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Video: Yoshida on United defeat
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Davis: ‘Strong showing no consolation for Saints EFL Cup final defeat’
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Southampton can take no consolation from their strong EFL Cup final showing after their valiant loss to Manchester United on Sunday, according to Steven Davis.
Claude Puel’s Saints were the better side for much of an enthralling final, which was settled by a late Zlatan Ibrahimovic header as United recorded a 3-2 win.
The south-coast side fought from two goals down having had an early Manolo Gabbiadini strike ruled out for offside, with the Italian forward scoring either side of half-time to cancel out an Ibrahimovic free-kick and a Jesse Lingard effort.
The outsiders then dominated large swathes of play only to fall to Ibrahimovic’s 87th-minute heroics.
While plenty outside of St Mary’s have been quick to praise the performance of Southampton, Davis admitted after the game it counts for very little.
Asked about being the better team in the final, the Northern Ireland midfielder said: 'It’s not consolation at the minute to be honest.
'But if we play like that between now and the end of the season we’ll certainly win more games. Everyone’s feeling down.
'We can feel proud of the spirit and character we’ve shown, especially after going 2-0 down. When we got ourselves back in the game, we thought we might go on and win in it.
'We showed great character to get back in the game, but luck wasn’t on our side today - the disallowed goal that would have put us in front and then the second half we hit the post and David De Gea had a couple of good saves.
‘Some decision you get and some you don’t, but in a major final you want those decisions to go for you, especially when you’re playing against a team like Manchester United.’
Davis, who captained Saints in their attempt to win a first major honour since 1976 - when they beat United in the FA Cup final - said it was United’s clinical edge in front of goal that ultimately proved the difference on the day.
‘Even when we went behind we thought we were relatively comfortable,’ he said.
'They took the two chances they got and that’s the quality they have in their side. When you get it 2-2 you really start to believe you can win this.
‘United were clinical and that’s hard. It will take a couple of days to mull it over. It was obviously a quiet dressing room as you’d expect - it’s a difficult one to take because we deserved a lot more. You can’t really enjoy a final unless you win it.’
Full-back Cedric Soares tasted success as part of Portugal’s European Championship-winning side last summer and he feels Saints can take some positives from their Wembley display.
‘Definitely. I think everybody saw this,’ he said when asked if Southampton had been the better side.
'Not just me, but Manchester for sure felt we were stronger than them. I think we created more chances, but in football you need to score.
'We were trying a lot, I think we had a good game, a good run - all my teammates deserved to win.
‘Not winning was a disappointment, of course, but we tried everything and this is the positive thing about this.’
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Southampton are determined to hold on to their best players this summer, their chairman Ralph Krueger has told talkSPORT.
The south coast club have seen a number of key men - and managers - depart St Mary’s in recent years.
Adam Lallana, Dejan Lovren, Luke Shaw, Nathaniel Clyne and Morgan Schneiderlin are just some of the talent they have cashed in on, while bosses Mauricio Pochettino and Ronald Koeman have moved to rival Premier League clubs.
Southampton have continued to thrive despite the continual upheaval and reached the EFL Cup final under Claude Puel, where they suffered a narrow defeat to Manchester United on Sunday.
With their reputation for selling, a number of Saints stars are likely to be in demand at the end of the season, but Krueger insists there will be no firesale this summer.
In an exclusive interview with Jim White on talkSPORT, he said: “We would like to keep this group together.
"We don’t want to do what we did in the last three summers every year. We would like to move away from that and we feel confident this summer will be a lot quieter in Southampton and we can keep the core of this team moving forward for a few years.
"That is going to be important when you see how excellent the group is right now and how exciting the football is. The game we are playing is a pleasure to watch and a pleasure to be part of.”
£15m signing Manolo Gabbiadini has scored five goals in three games for the Saints
Sunday’s Wembley clash with United was Southampton’s first major final appearance since 2003.
They came close to an historic triumph, fighting back from two goals down to level the score through a Manolo Gabbiadini brace, before succumbing to a late Zlatan Ibrahimovic goal.
