It's Happening... Maybe!
In a normal season, an FA Cup Quarter-final would
find me very enthusiastic about the game and subsequent Wembley semi-final,
should we win it. In times since the
money driven decision was made to hold the semi-finals at Wembley, we have had just
the one quarter-final, away at Wigan in 2017. Mark Hughes was our newly
appointed manager and there was an element of optimism around the place, mainly
because we had just got rid of Mauricio Pellegrino, quite possibly our worst
manager ever. So why am I not very enthusiastic about this one?
For starters, we have a game against Bournemouth… and they are annoying and
more on that later. Then of course we have the issue of there being no fans to
watch it, though apparently the semi-finals may be used for test events so
there may be some fans present at a potential Wembley semi-final after all. If
we had been in our early season form and safe in the Premier League, we would
be buzzing about it and 99% sure that we would beat Bournemouth and have a real
good go at the semi-final, whoever we were playing against. As we currently
stand, the mental state is that if we show up, we should beat Bournemouth and
then there’s absolutely no point because we’re going to get smashed by whatever
team we play in the semi-final. It has got that depressing recently.
The other quarter-finals are Everton against Manchester City,
Chelsea against Sheffield United and Leicester against Manchester United. Five
teams who on current form we have not much chance against and one who has
absolutely no chance of making it to the semi-final. The FA Cup when you get to
the later rounds isn’t about form though, so I guess you only have to look back
to 1976 to know that it’s not worth giving up on just yet.
So, Bournemouth are annoying. Local media has been doing its best to try and
draw this up as a rivalry but as usual, it’s all from their side. I’ve seen it
described by Bournemouth fans as the most important game in their history
whereas we were happy with the draw because we were playing the worst ranked
side left of the competition, not because we were playing our not-so-fierce
local rivals. In the Eddie Howe years,
Bournemouth always treated the FA Cup with complete disrespect and didn’t
bother with it, usually getting knocked out in the third round having made 11
changes from previous League game. Regardless of what is said, their season is
all about getting promoted back to the Premier League because there have been a
few signs that financially, things will not be too great down there if they
don’t make it back, either this year or next.
I think that they were still in the playoff positions when they sacked Jason
Tindall and the appointment of Jonathan Woodgate is just really odd.
Despite our recent shite form, we should of course win this game. At the end of
the day, Bournemouth are a worse version of what they were at the tail end of
last season. Players who you would describe as decent have moved on, with the
exception of Jefferson Lerma, who is suspended for this game anyway. We should
have too much of them but with us playing as we are at the moment, Bournemouth
definitely have a decent chance.
In the normal scheme of things, this would be a vitally important game for
Ralph’s future but he is pretty safe in the knowledge that this is not a must
win game for him personally and it will only come to that way of thinking,
should we manage to complete our late run for relegation. I think nine of our first 11 pick themselves
today with the only questions being who will fill the left-wing spot and who
will play up front with Che Braveheart McAdams, celebrating his international
call up for Scotland, a country he has probably never been to.
After the Brighton game, the subs (Redmond and Djenepo) were called out by
Ralph for having no impact so in that respect, it was a bit of a surprise to
see them both in the team with Nathan
Tella being dropped to the bench and Takumi Minamino being cup-tied. Bournemouth’s
line up contains many of last season’s flops, like Solanke and Billing and … so
that’s where Jack Wilshere ended up after advertising himself all over talkSPORT… “I’m only 29 and I’m as fit as ever”.
After some footage of the Bournemouth Massive holding a flare in the car park is shown, it’s kick-off time and away we go. I’m just looking for the early signs that point to whether we are going to be shite or not and initial signs are encouraging. Bournemouth on the other hand – how is Philip Billing a footballer? How has Dominic Solanke got a full England cap?
Bednarek looks up and pings a ball over the top of Rico at left back and KWP is away and bearing down on goal. Instead of shooting which I was screaming out for him to do, he tried to lay across to McAdams having drawn the goalkeeper and it doesn’t reach and it doesn’t need to because Carter-Vickers tries to intervene and pokes it into his own net. Good finish to be fair. Have we got VAR today by the way? This of course is a Championship ground and I was under the impression that the Championship doesn’t use VAR but of course they have the facilities here from last year so VAR is in fact, used. The difference in rules depending on where the ground is, is a fucking joke in this competition. Anyway, up we go and eventually they disallow the goal because a random unspecified part of KWP’s arm is offside when Bednarek pings the ball to him. Another part of the game that we all love dies, as a perfectly good goal is disallowed.
We create another decent chance as Armstrong bursts past some half-arsed defending by Pearson and gets to the line before pulling it back for Ryan Bertrand to shank wide from the edge of the box. Brilliant by Armstrong, not so great by Bertie.
