Mourinho Tantrums Took The Credit Away From Saints Wednesday, 7th Oct 2015 09:21 Sadly the tantrums of Jose Mourinho (aged 12 1/2) took away a lot of the credit for just why his team were humiliated and that was a fantastic performance from Saints. This season has taken a little bit longer to ignite than last term, the reason for that is that a year ago although Ronald Koeman had come in and had to rebuild the side, he was able to hit the floor running from the second week of the season which gave us a great start. But this season that was not the case, with it starting a week earlier than usual it meant that he did not have the services of Virgil Van Dijk for the opening four games as he had to play a waiting game to get his man and we can see it was worth the wait and the injury to Ryan Bertrand meant that we were 50% short of what he saw as his first choice back four. The squad was strong enough to cope and we made a solid start, but it was lacking in key areas and it got exposed to many times, some of them of our own making. But once Van Dijk and Bertrand were slotted into the team something clicked and the true class of what this Saints side is and can achieve finally fully emerged at Stamford Bridge on Saturday after rearing its head against Swansea the previous week. The display at Chelsea was superb, it had everything in it, yet the childish behaviour of Jose Mourinho deflected the credit away from the fact that the main reason Chelsea lost was not the referee, it was not the Chelsea medical staff, it was not one of the thousand other things that Mourinho would care to make up as excuses, it was the one thing that he has so far refused to acknowledge and that is that on the day Saints were brilliant. Given that we had to come back from an early goal down, something that gave Chelsea confidence and certainly with 61% possession they had plenty of the ball, we dug in and in all areas gave a display that arguably was the best since Ronald Koeman arrived at the club. It was a team display in the true sense of the phrase, we worked hard not only as individuals but as a team and tactically we had it spot on, we did what we did well last season, we kept it tight at the back and when we got the ball we got it forward fast and used it well. Defensively Chelsea could not break us down and could not create decent chances, at right back Cedric was superb in the centre Virgil Van Dijk seemed to have it all, commanding in the air, composed on the ground and showing a great ability to carry the ball forward and use it. At left back Ryan Bertrand was back to his best, never being beaten when defending and getting forward quickly to support and offer options when we were attacking. The midfield five worked hard, Wanyama was a colossus, Steven Davis ran his heart out and did those little things that fans don't seem to notce much but are essential, not to mention capping it with a goal, Romeu got stuck in and helped quell Chelsea's early bluster and Tadic was sublime, some of his attacking play was up there with his best of last season and he left opponents for dead on several occasions. Perhaps the icing was on the top of the cake though, Mane's pace caused problem's throughout, I wondered in a pre match story whether John Terry returning would be good news for Mane and it was, he frightened the Chelsea back four and they seemed to be scared to throw too many people forward in case they left their shaky back four exposed and when they did commit we ripped them to shreds. But for me Pelle was the man of the match, this was his best game for the club and he was involved with all the goals, scoring a glorious third goal to seal the win and setting up the other two, the first has not been given the credit, not only did he get in front of Cahill to take the ball, rather than just chest it down or hold it up, he steered it sideways to create a gap for Steven Davis to fire home the equaliser. Th second saw him thread through a ball that left John Terry tied up in knots and the thid goal saw him win the ball in his own half, pass it to mane and then sprint forward to create th opening to score himself and that goal in itself was not an easy shot and again has not been gven the credit. The substitutes played their part, James Ward Prowse came on at half time, we lost none of the battl in midfield but he added a little bit more of passing option. Jay Rodriguez came on and added extra legs and Yoshida helped run the clock down well. The most overlooked factor in our win though was the manager Ronald Koeman, he put out the right side to keep it tight first half and ensure we did not let the Chelsea revival start against us and he made the right changes at the right time, Jose Mourinho's ego will not allow him to even consider the fact that the Dutchman left him with egg on his face. Finally Team Spirit, or perhaps that should read TEAM SPIRIT, we had it and Chelsea didn't , this is something that money can't buy and we have in buckets, one of which Jose Mourinho would perhaps break his own transfer record to ave in his dressing room at the moment. Whilst it s not as easy as some would have you believe to manage a side with almost unlimited money to build the squad, it does make the task easier most of the time, perhaps Jose Mourinho has forgotten that. So yes all the talk was about Jose Mourinho, he once again got to make the focus of a game turn to his favourite subject, Himself ! But the reality was this game was all about Southampton Football Club as once again we marched on and showed why this season might well be better than the last. Photo: Action Images Please report offensive, libellous or inappropriate posts by using the links provided.
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