Chelsea 14/15 Is Keeping The Blue Flag Flying High

The best team in the English Premier League at this moment should go to either Chelsea or Southampton. But I opt for Chelsea. No doubt. Their early success is no fluke and not down to good luck whatsoever. Southampton may benefit from good luck and there will be times this season where bad luck will be chasing after them. They will crumble and top 10 in EPL is my realistic final placing predicted for them. I know many will not agree with me on that. But Chelsea 14/15 is a result of proper combination of good and hungry players by Mourinho. They certainly have learn from last season’s shortcomings. Chelsea 14/15 is a typical Mourinho’s team. Aggresive, provocative, ruthless, hungry, and resilient. And if you saw the way they were hugging each other after every win this season, you know that they are in this together. They play for Mourinho. Like every other winning teams created by Mourinho before this. There is no arrogant superstar and there is never a one man team. 

Let us look into this Chelsea 14/15 briefly to see more clearly on why they are the early clear favorite to dominate England and Europe this season. In goal, Chelsea has two of the best shot stoppers in the game today. One is young and one is an experienced campaigner. Both are world class and the problem facing Mourinho in keeping both happy regularly playing is a good problem to have. He just have to convince Petr Cech to stay at Chelsea for at least this season and giving every opportunity for Thibaut Courtois to excell in keeping more and more clean sheet. In defense, Chelsea has the best defensive players in EPL. That may sound cliche and lazy but in truth, they really worth the praise. Branislav Ivanovic has came far from the barren spell he faced when he was signed by Chelsea almost 10 years ago. At that time, he failed to convince Mourinho to play him and he just stuck in the reserves. Changes of managers later, Ivanovic was becoming more and more important to the Chelsea defence. Until now. He is not just able to defend brilliantly but also have a knack of scoring goals. Either from headers or from the late surging runs into the opposition penalty box. He is a beast at right back. Now Mourinho cannot resist to use him in his first eleven everytime. Then there are Gary Cahill and John Terry. Both also love to score goals in addition to their great defensive partnership. Personally I never believe Cahill would be this good. He was just an ordinary young English defender back then. Coming through the ranks at Aston Villa, he was not the super-hyped wonderkid like Phil Jones. He was just doing his own business at Villa before moving to a more stable club which was Bolton Wanderers. Even at Bolton, Cahill had already shown his ability to defend fearlessly and scoring goals. The move to Chelsea brought him up to another level. He was groomed nicely by Terry. He is now the best defender in the England squad. This season, his composure under the opposition’s pressure was calm personified. He is similar to Gerard Pique in the way he is always comfortable with the ball on his feet. Never one who just clear the ball away to the flanks or into the oppostion half. And like Terry, he is as brave as a lion. Together with Terry, he shows leadership and no nonsense defending. A great centre back pairing. Then there is Cesar Azpilicueta. I know many would have tought Filipe Luis to dislodge ‘Azpi’ for the left back position. However Azpi shows that last season performance at left back was not down to the decline of Ashley Cole’s career. Azpi was just better than Cole. Mourinho knew it long before we all knew it. Don’t ever blame Mourinho after this, of not renewing Cole’s contract last summer. And now, Azpi is just better than Filipe Luis. Even tough a right footed player by nature, Azpi is well adapted to this left back position. His style of defending reminds me of Pablo Zabaleta. Not the greatest defender, not the strongest, not the bravest and far from being elegant. They are just an effective defender. They know how to defend and they read the game well. No need for hard tackling, they just intercept the ball from the oppositions and pass it to their teammates. Their interception rate must have been 90% and above in every game. 

