To Spend Or Not To Spend? EPL 17th to 20th

The final part of my series looking at EPL summer spending is here with Wolves and the three newly promoted sides. Enjoy.

Wolves

After completing the 5 million pound signing of Jaime O'Hara from Spurs, Wolves have shown their intent to strengthen over the summer. Wolves got a pretty bad reputation for violent conduct on the pitch last season so I am sure Mick McCarthy is aware that they need to fix that issue as soon as possible. They need more creativity in the squad for sure and any help defensively would be excellent for this hard-working team. Perhaps Kieron Dyer could help this squad out, or maybe he is too much of a risk as he is always injured. Joe Cole could be a good choice or even Boudewijn Zenden. The capture of O'Hara is a great bit of business by McCarthy but he needs more new faces if Wolves are to stay away from the bottom of the EPL next season.

QPR

As one of the newly promoted clubs, QPR will be looking to strengthen their squad with EPL veterans. They need players who know the league and how QPR will have to play against certain players and certain teams. Out of the three promoted sides, QPR are best placed to stay in the EPL next season because of the wealth the club can boast. Paying for players and paying wages should not be a problem for The Hoops, however, they need to find decent players first. A few names crop up that could benefit QPR this season. Matthew Upson is hardly the best defender in the world and prone to mistakes, but he has vital EPL experience and that cannot be ignored. He is an ex-England international after all and has played at the highest levels possible. Michael Owen might be tempted away from Manchester United with a decent wage packet and the promise of regular first team football. Joe Cole could also be a calculated risk for The Hoops too. It will be interesting to see how Warnock spends his cash this summer.

Norwich City

Norwich City were something of a surprise package in the Championship last season. Having just been promoted from League 1 the year before, it was not expected that the Canaries would gain back-to-back promotions but here they are. I worry that this promotion has come too soon for Norwich and I cannot see them competing as well as the other two promoted sides. However, if they managed a couple of shrewd signings such as Matthew Upson and possibly Boudewijn Zenden, Norwich could give a decent account of themselves. They will need around five new players at the club down the spine of the team which may be difficult for them to get as they have to compete with QPR in the transfer window.

Swansea City

Much like the other two newly promoted clubs, Swansea will be looking to keep a hold of their best players from last season and reinforce the rest of the squad with wily EPL veterans. I have already mentioned them for the other two sides but Matthew Upson, Boudewijn Zenden and Kieron Dyer would be decent signings for Swansea and they would not cost a bomb in transfer fees or wages. Swansea play some fantastic football so it is important that they buy the right players who will fit into their technical system. If they managed to find some extra cash, they could even try to tempt players like Michael Owen away from the big clubs with the promise of regular first team football. Things will be tough for the Swans but I hope they can stay up.

Now you have read that, head over to the Your Armchair Pundit facebook page to like it! Get yourself involved on my twitter page too!

Mighty United Edge Brave Saints

125 Years of Southampton Football Club

Memories of the 1976 Cup final were always going to be in the minds of every Southampton fan up and down the country. Could Southampton do the unthinkable and knock out a Man Utd team that have only lost once this season? Well, no they couldn't, but they pushed the mighty United all the way and deserved more than a defeat.

Saints played this game with no fear and with nothing to lose. They were massive underdogs but they certainly did not look it at times. The first 45 minutes were easily Southampton's as they controlled the game with some slick passing, nice touches and timely runs. Dan Harding, playing at left-back for Saints, was particularly effective running down the wing and caused John O'Shea all sorts of issues. In fact, Harding had the ball in the Man Utd net early on, only to see his effort ruled out for offside.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain looked every bit as good as the papers are saying he is and was giving the United midfield and back four plenty to think about with his pace and eye for a pass. Morgan Schneiderlin, so often Southampton's “get-out-of-jail” player in the holding midfield position, was as assured against this United side as he is week in week out in League One. He is a class act and deserves to play at a higher level. Richard Chaplow provided the forward momentum from the centre of midfield while Lambert used his size and strength to hold up the ball. Butterfield also had a great game at right-back.

I couldn't really pick out a player from the United team that had a good first half apart from Fabio who, like Harding for Saints, provided United with plenty of running from his left-back position. Why were United so poor? You could argue that they were not playing some of their best players, but to their credit, Southampton were making it very hard for them to do anything at all. They had no time on the ball and they were out-jumped and out-fought across the pitch.

Saints continued to probe at the Man Utd defence until, with only moments remaining in the first half, they made a deserved breakthrough. Chaplow followed his own throw-in on the right side of the pitch and, when the ball was headed back in his direction, he controlled the ball nicely before he let fly from around 12 yards with a monster of a volley that flew past Lindegaard in the United goal.

Chaplow smashes home the opener

1-0 to Saints at half time!

The second half was always going to be more difficult for Southampton after that goal. United were going to come at them harder than ever to find an equaliser. A United that included Nani, Giggs, Rooney and Berbatov on the bench. Fergie still had plenty of options and talent at his disposal.

The second 45 minutes started much like the first, with Southampton in control. However, Saints were not making as many runs, in an effort to conserve some energy that they would surely need in the latter stages of the game. This allowed Man Utd more time on the ball and that meant they started to create chances. At around the 60 minute mark, Fergie introduced Ryan Giggs and Nani, two of his best players and the difference they made was almost immediate. Nani's pace and trickery made life very difficult for Butterfield who had been so solid up to that point and Ryan Giggs' accurate passing was finding gaps in the Saints' back four. The difference in class was beginning to show.

Owen: Still a deadly finisher.

It took United only five minutes, once Nani and Giggs were on the pitch, to score. A cross from Obertan on the right ricocheted off a Saints body in the box and Owen reacted quickest to put a great header past Bialkowski in the Southampton net.

65 Mins – 1-1

10 minutes later, United made it 2-1. More sloppy play, this time from substitute Ryan Dickson, meant that Giggs found himself with the ball on the edge of the Saints 18 yard box. His perfectly weighted pass found Hernandez inside the box and he put a lovely finish past the onrushing Bialkowski. Dickson held his head in shame and I think at that point the crowd at St Mary's realised that the fairytale was over. United had only had two proper chances and had taken them both.

However, once more to the credit of the League One side, they did not just give up. In fact, Southampton continued to make some chances and nearly found an equaliser late on after a well worked corner between Chamberlain and Harding ended up with the ball flashing just wide of the United post.

The game ended with Man Utd winning 2-1 but that did not matter to the 28,000 Saints fans inside St. Mary's. They were magnificent all day and had kept St Mary's rocking for 94 minutes plus.

Those Southampton players who played today all walked off the pitch with their heads held high. They played hard and with passion and matched, if not outclassed, the best team in England for most of the game. They played proper football, keeping the ball on the ground and played with intelligence. In the end it was not to be but the future is very, very bright.

The Squads:

Southampton (4-3-3): Bialkowski; Butterfield, Fonte, Seaborne, Harding; Guly (N’Guessan 80), Chaplow (Gobern 83), Schneiderlin, Chamberlain; Barnard (Dickson 73), Lambert.

Subs not used: Davis, Richardson, Martin, Doble.

Goals: Chaplow 43

Manchester United (4-3-3) then (4-4-2): Lindegaard; O’Shea, Smalling, Evans, Fabio da Silva (Brown 45); Anderson (Nani 58), Gibson (Giggs 58), Scholes, Obertan; Owen, Hernandez.

Subs not used: Kuszczak, Bebe, Rooney, Berbatov.

Goals: Owen 65, Hernandez 75

Referee: Martin Atkinson