Southampton face football dates with destiny

The moment of truth is almost here for Southampton and they cannot put it off any longer. Like a deadline looming on the horizon it has crept up on them slowly but it has always been waiting for them and for their detractors. Those who believe the Saints are in a false position in the table have been looking forward to it all season. Wait until Southampton have a run of games against the top sides, they have said after each victory, then we will see how good they really are.

The time has come and it will be fascinating to see how Southampton cope. For all the plaudits that have been deservedly showered on them after their wonderful start, some people have remained unconvinced, arguing that the reason Ronald Koeman’s side are second is because the fixture list has been kind to them and that they will slide back into mid-table eventually.

It is a fair question and although they would probably not want to admit it, Southampton must have wondered it themselves. Everyone has doubts, even when everything is going well, and the time has come for a forensic examination of Southampton credentials. Sunday’s visit of Manchester City is daunting enough, but after facing the champions, Southampton go to Arsenal on Wednesday night and then host Manchester United next Monday. By January 11th, they will also have played Arsenal, Everton and Chelsea at St Mary’s and been to Old Trafford. This period has been highlighted by red ink in the diary for a while and we will know a lot more about Southampton when it is over.

Positives

There is no escaping it but Koeman sees the positives. “If we want to do better than last season, this period is important because we play nine games till January 1st and that’s difficult, but everybody knows there isn’t an easy game in the

Premier League

, ” Southampton’s manager said. “We know if we want to do something special then we have to win these kind of games.

“One of our qualities is our organisation. If you don’t have that organisation it’s not possible to concede six goals in 12 games. They know they have to be good. The challenge for us is to beat a big team in the Premier League.”

Southampton have failed on that count twice already, losing narrowly at Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur, yet there is a growing belief about them. “We played 12 games now and I didn’t see one team better than us,” Koeman said.

Koeman is so very Dutch. Unlike a lot of managers, he is not afraid of sharing his opinions on any topic and he is bullish about Southampton’s quality. No one expected them to be this good after the sale of five first-team players and the loss of their previous manager, Mauricio Pochettino, to Tottenham in the summer. No one, that is, expect Koeman.

Relegation

It was put to him on Friday that Southampton were being tipped for relegation in August. “But every person can have his own opinion about the team,” Koeman countered. “I think we have a strong team, we play with good organisation but we realise that this Sunday we play against one of the teams who can win the title and who won the title last season. I said before that it is not easy to beat Southampton and we will show that on Sunday.”

The beauty of the situation for Southampton is that this is a free hit because there is more pressure on City to perform. It will not be a seismic event for Southampton if they lose, but a win would move them five points above City.

Southampton have been gripped by “Koemania” all season but there were signs that they were weighed down by expectation during Monday’s 1-1 draw at Aston Villa. They did not play with the same sharpness, while Graziano Pellè has not found the net in his past four matches in the league after scoring nine goals in his first 12.

Perhaps they will be able to play with the shackles off against City but they will also have to find a way of stopping Sergio Agüero, who will stretch even the Premier League’s stingiest defence. Agüero scored a hat-trick in City’s win over Bayern Munich on Wednesday and Koeman likens him to Romário, his old team-mate at Barcelona.

“Sometimes you think he’s sleeping and then in one split second he is scoring and that is a big quality,” Koeman said. “He is the player who makes the difference for City in the last few weeks. He creates opportunities by himself. It’s a nice challenge for our defenders. You need that attention for 90 or 95 minutes.”

But why should Southampton be scared? They have nothing to lose. They believe they will rise to the occasion. Guardian Service