This article is part of Football FanCast’s Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers…
Sky Sports pundit Paul Merson has revealed that he thinks Southampton could lose by more than nine goals when they take on Manchester City this Saturday.
As you’ll presumably have heard, the Saints suffered the joint-heaviest Premier League defeat of all time last Friday after enduring a crushing 9-0 loss to Leicester at St Mary’s, a result that equalled Manchester United’s 9-0 win over Ipswich from 1995.
Ralph Hasenhuttl’s men had to travel to the Etihad Stadium just four days after that defeat to take on Manchester City in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday, where they suffered a 3-1 loss – on Saturday, they will be back in that part of Manchester for the second time in five days.
What did Merson say?
Merson wrote in his Sky Sports column: “For Southampton, they have to pray that it rains that much that the game get called off in the next couple of days against Man City.
“Southampton were that bad against Leicester, and I’m not being horrible, but if Man City get going, that record is in danger. How many times have you seen Man City play and after the game gone ‘they could have won that 10-0’. They only have to have a game where they start finishing all their chances and Southampton are in trouble.”
Disrespectful to the Saints’ professionalism
Southampton responded in fairly admirable fashion by suffering just a 3-1 defeat to Manchester City on Tuesday, and while the Citizens did play a few youngsters, players of real pedigree in Sergio Aguero, Gabriel Jesus, Bernardo Silva and Riyad Mahrez still featured.
It usually takes a rocket up the backside such as a 9-0 defeat to truly get a faltering side to realise the rut that they are in and begin to make amendments, and it is slightly disrespectful of Merson to say that they should be praying that the game is called off – these players are professionals – many of whom, such as Oriol Romeu, Danny Ings and Nathan Redmond, are well established at Premier League level – and will want to put things right.
The Southampton players are quite obviously aware of just how horrendous they were against Leicester having donated their wages from that day to the Saints Foundation, and Merson shouldn’t be so quick to brandish them as a side hoping for the game to be called off.