After two victories against Ronald Koeman’s first club and managerial roots the Saints move into the Europa League Playoffs defeating Vitesse 2-0 in Arnhem yesterday which equates to 5-0 on aggregate. Southampton will take on the Dutch club Midjtylland in the next round.
Although the Saints lined up in much more defensive outfit featuring a flat four in the back with Maya Yoshida playing left-back, they won 2-0. Vitesse should have done better with a few chances, but the same could be argued the other way. Cuco Martina and Steven Caulker made their competitive debuts. Martina never made any fatal mistakes, but did panic at some points and made life harder for himself. Caulker made a bad mistake in the first half which lead to a Vitesse chance, but looked good the rest of the game. Quick and read the opposition’s attack well, I look forward to watching him more the next few matches.
A lot can be learned from the first round and the experience was beneficial for a squad with new faces.
1. An Angry Ronald Koeman is Terrifying
Jeez, we love the guy more everyday, however he is someone we wouldn’t want to get on the wrong side of, even with a bad achilles.
2. Southampton fans pull their weight in a fight.
53 fans were arrested yesterday for a pre-match scuffle. Only 3 were english. By my math every southampton fan took on at 17.6 Vitesse fans. Wow, I am extremely proud, but we have to show mercy at some point. Pelle should probably be added to the list of arrests scoring in a sixth consecutive match versus Vitesse.
3. Sadio Mane is still young.
Ben Hooke wrote about how Sadio Mane wass quite impressive and I will reiterate the same point. Some games he appears to be far and away the most creative player on the pitch and has incredible pace, but it’s misses like in the 34’ minute that make me realize he is very raw. Only 23 he has incredible potential and could grow into the most important attacking player for the Saints this season. However, he made up for the miss in the 89’ minute.
4. Stekelenburg looks comfortable.
His career downward spiral looks misgiven, the Dutch international looked comfortable in goal and made several good decisions and a couple good saves. He looks to be a solid replacement in Forster’s absence.
5. Jay Rodriguez!
Making an extraordinary comeback from a knee injury that kept him out for 488 days. I think Koeman has expertly eased him back into the squad and I can see him being a consistent substitute for a few more games until he wipes all the rust away. This tweet made me tear up a little bit…
488 day’s. pic.twitter.com/FS3oTG5B2z — Jay Rodriguez (@JayRodriguez9) August 6, 2015
What to look forward to…
Southampton will take on FC Midjtylland in the Europa playoff round next Thursday, August 20th the following Thursday, August 27th.