Krueger admits it was a painful outcome for everyone at the club, but believes Saints’ spirited display can spur them on to more Wembley appearances and major success.
“We are extremely proud of how the team showed up and how they fought back from 0-2 down and in the end it is pain we will use as a club, but it is pain we grow from," he said.
“We are all hurting today but we are very, very proud of how they performed and our fans were definitely the better fans in that building last night.
“They gave the team such a push and it would have been easy for us to lie down and pack up and go home, but nobody was leaving Wembley yesterday.
“Our fans have waited so long for that experience and it has been a dream for me since I have been there to be at Wembley.
“We need to learn how to win those games and I think we took a big step in that direction yesterday, together with our fans.”
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Ref Watch: Stephens and Lingard reds?
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Did Jack Stephens or Jesse Lingard deserve to be sent off in the EFL Cup final for separate incidents? Dermot Gallagher takes a look on Ref Watch.
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Summary of non-mainstream articles: 27/02/2017 16:43:27
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|| Southampton: Biggest consequences of Man United defeat will come in summerFOOTBALLFANCAST |
|| Southampton chairman Ralph Krueger provides update on Glasgow Rangers’ pursuit of Ross WilsonHEREISTHECITY |
| | We can’t stop Rangers target Ross Wilson leaving admits Southampton chairmanDAILYRECORD |
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Summary of non-mainstream articles: 27/02/2017 16:48:57
| | Le Tissier: Man United would not have had Gabbiadini strike disallowedFOURFOURTWO |
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Players thank fans for giving them “extra energy”
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Southampton Football Club has played Manchester United at Wembley Stadium in the English Football League Cup Final.
Saints player Manolo Gabbiadini scored twice and the sides were playing 2 - 2 for most of the second half. However Man U scored a third time in the closing minutes of the match and the game ended 3 -2.
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Ref Watch: Linesman acted too fast for Manolo Gabbiadini offside call, and Jesse Lingard should see red
How did the officials get Manolo Gabbiadini offside call so wrong? Did Jesse Lingard deserve red in the EFL Cup final? And were Chelsea lucky? Dermot Gallagher knows…
After another weekend of contentious decisions, the former referee got stuck into the big calls made by his former colleagues on Sky Sports News HQ on Monday morning.
Here are the best of them…
INCIDENT: Manolo Gabbiadini sees his goal flagged for offside by Stuart Burt early on in Southampton’s 3-2 defeat by Man Utd in the EFL Cup final. However, Ryan Bertrand was the player offside from the cross, and the defender was not interfering with play.
DERMOT’S VIEW: He’s got it wrong because he’s acted too fast, he hasn’t waited. As you can see Bertrand is offside but not Gabbiadini. I feel sorry for the referee [Andre Marriner] because he may well have said to the linesman: “Are you happy with that?” and the linesman may have said yes.
Would I have gone across to the linesman? I think because the ball has gone dead [into the goal], that’s the ideal time to use your time, but I think if the assistant believes he has got it right, he has no reason to call the referee over. It’s just a real unfortunate error.
It’s a big error. This is what we’d call a key match decision, and it affects the outcome of the game.
INCIDENT: Jack Stephens goes in studs-up on Anthony Martial after the ball had run loose, but only uses one foot to tackle, and is not off the ground. Referee Andre Marriner gave Stephens a yellow card, and Stephens was in fact clipped by Jesse Lingard in the build-up to the incident.
DERMOT’S VIEW: I think the referee has done really well here, because he was clipped by Lingard. He’s low, and he misses with his studs and gets him with his knee. The referee doesn’t get influenced by the Manchester United protests.
INCIDENT: After Lingard was booked for the above incident on Stephens, he clips Nathan Redmond in the second half as the winger runs past him, but referee Marriner waves advantage after the Southampton man stayed on his feet. Lingard is not booked.
DERMOT’S VIEW: I think he’s lucky because Redmond stays on his feet, and it doesn’t stop a promising attack.
INCIDENT: Gylfi Sigurdsson flicks the ball onto Cesar Azpilicueta’s arm in the area, but no penalty is given by Neil Swarbrick.