We finish with this fantastic four defensive pairing, we now move to Nemanja Matic. The anchor man, the water carrier, the stopper, the ‘regista’, or whatever you want to call his job. He is just magnificient and again an effective player. I’m afraid that I will use the word effetive too many times here, but that just sum up it all about this Chelsea 14/15. Matic was once a Chelsea player in the era of Carlo Ancelotti as you all knew. It was a destiny for Chelsea to buy him back last season and it was not a case of regret for Chelsea. Had he didn’t make the move to Benfica, he may well now sit in the reserves or maybe on loan at England lower division club like Josh McEachran. He really succeed in improving himself at Benfica and he is now a giant in defensive midfield. Not for his more than 1.88 meter height, but for his dominant style of play. He is a true replacement of Claude Makelele, some might say. But for me, he is just his ownself. Makelele was an experienced player playing with big clubs before joining Chelsea. So he already knew the tricks. Matic is a new boy. His experience at Benfica was actually really short, but that don’t stop him from being as good as Makelele. Matic is a strong boy, mentally. Not many would have want to return to the club that made them look useless. And Matic really enjoy the challenge to prove he can be a great player at a great club. Kudos to him. Next, there is Cesc Fabregas. I have written about what things he contributes to Chelsea, that Frank Lampard didn’t before this. Try look at my previous article entitled ‘The Curious Case of Chelsea’s Strikers’. But just to sum it again, Fabregas is the link between the defend and attack for Chelsea. If Matic helps the defend, Fabregas helps the attack. With just one touch, Fabregas can open the game for Chelsea to attack and score goals. Arsenal’s unwillingness to take him back just benefit Chelsea. And most importantly Diego Costa. Had Fabregas didn’t make the move to Chelsea, I seriously think that Costa will just become a flop like Fernando Torres, Andriy Schevchenko, Samuel Eto’o and others. That shows the importance of Fabregas to this Chelsea 14/15. Fabregas is one of the best suppliers of the ball in the world and it was great business that Mourinho managed to snap him to solve his strikers’ crisis in front of goal. This can be proved by looking at the highest number of assists in Europe this season. It is by Fabregas, and long may it continues until the season’s ending. 

Next, there is Eden Hazard. The one-time wonderkid that all big clubs were after once upon a time. Back then he was like Marco Reus now. A wonderkid ready to move on to the next level. But he follow his heart which was Chelsea. And he made a great decision. I supposed Reus should follow his heart too, not money not glamor. That way he will be more inclined to succeed because he will be more comfortable with his mind. Hazard this season is just as dangerous as he was in the previous two seasons. Dribbling at full speed and shooting after cutting inside from the left are Hazard’s trademarks. However Mourinho managed to make Hazard do them more consistently, especially this season. Hazard is also willing to track back to help Azpi in defend now. My important advice to Hazard is, don’t try to be like Messi and Ronaldo. They are both out of this world. Hazard cannot score consistently like them every game. Let alone a hattrick in even a month or a year. Hazard should just be focusing to be part of this great Chelsea 14/15 side. Ok next there is Oscar. Another version of Kaka. He is not a typical Brazilian who is skillful on the ball, just like Kaka. But he has the technique in shooting the ball, in passing the ball, and being at the right place at the right time to score goals. Just like Kaka. If he keeps scoring goals like now, he will be going to achieve as much as Kaka had in his career. Then there is Willian, Andre Schurrle, Ramires, and Mohamed Salah. They are the players being rotated in the right side of the Chelsea’s attacking trio. They are those typical Mourinho players in the way they will tirelessly run into the opposition defence and also willing to tirelessly run to the back of their own half to help the defense. The things that Mourinho does not like in his players are making the game slower, inability to help the defence quickly and being too fancy at times. That is why he sold Juan Mata. Mata has that all unfortunately. Willian, Schurrle, Ramires, and Salah are willing runners for Mourinho. They make Mourinho’s counter attacking game bear fruits most of the times and many opposition teams were punished by the swiftness of their counter attacking game. 

