Southampton lost another game this afternoon as West Ham put them to the sword with a 3-1 win.
Manolo Gabbiadini scored on his debut, but goals from Andy Carroll, Pedro Obiang and Mark Noble sealed a win for The Hammers.
I’m not really in the mood to do a proper introduction, so I’ll get straight into the rant and then on to the two positives of the game.
Predictability – As soon as we scored, you just knew we’d concede. But the sad thing is that you knew exactly when the goal would come – straight afterwards. It happened against West Brom, and it’s happened a fair few times before this season.
You have to wonder what Claude Puel is saying – or Eric Black (God forbid) is saying – to the players at half-time.
Shane Long – Long had scored three – our only three – goals in his last four Saints games. He’s in a good run of form. So, Mr Puel, what’s the answer? Start him? Nope. Let him carry on his good patch of form? No. Allow any continuity in the Southampton team? Good one.
Adapting to the opposition – Sometimes, you have to bite your tongue as a coach/manager, adapt to the circumstances and adjust the team to suit the style of the opposition. We witnessed West Ham take an absolute battering only on Wednesday from Manchester City. They took them apart with speed. West Ham’s back-line is slow.
So, Mr Puel. What shall we do? Bench Nathan Redmond and Shane Long – two of the fastest, if not the fastest, players in the squad.
Jack Stephens – I feel for the guy. I think that he’s got potential and he is a very good player when in possession, but I’m not sure that some games suit him. Again, it’s all about game management for me. I would have played Florin Gardos today to counter Andy Carroll’s physicality. We saw Stephens struggle against Llorente, another physical player.
With that being said, Stephens impressed against Liverpool. Was it a one-off? I don’t think so. I think he has the capacity to be a good defender for us, but I feel as though he’s not ready to come against the powerful forwards. I’d say he’s a good defender, but against the teams that play with a bit more fluidity. I don’t think he quite has the ability to dominate strikers in the Premier League just yet.
Closing down – We might as well have played with a defence and an attack today. Where was the midfield? For the first goal, not one man came out to challenge the player that assisted Carroll’s goal. For the second, no-one came out to close down Obiang. It’s simple stuff. The midfield were non-existent today and that can’t happen.
Desire – There was little. The first ball was West Ham’s. Why? Because they wanted it more. The second ball was West Ham’s. Why? Because they wanted it more. Until we actually look motivated to take one for the team and to look like we want the match more than the opposition, we won’t win games. Simple.
Out of ideas? – 94 minutes into the match, Slaven Bilic is out there getting into his team and is on tenterhooks. They’re 3-1 up, and he isn’t satisfied. Claude Puel is stood there, rooted to the spot, with his arms crossed. Out of ideas.
I’ll move on to the positives now.
Positive One – Manolo Gabbiadini had an exceptional debut. He was involved at all times, he worked hard, he scored a fantastic goal with his first strike of the match and he got himself into brilliant positions. It was a great debut and he was by far our best player.
Positive Two – It didn’t rain.
