Contary to popular belief across the country it wasn't the linesman's mistake that ultimately cost Saints their first trophy in 41 years.

Saints were of course the victims of a poor decision by the linesman at Wembley, but I can understand why he made the call and why he would have been distracted by the fact that Ryan Bertrand was behind Manolo Gabbiadini, but who is to say that this would have changed the game, Saints have gone ahead in the early stages of several games this season and yet still lost badly, Spurs and West Ham at St Mary's spring instantly to mind.

But the moment that truly cost us the League Cup Final happened five weeks earlier on a Sunday afternoon at St Mary's when Jamie Vardy with no chance of reaching a ball going out for a goal kick decided to put his studs into the back of Virgil Van Dijk's ankle.

Whilst I have always believed that one player does not make a team, sometimes a single player can make a difference in key games and for Saints Virgil Van Dijk has been that player this season.

At that moment what looked like an innocuous piece of nastiness from one of the Premier League's most odious players both on the field and by all accounts off it put Saints hopes of winning the League Cup in jeopardy.

Of course we still had to overcome Liverpool in the second leg of the semi final without Van Dijk and we did so in tense circumstances at Anfield and whilst we kept a clean sheet and Yoshida and Jack Stephen's performed with passion, the warning signs were there, the clean sheet was as much about the poor finishing by the home side who had several big chances where they were unmarked.

The truth was that Virgil Van Dijk being perhaps the best central defender in the Premier League was about to miss not only a big chunk of the rest of this season, but the biggest game of his life, due to a little scroat called Jamie Vardy.

Yes perhaps we would still have lost had VVD been available at Wembley, but we would have had a far better chance of winning it if he had been playing, I do not want to say too much about either Stephens or Yoshida they dug in and played their hearts out for the club and I cannot fault their commitment.

But there was something missing in the centre of defence and that was proved for both United's second and third goals were both scorers were not picked up in the penalty area.

That showed a lack of composure and organisation, something that Virgil would have given us in spades.

If the linesman's flag going up was a lack of concentration on his behalf, then the final two United goals showed an equal lack in our defence.

So we can make al the excuses for our defeat, but ultimately it fell down to our own shortcomings and nothing else.

We have much to be proud of as a football club for the way we conducted ourselves as a team on the pitch and as supporters off it, but when it comes down to it Virgil Van Dijk has been our best player this season and his absence was the biggest single factor as to why we were not celebrating at the final whistle.

Photo: Action Images

wibbersda added 11:32 - Feb 28 Sorry but I blame Forster for the 1st and 3rd goal. It was obvious that Zlatlan had a massive height advantage and is unstoppable at the moment, so Forster should have moved off his line to punch it out before he got his head to it. Sadly though If you look at our history we are always runners up, not just cups but through the leagues as well. I actually watch '76 the other day and as you know BS was a mile off side so for once we had a bit of luck, but I fear we will always be runners up! Gutted and we won't get any European football either next year.

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pete_boggs added 11:48 - Feb 28 Swap goalies, cup was ours. Forster is the worst keeper in the league (statistically as well). Why can't we give the new fella a run, we're paying his wages until june to warm the bench?
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dixiefrog added 11:57 - Feb 28 Good article, but for me it's nonsense to try and blame one player (even if it is the sh1tbag Vardy). I believe the game and indeed the season was lost due to Saints lack of depth in the squad. If you look back, all of our 'big' players if injured have no replacement...Forster no immediate replacement, VVD, Boufal, Romeu and Austin all no credible replacement. Yes the club reacts when there's a problem, such as Caceres and Gabbiadini but it's all too slow and ponderous, we should have natural first class reserves ready in every position. This is where I think a Director of Football would be useful to the club. The DoF sits between the Manager and the Board and acts on behalf of both sides, he can spot where we're weak and suggest (as a Board Director) the best route forward. I'm not for one minute suggesting that Puel is doing a bad job, but for me I think he's exposed as he only concentrates on football related issues. When he needs a new player he has to go cap in hand to the Owner, Chairman and CEO, none of whom are footballing people and plead his case, if these people don't understand the situation or base their decision on business rather than football, then we're always going to be short. For me the season is fading to a non-event which could have been so much better, all for a a bit of foresight and a couple of strategic buys.

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OldRed added 12:18 - Feb 28 Good article. If anyone watched last night's Leicester/Liverpool game they would have seen Vardy make the same tackle on Sadio Mane, only Mane was lucky enough to continue playing. There are many reasons why Saints never won on Sunday but if VVD had played I'm sure we would have.
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bstokesaint added 12:32 - Feb 28 I think the Vardy foul was a huge factor by taking out our most instrumental player. The obvious other advantage of VVD is he can carry the ball forward and play as an attacking player when throwing caution into the wind. I can't believe a fellow pro would do that to another player. Treading down on the back of an opponent's ankle is only ever going to cause serious injury. On the subject of Forster I totally agree he looks like a man lost right now, and that's not good for a man between the sticks, but for me there is no doubting his class. For those with a short memory just think back to when he came back from injury last season and transformed our season with an incredible run of shut-outs at the back. He was incredible. His confidence is really down right now, but he's not lost his ability. I think the best answer is to give one of the other keepers a run-out and give him a break out of the limelight. He'll get back to being decent again.