DERMOT’S VIEW: Right decision. His arm is already up and beside him, and the players are so close he has no chance of getting out of the way. He hasn’t moved his arm to the ball.
INCIDENT: After the linesman had awarded Derby a throw-in, Leandro Bacuna is sent off for shoving the linesman with his chest late on in Aston Villa’s 1-0 win over Derby.
DERMOT’S VIEW: He’s absolutely right to send him off. A, he’s assaulted the assistant, and B, he is duty-bound to send out a message. If he doesn’t send him off, the message this sends is that is it acceptable, and that cascades down throughout the leagues.
INCIDENT: Norwich’s Mitchell Dijks appeared to grapple David McGoldrick to the ground, but referee Oliver Langford opted to give a free-kick the other direction.
DERMOT’S VIEW: It’s a penalty. It’s two penalties, in fact. I’m not sure what the referee is looking at there.
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Saints striker Gabbiadini hails ‘Special One’ Mourinho after United’s cup win
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Manolo Gabbiadini has insisted he scored a hat-trick on his Wembley debut – but praised Jose Mourinho and Zlatan Ibrahimovic after Southampton’s EFL Cup final defeat.
The Italian became an instant Saints hero with two goals – but the £15m January signing had another goal wrongly disallowed.
Gabbiadini said: “I had never played at Wembley. I had seen this fantastic stadium only on the television and to score twice on my debut gives me huge satisfaction.
"And we can say I really scored three, because that disallowed goal was clearly onside and the hurt for this wrong decision is same as losing the final.
“We didn’t deserve the defeat. We were capable of coming back from two goals down and put under pressure a big team like Manchester United throughout the game.”
The former Napoli striker told Gazzetta dello Sport : “ Mourinho came and shook my hand at the end. It was a really nice gesture. You don’t find big characters like him nowadays – he really is the Special One.
“And Ibrahimovic is a natural-born winner. When someone has won something like 32 trophies, there is is not a lot to add.”
Gabbiadini has now scored eight goals in his last six games after scoring in his last three matches in Italy.
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Summary of non-mainstream articles: 27/02/2017 17:49:12
| | Southampton January transfer already being labelled a ‘regret’, that’s a good thingSPORTWITNESS |
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| | Rangers news: Wilson committed to Southampton - KreugerFOOTBALLINSIDER |
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Manchester United and Southampton’s omens after EFL Cup final
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Manchester United defeated Southampton in the EFL Cup final on Sunday - but what have previous winners and runners-up gone on to achieve in respective seasons?
What are the omens for Southampton after their impressive, but unsuccessful display at Wembley and will Manchester United proceed to claim a top-four finish and enjoy FA Cup and Europa League success?
We look back at previous League Cup winners and examine how their seasons panned out after reaching the final.
League Cup winners have won fewer points per game after claiming the trophy since 2006/07 - dropping from 1.83 to 1.69, on average.
Only Manchester United and neighbours Manchester City, in 2009/10 and 2013/14, respectively, have improved their league form after lifting the cup during the period.
City’s improved end-of-season form in 2013/14 helped the Citizens win the league and deny Liverpool their first Premier League crown.
But Manchester United recorded the highest points-per-game ratio during a League Cup-winning season over the last 10 years in 2008/09, with 2.36.
That season, United almost completed the quadruple - winning the Premier League, losing the Champions League final against Barcelona and reaching the FA Cup semi-final.
Liverpool suffered the biggest drop in league form after winning the League Cup in 2011/12, slipping from 1.6 points per game to just one point - finishing the season in eighth place.
The following season, Swansea endured a similar slump after defeating League Two Bradford City in the League Cup final, ending the season in ninth.
However, Birmingham City ended up being relegated to the Championship after winning the trophy in 2010/11, dropping from an average of 1.15 points per game to 0.75.
In contrast to the winners, previous League Cup runners-up have marginally improved their league form, on average, after losing the final since 2006/07.
Chelsea experienced an upturn of league form after losing their League Cup final against Tottenham in 2007/08, after Avram Grant replaced Jose Mourinho at the helm in late September.
