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

corkcitysaint added 10:12 - Dec 1 Great result indeed! I agree, yes, that prior to the match, I was a tad worried. More so from the point of where we were going to get a goal. I had expected some changes but maybe not so many. I can't help but feel had the result not gone our way, the posts here would be somewhat negative.. So, Puel the gambler came up trumps. Admittedly, it was a very weakened Arsenal side but having said that, we as a team, were strong and compact and restricted them to shots outside the box that never troubled. Hard to pick a man of the match yes, but, I have to give credit to Yoshida. He gets a lot of stick but he was composed last night and played well. It was his diagonal ball out to Bertrand that set-up the 1st goal after all. Long needs to get a mention as he tried again. he badly needs a goal though for his confidence and I'm sure he'd kick on from there. I thought he had it last night when he was 1 on 1 but just got closed down. It's a shame we didn't get a 3rd just to make the last 15 mins more comfortable from a watching point of view. All in all, very satisfying win, away from home. It does ease the pain of losing to Sheffield Utd a few years ago.. Now it's to take on Happoel. More of the same attitude and effort please. C'mon Saints!!

4

highfield49 added 10:14 - Dec 1 More than happy to admit that I called it wrong. The team selection was vindicated by the result and incredible work rate from the players. My man of the match was Yoshi, who I have frequently slated as not being up to the job, but every player deserves credit for the performance.
4

davenbennett added 10:27 - Dec 1 Arsenal fans will moan that they made 10 changes, but we made 8, and as was pointed out in the article, only 3 would be 1st team. I think it was an encouraging display from Boufall. Needs to do more work off the ball, but had a hand in both goals. At times Long was the only Saint player in the Arse half, and Boufal needed to get nearer to him. But minor moan, and he drew many fouls for shirt pulls and kicks as the Arse struggled to stop him. No real issues with any of the team. I agree we do need to put a strong team out V HBS next Thursday, but playing McQueen and Sims, for eg, does not really weaken the team. Not even Yosh for Fonte. Hehad a good game, and his long ball pass lead to the first goal. One or two errors, but steady, and no real "Kamakaze kid" moments. Martina linked up well, but did also lose the ball more than I would like. So V HBS I would play Cedric for Martina, Austin for Long, Romea for Reed. I would not use Redmond, who has been off his game, and play either McQueen or even Long. That should be enough to beat HBS. But we have Palace away next up, I am on the coach. Be interesting to see who starts.

2

hmmm added 10:54 - Dec 1 I guess from this report we can deduce that there are no circumstances under which Nick will admit he got it wrong (unlike some more magnanimous folk such as Highfield49) .. and by extension, that Puel got it right. We totally controlled the game, and hence the team selection must have been correct
0

SaintNick added 10:57 - Dec 1 I get many things wrong, but the report is to highlight where we went right and wrong in the game, not how good I am as a pundit
4

schatfield added 11:05 - Dec 1 Shane Long was brilliant regardless of the fact he didnt score........surely only a matter of time now. Yoshida also played very well, as did our kids. Great game and great win. Shame we got Liverpool, I had everything crossed for Hull in the semis...
2

mgprobert added 11:13 - Dec 1 I really enjoyed being at the Emirates for this one - a rare game where you could relax and enjoy it because we were in control (at the Emirates!). I loved the way Saints were constantly re-positioning and getting into shape whenever we lost possession, and then hounding the Arsenal player with the ball - a great tactical watch, and I think our boys wanted it more. It was only a Shane Long brace away from being the complete and perfect performance. Lets not get stressed about Liverpool, I though our cup run was over when we drew Arsenal away.

6

aceofthebase added 11:14 - Dec 1 Result is in! Puel 2 - Nick and the Doubters -7
1

perazi added 11:18 - Dec 1 It was a great win. Have to take exception with Nick's idea that only VVD, Davis and Bertrand would be considered first choices - Boufal, who was very good last night and Hojbjerg for starters are very close to our "best" eleven. The way Yoshida is playing this season he is every bit as effective as Fonte. A great display by Reed, good second half by McQueen. Steven Davis played a blinder as the box-to-box midfielder with great runs and incisive passing. Unlike many I thought Long was poor last night, especially in the first half - his touch was mostly awful; the way Sims is developing I can see him being preferred to Long/Rodriguez very soon. Terrific win.

3

Bettwsresident added 11:27 - Dec 1 The telling stat is that we have used 25 players in the EFL this year..more than any other team. We are not playing our B team, rather mixing 1st and 2nd. Both the EFl and the Europa are giving a chance for the squad to learn to play together. This is a master stoke by Puel. Using the Europa to build the whole squads abilities and improve the side. It means should we need to rest players, they get injured or suspended, there is a ready made replacement in all positions that can slot in and is used to playing with the whole squad. This means the 1st team (whatever that is) is never disjointed by personnel losses. Reed, Simms, McQueen and all well and truly part of the team, and how can say that Davis is not worthy of being a first choice! All power to the manager...and a brilliant result last night.

