Saints fans were dismayed before the game to see that once again Claude Puel had made multiple changes, but this time it worked.

Although it cannot be denied that the win at the Emirates was yet another great night in the club's history, the underlying fact is that Claude Puel took a big risk with his team selection and gambled that Arsenal's kids would not be strong enough to beat what was in most instances a second string XI for Saints.

Of the starting line up only 3 outfield players would be considered first choice at present, Davis, Van Dijk and Bertrand and this could have been costly and I hope that it will not be repeated in the Europa League game next week against Happoel Be'er Sheva.

But negatives out of the way this was a hard earned result and although Saints were in control and should really have finished the game off in the second half with a third and even fourth, they held the lead well and made sure there would be no late come back on the cards.

Arsenal were full of youngsters and fringe players who seemed to think that the game would be won by fancy back heels and step overs rather than hard work and although Saints had less of the ball, they did the basics, got behind it when the Gunners came forward and then counter attacked at speed.

If the final pass and touch had been better then the scoreline would have been a lot more convincing and that was perhaps the biggest disappointment of the night and to be able to say that at the Emirates is saying something.

Certainly the Arsenal fans were streaming out long before the end and with 5 minutes left the home sections were barely a third full, by the final whistle they would be virtually empty. That says something about the way that Saints went about their game.

Claude Puel has now done something that only Gordon Strachan has managed in the last 30 years and that is get Saints to the semi finals of one of the major cup competitions and has shown that he has been a good choice for the job and surely will have won over many of his critics now.

Again hard to pick out a man of the match, VVW was strong and a great leader, but that is nothing new, Jordy Clasie scored and looked the part before coming off injured and Shane Long lookd like he had his appetite back, but it was a team performance rather than won by individual brilliance.

WE can now go into the new year looking forward to a two legged semi final against Liverpool and we have to make that three cup competitions to look forward to by beating Be'er Sheva next week.

Photo: Action Images

SaintBrock added 16:18 - Dec 1 OK davidpid, I'll bite " Who the heck is Hugh Jarce?" Must have been on the bench as don't remember seeing him on the pitch.
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SaintJez added 16:27 - Dec 1 Very encouraging that Saints' second string can beat Arsenal's so easily. Never looked like being anything other than a win from the first whistle to the last. Totally dominant. And this wasn't an Arsenal kids XI either. There's was a lot of first team appearances in that line up and many of them signed for big fees too. Xhaka (30m), Elneny (7m), Ramsey (market value what, 30m?) didn't get a kick against Reed, Claisie and Davis. Was sad to see Reed limp off cos he had a super game and VVD looked his imperious self as usual. The future's bright. Roll on Liverpool (albeit it's the semi no-one wanted!!!)

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Bettwsresident added 16:31 - Dec 1 Saint Nick, Re. Davis, my mistake you did say he was a 1st teamer. I think taking Romeu as a given as the DM, Hojberg, Tadic, Davis, Boufal & JWP (at least the new improved one) could all be considered as worthy 1st choices for 3/4 places. Of those Davis would be my 1st name on the teamsheet.
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SaintPaulVW added 17:59 - Dec 1 What a difference a week makes, relegation cancelled, summer purchases look like great replacements, Yoshi MOTM err.....Sadio who? We're in danger of becoming like Arsenal fans with this weekly flip-flopping between happiness and despair based solely on the latest result.
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Consigliere added 18:21 - Dec 1 On a bitterly cold night in North London, after struggling with public transport including a train with no working toilets (at all!) I can say "I was there!". There for a performance that made me proud to support the Saints, proud of young players giving their all and proud of a manager who took a chance and succeeded. There will be those who will say that Arsenal fielded a weakened and inexperienced team, and they did, but that cuts both ways. Puel had to make the same hard choices and his Academy players arose to the occasion and fought from beginning to end. As others have said, it is almost impossible to list the outstanding players in the team as all played their part and the sum was greater than the parts. If the manager didn't send them out on the pitch with the message "Southampton expects every man to do his duty" then he should have done, because that is exactly what they did. Being a Saints fan is hard work sometimes, so its good to enjoy the moments when we do well.

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SaintBrock added 19:08 - Dec 1 What I don't get is that Wenger could have thrown on first team players at any stage to have tried to retrieve the match but he didn't. Incidentally, it looks like we had Bertie playing because of the implied threat of Walcott or the Ox coming on later to do the bye-line running on the right side. Agree, the Ox did come on for a cameo and he made a difference but why not Ozil or Sanchez as well? So Wenger puts out his third team against our second and was content to sit benignly on the touchline and watch them screw it up without intervening. The answer must be that Wenger couldn't have cared less about winning which begs the question why bother to go this far?

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SaintBrock added 19:16 - Dec 1 Look Nick, let's clear this up once and for all. Every single member of our squad is a first teamer now and can be called to duty solely on the evidence from the training ground in the days before the next match, that's how Puel's policy works. Some players are currently perceived to be better than others but if all goes well at the end of this process of getting every squad member up to speed and firing on all cylinders, Puel hopes to be able to select his team on merit from all 25 or so players and a clean sheet. The only one who gets a nailed-on start at the moment is Fraser. The days of first names on team sheets seem to be numbered here at SFC. Get used to it and take it on board in your thinking and in your writing otherwise you'll be left behind.

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SaintJez added 10:42 - Dec 2 surely VVD qualifies for the nailed on start criteria too... Has he ever missed a game??
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