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Last Saturday Newcastle United were hosting Southampton at their home ground, St. James’ Park. The starting line up for Southampton is kind of surprising. Firstly why is Jos Hooiveld starting instead of José Fonte? Fonte is on the bench and now news has reached us about him being injured, which makes me question if this was a good move by Pochettino. Morgan Schneiderlin is also on the bench, probably because he isn’t fit enough yet to play a full game after his groin injury. But most surprisingly, why is Adam Lallana sitting on the bench? Surely he hasn’t shown any play bad enough that the former captain deserves to start on the bench.
This is the first game since October that both Rickie Lambert and Dani Osvaldo are starting, with Rickie Lambert playing behind Dani Osvaldo. This is the second game in a row this season that Jack Cork is starting since Victor Wanyama is injured, based on his performances last week, this should be promising. Also Calum Chambers is starting again in the spot of the still injured Nathaniel Clyne. It is good to see how Pochettino is handling all these injuries. He doesn’t complain about it, he just moves on and tries to make the best team with his remaining players.
Around the 11th minute the Saints players are waiting for a flag which will never go up. They stop in their play waiting for the offside call while Newcastle just keeps on continuing. Paulo Gazzaniga gets outplayed but luckily academy graduate Calum Chambers was the only player awake enough to rush over to the goal line and block the ball from crossing it.
Unfortunately it only takes up until the 27th minute for Newcastle to definitely break through the Southampton’s defence and score a goal. Jos Hooivelds first reaction definitely wasn’t his best as the right footer tried to block the ball with his left foot. But instead of blocking it, he played it right to Yoan Gouffran who used this opportunity to the fullest which resulted in a goal.
Last February Jos Hooiveld actually made an own goal at St. James’ Park, according to the commentator he is willing to look for better memories today. That didn’t completely happen since he messed up which resulted in a goal for Newcastle, but at least it’s a step up from scoring an own goal. Hopefully next time he will actually be able to stop the ball.
At half time all we can say is how Southampton have been far from promising so far. Even though they have had possession almost twice the amount of time Newcastle has had it, Newcastle has been the more attacking team. The Saints seem to get more pleasure out of playing the ball backwards since there weren’t any good opportunities to set the forwards up. Newcastle has been able to break through the defence of Southampton and have actually been face to face with the goal several times, while the Saints don’t even seem to be able to break through the hosts defence. And when they do break through, Dani Osvaldo gets called offside.
The second half starts surprisingly with Adam Lallana replacing Dani Osvaldo and Morgan Schneiderlin replacing James Ward-Prowse. With these substitutes Jay Rodriguez moves up front into Dani Osvaldo’s position, Rickie Lambert moves to the left wing and Adam Lallana gets in behind Jay Rodriguez. It’s surprising that Mauricio Pochettino has used two substitutes so early on in the game, but on the other hand it shows that he realized his formation wasn’t working and he had to adjust it. And better to adjust it sooner rather than later. Mauricio Pochettino seems to have enough faith in Jack Cork to continue playing the rest of the game since Morgan Schneiderlin came on for James Ward-Prowse.
These changes prove to be the right decision as soon as the second half starts. With Jay Rodriguez getting a chance in the 50th minute but unfortunately his shot goes wide. In the 61st minute Adam Lallana is running towards goal, the only assistance he gets is from Luke Shaw running up the side but Lallana can’t find him. Shortly followed with Steven Davis creating a chance for himself which results in the ball hitting the post.
In the 64th minute Adam Lallana gives a good pass forward towards Jay Rodriguez, who receives great support from Steven Davis. With Jay passing the ball towards Davis and Davis passing it back to Jay to get past the last defender, it sets Jay Rodriguez up with a great chance resulting in a stunning goal. This proves how important those earlier subs were, they turned out to be game changing.
In the 71st minute the tables almost seem to turn again when Paulo Gazzaniga can’t hold the ball. It looked like Loïc Rémy was getting too comfortable with this chance, which could have easily been a goal, but his shot went wide.
After a long 96 minutes referee Michael Jones finally blows his whistle for full time. It has been a good second half for the Saints and the draw was well deserved by both sides.
It is good to see Southampton using their younger players on the field too. Calum Chambers has been great throughout this whole game. He has been everywhere in the game and even made a great clearance off the goal line. At only eighteen years of age he will be a very promising player and we will be sure to see a whole lot more of him.
Paulo Gazzaniga seems to have grown as a goalkeeper compared to his skills last season. He seems to be more confident when it comes down to making saves and is actually able to hold the ball a lot more now.
It is also good to see Jack Cork back on the field. The time spend on the bench doesn’t seem to have discouraged him in his game play. He has had two full games to play now and he has used them to the fullest. Showing what he is capable of doing and hopefully convincing Mauricio Pochettino to consider keeping Jack Cork in the starting line even when Victor Wanyama is fit again.
Even though the Saints have had a few bad results in the last couple of games, the season isn’t over yet and they seem to get their grip back on their game play. It is safe to say that we haven’t seen the last of Southampton yet.
asaintsfcangel 