Southampton have failed to win yet again as a late Steven Naismith goal halted their progress in the FA Cup against Norwich City.
Saints started off brightly and took the lead through Virgil van Dijk, but Norwich equalised after the interval through a Steven Whittaker penalty.
The visitors regained control with a Maya Yoshida goal but The Canaries equalised again at the death through a Steven Naismith header.
Here are my thoughts on the match.
Virgil – I’ll just get it out the way first. We all know he’s a cut above, but it’s getting to the stage where it’d feel like an insult to him to keep hold of him beyond this season… he’s destined for the top and the top is where he shall be next season. Genuinely a better finisher than the majority of our squad.
Movement – Or lack of it. Yet again, whenever a player tried to bring the ball forward, there was a lack of movement in the final third. There were very few cutting runs and there were very few opportunities for attacking combinations. If we want to start closing games out, we have to create plenty of chances to do so given our attacking options.
Long – So, we know he’s not the most prolific of goal scorers. However, he missed yet another clear-cut opportunity yesterday; as he has done countless times this season. For me, he’s probably most effective off the bench when trying to wear down a team. Apart from his work rate, there doesn’t seem to be a lot else there this season.
Lewis’ debut – It was quite the surprise to see young Harry Lewis between the sticks. However, it was a big opportunity for him and he will have learned a lot from it. He was at fault for the first goal of the afternoon, having a little bit of a nightmare for the penalty incident. However, that’s just inexperience and it’s a big learning curve for him and one that I’m sure he’ll benefit from. Full marks to Claude Puel for giving him a go.
Stephens’ emergence – Ever since he was thrown in at the deep end against Everton on Monday, young Jack Stephens has been faultless. Playing in the more unnatural right-back position, the academy graduate has shown a lot of composure and defensive quality for Saints and he’s certainly showing his ability. Impressive.
The second goal – You’d hope that in the 92nd minute of a match that we’re trying to close out, we’d be more focussed and switched on than at any other point in the encounter. Nope, we just decide to give the opposition striker at least three-yards between him and both van Dijk and Yoshida. The blame largely falls down to the latter, which is a shame after such a good display.
Ward-Prowse – Are we ever going to actually see him improve? Like, really? I’m genuinely not sure he’s developed any part of his game apart from his fitness since 2013/14. He gives the ball away cheaply, he gets bulked off the ball easily and guess what? His set-pieces aren’t even that good. Make or break season for him – in his fifth Premier League campaign – is surely breaking as the games go by. Has to step up or be left behind.
Hojbjerg – Norwich or not, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg was sublime. He used his body well, showed composure, showed fight and determination, bagged a glorious assist for the second and simply dictated the game. I’d love to say that I’m hoping he kicks on from here in the coming games, but he’ll probably be dropped for the Liverpool game, so it’s back to square one. Best player on the pitch today by far though.
Bizarre substitutions – I was happy Claude brought on Jay Rodriguez in place of Long, because he’d been abysmal. However to substitute Harrison Reed who I felt was having a very good match for Oriol Romeu was a strange call. Why did he feel the need to swap over the defensive midfielder when we were in cruise control and limit Reed’s chance? I found it odd.
If only we could close games out – It was another case of failing to kill off the game that cost us. If we had a clinical striker, we’d have comfortably won the match and we’d have comfortably won plenty of other matches this season. We’d probably still be in Europe. Please, for the love of God, sign a striker. It’s so glaringly obvious that we’re awful in front of goal.
And no, recalling Sam Gallagher isn’t the answer.
