In the aftermath of the Spurs game, as if almost to deflect
attention away from how shit we were and what a mess everything is, the club issued
a very short statement to the effect that Virgil van Dijk was going to
Liverpool for £75 million. They were very keen to point out that this is a
world record deal for a defender. They weren’t so quick to point out the 10%
will go to Celtic and probably another percentage will go to Virgil himself
because of the model professional way that he has acted.

Firstly, I’d like to say good fucking riddance and secondly,
I’ve sort of surprised myself by actually not giving a shit too much that he is
going to Liverpool. Of course I would’ve preferred it if he’d gone elsewhere
because of the scummy way that Liverpool went about things in the summer, their
ex-player media campaign and the more special element of their fanbase that
flooded social media with endless shite. 
Though he’s doubtlessly a world-class player when he wants to be, there
is a part of me that thinks that he is such a complete shithouse that they are
welcome to him and the two parties deserve each other.  Liverpool fans tries to troll me on Twitter
but despite frothing at the mouth all last summer, I really can’t be arsed with
them.  I’m guessing the Saints board
thought that it might have turned out this way, hence why they didn’t push on
with their complaint as they knew that they might want to sell to Liverpool one
day if Virgil was a big enough dickhead. 
They also probably knew that the FA wouldn’t have been tough enough to
give Liverpool a transfer ban which is what they would have deserved.

Shithousery has won the day though because let us not forget
that this all started with Liverpool’s illegal approach and illegal meetings in
the summer. I’d hazard a guess that they’ve been in touch just telling Virgil
to be a twat all this season and he’s been happy to go along with that.  He must have been acting up this season
because let’s face it, there is no way in this world that Saints would have sold
him now unless he was being a complete wanker. After the summer and the non-bid
from Liverpool and all the antics and hissy fits from the player, Saints would not
have gone through all that and made a stand just to keep him a few months.  They would have been hoping that he would get
his head down, be professional and play properly and be sold in the summer.  The fact that we are rushing through a sale,
before the transfer window even opens tells us that they can’t wait to get
rid.  Yes it’s undeniable that we need to
strengthen elsewhere but nothing would be different in that regard even if we
had a few more points on the board.

So, he’s clearly been acting up, regardless of his
protestations to the contrary and though this will be overlooked by the media,
it really shouldn’t be. Liverpool have been scummy fuckers and Virgil has been
scummy fucker as well. What we have achieved by selling in January rather than last
summer is to make Liverpool pay probably about £25 million more than they
wanted to when they started the whole head-turning campaign. 

If Liverpool fans think that he is going to solve all their
defensive issues then they are sadly mistaken. 
Yes he’s better than all of their existing centre backs but whilst Klopp
plays with no holding midfield players then they are always going to let in
goals and I will laugh when Virgil coughs up a goal in the same way that I do
when Lovren does.

So, we bought Virgil for £15 million two years and three months ago. For a year
of that he’s either been injured or acting like a prick so we’ve only had him
fully functioning for about 15 months and in that time his price has gone up
five fold. The fact that we got so much money for him is down to the fact that the
club put a six year contract in front of him which he signed.  The club knew the day would come when one of
the stupid rich clubs would come calling so they tied him down.  Now it’s over to the recruitment side of
things to not only sign the attacking players we should’ve signed in the summer
but also to sign at least one decent centre back. The excuses from last January
when we failed to replace Jose Fonte will not wash this time.

Whilst we’re on the subject of Jose Fonte, he thought it was
a good idea to post on social media specifically to Ryan Bertrand about Virgil
leaving. The clear inference was the Bertrand would be next. Even if that
wasn’t the intention (which I’m sure it was) then Fonte is a smart enough guy
to know that that is how it’s going to be interpreted by the Southampton fan
base.  He really is a bitter prick isn’t
he?  My stance on him was beginning to
soften a little bit but now I’m really back to hoping that Alan Pardew really
was throwing one in Fonte’s wife whilst he was our manager and the reason that
she wanted to move back to London also that she has a closer to where Pardew
lives for some easy action when Jose’s out of town.

The whole Virgil business makes no difference to today’s
game against Man United where it appears that we will have the same shit manager,
with his same shit ideas about selection and tactics.  I wonder what the difference will be?

Before the game came the news that Kelvin Davis has been
made first team coach to replace Eric Black and so we make a goalkeeper a first
team coach and then wow!  Fraser Forster
has been dropped and Alex McCarthy has been thrown in for his first League game
for anyone for a couple of years.  Total
coincidence I’m sure.  McQueen is in for
Targett and Pellegrino seems to have finally realised that Hojbjerg is one of
our better players and he starts in midfield ahead of Lemina.  The forward four to hopefully cause some
problems for United are JWP, Tadic, Boufal and bloody Shane Long.  It’s unreal how he’s been picked again.

