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Southampton V West Ham United The FA Cup Preview
Wednesday, 2nd Mar 2022 09:29

All eyes will be on the team news at 7.30 tonight, will Ralph Hasenhuttl put out a weakened side or take the game seriously, it is quite clear how Saints supporters feel about the matter, this is a chance for glory.

Sometimes in football and especially Southampton FC there are moments where a manager needs to do the right thing in the fans eyes or he loses popularity, five years ago Claude Puel took the team to 8th in the League and a League Cup Final and in doing so had probably around the 6th best season in the club's history since joining the Football League.

But that was not the perception the supporters had, they never quite forgave him for playing weakened sides away against both Inter Milan and Sparta Prague, they saw these games as a chance of glory and progression in the Europa League and never forgave him.

Of course sometimes it doesn't matter, Mauricio Pochettino is looked back as a success at St Mary's and time has eroded the memory of how he played a weakened side in the 5th round of the Cup at Sunderland.

Saints were flying high at the time and Sunderland struggling, we could see the quarter finals and glory looming, he took a bit of stick at the time but it is now largely forgotten.

Now the question is being asked of Ralph Hasenhuttl, what side will he put out ?

In the last round he made 10 changes to his starting line up, but it could be said the situation was a little different then, we were still looking over our shoulders, we had two games in the next 7 days coming up against Spurs and Manchester United, with safety not assured he had to prioritise.

Now the situation is a little different, we are on a good run and on 35 points and in terms of the spectre of relegation we have one foot over the finishing line and are looking up the table.

That being the case we should be looking at the game against West Ham as one that if we win we will be in the quarter finals of the cup and only one game from a Wembley semi final.

But on the other hand there is also the League and the opportunity of a top 10 finish, if we go purely on the chances of probability then we have a better chance of a 9th place finish than we have of winning the cup and with League positions meaning over £2 million a place, the difference between finishing 9th or 13th is about £9 million and that is a big chunk of transfer budget in the summer.

Like it or not in the current financial situation, that is an issue for most Premier league clubs these days.

For Ralph it is potentially a no win situation, he puts out his best team and loses and then loses again at Aston Villa on Saturday and he is will be vilified by some for not utilising his squad.

But if he makes wholesale changes and loses the game that vilification will pale into significance.

My view is that we have to trust him to get the balance right, I would be surprised if he makes major changes, historically last season he put out strong sides in the FA Cup, but the background was that we barely had more than a starting XI in terms of experienced pros, so he didn't have a lot of choice.

In the season prior to that when we were knocked out by Tottenham, he replaced Alex McCarthy with Angus Gunn, but otherwise the changes were minimal, Kevin Danso being just about the only player who was not an experienced and potential starter that season.

So the chances are that Ralph will take this seriously tonight, in goal there is the potential to play Willy Caballero again, but as he was injured and unable to be on the bench for the Norwich game there is a doubt whether Ralph would risk him in this game.

So I think we have to trust Ralph to get this right, we don't know whether any of our players have injury issues that we are unaware of or indeed if there are any Covid cases this week ,, there is no use speculating what he will do until he does it and then we have to trust there is a very good reason for any changes made.

As I have said elsewhere i think there is the potential for a couple of changes aside from in goal, I think Stuart Armstrong could be rested, he has played 5 straight games in the premier League after barely playing all season, he looks fit and back to his best, but there is still the chance that he might over stretch himself if he plays too much.

I think that Will Smallbone could come into the side to replace him if that change is made.

Resting Tino Livramento could also be an option, he has had time out and the club are managing his knee injury, they might prefer to rest him for this one rather than play him twice in 4 days, this should not be a problem with KWP reverting to right back and Romain Perraud coming in on the left.

Likewise Ibrahima Diallo could get a game in place of Oriol Romeu, the French midfielder needs game time and is a more than adequate replacement if that is what we do, up front there could be a change Armando Broja too has had injury issues and youngsters cannot be overplayed , he has just turned 20 and like Tino is still developing they have to be carefully managed fitness wise.

If he is out Shane Long could do a job, but I think Adam Armstrong might come into the side.

