Saints folklore, and talked about for generations to come. So I’ll leave you with the words I shouted down the camera on Friday night and will be shown to the players before the game.

‘COME ON LADS. GET INTO THEM. WE GOT THIS.’

I’m sure they’ll find them inspirational.

I will be back on Wednesday with a full match report. Make sure you don’t miss that by subscribing to the blog and following my Twitter, @Owen_The_Saints.