The Blues went from an impressive average of 2.12 points per game to a remarkable 2.5 points per game, helping them finish second in the league, just two points behind Manchester United - who also defeated Chelsea in the Champions League final.
Tottenham completed an incredible turnaround in 2008/09 after rising from the relegation places to finish eighth in the league, having sacked Juande Ramos and replaced him with Harry Redknapp early in the season.
Spurs averaged just over one point per game before losing the League Cup final 4-1 on penalties to Manchester United, but reaped nearly two points per game after the defeat.
League Two Bradford City also improved their league form after losing to Swansea in the 2012/13 League Cup final, from 1.42 to 1.67 points per game - finishing the season in seventh and winning promotion via the play-offs.
Southampton will be hoping the runners-up omens will see them complete a top-half finish, while Manchester United will look to defy the declining trend of previous winners to finish in the top four and seek FA Cup and Europa League success.
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Southampton chairman Ralph Krueger says he has had no approach from Rangers for Ross Wilson – but has not ruled out the possibility of their highly-rated talent spotter joining the Scottish giants.
Wilson, the Saints’ head of recruitment and scouting, is reportedly wanted by the Ibrox club as their new director of football.
“For us, it’s always a compliment - people always seem to want to come to us to look at our personnel,” said Krueger, when asked about Wilson’s link to Rangers.
“I spoke to Ross last week and we had lunch together and he’s very committed and excited to stay with us. But for us, we never believe that everybody needs to stay with us forever.
“When you grow as a club, people will come, people will go and at the moment Ross Wilson is an important part of our group and he seems committed to where we are moving.
“It’s a compliment to the club that we are getting looked at, at all different levels. But there has been no talks there yet.”
Read more from Ralph Krueger on Virgil van Dijk’s future and Southampton keeping ALL their best players this summer.
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Southampton chairman Ralph Krueger is confident Virgil van Dijk will still be at the club next season.
The Dutch defender has been one of the Premier League’s most impressive defenders since arriving at St Mary’s from Celtic in 2015.
Liverpool, who have raided the Saints for a number of stars in recent years, are understood to be keen on acquiring Van Dijk this summer.
Manchester City, having struggled defensively under Pep Guardiola, are also being linked with a swoop for the 25-year-old.
But Krueger appears to have no fears over losing the influential centre-back, who is tied to the Saints until 2022.
“Virgin is committed to us for a long time and we don’t see anything but that in our future,” said Krueger, in an exclusive interview with Jim White on talkSPORT.
"We will be sitting together in a few weeks to look at our summer transfer window and what the plans are.
“At the moment, Virgin is very committed to us. He is our team captain and we see him in our red and white stripes.”
Krueger is confident of keeping ALL of Southampton’s star men this summer, with the Saints chief ruling out another fire sale. Read more from Krueger here.
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Summary of non-mainstream articles: 27/02/2017 18:49:13
| | Charlie Austin believes ‘it isn’t too little too late’ for Sunderland to scrap their way to survivalCHRONICLELIVENEWS |
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Despite falling to a late 3-2 defeat at Wembley, the 28-year-old believes Saints can take heart from their performance and endeavour.
“We are very disappointed,” he started.
“But I am very proud of our team and our staff. Of course we wanted to be champions, but we just need to keep our heads up and move on now.
“We showed a great spirit to come back and were really close to going ahead, but massive respect to Manchester United.”
Saints are straight back into Premier League action next weekend, when they travel back to London to take on Watford.
And Yoshida believes that if they can replicate their cup final performance, they will have a good chance of coming away from Vicarage Road with three points.
“We have to move on,” he continued.
“We still have the Premier League to focus on, starting next weekend. I think if we can play like today we will be okay.
“It was a good experience for us today and now we have to try and use it to help us improve in the league.”
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EFL Cup is just the beginning for Man Utd but could be Southampton’s end
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“The reality is I want more.”
