Saints At West Ham United The Verdict
Saints came from behind in a game to win for the first time in nearly two years with another composed performance from Ronald Koeman's side.
This was a vital win for Saints in the respect that we needed to get a win under our belts to silence some of the doubters amongst our own supporters. That was certainly done as again Saints looked comfortable but they also look to have added a killer edge to their game that was lacking last week against West Brom.
But perhaps the most pleasing aspect was that they did it in a way that they haven't managed in nearly two years and something they never did under Mauricio Pochettino, they came from behind to win a game.
That shows that there is a spirit in the team and even Morgan Schneiderlin who as well documented wanted to leave for supposedly bigger things proved that no one can level any accusations that he is not committed to the cause by capping a fine display with a couple of fine goals.
First shock of the day though was that Wanyama was on the bench, Ronald Koeman showed that he is not afraid to make tough decisions and that he has an eye for tactics as he played a side with the focus on attack with Shane Long making his first league start.
The first half though was tough, West Ham were there usual Sam Allardyce selves although in truth they rarely looked like scoring and when they did Fraser Forster was up to it, but on 27 minutes they took the lead, a shot from distance took a deflection off of Yoshida and this was enough to take the ball past Forster.
For the next ten minutes or so the Hammers blustered, getting the ball forward quickly and looking to get the ball high in the box from set pieces and throw ins, but Saints didn't buckle and made sure that the home side didn't get a lead they would be difficult to claw back.
On the stroke of half time Saints got their reward when Morgan Schneiderlin curled in a shot after seeing the first effort blocked.
After the break Saints took control and the longer the game went on the more Saints got a grip of it and started to play the way that Koeman is clearly training them to do, the scond goal came with just over 20 minutes left and was testament to the spirit in the side, whilst West Ham argued about the fact they thought it should be a goal kick, Saints took it quickly before the home side had a chance to properly re group and JWP picked out Schneiderlin at the near post to sweep the ball home.
If Saints fans though this would rile the home side and that a torrid last quarter would ensue they were wrong, the goal spurred Saints ad time after time they easily broke up West Ham attacks and burst forward with speed, with the home sections already starting to empty Pelle showed he had an eye for goal when he banged in a loose ball for the goal he really needed ie his first Premier goal.
For the final minutes Saints took the sting out of the game and passed the ball around to make sure that there would be no fight back, West Ham though were finished, their fans knew it and the home stands were virtually empty by the time the board went up to signal injury time.
The stats show that Saints have taken last season's domination and are building on it, 63% possession and 18 shots on goal compared to the Hammers 4, all in all a good day at the office for Saints and the most pleasing thing was the manner in which it was earned, many predicted doom and gloom for Saints and claimed we were in free fall, that was certainly not the impression from this game, the team spirit was there, the tactics and formation was there and now the goal scoring was there, perhaps this season might just be as good if not better than last.
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