Premier League Match 17 - Southampton 1 Liverpool 0

Ings - Master of the 'No Look' Shot 

We welcome Liverpool to St Mary‘s for our first game of 2021 and it isn’t that an absolute joy. Literally, the only thing that is a joy about this game against Liverpool is that none of their fans will be there, none of the most one eyed, entitled, biased fan bases but you could ever have the misfortune to encounter. At least now they have something to shout about domestically, having won the league for the first time in 30 years. When I first started getting interested in football, when I was a kid in the 1970s, Liverpool won a couple of European Cups and then went on to dominate football throughout the 80s so Liverpool were everywhere and then came Michael Thomas at the last minute and the bubble was burst, which was fucking glorious. Since the 90s, they’ve not done too badly, winning FA Cup‘s, the Europa League, and even the Champions League but from the way their fans go on, you would think that they had a trophy haul to rival Sir Alex at Manchester United.  There’s always a reason why not, always the victim etc etc.

The manager is of course Jurgen Klopp who is one of those guys who you can’t help but like when things are going well and he’s in a good mood but the second things go even slightly against him then he reverts to type and his type is that of a massive bell end. He wants five subs – three times it’s ben voted no by the rest of the Premier League but still he shits on about it, whilst making less subs that the three he’s allowed and not rotating his players.  Just shut up.  What is undeniable though is that he has built a fantastic team and the recruitment which he has no doubt overseen, has been targeted and fits exactly with the way he wants his teams to play. He wants his full-backs to be wingers for example, so he uses players and signs players that fit that role perfectly in Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson. He wants his strikers to basically be inverted wingers so he has signed Mane and Salah. He wants a false 9 type of centre forward and so he signed Firmino. An obvious example of the opposite is Chelsea who have spent huge amounts of money on players like Werner and Havertz who do not fit the system or style that Lampard wants to play and by the way, what is the system or style that Lampard wants to play?  You have to respect the fact that Liverpool have brilliant players but also that they are more than the sum of the parts and that is some trick to pull off at the top end of the Premier League.

We’ve moved on a little bit from talking about all the Southampton players have ended up in Liverpool but the ones that they currently have are Sadio Mané, professional substitute Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Virgil van Dijk who is currently recovering from the serious injury inflicted by Jordan Pickford’s kamikaze charge.  The Ox (a nickname that implies something that’s robust) has never been a first-team regular anywhere, since he left Saints about 10 years ago. He has averaged 10 starts in the Premier League per season since then and very rarely finishes a game that he does start.  He has a worse record thatn Adam Lallana for playing 90 minuntes and in terms of mileage on the clock, this guy could play until he is about 48. The annoying thing is that I thought that the van Dijk injury would stop them being able to play they want to play as I thought that the full-backs wouldn’t be able to bomb forwards as much as they were previously, but by using Fabinho in defence, they have managed to get by and once again, you have to respect that, irritating though it is. Virgil broke his social media silence the other day to remind us that it was the anniversary of him moving to Liverpool. We all know what a shit show that was from our point of view and how many rules were broken but it all got airbrushed from history.  I was angry about it at the time but whatever.

The fact is that they have been misfiring slightly this season but are still top of the league and look like the team most likely to pull away and win the league again. On the other hand, we definitely have more of a chance against them this season that we have had in the recent past. It has clicked for them occasionally recently, like when they smashed Crystal Palace 7-0 but They have actually struggled to score in a few of their games recently and I watched the game against Newcastle last week where Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson slang about 15 crosses each into the box, without picking out a single Liverpool player even once. As an aside, Andy Robertson is a player who could do with a good slap.

Ralph has been cleared to return to work after the positive Covid test in his family which it seems was a false positive. That is good news along with the fact that Stuart Armstrong has signed a new contract until 2024. The transfer window has of course opened again so will be interesting to see if we get anyone in to plug some of the gaps in the squad. With the money being lost due to fans not being in the ground, I can only see loan signings arriving and maybe the best we can hope for is for new contracts to be signed, like the one signed by the man with a magnificent hair.  Covid gave us Ralph back today but it’s taken away as well with Alex McCarthy having to self-isolate, meaning that Fraser Forster will play his first game for nearly a year. It’s probably a good game for him to have as he is certainly going to be busy so there’s gonna be no danger of not concentrating. On the face of it, I can’t think of a goalkeeper over the worse of attributes for playing behind the high line but hopefully Fraser has been working on this and will prove to be another who has been improved by the coaching staff. You have to remember that he was a brilliant goalkeeper five or so years ago.

Sky Sports and Carragher and Ince in the studio – one of theirs and another one of theirs.  Anyway, team news and a sharp intake of breath… Che Adams is concussed and Oriol Romeu is injured so Ibrahima Diallo starts and Theo is pushed up front with Armstrong and Djenepo on the wings.  That’s not too bad but then you look at the bench and it’s school night.  Shane Long is cast in the role of responsible adult but other than him it’s all kids – N’Lundulu, Tella, Valery, Smallbone, Vokins, Lewis, Ramsay, Chauke.  Liverpool have household names everywhere but it’s interesting that Henderson is a centre back as Klopp clearly doesn’t trust the youngsters Phillips and Williams.