The last jigsaw of this Chelsea 14/15 puzzle is Diego Costa. The man that gets the most praises this season for Chelsea’s good achievement. To be honest I was skeptical upon hearing Chelsea really wanted this guy and were ready to pour 32 million on him last summer. I never believe he is that good. I’m afraid he will be another Roberto Soldado. Clueless after leaving Spain for the English Premier League. But over the years, whoever stikers that succeeded at Atletico Madrid will also be a success elsewhere. Torres, Aguero, Forlan, Falcao, Hasselbaink and others, you name it. And Diego Costa proved that theory is right and he also proved to me that he is the real deal. He is another player who sums up the traits loved by Mourinho. Aggresive, provocative, fearless and very hungry to succeed. The fact that he was a late bloomer means he will want to win everything before he retires. He is a genuine character in EPL right now and he can learn more by having Didier Drogba as mentor everyday at Chelsea. Drogba was strong but more of a soft spoken character on the pitch while Costa is a no nonsense striker and loves a battle or a confrontation with the opposition defenders so much. However he still needs to strengthen his body because of the frequent injury issues he suffered. Other than that, he is a Chelsea and EPL scoring legend in the making. The other supporting casts in this Chelsea 14/15 are Loic Remy, Kurt Zouma, Nathan Ake, and John Obi Mikel. They are able deputies nonetheless. Whoever we support, lets just enjoy this Chelsea 14/15. Ignore the fact that they have made or will make our Monday Blues more blue this season by beating our favorite teams in EPL. They deserve their success and they deserve to wave their blue flag flying high. Ciao!

The Journey Man

Nicolas Anelka has such a nomadic career. He has played for many clubs and tried many leagues. He is quite a decent footballer after all. Who would not want him if an opportunity arises. Right now, he is playing in the Indian Super League. So, where next Anelka?

Liverpool post-Suarez vs Tottenham Hotspur post-Bale

Both bought big after the sale of their world class player. Spurs' purchase was already considered as total failure. While Liverpool's might look like that too. Only time will tell. The conclusion, do whatever we can to keep our best player. If powerless, find another world class players before the one we already have want to leave. One world class player can make a huge difference. And it is far important than splashing the cash for the unknown quantities. Ciao!

West Ham Academy

Many would have not realized that John Terry was once in the book of West Ham academy. He was there starting his football journey at  the age of 11 until 14. When he was 14 years old, he moved to Chelsea and the rest was history. The other big names that emerged from the famous West Ham academy were Joe Cole, Frank Lampard, Michael Carrick, Glen Johnson, Jermain Defoe, Rio Ferdinand, Anton Ferdinand, Mark Noble, Jack Collison, James Tomkins, Paul Ince, and Bobby Moore among others. The Writer presumes readers have already known about this.

The man that is responsible for the success of this West Ham academy is of course the legendary Tony Carr. He was the academy director, he was the chief scout and he was the youth coach that helped developed some of those big names. More importantly he set the standard high at the West Ham academy. However he is now retired. Football needs more people like him and also needs more football academy like West Ham.

Oh please Jose, your behavior is not SPECIAL!

Jose Mourinho. A self-proclaimed ‘Special One’ years ago when he first joined Chelsea. And now in his second stint at Chelsea, he is both the good and the bad ‘Special One’. He is special in football management. He won trophies and he is loved by his players. He is in the same league as Sir Alex Ferguson, Arsene Wenger, Pep Guardiola, Jupp Heynckes, Brian Clough, Louis van Gaal, Ottmar Hitzfeld, and many more. Maybe he is well above most of those names in terms of success. But his bad behavior often let him down. He is ‘special’ in creating controversies and provoking others. 

 

Recently, Mourinho once again created controversy when he chose to shake opposition manager’s hand before the match had even finished its 90 minutes. This time it was against Aston Villa. Mourinho was seen trying to shake the hand of the Aston Villa manager, Paul Lambert and his assistant, Roy Keane. But both Keane and Lambert rejected his offer and they have every right to do so. This was more than dozen times where Mourinho chose to that. He was seen regularly doing the early handshake during his time as the Real Madrid manager. Roy Keane was right when he said that Mourinho would have been punched in the face had he does that in England’s lower division. Everyone would have not like that action by Mourinho. From The Writer’s point of view, the early handshake ritual shows a serious lack of respect for your counterpart in the dugout. Whatever the score of the game, managers cannot do that. What is so important that you need to chase off by leaving the game early? If it is an emergency, it is an excusable act. If it is not, it is just a disgrace act. It shows ego and a bunch of them. Even if managers do hate his counterparts, the most professional thing would have been a handshake at the final whistle. Football is just a game, not a war field. There are a whole lot of people watching from TV, especially the kids. The kids need to see good behavior as they will have the players and the managers as their role model.