It doesn’t matter where United are in the league, you look
at their 11 players and you see very good players like Pogba, Lukaku, Mata,
Matic, de Gea but these days you also see some average players like Lingard,
Shaw, Jones, Mkhitaryan and Young and some shit ones like Lindelof.  He might be shit but he cost £30
million.  Jose Mourinho’s classic
deflection tactiucs have come to the fore recently.  He complained after a 2-2 draw with Burnley
that United have only spent £300 million so how can they compete.  Lunatic. 
Hopefully he’ll be making more idiotic comments after today.

Pogba is obviously going to be the main man for them and
everything is going through him as he finds Mata on the right who works himself
a yard on McQueen and digs over a good cross towards the massive 6 foot plus
centre forward who Yoshida has somehow lost and Lukaku rises unchallenged to
head over the bar.  Lucky.  After that initial scare, Saints start getting
into the game and there are gaps all over the place with Tadic sliding a ball
through to Boufal on the right and he pulls it back from the by-line and JWP
meets it on the penalty spot but there’s always going to be a problem with de
Gea in goal because he’s so ridiculously good and he superbly gets a hand to it
down low and keeps it out.

United, as they are prone to do under Mourinho, go long
towards Lukaku and there’s a clash of heads between Lukaku and Hoedt in which
the united player comes off worse and he’s on the ground and out of it for five
minutes until they can stretcher him off and bring on Rashford.  There are no United fans singing songs about
Lukaku’s cock.  If they’d sung that it
may have made him feel better.  Back to
the game and United are not the only ones playing long ball.  We go long, Shane Long, as Hojbjerg clears a
ball miles out of defence and Long scurries off after Lindelof, gets in front
of him and collapses, winning us a free kick on the edge of the penalty
area.  JWP curls it in but instead of
going for the far post, goes for the near and doesn’t get enough height on it
so de Gea saves comfortably.  From the
corner, United break on us and it’s 3v3 but the ball is with Mkhitaryan and his
cross is fucking dreadful.  I’m watching
on BT Sport and it’s described by co-commentator and former United player Owen
Hargreaves as ‘slightly innacurate’.

Saints are the better side and we do actually look
dangerous, due to the main to us actually getting players near the
striker.  We have another great chance
from a JWP corner which Hoedt reaches unchallenged but it slides off his head
and keeps going.  Again the long ball
from United is their best option because it takes out the need for Mkhitaryan
to cross the ball.  We don’t clear it and
Mata gets a shot away which McCarthy claims well.  Shock of shocks then when United actually
build down our right and Mkhitaryan does put a cross near a United player and
it’s Lingard, who has been lost again by Yoshida but he doesn’t get anything on
the header and it drifts harmlessly wide.

United are building pressure as Young gets in a cross from
the right and Rashford heads over, no doubt put off by the flying McCarthy who
doesnl;t get anywhere near the cross. 
The next United attack sees a bit of pinball and the ball ping into Maya
Yoshida’s arm as he tries to get back into position.  Loads of appeals, nothing from the
referee.  In my book, that’s handball but
in the book that matters, it has to be deliberate so it’s not a pen.

As we approach half time, Juan Mata, who I always thought
was a decent guy, seems to be completely losing his rag.  Firstly he tries to pick a fight with
Hojbjerg after the Saints man had been fouled and then he loses his rag with
McQueen who was about to take a throw in. 
Anywhere else you get booked for that but United at Old Trafford, nope.

Half time and we’ve played pretty well to be fair though
there is much shitting on, on BT Sport about the handball incident.  Rightly or wrongly (wrongly in my book) the
rule states that it has to be deliberate and there is no way that Maya meant to
do that.  There’s no way he meant to lose
the player he was marking twice either but that’s the way it goes.

The second half starts in much the same vein as the first
ended. United are only dangerous from a long ball or a break away after we’ve
had a corner so when Rashford gets free on our right it’s looking a bit scary
until McQueen hammers back and puts in a great tackle.  The biased commentary is incredible.  If that had been Boufal getting tackled then
it would have been ‘should have released it, no end product’ etc but because it
was Rashford there is silence.  No
criticism of Rashford and no praise for McQueen.

There is more silence from Hargreaves when some footage is
shown of Ashley Young clearly elbowing Tadic in the stomach from the corner
that preceded the break away.  No words
from Owen, even though it’s clear as day. 
You could have talked about how it was completely deliberate and how
Saints should have had a penalty but no. 
Let’s pretend it didn’t happen and that the pictures lie.  I’m sure the FA will do the same like they
did with Dele Alli’s dive.

