Making the Grade: Match Day 3, Southampton vs. Sunderland

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SOUTHAMPTON, ENGLAND – AUGUST 27: Adnan Januzaj of Sunderland wins the wall from Cedric Soares of Southampton during the Premier League match between Southampton and Sunderland at St Mary’s Stadium on August 27, 2016 in Southampton, England. (Photo by Michael Steele/Getty Images) /

Defence

Southampton’s defence, simply put, did not have a good day. After putting up a spirited but futile performance against Manchester United, Saturday’s outing was more “futile” than “spirited.”

Cédric and Jose Fonte, the normally-reliable pair of Portuguese who were heroes of Portugal’s Euro performance, looked out of sorts and out of position for most of the game. Fonte, in particular, gets the lion’s share of the blame.

Rule number one of defending: do not go to ground in the box.

Rule number two of defending: if you violate rule number one, use more precision than a chimp trying to ice-skate.

On the other side of the back-line, things were marginally better. Virgil Van Dijk proved solid in his section of the pitch, going in fearlessly to shut down whatever the Black Cats threw at him. Matt Targett had another manageable game but, as covered before, needs to work on staying back and defending more.

Standout: Virgil Van Dijk

Virgil and Jose Fonte will probably monopolize this column throughout the season as the two most consistent members of the Saints’ defensive corps. For this match, though, it has to go to Virgil. The 25 year old Dutchman kept his part of the pitch free and clear, and stepped up to help out a sometimes-faltering Oriol Romeu as well. He had a few bad headers and wayward passes but nothing more serious than that, and overall his mistakes were inconsequential.

Snoozer: Jose Fonte

Conceding a penalty through one of the worst displays of tackling in the captain’s career. Enough said. In all seriousness Fonte is very lucky to have escaped without a card, especially after a few other questionable challenges in the box. Claude Puel should make him watch game footage during training this week. Here’s hoping the new contract hasn’t gotten to his head.

Grade: 5/10

Next: Midfield Meltdown