Over the years, Mourinho were also involved in several controversies. Here The Writer offers his memory in some of Mourinho’s best remembered bad moments.

1)      The Frisk-Rijkaard controversy

After Didier Drogba was dismissed during Chelsea’s last-16 match against Barcelona in 2005, Mourinho had some choice of words regarding referee Anders Frisk's performance. He said, “When I saw Frank Rijkaard (the then Barcelona coach) entering the referee’s dressing room I couldn’t believe it. When Didier Drogba was sent off (after half-time) I wasn’t surprised”. Frisk announced his retirement soon after and the head of UEFA’s referee committee, Volker Rioth, branded Mourinho “an enemy of football”. Mourinho was handed a two-match touchline ban.

  

2)      Throwing his medal into the crowd

During his first season in charge of Chelsea, Mourinho guided the team to the title, the club's first since 1954-55. They won it again a year later, and second time round Mourinho elected to give away his winner’s medal by throwing it into the crowd. The England FA, presumably thinking that he'd done it by accident, gave him another one - and he promptly throws that one into the crowd as well. He said, "The medal was for everybody, but I think the person in the crowd who got the medal is a lucky guy", "Whoever caught them has a great souvenir. Unless they put it on eBay and make a fortune." He wasn't wrong: one of the medals was caught by Dean Juckes, who sold it four years later for £16,800.

  

3)      Shoving with Arsene Wenger

Jose Mourinho's simmering feud with Arsene Wenger boiled over as the two teams met in October 2014 when the pair was involved in an extraordinary physical confrontation during Chelsea's 2-0 win over Arsenal at Stamford Bridge. The managers squared up to each other midway through the first half, exchanging shoves before getting a ticking off from referee Martin Atkinson - though they were lucky not to be sent to the stands.

  

4)      Tapping-up Ashley Cole

On 2 June 2005, Mourinho was fined £200,000 for his part in the meeting with the then Arsenal full-back Ashley Cole in January 2005 in breach of the Premier League rules. His fine was later reduced to £75,000 after a hearing in August. Later that year, he labelled Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger "a voyeur" after being irked at what he saw as the latter's apparent obsession with Chelsea. Wenger was furious with the remark and considered taking legal action against Mourinho. However, the animosity died down and the two managers made peace after Mourinho admitted that he regretted making the comment. Ashley Cole nonetheless faced the bash from the Arsenal fans when they called him ‘Cashley Cole’, a nicknamed referred to his intention to join Chelsea because of more money incentives.  

  

5)      Poking Tito Vilanova

Mourinho’s rivalry with Barcelona grew even stronger when he was appointed Real Madrid boss. After a bad tackle sparked a scuffle in the El Clasico in 2011, he took it on himself to poke Barca assistant Tito Vilanova in the eye, before facing a suspension for the incident. Such a shame act. Vilanova seemed a harmless opponent of Mourinho for him to poke Vilanova’s eye in the first place. If it was Pep Guardiola’s eye, then we will have a real battle.

  

Whatever it is, Mourinho needs to learn to control his attitude. He is a public figure and he needs to show respect to others in order for others to respect him. Take Sir Alex Ferguson for example. People respect him because of his great football management and his behaviour. New managers look to Sir Alex in getting advices on and off the pitch. The Writer doesn’t see this happening to Mourinho. Other managers will only want war with him. It surely will not end in a peaceful way. The latest controversy that Mourinho created was last Saturday’s game against Crystal Palace. Upon winning 2-0 against Crystal Palace, Mourinho declared that his team would have won the league in other countries by the way they dominated EPL this early season. That would have not pleased the other 19 managers of EPL and The Writer hopes he eats his words at the end of this current 2014/2015 season. He needs to learn his lesson every now and then. Another thing from that Crystal Palace match, Mourinho referred his Chelsea players as having ‘Big Balls’ in dominating the game from start to finish. That comment was also an unwelcomed one, Jose. Behave yourself!   

