Saints produced their most comprehensive home performance in 18 months to put Everton to the sword and show that they can now look up the table and not down it.

Mauricio Pellegrino didn't change much in terms of tactics, indeed when the team news came through before kick off many cynics in the Saints support were predicting another dire attacking performance.

But the difference was that in Charlie Austin up front Saints had a target man for the crossing ability of their wide players, I have been saying for weeks that the issue was not one of a poor squad, but one of playing to our strengths, suddenly Saints wide men had a player to aim for who could scrap for the ball in the box and win headers, no disrespect to Manolo Gabbiadini, but that isn't his game and we haven't the players in the squad who can pass the ball enough times to get him in on goal.

But it was a test of Saints character, after going ahead with a well worked Dusan Tadic goal Saints dominated possession and looked comfortable, then in on the stroke of half time came an equaliser out of the blue, it was an unstoppable shot, hit with such force and to a millimetre accuracy, it shaved the underside of the bar bounced down, bounced back up again and then went in off the post.

At half time you wondered whether this would be a hammer blow to Saints and revive Everton and which way the game would go.

But Saints showed they had found the character missing in recent weeks and again in was Ryan Bertrand who was the provider and Charlie Austin powered home a header from an angle.

On 58 minutes Everton were effectively beaten with another Austin header, this time Tadic being the provider and from then on it would only be a case of how many.

But despite a couple of good efforts and most of the attacking play it would only see one other goal for Saints with Steven Davis rifling home an effort from the edge of the box to complete the scoring, a fifth goal would have seen Saints leapfrog Brighton into 9th, but sadly this would not be the case.

It was in many respects a perfect performance from Saints with only that wonder goal as a blot on the copybook, they won the game, kept things tight to close it out and made some good substitutions.

The good thing though was that not only did Saints provide the result, but they provided the performance, yes some will say it was only Everton a team in disarray, but their performance was no worse than our half hearted display at Anfield last weekend, we can only beat what is in front of us.

So what prompted this change around, in essence Pellegrino changed little in terms of the way the team was set up, but the difference was Charlie Austin, he provided an outlet for the teams method of attacking, as mentioned earlier if you are going to rely on crosses, not only from the likes of Tadic etc, but the overlapping play of Bertrand and Soares, then you need someone who can hold his own in the box and Austin is best equipped from all our strike options to do that.

The team spirit seemed to be back and clearly there had been a clear the air meeting in the dressing room during the week, the team played to their strengths and reaped the rewards with some decent performances from those who have been out of favour and also under fire players.

Fraser Forster had little to do but what he did he did well and could not be faulted with the goal.

Dusan Tadic scored a sublime goal and created another and looked more like the player he was in his first two seasons at the club.

Pierre Emile Hojbjerg was in many peoples eyes man of the match, he did everything right and showed why he could have a big future at the club.

James Ward Prowse alongside Steven Davis controlled the midfield and finally Charlie Austin did what he used to do so well and that is score goals, hopefully that can continue.

This is a good Saints squad, it just needed to get back to basics and play to it's strengths.

But one good win doesn't change everything, what it shows us is that we can now move up the table, Mauricio Pellegrino now has to show that he has learned his lessons and will continue to do so, if he does then perhaps those calling for his head were premature, but one win is not going to decide that.

We now go to Manchester City, in essence a free hit in that we are expected to lose to them, after all they have won every game but one, but we have the players to go their and perhaps raise a few eyebrows.

So this result has bought us time, we are as near to Burnley in 7th as we are West Ham who are 3rd from bottom, we sit in 10th, but we are a team that has had our bad patch and come through it, we now need to get the City game out of the way and look to get a run of games together where we put a few points on the table, if we can end the year still in and around 10th then we will have played 4 of the top six away from home and come through it well.

Last week I was despondent. this week I have a lot more hope than I thought I would, yes it was only Everton, but too often both this and last season we have failed to put away the so called lesser sides when we really should have, so from that perspective we have the green shoots of recovery.

Photo: Action Images

Sanguin added 12:12 - Nov 27 This game was such a relief, you have to go back to March/April to find the last time that we put this many goals past another team from open play. I remember three years ago when we beat Sunderland 8-0 or when we were 3-0 up against Steve Bruce’s Hull and he took off an attacker to put another defender on saying that he had to keep the score respectable. In recent months every time you watch Southampton you don’t expect goals and you don’t expect to be entertained; this result was just the tonic we needed to change that. We’ve been saying it for months, if we’re going to put crosses into the box then we need someone who can do something with them. Charlie Austin proved he is that man. My fear is that this is not the solution to all of our problems, putting crosses in for a tall striker is easier to counter with man marking. I hope that this performance inspires the rest of the team to step up and I also hope it inspires Pellegrino to change up his tactics further.