Saint start fast as you’d expect and press Liverpool high up the pitch, dispelling any rumours that we were going to sit back and change our normal game. Diallo won a header against Thiago in midfield and then Thiago dragged down Armstrong to give us a freekick about 35 yards out. Liverpool set a high defensive line and JWP dropped it over the top of that to the left and Danny Ings, running away from goal and without looking, hooks it back first time with his left foot and its sails over the top of Allison and drops in the far side of the net. Unbelievable start. When they show the replay, you can see some brilliant shithousing by Armstrong, giving Henderson a little shove to make sure we are all onside but the goal doesn’t happen if Trent Alexander-Arnold doesn’t miss the ball, which he obligingly does.

After Thiago has picked up a deserved booking for carting Diallo up in the air, Liverpool come out as you’d expect and Salah plays a couple of quick 1-2s around the edge of the box and then goes to ground in his normal way but referee Andre Mariner plays on and though we look slightly panicky at the back, we do eventually clear the ball. There is also a moment where Fraser decides to share his newly acquired football skills and nearly gives the ball away right in front of our goal which wouldn’t’ve been good, but we get away with it.

Liverpool are losing their rag a little bit as it’s not all going their way and little bag of shite Andy Robertson gets tackled by Armstrong and he thought it was a foul so he just hacked over his Scotland team mate and got a yellow card.  Well played Shite Bag.

I'm the Referee and you are a Bag of Shite

Thiago in midfield finds Mane who flicks it through to Salah who looks a couple of yards offside but you never fucking know these days do you and he goes on and tries to go round big Fraser who comes launching out to tackle with his feet, which is always worrying but he executes it perfectly and the danger is cleared and then the linesman’s flag goes up anyway for what was an obvious offside five seconds earlier. What if Fraser have done a Pickford and snapped Salah in half? It would’ve been a Saints free-kick for offside and that would’ve been the end of it.

Djenepo has started the game pretty well and gets brought down as he tried to twist away from Thiago but a minute or so later he’s sat on the ground, obviously having pulled something yet again. There is sympathy for Moussa from everybody including Ralph as he has to go off but I’m immediately lifted by the fact that it’s not Shane Long coming on to replace him, it’s Nathan Tella with Walcott dropping to the left hand side.

Bertrand is heavily involved in stopping at a Salah break into the box and involved again a couple of minutes later as he chips in a ball forward, which Ings flicks on to put Tella away and in space.  He does everything right in that he draws the defender and opens up a shooting opportunity for one of those side footed curlers inside the far post… outside the far post by a couple of feet. Fuck.  That would’ve been a great moment and he really should’ve scored.

As half time nears, Liverpool are having a few chances without ever really looking like scoring. Robertson and Mane get away down the left hand side and the cross is eventually headed over by Salah, under pressure from Bertrand.  A couple of extra minutes for the Moussa injury and in we go for half time, 1-0 in front and deservedly so.

The opening 15 minutes of the second half is played almost exclusively between the halfway line and the penalty spot. A cross eventually comes in from Mane but the sliding Jack Stephens clears away for a corner. Everybody is certainly putting themselves on the line to protect the big man in goal. Stephens is at it again a minute later sliding in to block Wijnaldum shot. The replay shows that it has hit his arm and at the start of the season, that would almost certainly have been given. You win some and you lose some.

Oxlade-Chamberlain goes off to be replaced by little fat hair transplant Xherdan Shaqiri. It’s the Ox’s biggest contribution to the game so far.  Mane is really the only threat for Liverpool but KWP is sticking to his task well but it’s a heart in mouth moment when Mane twists past and right by the by-line just inside the penalty area, there is some sort of collision and Mane belatedly goes over. I have to admit that I’m expecting it to be given but Andre Mariner is not interested and VAR does what it does and backs the referee up. You win some and you lose some.

With 15 minutes to go Liverpool get their first shot on target as Shitebag Robertson plays Mane in on the left hand side and from a narrow angle he daisy cuts one along the floor and the big man just falls on it. Comfortable.  Danny Ings number is up with 10 to go and he is replaced by Dan N’Lundulu who is on presumably try and give Liverpool is defenders a hard time.  Our forward line now has the average age of about 14. Trent has been put out of his misery by Klopp and James Milner is on and is welcomed to the game by Theo Walcott sliding into kick him up in the air. The referee doesn’t give a free kick and it’s beautiful. It is more or less Theo’s last contribution as he is taken off to be replaced by Yan Valery of all people, who goes to the right and side of midfield.

Milner isn’t doing now better than Trent regarding giving the ball away and he gets robbed by Tella which set up another Saints attack at Stephens waits for an run ahead before clipping a ball over the top for Valery, who gets there before the onrushing Alison and knocks it between his legs but the ball is never gonna reach and Henderson pulls it up about a yard in front.

