Chapter 153 - The Team That Could Beat Anyone

In the 55th minute, Arsenal tried to attack Southampton. Kieran Gibbs went forward to help. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain moved the ball to Gibbs. Gibbs used his speed to get past Ryan. He brought the ball forward and gave it to Walcott. Walcott received the ball but Freddy tightly guarded him. Walcott provided a pass to Cazorla. Simone and Rudolf began to press Arsenal's midfield. Cazorla and also Mikel Arteta did a teamwork to get past Simone and Rudolf.

After tgat Cazorla sent a pass to Podolski. Podolski returned the ball to Arteta who penetrated the penalty box. Okhalo looked after Arteta. Arteta forced himself to send a powerful shot. Okhalo calmly blocked Arteta's shot. The ball bounced off the field.

In the 60th minute, Arsenal didn't give up, they started the possession ball again and dominated the game. This time Cazorla gave Rustan a through ball. Rustan took the ball and flicked it forward. Benson quickly followed Rustan's movements. However, Rustan suddenly changed the direction of the ball to be horizonta. Benson's did not stop in time, so Rustan easily entered the penalty box.

Rustan sent a cut pass to Cazorla. Cazorla ran and kicked the ball. But Cazorla's shot was too positive for Dean Smith, so he caught it easily. He then threw the ball forward. Rudolf received the ball but Mikel Arteta immediately approached him intending to knock Rudolf down.

Rudolf passed the ball to Freddy before Arteta knocked him down. Freddy immediately ran forward. Kieran Gibbs was also behind Freddy so Freddy could easily get into the Arsenal defense. Meanwhile Ryan started to move to the center. Kazuki's position was slightly behind Ryan's position. Freddy then sent a pass at Kazuki. At that time Koscielny retreated to mark Kazuki. However Ryan ran through the gap that left by Koscielny, Kazuki sent a pass at Ryan.

Ryan quickened his pace. He managed to get past the Arsenal players and face Arsenal goalkeeper, Szczesny. He evaded Szczesny and sent the ball into the Arsenal net.

"Goaaaaal! Southampton! For the fourth time the the Saints had scored a goal to Arsenal net. It was something unexpected. Ryan's goal really dropped the Arsenal situation n into the abyss."

Southampton players hug together. They congratulated Ryan on scoring another goal. Unlike Rustan, Ryan's speed was not that fast. Because it takes time for him to adapt in the right wing position. But fortunately, everything went smoothly.

After this goal the game became increasingly unbalanced. Arsenal was already dispirited while Southampton also have no intention of wasting their energy any further. George began to attract a few main players and gave the opportunities for players who often sit on the bench.

Until the whistle ended, Southampton still maintained their advantage. The score of the match ended with 4-1. Southampton totally destroyed Arsenal in this match. This game was once again proof that Southampton this season was a powerfull team.

At the post match press conference. Arsene Winter spoke up about his lost against Southampton.

"Entering the modern era, other leagues have shown that miracle was exists. There were clubs that was able to break the dominance of giant clubs in Europe's major leagues. However, the Premier League was something special. We have 6 big clubs competing for the title. "We also have mid-sized clubs like Everton, Leeds and also Leicester. But I never thought that Southampton would be one of the contenders for the league championship this season.

The only thing I can say at the moment was, good luck Southampton."

After the FA Cup match ended, 4 days later Southampton played West Bromwhich Albion. In this match George gave the bench players a chance to play. There were many players who rarely appear now in this match. At the end of the match Southampton beat West Bromwhich Albion with a score of 1-0. Theodore was the only player to score.

Then the following week, Southampton played Liverpool.

"Welcome everyone to the 30th round of the Premier League. In this round Southampton will visit Anfield to challenge the 2011/2012 League champions, Liverpool. This season Liverpool has only been able to stay in fourth position. They were far behind Chelsea who are in third place. Meanwhile Southampton are now chasing points with Manchester City.

One of Liverpool's main problems is the inconsistency of the forwards except Ahmed. Sterling and Sisinho are unreliable, so any chances that are made often just end up being wasted.

In this match Liverpool lowered the 4-3-3 formation.

Goalkeepers: Jim Becker;

Defenders: Glen Johnson, Van Dyke, Gomez, Luis Enrique;

Midfielders: Coutinho, Tony Cross, Henderson;

Forwards: Ahmed, Sisinho, Sterling.