3

petesmaterob added 12:13 - Nov 27 Blimey I'm first. Yes me and Pete thought far better tempo, team further forward and more players on 7 out of 10 rather than 5 or 6. A mention for the way the center backs tried to play the ball forward rather that across ever time. I just wish JWP could be a bit more forward looking with his passing.
1

petesmaterob added 12:14 - Nov 27 Dam it, not first
0

arthurfane added 12:16 - Nov 27 Aw, petesmaterob, I feel for you man - you were so excited about being first!
0

skiptonsaint added 12:16 - Nov 27 The old Southampton is back. Fair play MP you got the team selection bang on and proved you can motivate and have respect from the players. Only downside is Austin will be a closely marked man after that but at least we now have options. Jan window will be very interesting
1

bstokesaint added 12:19 - Nov 27 I have to confess I was pessimistic before this one, but being an Everton fan is definitely worse right now. I mean conceding four goals against us! Pleased that some of the guys that were given a chance to prove themselves took that opportunity well. Having an on-song Charlie Austin can only be a good thing.
2

saintmark1976 added 12:33 - Nov 27 One swallow does not a summer make. Delighted with the win which has given us some breathing space but let's not get carried away.Everton were absolutely abysmal. They were worse than we were at Liverpool last week and that takes some saying.
6

Whiteknight added 12:39 - Nov 27 Good article Nick. Saints performance so much better. One swallow does not a summer make but this game gives grounds for optimism. I was really pleased to see some more fight & passion. As I said last week, all I ask for is for the players to give their all and they did that against Everton (who were shockingly bad). If I were MP, I would experiment against City on Wednesday night: Forster Yoshida, VVD, Hoedt Cedric, Bertrand PEH, Lemina, Romeu Boufal Austin We've nothing to lose!

3

Dan_P326 added 12:49 - Nov 27 Excellent result despite the opposition, now lets try this line up against a team with a bit more steel and see if it still pays off! It's been frustrating that its taken this long to get Austin in the team seeing as in the games I've seen this season Gabbi often struggles to get on the end of crosses and being that's the majority of our attacking outlet seems like a bit of a tactical faux pas, but hey life goes on. Will be interesting to see what this means for Wednesday. I can't see MP playing Austin twice in 4 days with his record for injuries but City might be a game that suits Gabbi a bit better anyway as I'd imagine we'll be on the back foot quite a lot so we'll have to break away quickly.

0

steve73 added 12:50 - Nov 27 Great result, great day. Don't want to waste words on Everton other than to say they're crap and what the hell happened to MS?? No way he's the same player that left us for greater things. So much better from us. It's controversial but I'm not really a Rom fan; he puts the yards in but makes a fair few mistakes. Hoj worked just as hard doing the donkey work but had much more about him going forward and should definitely keep his place, hopefully alongside Lamina. Much more potent going forward. Boufal, JWP and Tadic were all superb. Hopefully that'll be the end of Redmond. Surprising how his non selection was glossed over, I wonder if it had anything to do with a more united looking team? Maybe not but they did all seem a lot happier and motivated yesterday. That side deserves a consistent run although Lamina must be accommodated. Sadly it'll probably be at the expense of Davis. Maybe if we get rid of Redmond and Long in January and replace them with quality we could have a good season after all. Definitely a lot happier with life after yesterday. 👏👏👏 Oh, and despite having almost nothing to do VVD was probably our worst player and clearly doesn't give a shot. Didn't matter yesterday but he's gonna cost us dearly at some point I'm sure.

4

SanMarco added 12:52 - Nov 27 The difference was we were crossing from better positions - ie getting behind them on the wings and, yes, having the right man to head them in. Usually this season the crosses have been pumped in from too far out and have been aimed at people unable to head the ball. Hojbjerg was the man of the match for me and I would like to see him rewarded with a start on Weds. I thought he looked to push forward with energy in a way that Romeu, good as he is, doesn't. One good performance against awful opposition doesn't mean that our attacking problems are fixed. Other less generous teams will not let us through them like that but at least we have a plan A for scoring goals now (Charlie was hobbling at the end so given his proneness to injury I would say plans B and C need developing quickly and, indeed, Gabbi would have probably scored at least one of the ones Austin missed in the first half). Finally, I am pleased no-one is trying to blame FF for that goal - it wasn't his fault - the guy picked his spot to the square inch - it was just one of those things (apart perhaps from VVD's defending??) And finally, finally, well done to Boufal who just might be beginning to look like a great asset (no Les, not for selling, ON THE FIELD)...

7

schatfield added 13:11 - Nov 27 How good were Cedric and Bertrand bombing down the wings....but also how good was Hojbjerg....has his chance and took it. Now I hope he gets a prolonged stay in the first team and not shunted out because others are back. It does show how a change of players on the field can make such a difference. Also really impressed that after conceding a goal our heads didnt drop. Probably helped that half time came, but we reacted...thats the big thing. Man City on Wednesday is another story to Everton though..

6

JDawg added 13:28 - Nov 27 Everton's goal was not a wonder goal, it should never have been a goal at all! Saints were too busy thinking about their half time oranges! They failed to clear their lines and then didn't close down Sigursson who had all the time in the world to place his shot and he nearly fluffed it. That aside it was a great game and a great team performance. Some of the attacking moves were sublime. PEH was immense and both Tadic and Boufal showed just what they can do when they can be arsed. Austin was the difference though. I was dreading making the 120 mile round trip for the dross that had been played, but I'm so glad I did. As SaintMark said one swallow does not make a summer. MP has to learn from this, pick plays on their merits and how they fit is system, He must not revert back to his favourite players . Austin and PEH both deserve a run of starts and Redmond needs to earn has place back. I'd say unchanged side against Citeh but Lemina has to come in, so Lemina in for JWP .

