Well, what a cracking performance that was. After our lucky escape against Bristol City Saturday and Chelsea’s upturn in fortunes since the arrival of caretaker boss, Guus Hiddink I was a little worried about Wednesdays encounter. I did think we had enough about us to come away with a draw but I thought it would have been a back to the walls job with us sneaking a goal from a set piece maybe and holding on for dear life. How wrong was I. The players really went for it and matched Chelsea’s mega money ‘superstars’ toe for toe. What was most impressive for me was the character we showed in coming back after going behind twice. In previous seasons, I would have had little hope of us coming back like that but Pulis has generated a real camaraderie among the squad, with the players all willing to fight for one another and give their all right up until the final whistle is blown.
Up next is Southampton away. They got a very good win in midweek against one of the league’s surprise packages Watford and did wonders in keeping the deadly pairing of Ighalo and Deeney off the score sheet. They haven’t had a great first half to the season, especially considering how well they did in the last campaign, however, they still have some very dangerous players within their ranks and on their day, they are more than capable of beating anyone at St Marys. I feel though after our performance in midweek and our current form in the League we are capable of coming away with all three points Saturday and that’s exactly what I’m predicting us to do.
Below is the team I would go with for Saturdays encounter. Go through the slideshow and let me know in the comments box whether you would do anything differently. Boing boing.
Formation – 4-2-3-1
Key Player – James McClean
Prediction – 1-2 (Southampton: Long WBA: Rondon, McClean)
Goalkeeper – Boaz Myhill
Didn’t really have a chance with either goal he did, however, pull off a wonderful save from Costa when the score was currently 2-1 to the hosts. Getting down quickly, he brilliantly parried a deflected Costa strike that was heading into the bottom corner and ensured the deficit remained only one going into the final stages of the match. It proved crucial in the end as it would have been immensely difficult to come away with something if we had gone 3-1 down and just re-enforces why he deserves to keep the no.1 jersey from fans favourite Ben Foster.
Right Back – Craig Dawson
Dawson put in an effective shift Wednesday and looked dangerous from set plays throughout. The majority of Chelsea’s chances were created down our left which is a testament to the effective job Dawson did in nullifying Pedro, who was ultimately dragged off at half time due to his ineffectiveness. The club was linked with Everton bound Sam Byram the other day and have more recently been linked with Marseilles right back Brice Dja Djedje. However, I have to question the credibility of these links as Dawson in my opinion has done nothing this season to warrant the club bringing in a replacement for him, with re-enforcements to other areas blatantly more pressing.
Centre Back – Jonas Olsson
Surprisingly brought back in by Pulis after recovering from a knock the big Swede proved yet again that he can still cut it in the Premier League and showed what a tough decision Pulis has to make in deciding whether or not to other him a new contract. I mentioned in my last XI article that McAuley and Olsson seem to relish playing against Diego Costa and it proved that way again, with the pair nullifying the threat posed by the tempestuous Spaniard. The pair did such a good job on Costa that he reportedly threw a mega tantrum in the tunnel after the game, punching a hole in the wall! Would be very unlucky to lose his place Saturday.
Centre Back – Gareth McAuley
The other half of the tag team that, if the Chelsea players are to be believed, roughed up and bullied Diego Costa throughout the game. Other than the own goal, which was very unlucky, he put in another solid display superbly keeping quite the supposedly inform striker. Local media have reported that the club is very much interested in Brentford’s young centre-back James Tarkowski which suggests maybe Pulis is looking to replace the veteran Northern Irish man. As much as I think an injection of youth is much needed to the squad, McAuley is still looking like a very capable defender at this level and looks like he has at least, one more season left in him.
Left Back – Jonny Evans
Struggled somewhat against the inform Willian and failed to block both crosses that led to their goals. It was good in a sense in that it proved he’s only human after all and he can have a ‘bad day in the office’ every once in a while as I was starting to think he was some sort of robot. Due to the impressive display put in by Olsson, he may find himself playing left back again Saturday but this time, he won’t be coming up against arguably the league’s most in-form player and will be much more confident in keeping quite whoever lines up against him.
Defensive Midfield – Claudio Yacob
Yacob did another grand job Wednesday in frustrating and stifling the opposition, which showed with the majority of the Chelsea team continuously trying to get the feisty Argentinian sent off. Credit must be given to referee Anthony Taylor for not succumbing to the incessant imaginary card waving of the Chelsea players as there was no way the second trip was a booking with both players merely tangling legs. Pulis made the right call in the end, bringing him off when he did and it now means Yacob has a little extra in the tank for Saturdays tricky encounter.
Centre Midfield – Darren Fletcher
Slotting back into his more familiar deeper role next to Yacob, Fletcher produced a truly accomplished performance completely bossing the middle of the park taking Chelsea’s Mikel and Fabregas out of the game. Much like Evans, I still find it hard to believe we managed to lure him to the club as there is no doubting he could still be playing regularly for a team higher up the division. If the club were able to bring in a couple of quality attack-minded midfielders/wingers this month to play off the ever impressive Fletcher and Yacob then we really would have a tasty looking midfield and one surely enough to secure a top ten finish.
Right Midfield – Stephane Sessegnon
Many Baggies fans, myself included, were shocked to see Sessegnon dropped for Wednesdays encounter as the diminutive winger has probably been our best performer in recent weeks. However, Pulis got his tactics spot on and shut the doubters up well and truly. Even though he was introduced late on in the second half, he will no doubt feel refreshed, ready for Saturdays game and I am confident Pulis will be bringing him back into the starting line-up in the hope he can conjure up another bit of magic and to torment a shaky Saints backline.
Attacking Midfield – Craig Gardner
Coming on after five minutes for the injured Morrison, Gardner put in a top notch performance and his best for some time in a Baggies top. It was no surprise that this coincided with him playing in a more favoured central position. Regularly played out wide under both Pulis and Irvine before him, Gardner has always been more effective when played in the middle of the park and showed Wednesday how much of a threat he can be when played there. He took his goal superbly, drilling in past the despairing Courtois from 25 yards and was effective throughout, contributing in both attack and defence. Morrison has been confirmed out of this weekend’s encounter so it’s a complete no-brainer for me to give Gardner another crack in that position.
Left Midfield – James McClean
This lads turning out to be the bargain of the season. Brought in for approximately £1million, McClean has gone on to prove himself a very valuable member of the squad and continues to improve as the season goes on. Goals were all that was missing from his promising performances earlier on in the season but he is now adding that to his game, wonderfully slotting in an 85th-minute equaliser Wednesday with his weaker right foot. He splits opinion due to his Political beliefs and the red mist that comes over him from time to time but if you put that to one side there is no denying he’s a top player and that the club made the right call taking a risk on him.
Striker – Salomon Rondon
I called for Rondon to be dropped against Chelsea and our want away wonder kid Berahino brought back in, shows how much I know! Even though he failed to find the back of the net Rondon put in another resolute performance and worked his socks off up top on his own, chasing down lost causes, constantly pressuring their defence and just generally making a nuisance of himself throughout. Will no doubt retain his starting spot Saturday due to his impressive outing against The Blues and I have a sneaky feeling he will get on the score sheet this weekend which would be great for his confidence and hopefully lead to a flurry of goals from the big Venezuelan.