Match Reports
Chelsea Home
Our pre-match preparations are often enlivened by discussions over unexpected Southampton team selections, and the XI for the visit of Chelsea was no exception, when Long and Austin were announced in preference to the partnership of Pellè and Mané from the successful line-up at Stamford Bridge, both omitted players on the bench. Saints started brightly, […]
Swansea Away Saints are Safe
It seems a long time ago when Saints conceded that very preventable goal at Norwich on January 2nd, and indeed the days have now grown a lot longer, but we haven’t let in a league goal since early in 2016. That suggests a settled side, but the Koeman brothers are always prone to tinker, including […]
West Ham Home
A win against West Ham left Saints undefeated in five Premier League games, and also with a run of four home league wins. Both sequences were achieved without a goal conceded and mostly with variations of a back three or five, depending on how you interpret the role of the wide players. Targett had featured […]
Arsenal Away
It would be nice to be strong enough to call the shots over team selection in every match, but against the likes of Manchester United and Arsenal, manager Koeman picks the side that can best cope with the opposition’s strengths: thus a vastly different formation at Ashburton Grove compared with Old Trafford, with Ward-Prowse and […]
Manchester United Away Saints see of the Devils Again
As has been previously noted, there’s no sentiment in the Koeman brothers’ team selections, so last week’s hero, Ward-Prowse, was dropped against Manchester United as Clasie returned. That was despite losing Davis through injury and the Saints midfield had an untidy look, with Tadić and Targett both occupying left side positions ahead of Bertrand in […]
West Brom Home
Manager Koeman has a record of always including his best players for the job at hand, provided they are fit enough. Wanyama was available again to face West Bromwich, so in he came, although some fans had misgivings; there remain doubts about Pellè’s immediate fitness, so he was on the bench, where he was joined […]
Watford Home
There were rumours that Pellè would return to face Watford, but he only made it as far as the bench. There was a welcome return at the other end, though, with the absences of Stekelenburg and Gazzaniga forcing a comeback for Forster. We had changes in front of goal as well, with Soares and Bertrand […]
Crystal Palace FA Cup 3rd round Home
“It was 40 years ago today, Hughie Fisher taught the band to play…” Well 40 years ago on FA Cup 3rd round Saturday anyway, when Fisher’s late strike earned Saints a replay with Aston Villa, and come 1st of May, history was made. This year’s opponents were Crystal Palace, just as they had been in […]
Norwich Away
Saints travelled to Norwich without the suspended Romeu, quite a feat by him in view of the limited pitch time he has enjoyed this season. They also omitted Mané from the starting line up, with the player punished for missing a team meeting. In view of the extra effort travelling fans had to make during […]
West Ham Away
There are plenty of us who remember Easter programmes of three matches in four days, but the game has changed and it does seem odd to find two Premier League schedules over Christmas – they seem to fill the grounds easily enough whenever they play, so why bother? Manager Koeman always threatened to rotate his […]
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