Meanwhile Southampton came with a 4-2-3-1 formation.

Goalkeepers: Dean Smith;

Defenders: Freddy, Jimmy, Okhalo, Benson;

Defensive midfielders: Simone, Orlando;

Attacking midfielders: Ryan, Bennett, Wright-phillips;

Front: Kazuki.

Alright let's see carefully how the first round match goes."

At the press conference, Ragnick now praised Southampton and admitted that it was difficult for Liverpool to beat Southampton. Although Ragnick praised Southampton, George reminded the players to be careful. A coach like Ragnick may be testing Southampton's players mentality. Southampton shouldn't get carried away by a single compliment.

In this match Liverpool started the first half kick-off. On the other hand, Southampton immediately formed a two-layer defense to hold Liverpool. While defending Southampton's formation changed to 4-5-1. In this formation Kazuki became the foremost player. He was level with Liverpool centre-backs. Neither Ryan nor Wright-Phillips was pure wingers. Because of that when Southampton's formation formed 4-5-1. Both more like midfielders rather than wingers.

The buildup of players in midfield makes Liverpool very difficult to pass the ball between players. Their counterpress strategy was also in vain if Southampton was not interested in having the ball. This made the beginning of the first half look deadlocked.

In the 5th minute, Gomez provided the ball to Coutinho. Coutinho dribbled the ball forward. Then, he was stopped by Wright-Phillips. Coutinho pushed the ball to the right and gave the ball to Ahmed who was on the wing. Ahmed received the ball, but Benson's immediately pushed Ahmed, so that the ball was pushed off the field.

Glen Johnson threw the ball in, Coutinho managed to receive the pass, but Simone immediately stole the ball from Coutinho's feet. Simone then passed the ball to Bennet. Tony Cross was chasing Bennett and tried to knock him out. Bennet sent a pass to Kazuki. The Japanese player immediately got a marked by Van Dyke. Kazuki was forced to sent a pass to Ryan. But unfortunately before Ryan received the ball, Gomez cut it. Southampton's attack was failed.

Liverpool's defense was one of the most difficult for Kazuki to break through. The reason was Van Dyke. This world-class defender was a very strong defender for Kazuki. However, that didn't mean Kazuki couldn't beat him. It's just that even if he lost, Van Dyke was still able to reduce the percentage of Kazuki's success in shooting.

In the 9th minute, Liverpool began to give Southampton an attack. Even though Southampton stacked players in the middle, Liverpool were still able to sent ong passes with accuracy. This time Van Dyke sent a long pass to the right. Ahmed jumped and won the aerial duel against Benson. He brought the ball quickly forward. Within seconds, Ahmed was running past Benson and changed the ball direction.

He entered the penalty box , nd gave a pass to Sisinho as he continued to run. Sisinho returned the pass to Ahmed with a back-pass. Ahmed received the pass when he was infront of the net, Ahmed immediately unleashed a powerful shot towards the goalgoalpost. The kick was blocked by Dean Smith, so that it only resulted in a corner kick for Liverpool.

Tony took a corner this time. He had a very good right foot. The referee blew the whistle, then Tony Cross kicked the ball into the penalty box. At that point Van Dyke jumped in and competed with Simone. Van Dyke managed to head the ball, but the ball went into the side of the goalpost, so that only resulted in a goal kick for Southampton.

In the 16th minute, Tony Cross gave Sisinho a long pass. The Brazilian player stopped the ball using his chest. Then, he kicked the ball to Henderson. Henderson received the ball from Sisinho and gave it to Sterling. Sterling uses a little trick to get past Freddy. When he was about to sent a cross, Freddy came and cut the ball first.

Freddy's action made Liverpool's attack stagnate. Liverpool took another corner, but this time Southampton managed to head the ball out of the box. Simone received the ball and sent it to Orlando. Orlando carried the ball forward while Henderson continued to brought him down the side. Soon he gave the bait to Bennet.

Bennet was dropped by Gomez. Southampton's attack faltered. Southampton got a free kick. Bennet took the shot and gave the ball to Wright-Phillips. Wright-Phillips brought the ball into the middle and then provided a through ball to Ryan. Ryan pushed the ball forward he passed the Liverpool players and laid a flat pass into the front of the goalmouth.

Kazuki tried to reach the ball but failed. Jim Becker caught the ball.. Southampton attack was failed.