I have gone on the attack this week, to the extent that two-goal Xherdan Shaqiri and Philippe Coutinho have had to play in midfield. And what about Adama Traore’s performance at Arsenal? He was absolutely sensational. I did not realise Aston Villa were so flush with talent last season they could afford to leave him out.
Key to the long term success of Claude Puel’s rotation policy will be getting his players to buy into it. On the evidence of the last week that is happening.
Players are never any different, they love winning, and when they are winning they are prepared to accept most things a manager throws at them.
If results go south that is when the whispering and the rumblings of discontent start to fire up.
One thing that would most likely irk players in that situation is being left out of the side, even if it is for their own good in a busy run of fixtures.
That situation is only magnified for a new manager, who, until they have success, still has to prove their authority and worth.
Say what you want about Puel, but you cannot accuse of him of any weakness when it comes to knowing his own mind and sticking to his plans.
He said from the start he play a certain style, and formation, and would rotate, and come what may it seems he will stick to that.
Of course, when rotation delivers results it seems like a stroke of genius, but you are always treading a fine line of looking like a fool if it goes wrong.
Thus far though, Puel has judged it about right, and the results back that up.
If maybe there was a feeling that the six changes for Inter Milan was a bit too much, it was an undeserved defeat in the San Siro.
That was followed up, however, by a superb point at the Etihad.
Aside from the obvious, a major positive for squad rotation is that it keeps everybody involved.
If you don’t do that and are only playing in general once a week, you inevitably end up leaning on the same group of players, while others feel isolated and frozen out.
That in itself can breed discontent, but by using so many players Puel has ensured everybody has a stake in the success of the team.
After a tiring trip to Milan on the Thursday night evidence of just how strong that will is was shown at City, where to a man Saints battled and fought for their point.
The first half quickly settled into a familiar pattern, but it was one that suited Saints.
They spent long periods camped deep inside their own half, looking compact and organised and challenging City to break them down.
Pep Guardiola’s team found it difficult to do so with little space to play into, no matter how much of the ball they had.
Their passing game at the back but high press up front meant Saints were rarely allowed much opportunity to impose their own tactics, but at the Etihad against such a wealth of attacking talent mere survival is as good a start as any.
As Saints came to terms with their role and stopped giving the ball away cheaply, they actually grew as an attacking force, Dusan Tadic having a cross deflected and cut out by Claudio Bravo before Jordy Clasie skied an effort from the edge of the box.
City should have done much better on 24 minutes as Aleksandar Kolarov’s forward ball picked out Kevin De Bruyne.
Virgil van Dijk was the only player in close quarters and, rather than try and go alone himself, De Bruyne inexplicably attempted to square to Sergio Aguero, only succeeding in hitting the ball against the legs of the Saints centre half.
Just three minutes later Saints’ patience paid off as they took the lead.
It came courtesy of a monumental error from John Stones, whose backward pass was hopelessly misdirected and picked out Nathan Redmond.
With Bravo stuck in no man’s land, Redmond had the relatively simple job of skipping past the City keeper and finishing.
Stones thought he had atoned for the mistake five minutes later as he finished De Bruyne’s right wing free kick at the far post, but the flag was raised for offside, even though replays suggested it was the wrong decision.
City made a change at the break, breaking on Kelechi Iheanacho and switching Raheem Sterling out to the right to test Sam McQueen, while Leroy Sane tried his luck against Cuco Martina.
It made City more threatening from the wide areas, Sterling whipping in a cross that just evaded everybody before Sane had a hand in the equaliser on 55 minutes.
He brought down Fernandinho’s sweeping diagonal pass on his chest and, though pulled a little out wide, had the space to fire in a near post cross.
Iheanacho darted in with a diagonal run in front of Van Dijk and produced a clinical first time finish.
City were motivated to push for a winner, but Saints were standing firm.
Fraser Forster had to make a pair of saves in the space of three minutes, firstly diving to his left to prevent Ilkay Gundogan, and then beating away a near post drive from David Silva.
However, Saints still looked a threat on the break, and Charlie Austin had his first real sight of goal on 75 minutes as Sofiane Boufal squared the ball to him just inside the area, but the effort was central and Bravo pushed it away.
The closing stages of the game were like a siege, as City tried everything they could to get a winner, while Saints were at times camped with much of the team in their own penalty area.
It was in some ways a microcosm of the game, as it left City without any space to try and play their intricate passing game, and they were left shut out, subdued at just a point while Saints were understandably pleased and Puel can again feel that his way is vindicated.
NATHAN Redmond believes that Saints should have won at Premier League giants Manchester City even after earning a valuable 1-1 draw at the Etihad Stadium.