Of all the things Jose Mourinho could have said in the aftermath of their EFL Cup final win over Southampton on Sunday, that was among the least surprising. This was, after all, a manager who has won 21 trophies in the last 13 years (24 if you count the Community Shield and its national variants), speaking an hour or so after succeeding in what was Manchester United’s third or fourth biggest priority. Bigger things lie ahead. Or that’s the plan, at least.
In the press conference after the game, Mourinho proclaimed himself relieved. Relieved to have won, relieved to have survived a game against a Southampton side who played so well, and relieved to have this game out of the way. “It’s one more competition that we can delete from our mind,” said Mourinho. “It’s over, it’s finished.”
Mourinho didn’t look especially happy following the victory and while he insisted he was, his relatively glum expression suggested a couple of things. First, that he was about to embark on his faux/genuine (depending on your point of view) humility acts, which he duly did by praising the “unlucky” Saints, but secondly because he knew that this was a means, not an end.
Neutrals generally don’t need much of a reason to side against United, but in this case they perhaps had an added reason for vitriol. If Southampton had won it would have been their greatest moment in 41 years since they beat United in the 1976 FA Cup final. It might have represented the pinnacle of many players’ careers. It would have provided tangible reward for their fairly remarkable but relatively low-key achievements since returning to the Premier League in 2012. For United, this was “merely” a staging post.
Not that United, Mourinho or any of their fans will (or should) care about that. Much has been made of this victory returning a “winning mentality” to Old Trafford, but it’s worth remembering that they won the last major domestic trophy available to them and it still didn’t do the previous manager much good. News of Louis van Gaal’s sacking had leaked before he’d the chance to plonk the FA Cup down on the desk at his own post-match press conference.
Van Gaal’s lack of consistency and achievement in the league was the problem, and that’s where Mourinho must improve United from here. In an uncertain world where events shift and society seems in constant flux, United’s league position has been a comforting constant (for neutrals, at least) in recent months. Aside from a few hours after they beat Watford earlier in February, United have been in sixth place since the start of November despite being unbeaten during this span. It tells you plenty about both how bad their start to the season was and how relatively mediocre the rest of the division is.
Still, Mourinho will justify this, perhaps rightly so, with the idea that his is a transitional season for United. They may have spent plenty on their squad, they may be worryingly deficient in defence and they may be relying on a 35-year-old to bail them out of many questionable positions, but if their league form continues, their position will improve. And for all their team is still a work in progress, Champions League qualification and at least one trophy – they’re still in contention for another two – will still represent a decent first season for Mourinho. But the latter part will count for little unless the former is achieved too.
Southampton’s season got a boost in reaching Wembley but failure to win could see them slide back down.
For Southampton, Sunday could either represent a platform on which to build or an encapsulation of their season as a whole. Saying a team didn’t deserve to lose a game is usually a tricky business, but it wouldn’t be a huge stretch to say Claude Puel’s side deserved something more than an 87th-minute defeat on Sunday. That could be enormously encouraging; it could inspire them to improve their current league position of 12th, even more so when one considers they did it without Virgil van Dijk, their best defender and arguably best player.
Manolo Gabbiandini will presumably not continue scoring at a rate of five goals every three games but the addition of an accomplished finisher is just what they need. Players like Nathan Redmond, James Ward-Prowse and Steven Davis could use a performance in front of 85,000 people at Wembley as a sign they can cut it in big games. But on the other hand, dominating a game but not winning it might be a neat summary of where Southampton are.
Southampton have lost six of their last eight games in the league. They haven’t won back-to-back league games since September. They’ve been beaten by Hull, Swansea and Crystal Palace. They have shown flashes of quality and boast players that many admire and covet, but haven’t converted that into any sort of consistency.
Even if their form improves dramatically, they realistically won’t be able to finish higher than eighth. If it doesn’t, they might even be looking nervously over their shoulders at the bottom three: relegation is unlikely but all seven teams below them have shown signs of life in recent weeks. It’s not completely unrealistic.
Sadly, from this point on Southampton’s season is about treading water. For them, it was virtually the end. For United, it could just be the beginning.
Nick Miller is a writer for ESPN FC, covering Premier League and European football. Follow him on Twitter @NickMiller79.
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