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SonicBoom added 12:56 - Feb 28 Hey Dixie Frog, you ever heard of Les Reed ?
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saintmark1976 added 12:59 - Feb 28 Nick,in football as in a lot of things in life what goes around comes around. I am certain that will apply ultimately to Mr Vardy. I remember Jack Charlton saying he kept a little book containing the names of all the opposition players who had attempted to "do him" so that he did not forget them when next they met. I doubt things have changed that much in the modern game.

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RogerToye added 13:32 - Feb 28 The players you have you do the job.. The manager could do no more.. He got it about right apart from maybe getting subs on a little earlier or keeping the team shape till 90 mins getting us to extra time when i think we win it... Don't forget the link up between Romeu and Yoshida who should be picking up the attacker in the hole happens quite a lot.. where we ship goals. Frasers slow movement for the first goal was the wall placement and steven davies should not have been in that wall IMO but Yoshida another silly tackle costing Saints the first goal.. FF confidence meant he hugs the line rather than commands the box because of the inexperience in front of him, and not picking up for the second goal was a marking issue it was 2 v 7 having said that not much else wrong with Saints Performance... Zlatan does have a destiny about him bit like Drogba however Vardy is a Sly fox.

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davenbennett added 13:55 - Feb 28 The Daily Telegraph sports section actually showed in 2 photos why the first goal went in. Two Utd players charged into Davis and knocked him out of the way, leaving what the DT called a "clear gap" in the wall. So, Davis was fouled. I think the first club I saw using this tactic was Chelsea and John Terry a number of years ago. Saying that, Romeu should not have given the foul away. Not the first time this year. But, still my first choice MF every game. For the 2nd goal, Davis lost his man from the throw, but the CBs did not react. The 3rd, I think was due to us going for the win and putting too many men forward. If we played for extra time, maybe the fact that Utd had played 3 games more than us would have told. And if Gabba had stayed on for the cross just a short while later...

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halftimeorange added 14:20 - Feb 28 I am still worrying why our main goal threat was substituted and why Caceres, apparently fit enough for the bench, wasn't introduced to support Yoshida and Stephens with extra time looming. Those decisions mystify me. It was, however, gratifying to see JWP and Nathan Redmond both perform decently on the big stage. Let us hope that they maintain that form in the season's run-in.

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SaintBrock added 16:07 - Feb 28 If Vardy reads this column Nick you could well be in the pooh big time :-o Do you really seriously think he set out to cripple VvD? We lost because we let in 3 goals and yes Stephens was to blame for two of them if blame has to be the name of the game but I prefer that he did his best in circumstances where he was asked to do the nigh on impossible, try to suppress Ibrahimovic one of thegretaest ever strikers in footballl history. Man against Boy. Just remember 'though they had no better luck trying to suppress our hat-trick Italian ace Gabbiadini with far better and more experienced players than Stephens. So yes, you are right VvD's injury was a huge factor in our inability to keep a clean sheet and as I have posted before good players like Yoshida and Cedric are bound to be distracted by having to keep a weather-eye on a raw young lad playing along side them. Forster is on a hiding to nothing if CBs fail to do their job with a stream of high crosses coming into the box which seemed to be the only weapons Manure had to offer. That is not to say he shouldn't have done better.

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Jesus_02 added 16:25 - Feb 28 Absolutely Vardy intended to take VVD out. He is quite limited intellectually and I think he believes its part of his game like Roy Keane in the 90's. The truth is that whenever things don't go his way he becomes spiteful. I hope that refs get wise to him and give him a lengthy ban. Im not sure whats happening with Forster, maybe he didnt get a transfer he wanted or he has an issue with the manager or maybe something is occurring in his personal life because he is visibly not the same player he was. The biggest part missing at defence is leadership and organisation. I hate to say it but someone needs to fill the leadership role that Fonte has left and maybe this should be Forsters role. Ok he cant see the line but does anyone expect Yoshida or Stephans to organise the back 4?

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SanMarco added 16:59 - Feb 28 Yes the VVD loss was vital - but also the fact that no one was brought in to replace him, which after all was the reason that Stephens was playing. There was plenty of time to have even got Cacares in much earlier so yes Vardy played his part but so did the club (Les or whoever). I believe that having to play Stephens did cost us - even the first goal, would Romeu have been so rash if he had confidence in his centre-backs? Forster is certainly the other big talking point - after the first goal one of the people I was watching with said "at least he is good at reaction saves and things when the ball is nearer him" - and then came the winner. Yes, it would have needed a very goalkeeper to save that but I thought that was what he was supposed to be. Just a final point on Ibrahimovic - he is obviously carrying Manure this season but was he REALLY man-of-the-match? An easy header that he gave the goaly a chance with and a freekick that should have been saved. I could name half a dozen Saints players who were better than that with, of course, Gabby at the top of the list. And just another final point on the off-side - it was far too early to be 'decisive'. Who knows what would have happened if it had gone in. I don't think we would have collapsed like in the games that Nick mentions but we really don't know and never will.