90 minutes are up and there are three extra and we manage to lose the ball 30 yards from Liverpool’s goal and they break on us which ends up with Bednarek giving away a corner to stop Mane. Over it comes, with Allison up from the back and Mane gets up but he’s leaning backwards and heads it over the bar. 93 and a half minutes in the fucking game is still going on and Mane turns a very tired KWP and he’s heading towards the goal and he tries to drill it across but Bednarek again pokes it out for a corner. Still the whistle doesn’t go as Liverpool inexplicably take a short corner work it to the edge of the box and then run out of time as Andre Marriner blows the whistle.

Mental.  What a fucking win that is.  Any win against Liverpool is a glorious thing but this triumph out of adversity is something else.  Ralph is on his knees on the sidelines with tears in his eyes. It’s absolutely mad how much this guy puts into every game.

Fucking hell. Where to start with that. That was a brilliant performance and though we rode our luck a little bit at times, totally deserved to win. Considering the adversity that we had to go through with players been injured and untried youngsters being the only alternative, that was fucking brilliant. Ralph often gets criticised for making subs too late for using the wrong subs but you have to say, today he got it absolutely spot-on. The injury to Djenepo was unfortunate and I think everybody expected Shane Long to come on with Walcott drop in to the left. It was a shame that Walcott dropped to the left because he and Ings were looking a right handful up front but Tella coming on kept the same energy at the top end of the pitch and the young sub probably should’ve scored. Danny Ings probably need to be protected for the last 10 minutes but again it was another youngster who came on and N’Lundulu was a handful, causing the makeshift Liverpool centre backs a lot of problems with his physical presence and energy. The final sub was the real curveball with you and Valery coming on, on the right side of midfield to take Walcott’s place and that and I was to try and clamp down on Shitebag Robertson coming forward and get a foothold in the game again and push us forward and it worked well.

Maybe it helps these youngsters not having a crowd in because they are used to playing in front of a few people for the B Team.  When you step up to the first team you have to prove that you can handle the football side of things and playing against better players but you also have to prove that you can handle the atmosphere and the crowd etc.  Maybe it makes it easier to step up if you only have one thing rather than two to worry about.  Maybe I’m talking bollocks but whatever, all the kids were superb.

There was of course a youngster playing only a second game in the Premier League in the centre of midfield and in my opinion, Ibrahima Diallo was Man of the Match, showing a lot of skill in tight areas and not looking overawed against internationals like Thiago, Oxlade-Chamberlain and Wijnaldum.

The more established players were absolutely fantastic. Of course we had Fraser Forster in goal playing his first game for a year and apart from one ropey moment with a kick in the first 10 minutes, he looked pretty solid and can be pleased with his evenings work.  His starting positions were good and he did everything that could be asked of him.  Armstrong put in his best performance for a few months and Bertrand, Stephens and Bednarek at the back defended brilliantly, so much so that Firmino and Salah in particular never got a touch. Sadio Mané was the biggest threat but KWP stuck to his task and prove that he is a much better right-back than Trent Alexander-Arnold who is so overhyped it’s not true.  There are lots of English right backs in the Premier League but none are playing better than Kyle right now.  Likewise JWP in midfield who again was everywhere and again showed his set piece prowess and Theo Walcott again showed what good acquisition he is by contributing well in both positions he was asked to play.

And then there was Danny Ings – he’s back - what a fucking goal that is. A superb controlled finished with his wrong foot. Hopefully, the boy is properly back in town and can rattle in a few more goals in the upcoming games.

Ralph is All of Us

And then there was Ralph of course. The scene of him dropping to his knees with tears in his eyes at the end will become an iconic image in the history of Southampton football club. You’d have to have a heart of stone not to have a tear in your eye as well as a Saints supporter. It might only be one game and one win at three points but that win today, coming out of adversity as I said earlier, was something special.  He’s so invested in the club and the game and how as a supporter, can you not love that.  

It was quite fun watching the Liverpool inquest after the game on Sky. Jamie Carragher made a very good point about how defending is different these days in that you can’t tackle in the box anymore for fear of giving a penalty away, so you have to block everything and he’s dead right and Saints did that throughout the game. Ryan Bertrand and KWP were brilliant in this regard and there was some real committed defending from the usual suspects and the players who you don’t usually associate it with, like Armstrong and Walcott.

As for Liverpool, well, they missed Henderson in midfield because he would’ve contributed a hell of a lot more than that waste of space Oxlade-Chamberlain, who added yet another game to his tally of games where he hasn’t played 90 minutes. Mo Salah was also missing in action for the entire second half and it was only really Sadio Mané who gave us any moments of concern. Shitebag Robertson and Alexander Arnold in particular, were as guilty of just spamming crosses aimlessly into the box as they were in the Newcastle game I mentioned earlier.  They’ll probably still win the league but we’ll always have today.

Next up in Shrewsbury at home in the FA Cup. It is of course a game we should win, even though we will field and undoubtedly mix-and-match team. It would be a very Saints thing to do to beat Liverpool and then lose to Shrewsbury but we should have enough about us to get that particular job done.

A very proud night to be a Southampton fan, watching a special group of players and a particularly special manager.