Goal-scorer Redmond, who put Saints ahead on 27 minutes before Kelechi Iheanacho levelled in the second half, was content to take a point from Pep Guardiola’s side, but felt that a win wouldn’t have flattered Saints.
Despite City laying siege to Claude Puel’s men late on in the game, and having around 65 per cent possession, the 22-year-old hailed Saints’ defensive steel and belief that may have seen them snatch all three points.
“The lads put in a shift today,” he said. “We’re happy with a point, but we felt like we should have nicked all three.
“We come to these places thinking we can get something, so the mentality is fantastic and we all dug in for each other today.”
“We had the chances to [win it] on the counterattack and maybe on another occasion Charlie [Austin] finishes his [chance] in the second half,” he continued.
“We could do maybe a bit better on the set pieces, but we defended brilliantly today – especially in the second half.”
The winger-cum-striker, who was signed from Norwich for £10m in the summer, revealed that Saints have a mindset that makes them believe they can get a result anywhere, even against a City side with an abundance of world class players.
“We have that belief and in the run of form that Charlie Austin’s in, Dusan (Tadic) with his creativity and the players in the midfield, its why can’t we [get a result]?”
Redmond netted his third goal of the season and his second in two games to give Saints the lead at City.
The England Under-21 international pounced on John Stones’ errant back-pass to steel in, round goalkeeper Claudio Bravo and hit into the net.
He says he sensed an opportunity.
“I was just anticipating the mistake,” he said. “Once I managed to get round the keeper it was just about keeping my cool, which I’ve been working on a lot in training.
“It was credit to the system how we tried to press and about anticipating the mistake.”
Claude Puel saw his squad rotation policy justified as Saints secured a draw against Premier League top dogs Manchester City at the Etihad.
The Saints boss made a raft of changes for the Europa League defeat against Inter Milan, and was did the same again for the game against City.
He came in for a little bit of criticism for the decisions following the narrow defeat to Inter, despite a good performance.
However, there were no complaints as Saints fought their way to a point against City as his planning for the week produced a win with Burnley as well as a draw at the Etihad.
Puel said: “It was important of course to change for me the team.
“We can see a bit of tiredness to finish this game. For example, for Martina or McQueen (who played all three games) it was difficult to finish this game.
“Manchester had two days more of recovery and it was important to resist and to keep this result for my players.
“We finished the last game against Inter Milan with a big disappointment and it was important to have a fantastic spirit, strong mentality and a good organisation.
“Perhaps you can make better on the play but it’s difficult against this team because they have great players and they can do the difference every time.
Before the match it was difficult to know whether it would be a good time to play City, who are in the midst of a mini-slump, or if Pep Guardiola’s side would fire back to form.
In the end Saints did benefit from a horrible individual error for their goal, clinically converted by Nathan Redmond, but their point owed more to their organisation and stoicism than any failings of City.
When asked if managers had worked out how to play against Guardiola’s City side already, Puel replied: “It’s very difficult every time to play the best and the best game, because to play every three days is very very difficult.
“All the teams who play the Europa League or the Champions League are in difficulties of course.
“The Premier League is a strong championship with good teams, strong teams, and it is difficult every time to finish every time your Europa League or Champions League game and after play with a team with good organisation. It is difficult.
“Perhaps against us it was different because we play just two days ago in the Europa League and it was difficult for us to finish this game.
“I think every opponent give all the possibilities against Manchester because they are near the top of the championship.”
A 0-0 draw against Arsenal last time out with a young side saw them extend their run to four unbeaten in Premier League 2.
And Hunter has been particularly pleased with the fact the Under-18 players are making the transition into the higher age group so far this season.
He said: “I think the group is confident and we’ve had a good start to the season. The players understand the Under-23 squad will fluctuate in terms of availability.
“We always knew the squad was going to be young and at certain times the younger boys would get an opportunity.
“The boys that have been playing well in Craig Fleming’s team and they’re stepping into a different team with the same mentality and method of playing.
“Part of the process that we do is that the teams play virtually identically. It’s not a problem for a boy that comes out of the Under-18 team to play for the Under-23 side.
“We’re asking for the same principles individually and as a team so it’s never an issue for them.”
Manchester City are also on 14 points after beating Tottenham Hotspur last time out and Hunter is expecting a technical game.
He added: “I’ve watched footage of them and they’re very talented, very good individually coming from all over the world really.
“They’ve got quite a few Spanish players so it’s going to be a very technical game so we need to deal with their threats as normal and play the way we need to.”
Martin Hunter’s side have gone four unbeaten in Premier League 2 and will be hoping to preserve their unbeaten home record in the league.
And as they look to replicate the first-team with a good result against City, Johnson is hoping to make amends for not beating Arsenal last time out.
“We’re looking forward to it. We got a good result against Arsenal and of course we could have won. I had a few chances myself so I’m looking to put that right,” Johnson said.
