{"id":10166,"date":"2024-10-04T12:53:35","date_gmt":"2024-10-04T11:53:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=10166"},"modified":"2024-10-06T00:19:28","modified_gmt":"2024-10-05T23:19:28","slug":"i-like-football-but-not-southampton","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=10166","title":{"rendered":"I like football but not Southampton"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<a id=\"gFPrrDP2Sq1_tXY1NefEkg\" class=\"gie-single\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/79667294\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"color:#a7a7a7;text-decoration:none;font-weight:normal !important;border:none;display:inline-block;\" rel=\"noopener\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'gFPrrDP2Sq1_tXY1NefEkg',sig:'tvJyOCLf2ndRsksE-tA1E1V7TipX15Y-AgwupXDbDWg=',w:'594px',h:'432px',items:'79667294',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src=\"\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\" async=\"\"><\/script>\n\n\n\n<p>Without doubt, the worst day of my Arsenal supporting life was the 3-3 draw at home to Southampton at the back end of the 2022\/23 season. That does make it sound like I\u2019ve led a charmed life as an Arsenal supporter and you would have to say, like any Arsenal fan under the age of 25, I probably have.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At the conclusion of that game, we were top of the league, albeit having played two more games than City with about five games to go. But it was probably the context of the events that occurred in the weeks leading up to that game that made it even more traumatic. We all recall that Saliba season-ending back injury in March which ultimately derailed our title charge that season. A draw at Anfield wasn\u2019t a bad result despite being 2-0 up in half an hour. It was still in our hands. Then the same thing happened at West Ham the following weekend and Arsenal fans began to accept our fate was slipping out of our hands. But if we won all our remaining games (a tall order) we would still be in with a strong chance. Rock bottom Southampton at home on a Friday night? That\u2019s what you want after letting a 2-0 lead slip in consecutive weeks. What could possibly go wrong?&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Well, everything. Following a poor Ramsdale back pass, we were a goal down after 15 seconds. Well, this is a disastrous start. But we do have 89 minutes and 45 seconds to turn this around right guys? 1-0 became 2-0 inside 15 minutes and The Emirates was in a state of complete shock and disbelief. Going into injury time we found ourselves 3-1 down and miraculously clawed it back to 3-3 and very nearly won it when at the death as Trossard clipped the bar from a long-range effort, but the damage was too great to reverse. Not just that night but the last couple of weeks. In the end, it was all just a step too far for our young team. I\u2019ve always reflected on that game as the final nail in the coffin. Going into that game we still had the faintest glimmer of hope that anything can happen. But Southampton extinguished whatever little bit of faith we had and for that reason I strongly dislike them.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Truthfully, Southampton have been a bogey team for us for some time now. We also drew at St Mary\u2019s earlier that season but despite the four points The Saints took from us, they still finished bottom and were relegated shortly after that match much to my grim pleasure. I hope those meaningless draws made you very happy, lads. I had hoped they would fade away into obscurity like so many others but to my disgust, Southampton made an immediate return to the Premier League via the playoffs. Whilst many were celebrating the demise of Leeds, I was sympathising with them. Despite their insufferable fanbase, Leeds are a proper football club with a proper stadium with a strong following. Southampton play in a soulless bowl which they often don\u2019t fill and have rubbish fans. I realise I\u2019m being quite disrespectful to Southampton here, but they should\u2019ve thought about that before they decided to be a tinpot yo-yo club.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Southampton\u2019s resumption of life in the Premier League has so far been an unhappy one as they remain winless in their first six games with just a solitary point to show for their efforts. Manager Russell Martin was particularly unhappy with his side\u2019s capitulation away at Bournemouth on Monday night as the Saints went down 3-1 to their South Coast rivals. Saturday will see the return of a familiar face in Aaron Ramsdale who departed us only a few weeks ago for a fee in the region of \u00a318mil with various potential add-ons which could score us some extra cash in the future. Whilst The Saints have been shipping goals left, right and centre in recent weeks you can hardly blame Ramsdale for that as their back line is particularly shocking.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In terms of team news, Arteta has not yet given his press conference at the time of writing, but it should be noted that neither Timber nor White were pictured in training yesterday. It could mean nothing but who knows. If both are absent it leaves Arteta with a bit of a headache because it seems as though we are still sweating on Tomiyasu\u2019s fitness so if none of the trio can play Arteta may need to find an unorthodox solution. Kiwior at right back perhaps? All will be revealed in due course.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The good news is Merino is now fit so we do at least have plenty of options to call on in central midfield. There were rumours circulating yesterday that Odegaard is very close to fitness. I would be shocked if he makes the squad for Southampton, but it does at least sound like he is very much on course for a return after the international break which would be very welcome indeed.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You would expect Trossard to continue deputising in the absence of Odegaard and assuming Timber makes it in time I think we will see an unchanged backline from the win over PSG. Merino is probably not yet ready for a start so I think Partey will play with the former getting another 20\u201325-minute cameo from the bench and the same for Ethan Nwaneri scoreline permitting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Southampton are without Jack Stephens through suspension, but they appear to have a clean bill of health otherwise with the likes of Ben Brereton Diaz and exciting youngster Tyler Dibling expected to start on the wings. Southampton generally play in a 4-3-3 formation with a view to play on the front foot, a gameplan they will certainly have to significantly compromise for their visit to N5.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We really ought to win this one comfortably although we said that about Leicester and that was certainly no cake walk despite our dominance. We will have to be more alert on Saturday. I\u2019m going for a handsome 4-0 win as we look to continue our title push whilst contributing to Southampton\u2019s likely relegation in May.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What could possibly go wrong?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Embed from Getty Images Without doubt, the worst day of my Arsenal supporting life was the 3-3 draw at home to Southampton at the back end of the 2022\/23 season. That does make it sound like I\u2019ve led a charmed life as an Arsenal supporter and you would have to say, like any Arsenal fan [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10166"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10166"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10166\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10178,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10166\/revisions\/10178"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10166"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10166"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10166"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}