As has happened a few times this season of course, the disallowed goal seems to knock us out of our stride a bit and Bournemouth put us under a little bit of pressure. Redmond gives the ball away horribly and it ends up with the highly rated Danjuma. I called him highly rated because he is highly rated in his house but not really anyone else’s. He tries to take on Bednarek on the outside who does well to stand his ground force him wide and eventually his shot is blocked away comfortably by Forster at the near post. Bournemouth have another opportunity as Cook finds himself inside the penalty area on the right-hand side following the corner and his drilled cross is met first time by Riquelme and his side foot is it wide of the near post. Do you remember when Pompey were going to sign Riquelme, the real one…? That was funny.
With 10 minutes to go before half-time, KWP finds Redmond who turns and finds a space the size of half of Dorset between Bournemouth’s midfield and central defenders and runs at them. Carter-Vickers and Cook back off towards their own goal allowing Redmond to weigh it all up and slide the ball in between Stacey, who obligingly falls over, and Carter-Vickers to Djenepo and he passes it past Begovic into the far corner of the net as easy as you like. Great run, great ball and a great finish, happy days and 1-0 to Ralph for picking the two of them.
Right on half-time we win a throw-in over on the left-hand side and the Bournemouth defending here is hysterical as the throw is chested on by Armstrong and for some reason, Rico, the Bournemouth left back is over on the right and completely out of the game as Redmond is away with just Cook to beat. Redmond runs diagonally toward the vacant left back area and into the penalty area and all Cook has to do is stay on his feet, stay inbetween Redmond and the goal and force him wide, in the exact same way the Bednarek did with Danjuma earlier on. Instead of doing that though, Cook tries to tackle when completely off-balance and falls over, allowing Redmond to superbly chip the ball over Begovic and into the far top corner. Brilliant finish, hilariously bad defending.
Good Defending Steve
2-0 at half time and you would think that this is done but this is Southampton
2021 we are talking about here. Bournemouth have been shite however and I bet
that the guy in the car park with the flare is raging, if he hasn’t had the
call from his mum to be home for tea.
The start of the second-half carries on with much the same thing with
Bournemouth not really creating much and Saints being relatively comfortable.
Jack Wilshere, a player I remember being decent about seven years ago, tries a
left footed effort from the edge of the box which ripples the side netting. Good effort but Forster had it covered anyhow.
Saints completely put the game to bed when Braveheart wins the challenge in the
air off a long ball forward and the ball comes back to him off of Armstrong and
he gets it on his right foot and drills it from about 20 yards into the corner
of the net. Game, set, match, VAR, bollocks. Bournemouth are appealing for a handball
against Adams which would be a ridiculous decision and eventually they get
lucky again because the ball is flicked off Adams and Armstrong is in an
offside position. At least this one is relatively clear to be fair. Regardless
of the fact that this was disallowed, it shows the confidence the Che
Braveheart McAdams is playing with at the moment.
Having got away with that one, Bournemouth clearly want us to score another,
and it doesn’t take long for the coup de grâce to arrive however as Stacey
plays a blind ball into midfield from the right back position and JWP sees it
and finds Redmond. It Looks like he
tries to tee up Adams but it goes to Armstrong who smacks it against the post
and it bounces straight back to Redmond to pass is it into the far corner to
make it 3-0, really good finish and we are on our way to Wembley, well, the
team are anyway.
There is still half an hour to go and we could actually be burying this lot but
the closest we get to another goal is Armstrong driving into midfield and firing
one in with his left foot which forces Begovic into a really good sprawling
site to tip it round the past.
Bournemouth can’t handle Armstrong at all, mainly because he wants to break
from midfield and they don’t want to chase him.
The man with the magnificent hair is having a magnificent game and he
picks up again on the right of midfield near halfway and just drives towards
the Bournemouth penalty area, half pursued by Billing and Wilshere before
stabbing the ball to Redmond. There’s a
great chance for his hat-trick but he bends it inches wide of the far post.
With time ticking down and both Bednarek and Vestergaard on a yellow card, we
have the luxury of being able to take off both of our central defenders in
Bournemouth’s Big Derby, with Stephens and Salisu coming on. In the inevitable
confusion caused by the reshuffle, Danjuma finds himself free on the left-hand
side and it’s a good low shot and Forster gets down well to save.
Bournemouth have another chance straight after that as across comes in from Anthony
on the right, Stephens shows his legendary prowess in the air by sitting on the
ground and Forster comfortably saves Surridge’s header.
As we reach the 93rd minute, there is one of the most ridiculous challenges I
think I’ve ever seen as Salisu cleared the ball and Surridge put in what can
only be described as a fucking ice hockey tackle, just slamming into him with
his shoulder. He then compounded by kicking the ball away. According to Martin
Atkinson though, this is only a yellow card. Ridiculous refereeing, ridiculous
challenge. Animal.
And so after that absolutely cowardly assault by Surridge, done so late in the
game that he knows no ne can get him back, the game ends and we all love the FA
Cup again and we’re on our way to Wembley. Back in your tiny little box you tinpot
wankers. There is one thing I will say about rivalry and that is that even
though they are in League 1, Pompey would’ve given us a better game today.