'MADE IN SOUTHAMPTON'

The recent transfer window which started from May 2014 and just ended on 1 September 2014 saw Southampton had sort of a clear-out where they sold half and more of their first eleven who finished 8^th in the English Premier League last season. Some of them were the products of Southampton’s renowned youth academy. Over the years, they keep producing the best talents but the bigger clubs also keep pouncing in buying their talents. The reason is simple. Southampton’s talents are one of the best in the football world. They are very close to West Ham in producing wonderful home-grown talents in England. Outside England there are Ajax Amsterdam, Sporting Lisbon, Barcelona, Bayern Munich and others. If let say Southampton manage to keep their talents together and prevent them from leaving, it will be never a surprise if they can compete with the likes of those European giants, let alone in England. But that only the top level management of Southampton can answer. Here The Writer offers his knowledge on the past, current, and future products of this Southampton’s youth academy which can provide enough basis on why they are regarded as one of the best producer of home-grown talents in football.

Past:

Alan Shearer (Position: Striker | Sold to: Blackburn Rovers | Transfer Fee: £ 3.6 Million)

Descriptions:

Alan Shearer made his senior debut with Southampton after being promoted from the youth squad. His first senior game was against Chelsea in March 1988. Two weeks later, he scored a hat-trick against Arsenal, thus making him the youngest player to complete that milestone. A handful appearances and goals scored later, Shearer was bought by Blackburn despite a strong interest from Manchester United. He won the English Premier League title with Blackburn and later moved to the club that made him a legend in England, Newcastle United. Throughout his career, Shearer has scored so many goals and is currently the EPL’s highest goal scorer of all-time. He is retired and now worked as a TV pundit with BBC.

Matthew Le Tissier (Position: Attacking Midfielder | Sold to: N/A | Transfer Fee: N/A)

Descriptions:

Matthew Le Tissier is an ultimate legend for Southampton. He played his entire senior professional career with Southampton. He was the first midfielder in EPL to score 100 goals and was very prolific from the penalty spot. His record stood at 47 goals from 48 penalty taken. Southampton fans called him ‘Le God’ as he often dismissed any interests from bigger clubs to stay at Southampton and perform admirably for them during his entire career. He also did the club proud by representing England national squad with 8 caps to his name. A rare achievement for a player from a lesser club in England.

Theo Walcott (Position: Winger | Sold to: Arsenal | Transfer Fee: £ 12 Million)

Descriptions:

A player who has speed as his biggest attribute. He was said to have clock an impressive less than 10 seconds timing in a 100m sprinting. Not bad for a non-professional runner. He is a regular starter for Arsenal and England when he is not injured. He often play as a right winger or a right forward of a front three. His preferred position however is a striker. Prior to that, Walcott started his career at Southampton and making his first team debut in the 2005/2006 season against Wolverhampton Wanderers. His rapid rise in that season prompted him to be named as the top 3 finalists in the BBC Sport Personality of The Year. Soon after that, Arsenal bought him for £ 5 Million and increasing to £ 12 Million after a number of targeted first team appearances. He is a proud alumni of Southampton youth academy.

Gareth Bale (Position: Winger | Sold to: Tottenham Hotspur | Transfer Fee: £ 7 Million)

Descriptions:

Arguably the biggest name in this list. Gareth Bale started his career also at Southampton. He made his professional debut against Millwall in April 2006. During his career at Southampton, Bale played as a left back and was known to be a free-kick specialist. He scored a number of goals from free-kick even though often played as a defender and being a very young first teamer. In 2007, Tottenham Hotspur bought Bale for £ 7 Million. At Spurs, Bale was transformed to be a more offensive player. He grew into a left winger and later as a forward who scores goals and a lot of them. Spurs changed his jersey number from a traditional number 3 to 11 which showed his growing stature as a forward. His performance in the 2010 UEFA Champions League opened the eyes of the football world where he scored a hat-trick against Inter Milan. He never looked back after that and performed better and better at Spurs. The prove to that was the 2011 PFA Player of The Year award won by him after a tremendous performance throughout the season. Then in 2013, Real Madrid splashed the cash by paying £ 85.3 Million to acquire Bale from Spurs and thus eclipsing the world transfer fee of Cristiano Ronaldo. He however proved to be a bargain for Real Madrid where he helped them win the Spanish cup and the most sought after title for several years, the club’s 10^th UEFA Champions League title in 2014. He is now one of the biggest superstars of the world football and a lot to that surely came from the youth program at Southampton. 