So if we make these changes i would not be surprised and not castigating Ralph Hasenhuttl, indeed I would be questioning him if he played the same team week in week out, in modern football it is a squad game, you have to use that squad at the right time, we will get injuries and suspensions,, when we do we need players who have been kept sharp with game time, not rusty on the bench.

No one will be more disappointed than I should we make 10 changes again, however I don't think we will, Ralph Hasenhuttl knows the importance of the game and what is on it, he will do the right thing for Saints.

West Ham are still fighting the season on three fronts, they have vital games coming up not just in the League, but in the Europa League over the next couple of weeks, David Moyes will be well aware that he has to do exactly the same as Ralph Hasenhuttl, protect some players who are nursing injuries, give game time to those who are themselves short of match practice and all in all get the balance right.

This will be a tight game, we have drawn with them at St Mary's this season when we were not yet up and running, we have beaten them at their own ground when we were on run of 6 games in the League without a win, we go into this one full of confidence, all we can hope as fans is that nothing is left on the pitch at the final whistle and we are in the quarter finals of the FA Cup.

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PaleRider added 09:56 - Mar 2
I have read that the FA have not allowed us to play in yellow & blue tonight. If so, shame on the FA and we should play in yellow and blue anyway - what could the FA do?

We should play in yellow & blue for the rest of the season and I think that, as fans, we should wear yellow and blue rather than red and white. Also we probably shouldn't be singing about the "red army"!

I know these would be gestures but they would be a good sign!
0

stmichael added 11:02 - Mar 2
Totally agree Nick.
Some changes are inevitable and correct.
120 mins tonight potentially.
Modern football unless you are JWP you CANNOT play every minute of every game.
1

Shakin_Stevens added 13:53 - Mar 2
I think this game will be won in the dugout not on the pitch. Ralph will get it right, Moyes will overthink things and we'll win a comfy 2-0
1

Colburn added 13:56 - Mar 2
It's probably the same scenario for us and West ham in terms of rotation given the busy schedule, so we might see both teams make a few changes. However I agree that this game is more important to win than Villa on Saturday.
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SanMarco added 14:35 - Mar 2
Not sure Puel is most remembered for cup selections - dull football was the feeling if I remember correctly. Also surely Ralph won't be vilified if he goes strong and loses tonight.
Having said that I agree that one or two changes won't do any harm - nine or ten will though...
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carolinasaint added 18:16 - Mar 2
Agreed, SanMarco: Puel is mostly remembered for his negative tactics, but he also got a lot of stick for making wholesale changes regularly, esp. for the Europa League.

My single biggest issue with him, though, was this: needing a win or a scoreless draw at home against Hapoel Beer Sheva in the last group game of the Europa League, he played for the scoreless draw. Of course Beer Sheva scored with what I think was their only shot on target in about the 75th minute, after which we threw ourselves forward, completely dominated, got a leveller and narrowly missed the winner when Yoshida headed just wide from a corner. If we had just played that way from the off, we would have been out of sight by halftime--it was Beer Sheva, ffs, not Barca!

Sorry, lost myself there for a minute. I'm certainly enjoying Ralf a lot more than Puel :) Hope we pick a strong team tonight and hammer the Hammers!
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codge added 18:40 - Mar 2
Just seen the lineup fear this is the end of the line for us.
2

Boris1977 added 18:58 - Mar 2
What the hell is he playing at. Just as well tickets were cheap as the reserves are playing. Antonio is going to have a field day.
1

PezzaSaint added 18:59 - Mar 2
So annoyed at the line up!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
1

allsaint54 added 19:33 - Mar 2
Could have been worse, Walcott could have started
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PezzaSaint added 21:40 - Mar 2
I take it all back, couldn’t see a performance like that from that line up. Valery at CB a revelation, Stephens, KWP and Perraud all excellent. Only slightly dodgy performance was from Diallo, Fortress St Mary’s 👍🏻
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Boris1977 added 22:04 - Mar 2
Made very hard work of that against a very average team and rode our luck in the first half, but the changes Ralph made during the match were well timed.

Please Ralph, don't change 80% of the team in the next round
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