2

SaintJez added 13:29 - Nov 27 Can we play Everton every week please? shambles.
1

SaintBrock added 13:29 - Nov 27 There were very strong rumours of a board meeting last week involving Pellegrino. Yesterday we got this! A completely different style to anything we have seen from this manager so far, a striker back in from the cold and a whole different attitude from certain players who suddenly played the way we expect home to play. I smell a rat. Was this style and line up forced on Pellegrino by Les Reed? Whatever happened to jolly it all up, it worked and now of course there will be no going back. Does this win make the manager's job safer? In fact 'No", if others intervened to prove that we do indeed have the palyers then their point was well and truly made. This looks like adapt or leave to me.

2

SaintBrock added 13:44 - Nov 27 We've heard so much about the success in football being about finding 'pairs'. Yesterday Bertie and Boufa; were magical; together as indeed were Cedric and ... wait for it... Ward Prowse. This left Dusan Tadic to roam free of the right wing and how much better he was for that. He is a natural No 10 and that's where he should play. Despite a few people criticising VVD for yesterday's perfrpomance in my opinion is way wide of the mark and grossly unfair, he and Hoedt looked really relaxed together and let's be honest neither of them had to break sweat, as Everton had no striking threat at all for them to take seriously. Now the trick is too find the pair in central midfield from Romeu, Lemina, Davis & Hoedt. Not a bad problem to have.

3

dirk_doone added 13:56 - Nov 27 Excellent report, Nick, on the best game of the season so far. I agree with every word of it. If I could have written one as well, that's what I'd have written. Having a striker like Charlie Austin up front, who the rest of the team actually believed could score goals, helped lift the performance of all of the players. As you say, at last they had someone in the box to get the ball to. PS Sorry to hear about the loss of your dog.

2

TeamCortese added 13:58 - Nov 27 A much needed result. Hojberg was simply sublime. That was the player I thought we signed a year ago. The player that Pep himself said had the same potential as Busquet. I'm just happy we scored goals. I think the real test will be Bournemouth next Sunday. If we win that then I know we'll have the confidence for the rest of the season to stay up and possibly finish in the top 10.

4

BoondockSaint added 14:11 - Nov 27 There seemed to be a change in attitude-like the team wanted to play together and win--which was the total opposite of Everton. Anyway 3 important points. More than one goal scored. A bit of urgency about the attack. So let's keep it going......... But since I am a Saints fans I worry that the new owner had his checkbook half out of his pocket and Les Reed said "No, put it back. We won. Everything is fine."

3

redandwhitedee added 15:02 - Nov 27 Agree with Whightknight that when i saw Yoshida came on towards the end of the game that maybe MP was preparing in his head already the line-up for the City game. Maybe indeed City away is a good time to properly test playing 3 decent CBs in a back 5. Or is it maybe better to just park the bus' playing 5 very strong across midfield ? Lemina/PEH/Romeu/Davis/JWP and Austin on his own up top. Then we could save Boufal & Tadic's energy for the B'mouth game where we will definitely get more space and time on the ball in the final third..

2

SaintPaulVW added 15:41 - Nov 27 Can not agree with most of the comments. Thought the 2 fullbacks were immense and PEH finally showed in a full match what he is capable of. However everyone's attitude seemed to have gone up a notch. Glimmer of hope now ahead of what should be the toughest game of the season so far. COYR!
3

halftimeorange added 16:42 - Nov 27 Without taking anything away from a thoroughly good team performance it seemed to me that in Everton we faced the first set of defensive players in a long time who collectively were shorter than our lot. Charlie scored two excellently placed headers but he wasn't really being challenged. As for the Everton goal, from where I sit in the Kingsland (directly behind the scorer) it appeared that Forster misjudged where to put his hand, missing the ball completely. Hobjberg was excellent throughout, never leaving Everton any time in midfield. The game ended with Everton players squabbling amongst themselves which in itself says everything about them really.

1

helpineedsomebody added 17:02 - Nov 27 ive just seen the highlites & in 60 years surporting the saints ive NEVER seen the playing system COMPLETELY changed after afew games. this system is RIGHT not becouse we won but how we played not playing to the dugout any more but going forward its so easy SO WHO HAS CHANGE IT THERE WILL BE AFEW WORRIED MEN LOOKING FOR WORK BEFORE CHRISTMAS WELL DONE THAT PERSON & LETS GET BACK TO EUROPE

0

SaintJez added 17:47 - Nov 27 @halftimeorange! - please stop with the Forster witch hunt. no keeper on the planet would have saved that. You need to be 8 feet tall to have a chance!!! Was a remarkable strike - and a bit of luck too.
1

SaintBrock added 17:53 - Nov 27 Co-incidence that Nigel Adkins was around last week? Mr Motivator involved? Just kidding really but...
2

Blogs 32 bloggers

Port Vale Polls