The first thing you have to say about the game is that that we were absolutely dominant,
it was easy and simple. We played as well as we had to play to put Bournemouth
away and they were absolutely shite, hardly creating a decent chance all game. It was a good win and it could’ve been even
better without VAR of course. The disallowed one in the first half is another
one that’s been given offside because his arm is offside which is absolutely absurd
and has been well discussed all season. KWP has been deemed offside because he
was running forwards and leaning forwards.
I’m looking forward to seeing players trying to run forwards whilst
leaning backwards and not pumping their arms.
It’s fucking stupid and this way of interpreting offsides has to change.
If you’re going to do it by millimetres and this forensically, then in my
opinion you have to use the feet to determine whether it’s offside or not. That isn’t perfect but it’s better than using
a random point on the arm.
Today is a day of course where we got a performance out of Nathan Redmond. Here
is a player has always been able to do it but more often than not, doesn’t look
like he wants to do it. There were
flashes in the recent game up at Manchester City and today he found the perfect
opponents. They left space, were very slow and they didn’t get bodies around
the ball which meant that the decision at the end of the move, be it a pass or
a shot is made easier. He has always been good in an open field and today he
was and deserved his two goals and the assist for Djenepo’s goal. I stand by
what I said at the start in the Redmond did not really deserve to start the
game today after last week, but Ralph showed faith in him and it paid off
against today’s opponents. He of course deserves to start the next game in the
Premier League and he now needs to produce it against better opponents. He has
now got three goals this season, one in the league against Sheffield United and
two in the cup today against Bournemouth. The common denominator with those
opponents is that they will both be playing in the Championship next season.
Redmond will take the plaudits and no doubt all the man of the match awards I
thought our best player today was Stuart Armstrong, who put in a real 90
minutes of exceptional football. There always seems to be a better chance of
end product when we build up down Armstrong’s side. That’s not a slight on the
people on the other side but you always feel the Armstrong has the intelligence
to deliver at the end. Ibrahima Diallo also had a good game in the centre of
midfield. The end product was lacking at times and he demonstrated Hojbjerg-esque
standards of shooting but he continually broke up play well and to use a rugby
term, broke the lines carrying the ball past the Bournemouth midfield.
That brings me nicely onto Bournemouth and Jack Wilshere it was a decent player about seven years ago. Since he lost the extra yard of pace all those years ago, he is basically built a career on running headlong into the nearest opponent, crashing to the floor and screaming at the referee for a freekick. There was a bit of that today but he is playing for Bournemouth for a reason and that reason is he just hasn’t got the legs to play in the centre of midfield. The crude hack at Diallo in the last 10 minutes, when he just couldn’t be bothered to run back and make a proper challenge, summed him up really.
Another major weakness for Bournemouth today, which dovetailed horribly with the lack of legs in midfield, was the lack of pace in the defence. Carter-Vickers and in particular Steve Cook we’re just lumbering about. Cook looked like a rhinoceros trying to run through the quicksand and I found his effort to stop Redmond on the second goal particularly amusing. Philip Billing, who allegedly has been playing well this season, just confirmed everything that I’ve ever thought about him, that he is a big donkey who wins the art header but that’s it and as for Solanke upfront…. Liverpool must be pissing themselves laughing that they got £20 million for him.
The referee Martin Atkinson had an interesting game today I thought. If Southampton player pulled back a Bournemouth one, then it was a yellow card and deservedly so. If it happened the other way round, then it was no problem. Wilshere was allowed to get away with a couple of nasty looking two-footed-ish efforts and the assault by Surridge on Salisu at the end was a red card challenge in itself as the only intent was to hurt the opponent. He then compounded it by kicking the ball away so how that’s not two yellows at least is beyond me. No matter. Bournemouth are back in the little box and can concentrate on not getting promoted, recruiting a proper manager to replace Woodgate and to avoid the impending financial meltdown if they don’t make it back to the Premier League next season.
Saints are now of course the first team through to the semi-final where, if I had to pick a winner from the other games, it will be Manchester City, Manchester United and Chelsea who join us. By the time that comes around, we have to be safe in the Premier League in order to be able to enjoy the game without this nagging fear in the back of our minds. That is for another day though.
Today it was job done and a nice comfortable victory. Bring on the international break as we tend to be a little bit better for having a rest. Today is also a big day for Ralph Hasenhuttl. If we lost today then the discontent would be louder but now, he is only the third manager in the 21st-century to take Saints to an FA Cup Semi-final.
UPDATE: Half time in the Leicester v Man United game saw the draw for the semi finals. Chelsea and Man City had joined us in the semis by this time so of course, we are the team who everyone wanted to play. I fancied having a crack at Chelsea but Dion Dublin drew us out against Leicester or United, so it was 9-0 heaven which was mentioned within about 30 seconds. Anyway, our potential opponents played out the second half and Leicester were as good as United were awful so it’s Leicester for us – a team which we know how to beat and certainly not as intimidating as City or Chelsea. Hopefully, Leicester will think they have one foot in the final already.
Maybe we can get Wembley to play Leicester's 9-0 DVD on the big screens during the warm up.
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