    

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (Position: Winger | Sold to: Arsenal | Transfer Fee: £ 15 Million)

Descriptions:

The ‘Ox’ is his nickname. Chamberlain’s career path is almost similar to his teammate, Theo Walcott. The Ox started his career at Southampton since the age of 7 and made his professional debut in 2010 against Huddersfield Town. Although was nearly released by the club at the age of 15, the Ox played his part and resurrecting his career and earned a new contract prior to his senior debut. He is known to have a strong physical attribute and a fast pace which is why people called him ‘The Ox’. In 2011, Arsenal bought him for £ 12 Million and increasing to £ 15 Million after a number of targeted first team appearances. This move was almost similar with the one Theo Walcott made in his career. At Arsenal, Chamberlain was often deployed as a central midfielder, a traditional Arsene Wenger’s habit in converting his players into a better position suited to their attributes. Until now, Chamberlain is progressing to be a regular starter for Arsenal and England. However, his injury often prevents him from progressing faster.

Wayne Bridge (Position: Left Back | Sold to: Chelsea | Transfer Fee: £ 7 Million)

Descriptions:

The other left back product of Southampton youth academy. Actually Bridge started his career as a centre forward for Southampton, but with limited chance he was converted to be a left back where he became a regular fixture in the starting line-up. Bridge made his debut in 1998 against Charlton Athletic. He was known to have a high fitness level, high consistency in performance and passionate in his play. This prompted Chelsea to sign him for £ 7 Million in 2003 with Graeme Le Saux being the exchange player.  Bridge was among the first players to arrive at Chelsea in the Roman Abramovich era. He played an instrumental part under Claudio Ranieiri and later under Jose Mourinho which enable him to be selected into the England national squad for a number of occasions. However, the arrival of Asier Del Horno from Valencia limited his chance as the first choice left back at Chelsea. The worst part was the arrival of Ashley Cole from Arsenal a year later which kicked Bridge all together out from Chelsea. Since then, Bridge played for Manchester City, Fulham, and many other clubs.

Adam Lallana (Position: Attacking Midfielder | Sold to: Liverpool | Transfer Fee: £ 25 Million)

Descriptions:

Adam Lallana was the captain of Southampton prior to his move to Liverpool. He is known to be a very skillful player and is very good with both feet. His performance under Mauricio Pochettino was so good that he was selected to be part of England squad for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. Lallana joined Southampton’s academy in year 2000 and made his senior debut in 2006 against Yeovil Town. He then grew his performances and managed to help Southampton went up to the EPL from the Division 1 (Npower Championship). EPL was the stage where most of big clubs were very interested in his overall performances. In the end, he chose Liverpool and a £ 25 Million transfer fee was agreed between the clubs.

Luke Shaw (Position: Left Back | Sold to: Manchester United | Transfer Fee: £ 30 Million)

Descriptions:

How time flies. Just two years ago, Luke Shaw made his senior debut with Southampton in 2012 against Millwall. Then a handful of appearances later, he was transferred to Manchester United in a world record fee for a teenager. There were rumors saying that Shaw was set to join Chelsea, the club he supported as a boy. But Jose Mourinho thought that a £ 30 Million transfer fee was too high for his team to afford for a teenager and the members of Chelsea team will feel annoyed if a teenager got higher pay than most of them. Apart from that story, Shaw is for sure one of the best English talents in the market. His surging run from left back is excellent and his cross from the left was one of the reasons why Southampton got many chances to score for the last two years in EPL.   

Calum Chambers (Position: Right Back | Sold to: Arsenal | Transfer Fee: £ 16 Million)

Descriptions:

Calum Chambers went through the Southampton ranks at the start of 2012/2013 season. His first full debut was against Stevenage in August 2012. Then in 2013/2014 season, he started to be part of Southampton’s first eleven. He made 22 appearances in that season. Luckily for him, Arsenal and another dozen of clubs were very impressed with his breakthrough and were vying to sign him. Arsenal won the race for his signature (Arsenal has a history in signing products of Southampton academy; e.g: Walcott and Chamberlain) and during the off season of 2014/2015, they paid £ 16 Million to Southampton. Chambers can play at right back and also at centre back. His maturity is widely acclaimed by football pundits. However, one of his weaknesses is in yellow cards collected. He needs to make better decision at times and this surely will be taught by Professor Wenger himself at Arsenal.