“Manchester City are always a good team, who are good on the ball and play fast-flowing football.”
The positive start to the season has built momentum and confidence among the group, which is something Johnson feels is partly down to the clear pathway at the club.
He added: “We’ve had a young team with quite a lot of scholars in the Under-23 side so to get results against teams like Arsenal shows how well we’re doing.
“I think it’s going well for me. I did well in the Under-18s at the start of the season and thankfully I’ve got my chance.
“It shows the chances are here with the Under-18s moving up and the Under-23s moving into the first-team as well.”
From Petr Cech to Thibaut Courtois, we present the top saves from the Premier League this weekend.
The Czech stopper produced a fine double stop from Adama Traore and then Alvaro Negredo before another second-half save from Traore as he earned a clean sheet in the goalless draw with Middlesbrough.
Lloris claimed another clean sheet for Spurs, this time keeping out Charlie Daniels from close range in the goalless draw with Bournemouth on Saturday.
Saints grabbed a vital point at the Etihad against an out-of-form City and had Forster to thank in the second half after the England stopper clawed away an Ilkay Gundogan effort.
Leicester got back on track with a 3-1 win over Crystal Palace on Saturday, with Schmeichel denying Wilfried Zaha well at his near post in the second half.
Burnley earned a valuable three points late on at Turf Moor against Everton, but it could have been a different story had Heaton not kept out Yannick Bolasie’s long-range effort in the second half.
The result was wrapped up late on at Stamford Bridge with Chelsea 4-0 up against Manchester United, but Courtois made sure of a clean sheet with a fine late save from Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s fierce effort.
Spaniard Valdes was at his best throughout at the Emirates as Boro earned a point, keeping out an Alexis Sanchez free-kick and then a long-range effort from the Chilean either side of half-time.
Open to 5-13 year-olds, children will work with FA qualified and experienced coaches to learn new skills, gain confidence and work as a team.
Each child will receive a certificate and there are trophies and prizes to be handed out throughout the week.
Venues include Crestwood Community College in Eastleigh, Henty Beautfort School in Winchester, Goals Soccer Centre in Southampton, Wildern Leisure Centre in Hedge End and Fordingbridge Turks FC in Fordingbridge.
To book a place for a course on any day over the next week, please click here.
Kelechi Iheanacho feels Manchester City just need to keep their ‘focus’ after another frustrating result.
City, who began the season with 10 successive wins, have now gone five games without victory after being held to a 1-1 draw by Southampton at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday.
Given that City remain top of the Premier League, albeit only on goal difference, it is hardly a crisis but the team are certainly experiencing a wobble.
Iheanacho, who came off the bench to score the equaliser against Saints, said: 'Teams drop points in the Premier League, we dropped points as well. That is a football game, you don’t know what is going to happen when you play.
‘Everyone expects high for our team but we are human beings as well. We are footballers, we can make mistakes and we can lose games. We just keep moving, keep our heads straight and focus on the next games.’
City’s sequence includes three Premier League games and equals the longest winless run of manager Pep Guardiola’s career.
With memories of last Wednesday’s 4-0 thrashing at Barcelona still fresh in the mind, City were sluggish in the first half.
They failed to register a shot on target as Southampton successfully restricted them and they were punished when a poor pass by John Stones was seized upon by Nathan Redmond for the 27th-minute opener.
After all the criticism of Claudio Bravo’s sending off at the Nou Camp for his blundered attempt to play out from the back, it was another error which brought Guardiola’s tactics into question.
Stones did have an equaliser disallowed for offside against Sergio Aguero but it was only after the half-time introduction of Iheanacho, for the injured Kevin De Bruyne, that City began to carry greater threat.
Iheanacho grabbed the leveller after 55 minutes but City could not force a winner with Fraser Forster saving well from Ilkay Gundogan and David Silva.
Iheanacho, 20, said: 'It wasn’t our best but I still think we played well and deserved to win.
‘But it is a game of football. We can lose, win or draw because the opponents are good players as well.’
Eighth-placed Southampton’s performance was largely one of successful containment and their players were happy to take a draw to extend their unbeaten league run to five games.
Even so, goalscorer Redmond felt the visitors could have gone on to achieve more.
The former Norwich winger told the club’s website: 'We can take the positives, we’ve come away with a point, but with our mentality in the squad, we wanted all three points at the end of the day.
‘But we’ll take the point and we’ll keep going. We’ve got some good form now in the league, so we’ll look to continue that moving forward.’
Redmond’s goal was opportunistic but he revealed he had been waiting for such an opening.
He said: ‘From watching their games in preparation for the match we knew they would give us chances. As soon as I saw the opportunity I anticipated it and then I had to keep a cool head, which I’ve been working on since I came to the club.’
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