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SaintBrock added 17:03 - Feb 28 To be fair nobody ever suggested that footballers had intellect as your reference to Roy Keene recognises so singling out Vardy on that characteristic is a tad unfair. Agreed he was basically trained as a non-league player and hence is by definition an agricultural footballer so I'd prefer to give him the benefit of the doubt and describe him as a clumsy subtle-less oaf. You are correct about Forster, his head is not right and you can see it in his general demeanour, he seems to me sometimes to be going through the motions rather than enjoying his football and the streams of the match suggest he was only half concentrating when the third goal went in. Maybe he thought Stephens would (and should) have just nodded it away out to the touchline and wasn't expecting the lad to be way our of position and missed it all together but had he been 100% focussed he'd have allowed for that possibility anyway. Maybe he was just tired after all he is a very big lad and may tire easily... who knows but for sure all is not right with him just now.

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SaintBrock added 17:07 - Feb 28 It may be a tradition that MotM is selected from the winning team hence Ibrahimovic because he scored a couple of patsies. Maybe de Gea should have been on that count. True MotM was undoubtedly Manolo Gabbiadini
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SaintJez added 19:04 - Feb 28 Undoubtedly true that the (deliberately nasty) stamp on VVD was a massive factor in us losing the cup final - he's the league's best centre back, this is a given. Also, the club being aware of that and not buying fit centre back cover is a factor but Yoshi has more than earned his place as he has really stepped up since Fonte left. As for Stephens.. the lad will come good. It's difficult to be thrown into such big occasions but he handled himself very well on the whole. Sadly, a combination of fatigue and inexperience led to him not searching out Ibra in the box and them scoring the winner with a free header. While we are on the "blame" subject, I do wish people would lay off Forster. Last season he was statistically one of the top keepers in the league. When he got injured our form dipped markedly. When he returned, we got better. I think everyone is aware his stats this year are pretty ugly but he's barely made a howler. He's just had one of those seasons where everything seems to be going in! He's not a bad keeper though. He's far from it and we are lucky to have him. I do hate seeing / hearing the fans turn against our own. He will come good again!!

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dirk_doone added 21:30 - Feb 28 If Les Reed had not decided to let Fonte go, we'd have won. Fonte almost single-handedly saved West Ham from defeat at Watford while Stephens and Yoshida were struggling to cope this weekend. A 35-year-old won the game for Man United. A player 2 years younger could have won it for us. But, what really cost us was Puel substituting Gabbiadini, the only man who was going to win the match for us, 5 minutes before the end of the game. If Mourinho had done the same with Ibrahimovic, we'd now be the cup holders.

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dixiefrog added 21:50 - Feb 28 Hey Sonic Boom, yes I've heard of Les Reed and yes he's Saints Executive Director. The clues in the name, he's an Executive who sits on Saints Board, true Directors of Football do not, thereby providing distance between the Board and the Manager. My point which most people seemed to grasp, is that Puel has to fight the ENTIRE Board to get anything done, a true DoF would support him and help to fight his corner.

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SaintJez added 22:44 - Feb 28 dirk_doone - I definitely agree with that. Taking off gabbiadini was squad rotation nonsense. The guy hadn't played for 2 weeks and was causing them loads of problems and clearly our most likely goal threat. I don't buy "he was tired" for a moment. He was loving it. We would have poked home from Bertrands cross (where Long missed the ball) and we would indeed now be owners of the cup.

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dirk_doone added 23:01 - Feb 28 Gabbiadini sprinted down the tunnel like Usain Bolt. He was still full of running and definitely p!ssed off at not being allowed to stay on and win the game, which he would have done when that cross flew across the United goal, just after he was subbed. We may already have seen the beginning of a rift between Gabbiadini and Puel. Gabbiadini was chatting to Mourinho afterwards.

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saintmark1976 added 08:04 - Mar 1 SaintJez. To be honest I think the criticism of Fraser on the Ugly has been very fair and reasonable given his form this season.As for not making a howler then I can only assume you missed the away game at Palace although I accept your point that it happens to all keepers occasionally. What is of concern to me is that he appears unable to do the simple things properly. In particular his recent desire to punch shots rather than catch them together with looking like a cat on a hot tin roof every time the ball is passed back to him.Add in being frozen to his line and very poor dead ball kicking and distribution and it is evident that he has ongoing problems.How he overcomes them going forward is now the question which I hope he and the club can answer quickly both for him and the teams wellbeing.

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SaintBrock added 12:54 - Mar 2 No rift dirk, just the opposite in fact if you read what he said on the OS.
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