Premier League Match 1 - Southampton 0 Swansea 0

Our Main Goal Threat Has Off Day

Finally the day has arrived when we can all stop talking about shithouses and actually talk about some football. Day 1 of the new Premier League season with Saints entertaining Swansea City. The opening results are notoriously difficult to predict and to be honest I would rather be playing away from home where a point would be deemed a good result. Home games against teams who you really should beat are not what you want especially when you've got an opening day home record as bad as ours is. We usually seem disorganised on the opening day and this is invariably down to having had a change of manager or having had some element of complete chaos happening in the summer.

We all know about the chaos that we had in the summer and Swansea have had the same with their best Player, Gylfi Sigurdsson being wanted by Everton who are rumoured to be waving over £40 million about for a player who is decent but without being brilliant.  However, having said that, I saw a stat that said he’d scored more and assisted more than Couinho over the past two seasons and if Liverpool are to be believed, which they clearly never are, he’s in the £100 million bracket. The main difference between Everton and Liverpool of course is that Everton have actually put a bid in and done things the right way. Swansea do not want to let their man go but the similarities with ourselves are that the player is not involved on the opening day of the season as is the case with us. Yet again it's another illustration that the transfer window should be closed by the time that the season starts. This is completely obvious and probably explains why it hasn't happened yet.

Aside from Sigurdssn, Swansea’s best player is Fernando Llorente who has been linked with a move to Chelsea so he probably doesn't fancy playing much before the transfer window closes either, though in his defence, he has a broken arm. Swansea have used the loan market this summer and borrowed Tammy Abraham from Chelsea who was prolific in the championship last year for Bristol City. I've only ever seen him play for the England age group sites but he looks big and awkward and exactly the sort of player who will give Stephens and Yoshida problems. That doesn't mean that I think he's any good but that he is the sort of physical centre forward they will struggle against. Mind you, I'm glad he's playing instead of Llorente. Paul Clement did well with his half a season rescue act with Swansea last year and this year it's going to be another season where finishing anywhere above the bottom three is going to be seen as a success. 

So, a home game against a team I expect to be fighting relegation. This is the sort of game we really need to win. With our second game being at home because of the West Ham stadium fiasco, a return of four points from these two opening home games would be most welcome. It will take a lot of pressure off of the West Ham game if we could win today and obviously six points out of six from two home games with set us up very very nicely.

Any optimism for the first game of new season should be tempered with the reality that we have exactly the same players as we had when we went our last five home games without scoring a goal. I'm sure that Mauricio Pellegrino will in time get more out of this group of players and Claude would've done but it isn't going to happen overnight. I can't imagine that Mario Lemina will be any more than a substitute today so we are still going to have a bit of a problem with cutting edge. I just hope that if we get down the wings that there is more than one player in the box when the cross gets fired over. We need to play with more intent and have more desire to score a goal than we had last year. I am expecting lots more efforts on goal from the likes of Tadic, Redmond, JWP and Boufal. These players need to be contributing 5 to 8 goals this season which only Redmond managed last year. Contributing 0 to 3 goals and maybe one or two assists is not enough from an attacking midfield player.

The team selected by Mauricio was predictable with Fraser in goal, Cedric, Maya, Jack and Ryan Bertrand in defence. Oriol and Davo in midfield with Redders, JWP and Tadic behind Gabbiadini. The two new signings Lemina and Bednarek made the bench along with Shane Long, Charlie Austin, Sam McQueen, Boufal and the legend that is Stuart Taylor.  I wonder if Mario ever experienced the waft of beer, kebabs and fags smell emanating from one of his fellow substitutes when he was sat on the bench for Juventus? There was no place for either Pierre Hojbjerg or Jordy Clasie so to be honest, it is probably the exact 18 that Claude would've picked.

