SaintLiam

July 15th

Very much deserved. Odd how MNF had a fairly strong decision to put Jose into their TOTY at the half-season, but when it came to the full TOTY Cahill retained his place despite getting benched for Zouma on several occasions and Jose not dropping in form whatsoever. Koscielny even came into the occasion, somehow.

I remember Chris Smalling at OT was ruthlessly tugging at his shirt, he gets no protection from refs because he's bigger and somehow shouldn't be going down based on that factor Smalling probably wanted to take his shirt off. Then again, we probably all do.

GK: Forster - 9 Very authoritative both in personality and stature, he was definitely a big part of why we got so many clean sheets Davis - 7 Had good games against Burnley, Hull and Man City but let in a few soft goals whilst between the sticks. Other then that always shows good GK'ing. Gazzaniga - 5 Poor against Leicester but was more commanding against Villa - maybe the 5 goal cushion raised his confidence which seems ever fragile DEF: Bertrand - 9 Our most consistent performer overall, can't recall him having a bad game Targett - 6.5 Stood in well for Bertrand when needed, but he isn't too noticeable in an attacking sense. Fonte - 10 An excellent captain was needed to steady the nerves before the season, and Jose Fonte delivered. Looks like Liverpool bought the wrong CB, because he has always been excellent at the back and thoroughly deserved to be in the PFA TOTY. Alderweireld - 9 Great partnership with Fonte to be the rock of the 2nd best defence in the league. Yoshida - 7 Stood in well for Alderweireld and proved to be quite versatile, playing at LB. However he made a few defensive errors towards the end in the Spurs and Sunderland matches. Gardos - 4 Probably our only buy which was a miss, quite shaky and I'm not too confident in him. His spot would be better filled with an academy product really. Clyne - 8 Fell off a bit in 2015 but he has been a lot better recently, an excellent player MID: Schneiderlin - 9 Usually the best player on the pitch no matter the opponent, could get into any top team Wanyama - 8 Complements Morgan's passing ability with his physical presence, a great season for him S. Davis - 5.5 Quite a poor season for his standards, 0 goals and should have been able to get more (spurs was it?) which would have gotten us into guaranteed European places. Easy to say with hindsight though, but his overall contribution to the team has been ok. Reed - 8 Very impressive when he has made appearances and played a fantastic game against Everton - which was a game that could've been make or break for our season. JWP - 7 Good season for him and his attacking qualities have been good to have. With all of the plaudits he gets for his set piece delivery it's a phenomenon as to why we've not scored more... Djuricic - 6.5 Maybe not seen enough of him, but he has shown good technical ability and I wouldn't mind keeping him Tadic - 7 Had such an electric start to the season, his partnership with Pelle was mouth-watering. Disappointing that he fell away, but hopefully that groin injury has cleared up by the time he's back and he can come back better. ATT: Elia - 5 Shows good technical ability but doesn't really contribute anything else to the team. Mane - 9 Had troubles at the start/around December but has been so crucial in picking up points for us during our struggling periods...2:56 Long - 7 If his runs would lead to more goals, he'd be rated higher. Sadly a lot of the times he takes a very heavy touch so the keeper is often able to end the attack. Other then that, a reliable player. Pelle - 8 Has a good goal return for a debut season, and his role as a target man enables the likes of Mane and Long to press more too. Mayuka - 1 Don't think he even took a shot in the brief time he was on the pitch.

well, he wasn't wrong.

Away at OT was very lucky towards the end. Mata, who's usually good in front of goal, had a chance when Fraser deflected it perfectly into him, off target. Then Blind crosses it into him, it's him vs. the goal, and he somehow missed it again.

That's just a case of Arsenal fans being all over Twitter...

All competitions Best: Saints 6 - 1 Aston Villa - Might be easier to go with the higher scoring option available but this match felt like we were creating our own chances and exploiting faults in Villa's defence, whereas Sunderland made their own. Included a record breaking hattrick, a 40 yard screamer, a well worked team goal and an opposition goal to top it off. Great way to sign off. Saints 8 - 0 Sunderland - One nobody expected really, just goals pouring in before anybody knew what was going on. Some excellent defensive displays, especially from the likes of Vergini Manchester United 0 - 1 Saints We hadn't won at OT since the '80s, and to do it with this team was an excellent marker for how far we've come over the years. Probably the most tense game, especially when those chances had fallen to Mata towards the end. Saints 2 - 0 Arsenal The start of a great January for Saints, totally dominating Arsenal at SMS. Great goal from Mane, and I especially remember Merrington picking up on Big Vic's roulette and calling him 'twinkle toes' West Ham 1 - 3 Saints The only time we had come back from a losing position in the league to win a game, part of a large collection of early season wins so it gets overlooked. Slightly disappointing that it was the only time. Special mention to the Arsenal cup win, Everton win, both Chelsea draws and Newcastle @ SMS Worst: Sheffield United 1 - 0 Saints It couldn't get lower then this, could it? After 4 consecutive league defeats and the most recent one being a poor performance from Burnley, surely we'd be able to come back against a League 1 side. Nope. A poor goal to concede and we looked like pantomime villains - Gardos' red card, Morgan kicking the ball away and risking the same fate, and RK not shaking the opposition manager's hand. Saints 0 - 2 Liverpool Probably the most crushing of defeats. Such an important game table-wise but also the context of the game. Plus, Lovren and Lallana were playing. What does Kevin Enemy do? He f*cks it up. One penalty claim which you have seen given, and the second which would be given every f*cking day of the week. Then Mignolet's handball outside the box...and to top it off Brendan the elephant seal says Enemy had an outstanding game and even has the nerve to question why Lallana wasn't in the matchday programme. Burnley 1 - 0 Saints The worst part about this was by far the missed penalty. A weak one from Tadic and a somewhat unlucky goal to concede as it deflected off Clyne perfectly for a Burnley player. Saints 0 - 3 Manchester City Our heaviest defeat of the season, not too many chances created and those we did take weren't great. But the scoreline was fair overall. Saints 0 - 0 West Ham When a team comes hoping for a draw against a team whose attacking form is absolutely awful, you're always going to get a dull game. Poor refereeing display and the only highlight was Adrian's red card...which was later rescinded anyway.

wenger out!!!!!!!!!! Giroud all I see on Facebook anyway but Arsenal do have the tendency to not show up for the big games...let's hope it's not the instance

Arsenal it is then.

Swansea concede - Hart only one who can run away with it now unless we score and it's split

Set pieces in general really. Only 1 goal from a corner (and 1 OG), 2 dodgy pens, and no direct freekick goals.

Pelle trying to top Long's Goal of the season award?

Just seen Walcott and Wilshere's goals, some great ones. Hope they play like that against Villa because it's more than likely we'll end up having to rely on them.

Picked it up towards the end. Still quite confident in this game.

4-0 Stoke...well even if we finish behind the scousers at least they have the worst possible finish to their season

Mignolet, Forster, Hart and Fabianski all on 13 before this round of games Mignolet now out of contention (lol) and jesus SuperKelv really doesn't want Aguero to score one does he?

Still 0-0 at Selhurst, Fabianski is still in the running

crap edit: not the team or performance, the feeling

Superkelv!!

Fully expected Aguero to score that...lucky there

They do look dodgy at the back though. A few awkward backpasses followed by wayward distribution by Hart.

Both keepers on 300 apps for their respective clubs today, nice stat.

Let's just hope Mane and Long can run riot on the ancient Demichelis and the awful Mangala (let's hope he doesn't get sent off again)

Fiver on 115/1 bet for Mane to score first and Saints to win 2-1...seems decent to me!