8

SaintNick added 11:37 - Dec 1 Perazi, Im not disagreeing with you about Boufal and Hojbjerg, but on this seasons appearances so far they are not first choices in the Premier League team which is usually our strongest line up, perhaps they will be in the near future but not so far. I also agree with bettwsresident about the benefits of mixing and matching, but sometimes you have to put out your strongest side and this was an occasion that merited a stronger side than we put out. I said Davis was first choice ??

1

steadyeddie added 11:43 - Dec 1 Wonderful evening, slightly tarnished by getting caught in traffic jams and rail delays and thus missing Jordy Clasie's fantastic strike. First time I have visited Arsenal and actual seen Saints win. Claude got it right, Wenger got it wrong, and we should have won by at least 4, if we had taken our chances. Well played everyone. This is the most together Team and Squad I can remember. Lets win at Selhurst now, and make it a magical week!!

4

SaintNick added 11:55 - Dec 1 And add Happoel Be'er Sheva despatached and keep the dream going
8

steadyeddie added 11:57 - Dec 1 Indeed Nick, but one game at a time.
0

SanMarco added 11:59 - Dec 1 Great result. Fully confess that my heart sank at certain names on the team sheet but the result proves me wrong - I'm the first to moan when things go t1ts-up, as in Prague, but this time we got the result. Tw good results in a row now - let's take our defensive might to Selhurst and pop in a goal or two. PS wish we'd got Hull...
5

aceofthebase added 12:12 - Dec 1 There you go again Nick full of praise for many but strangely silent about our great centre back Yoshida and our best right back Martina, I have to say that was a wonderful strike from Clasie. Boufal was at times mesmerising, he has a great future here and finally tons of praise for our manager, he sends my speakers into a craze with his growly reports but he is proving to be the complete manager that we need. This was a wonderful team performance.

-2

SonicBoom added 12:14 - Dec 1 Great result but I'm with Nick. We are taking some big chances. Yes the team selection paid off but that's easy to say with hindsight. There are some key games where I would like to see our strongest 11 and this would have been one. I heard people on the radio today saying that Puel may choose to do the same again in the semi - I hope not! He had certainly better put out our strongest side against the Israeli's. Just my opinion but we are in a must win game now mainly because we didn't put out stronger teams in previous games. I hope and expect to win but we are sailing close to the wind whereas I believe we would be safe by now had we played stringer teams.

6

halftimeorange added 12:36 - Dec 1 I couldn't see or listen to this game due to being at a concert but I have to admit I was astonished by the result and the goal scorers. It's odd how players who were so poor in Prague (when many supporters had stretched their Christmas finances to see the Saints play abroad) turned in what appears to have been a largely gratifying performance against a team (albeit weakened) one might have expected to beat them. Claude won't get away with it too often but he did last night so we'll have to be satisfied with that and hope that what we each think is our best eleven turns out in the Europa.

0

Hugh_Jarce added 12:51 - Dec 1 Yoshida was outstanding last night and with the pass for the first goal was my MOTM. Agree Shlong needs a goal but was busy as always. Not jumping on the Boufal bandwagon just yet as he needs to get involved more - particularly off the ball. Great skill though.
5

bstokesaint added 13:02 - Dec 1 Does anyone know what our strongest/first XI actually is? I think Forster, (probably) Cedric, Fonte, VVD and Bertrand pick themselves, but every other position forward of that is hotly contested. I believe Romeu and Davis are two of the more consistent performers and Tadic and Boufal are the danger men. All midfielders need to add goals to their game, especially JWP. And then upfront the same can be said of the front men. We need someone, other than Austin, to start banging them in. Fair play to Puel for getting it right. I know he has his doubters, but he really is trying to involve all of his squad effectively and I can see that that is a big challenge. It's interesting when you think about it because Poch really did the opposite and in the spring of his final season Saints really fell apart form-wise in the league. Maybe the rotation will work in our favour at the same time of the season this season. And finally well done Clasie for getting off the mark and Yoshi for having another good game. It's gone under the radar a bit, but he's had a few decent games recently and is quietly upping his game.

5

landerwal added 13:33 - Dec 1 Great result. It shows how far we have come this season that the main topic, post match, is what is our strongest team should be. If you want to see what we might have been debating if Koeman was still manager, go to the Toffee Web and see what the Everton fans think of their team and our erstwhile manager's selection policy.
3

ItchenNorth added 13:40 - Dec 1 Good result last night. I feel too many fans get side tracked by squad rotation as reason for recent (poor) results. It can not be lost on us that the more we rotate our players within the competitions, the more these same players become better integrated into the system and therefore the overall strength of the squad become deeper. We can then be more confident that if a get a spate of injuries or a suspension at key point of the season, that the player(s) coming in will be fully up to speed. I would have liked to have draw Hull next (as we all would have) but on reflection LFC are likely to rotate more heavily than say Man U. This may be to our advantage.

1

SaintNick added 14:00 - Dec 1 I agree with Itchen North, but certain players are not up to the job when it get tough, harsh but true and they need to be left out for truly important games
0

hmmm added 14:42 - Dec 1 Nick, for the record, which do you think are the less important games over the next couple of months?
0

davepid added 14:53 - Dec 1 Let's just pause: as Hugh Jarce says. Yoshida, man of the match.
2

Blogs 31 bloggers

Southampton Polls