Other alumni of Southampton Academy:

Andrew Surman (currently at Bournemouth)

Chris Baird (currently at West Bromwich Albion)

Leon Best (currently at Derby County)

Tim Sparv (currently at FC Midtjylland)

Current & Future:

James Ward-Prowse (Position: Midfielder | Sold to: N/A | Transfer Fee: £ N/A)

Descriptions:

This lad is the brightest product of Southampton which is still at the club. James made his first team debut for Southampton in October 2011. In 2012, he signed his first professional contract and he became one of the regular fixtures in Southampton first team. He can play in central midfield and right sided midfield. One of his stand-out ability is delivering free-kick and corner-kick. His name has already been mentioned in football transfer gossip and it won’t be too long before he too makes a move.

Harrison Reed (Position: Midfielder | Sold to: N/A | Transfer Fee: £ N/A)

Descriptions:

Viewers of Southampton matches will surely recognize this player. His ginger hair is a stand-out material, apart from his blossoming football ability. Harrison made his debut on 27 August 2013 and has already clocked a number of first team appearances. He can play in right midfield and also can slot in as a right wing back when there is shortage of right sided defender. His name is yet to be out as a transfer target of other clubs but he has the potential, absolutely.  

Sam McQueen (Position: Left Winger | Sold to: N/A | Transfer Fee: £ N/A)

Descriptions:

Sam is a Southampton born lad. People love local lads and he will be adored once fully integrated into the Southampton first team. He made his senior debut on 15 February 2014 in a FA Cup match. Sam is left sided winger and it will be interesting to follow his development at the club. At this point of time, he only shines at youth level and yet to mark his presence in the senior side.

Lloyd Isgrove (Position: Forward | Sold to: N/A | Transfer Fee: £ N/A)

Descriptions:

Lloyd is a Welsh midfielder but was groomed by Southampton since his childhood. He is primarily a winger but can also play in midfield and as a forward. He was promoted to the first team in 2012/2013 season. He made his debut on 30 October 2012 against Leeds United.

Matt Targett (Position: Left Back | Sold to: N/A | Transfer Fee: £ N/A)

Descriptions:

Matt is another left back of Southampton academy. If looked into the success story of Bridge, Bale, and Shaw, Matt will be motivated to prove that he too is a diamond. He made his senior debut on 26 August 2014 against Millwall. Matt was tipped to replace the departed Luke Shaw but the loan signing of Ryan Bertrand from Chelsea hampered his progress so far. However he is still the diamond to be polished by the Southampton coaches.  

Jake Sinclair (Position: Forward | Sold to: N/A | Transfer Fee: £ N/A)

Descriptions:

Jake is the younger brother of Scott Sinclair (Manchester City player). Jake can play as a forward and made his senior debut on 27 August 2013. But he is currently on loan at Hibernian in the Scottish league. His experience there will be vital to make a breakthrough at Southampton next season.

In all, Southampton can be proud of having a well run football factory. Not only that, their products are among the best performers on the field. Going back to the summer clear-out at Southampton as mentioned in the first paragraph, many expected the cub to struggle in EPL this current campaign. But Southampton is never one that succumbs to difficulties. They are currently among the top 5 in EPL (17October 2014) and in the month of September 2014, their manager, Ronald Koeman won the Manager of the Month award and their new striker, Graziano Pelle won the Player of the Month award. There will be more exciting times at Southampton this coming season as they manage to regroup after a difficult summer and their new coaching team looks perfect to the club’s traditional style of play. Whoever they will sell and how many they will sell after this will not affect the club status badly as their production lines are always ready to take-over the responsibility. If readers have children who want to be a footballer, please send them to this Southampton academy if really possible. They will surely be someone in the football world. Because they will be another products ‘MADE IN SOUTHAMPTON’…