Saints are playing the more controlled football and Tadic
plays a ball to JWP on the right and he curls over a low first time cross.  Lindelof is favourite but he dawdles and Long
shows great movement to dart in front of him and hit it goalwards first time
and de Gea, going the wrong the way, sticks out a foot and the ball hits it and
somehow arches up and over the bar.  It’s
a good effort by Shane and it’s brilliant and lucky in equal measure from de
Gea.

United summon another £30 million player from the bench as
Martial replaces Mkhitaryan who has been dreadful.  Sure he’s playing on the left whereas he
usually is on the other side but his distribution has been terrible – mind you,
so has Rashford’s and Lingard’s but they get away with the stick from the
United crowd for some reason.  Martial’s
first involvement is to run at the defence and launch himself after the
slightest touch by Romeu.  From the free
kick, Young’s effort hits the wall and goes wide.

Gabbi is on for Long who has done well to be fair, without
of course looking like much of a goal threat and as we go into the last ten
minutes it’s looking pretty comfortable until Boufal brings down the little
shit Ashley Young and it’s a United free kick on the right.  In it comes and it all gets a bit untidy and
Matic pokes it goalwards, McCarthy can’t get a touch and Pogba knocks it in
from about a yard out.  Fuck it…
haaaaaaaaaaa… offside!  It’s amusing
because it was going in anyway so if Pogba had left it then no worries for
United.

Tadic and Boufal are off to be replaced by Lemina and
Redmond and we see it out quite comfortably. 
There are a couple of hairy moment but the defence stood firm with
Stephens pulling a out a very good clearance to deny Lingard in the last
minute, spooning the ball up in the air to allow McCarthy to claim.  A very good point which was ultimately,
earned quite comfortably.

Following Mourinho’s rant about not spending enough money
last week, I wonder he really cares too much about dropping two points today.
He knows that they are not going to win the league this year so as long as he
finishes in the top four then his job is safe. He obviously wants the United
hierarchy to sanction some ridiculous spending in January. He went shitting on
about the penalty they maybe should’ve had in the first half which is classic
Mourinho to deflect away from the fact that they didn’t have a fucking shot in
the second half with their team that cost just shy of £400 million. You would
think that a £400 million team playing at home could muster more than a couple
of efforts against a team that’s been playing absolute bollocks since the start
the season. Anyway, I don’t give a flying fuck about United and their problems
or the negligible tosser that is Mourinho.

Saints were excellent today and thoroughly deserve that point, in fact it was
quite an easy point as we protected Alex McCarthy to such a degree that he
didn’t have to make a save in the second half. We got away with a couple of
trademark lapses in concentration by Yoshida in the first half when he twice
lost the player he was supposed to be marking and allowed free headers that
Lukaku and Linguard should’ve done better with and We got a bit fortunate when Pogba
decided to get a touch on that ball that was rolling into the net anyway but
other than that we were worthy of a point

And if we have a striker worthy of the name, we would have won it. I have to
say that today Pellegrino got it right. I was expecting five at the back but
the four defenders chosen did a good job. There was little need for Jack Stephens
to attack so he was okay at right back but we really can’t be playing him there
in a home game. Further forward, Shane Long did exactly what you know he’s
going to do in that he ran around, put loads of pressure on their defenders and
didn’t score but he was unfortunate with the shot that de Gea turned over the bar
with his foot. Another key difference today was the fact that the attacking
midfielders got closer to the striker. There were times when we genuinely had a
front four when you had JWP crossing, Long in attack, Boufal in the box and Tadic
in close proximity is well. If we keep playing like that and concentrate on
getting forwards in the box and the goals will start to come. Ironically, Shane
Long play pretty well today in his limited way but I Gabbiadini would also have
done well today because of the midfielders support.

The two standout players were Hojbjerg and Wesley Hoedt who were both
absolutely magnificent from start to finish, strongly backed up by Sofiane
Boufal, JWP, Sam McQueen and McCarthy who did everything that he could’ve done
and come away with a deserved clean sheet. With the Virgil circus leaving town,
we needed Wesley had to stand up and be counted and he did completely do that,
stepping into his fellow Dutchman’s shoes with no problem at all. We have been
needing existing players to step into the shoes of those that have departed and
Wesley really looks like he’s ready to do that.

For the next game against Crystal Palace at home, there are a couple of tweaks
that Pellegrino can make but he has to leave the core of the side in place.
I’ve maybe look at Pied playing instead of Stephens and Gabbiadini for Long but
other than that, stick to the same side and let’s try and get a bit of cohesion
and most importantly, a win.  Todays
point is only good point if we can back it up on Tuesday.