Saints start really well and build down the right with Tadic winning a corner.  Over it comes from Ryan Bertrand and Gabbiadini gets up and flicks a header towards goal and it skims off of the top of the post and bar and over.  nIt really should have been 1-0 on five minutes as Redmond played a perfectly weighted ball inside the fullback to Bertrand who pulled back to Tadic who sidefooted wide from 5 yards.  Fuck – that’s a bad one.

So we miss a decent chance and are then almost made to pay as Swansea build down the right and a Routledge cross finds Yoshida in no mans land and Stephens having lost Abraham and the Chelsea loanees header flashes wide.  He really should have scored and it was a let off for the central defensive boys.

It still looks like a matter fo time before we score with Bertrand running riot down the left as he again gets to the line and pulls it back for JWP whose shot hits a defender at close range and is cleared.  We appeal for handball but no chance.  Next up is Redmond driving forward and lashing one just over and then a patient move ends with JWP curling one from the edge of the box but a comfortable ‘one for the cameras’ save from Fabianski.

Half time is approaching and it’s still not happening with Tadic this time crossing from the left, Stephens nodding down and Yoshida trying a scissor kick which goes wide.  As the half has gone on, Swansea have got deeper and deeper and the questions is, have we got the quality to break through?

Though we are by far the batter side, the first chance of the second half is Welsh as following some dreadful non-committal non-tackling from our central defenders, Abraham turns Yoshida in the box and his shot hits Cedric and is cleared out to Fer who lashes wide.

After that brief interlude it’s back to a succession of opportunities at the other end with Gabbi wasting thte first, getting free on the right and passing it at the far corner but wide.  The first sub of the Pellegrino era sees Boufal come on for JWP which gives us the Boufal – Redmond – Tadic formation which never worked under Claude. However, iit nearly pays off as Tadic takes a short pass from Romeu and decides to launch one from range which is a decent effort but a bit too close to Fabianski who claws it away.  Austin is brought on for Gabbi who has faded as the half has worn on.  It gives Fernandez and Mawson a different kind of problem to deal with and we create our best chance of the game with Romeu flicking on a cross and there is Yoshida, all alone at the back stick and all he has to do is keep it down… over! Shit.

Time is running out and we have nearly been successful in our quest to go 6 league home games without a goal but we try and cock that up when Romeu is hauled down by Ayew 25 yards out and responsibility for the free kick is given to Yoshida and to be fair it’s not a bad effort but it doesn’t curl enough and flicks the side netting, the same side netting which Austin hits with our last chance as he’s slid in by Redmond but with the angle against him he can’t quite pull it round.

And bollocks. The game is over and we have dominated it and scored nil again. Sound familiar? Sounds exactly like the last few games of Claude Puel? Yes and no.

Overall we played pretty well with a faster tempo, more closing down of the opposition and more chances created. The problem today was not the style of play but the fact that we only really made Fabianski make one save because we couldn't hit a fucking barn door. In fact, we couldn't even hit the fucking barn or any of the outbuildings next to the barn. If Gabbiadini’s flicked headed that hit the bar or Dusan's side foot sitter in the first five minutes had gone in then we win this game comfortably two or three nil. Tadic’ miss wasn’t the worst though as at least he had to react quickly to the ball coming across. The worst one of the lot was Maya's header. To put that over the bar from that distance is ridiculous.

It surprised me just how poor and unambitious Swansea were. Abraham will learn a lot upfront for them this season playing with no player closer to him than 30 yards away.  They reminded me of some of our League One opponents who used to come to us with no ambition other than keeping it tight and hoping for a point and maybe nicking a point. It's annoying that they got away with it.

Mauricio was pleased with the performance but disappointed with the finishing, like the rest of us.  At last his post-match interview didn’t have me falling asleep or punching the ‘off’ button.  He’ll get it right.

Mario Lemina will obviously come into the first XI soon and we will of course have sterner tests than Swansea, starting with West Ham at home next Saturday, fresh from an opening day 4-0 humping at Old Trafford.  West Ham looked decent in places but nothing to really worry about.  We can certainly target three points to get the season up and running – and José Fonte can watch on from the bench where he was today.