NIL BY SOUTH
’Ashamed Tadic close to tears as he apologises for Saints surrender, but Hammers are all smiles again after fans’ fury dies down
BROKEN and on the verge of tears, Dusan Tadic looked like an Australian cricketer caught with sandpaper down his trousers. Seldom, if ever, has a footballer
delivered a more searingly honest and frank analysis of his team’s performance than Tadic after a shattering defeat.
And rarely, if ever, has a team served up a more feckless display in a proverbial relegation six-pointer than Southampton’s abject surrender at the Taxpayers stadium.
West Ham were there for the taking.
Instead of blowing bubbles, East Enders are blowing raspberries at their ruling cabal, and the Hammers have taken to their new home as readily as eels to jelly.
But in their biggest game of the season, Saints were not just poor. For 45 minutes, they were useless.
Kudos to playmaker Tadic for fronting up, and to skipper Ryan Bertrand for having the guts to walk up to the dismayed travelling fans to hand over his shirt afterwards.
If only Southampton had shown as much bottle when it really mattered as the first instalment of new manager Mark Hughes’ rescue mission unravelled like a puppy absconding with a toilet roll.
Tadic confessed: “We feel ashamed. It’s a very bad feeling and we have to take responsibility. It’s just our mistakes, all of the players, it’s just our fault. We need to be men. We need to take responsibility and know what kind of situation we’re in.
“I’ve been here when we had the best results of all time for Southampton, and personally I feel very ashamed. It’s a very tough moment. When you’re 2-0 down after 15 minutes in such a big game, it’s not possible to win.
“I’ve never felt this bad before – this is one of the worst moments of my career. We have to show we are men, we have to fight.
“Obviously something’s wrong. By this I mean something with me and all the players. It’s not the fault of the coach, it’s not the fault of the fans, it’s not the fault of anyone else but us.
“Under the new coach we start to train better but, still, when we come out on to the pitch on a Saturday, we have to take responsibilty. It’s simple – we need to turn up, we need to show some balls. “I thought we had lifted ourselves by reaching the FA Cup semi-finals, but this is a real knockdown for me personally and all the players.” Make no mistake, West Ham – hit by injuries – rose to the challenge superbly. For the second time this season, two-goal Marko Arnautovic tormented his old boss Hughes, Joao Mario’s opener was stunning, Cheikhou Kouyate was a beast in midfield and Declan Rice, 19, was a model of assurance at the back. Even keeper Joe Hart, who looks like going to the World Cup as England’s excess baggage allowance, managed his first Premier League clean sheet since September.
After the insurrection of last month’s debacle against Burnley, boss David Moyes took his squad out of the line of fire to a five-day training camp in Miami. Had they lost, after being papped on the beach among the holiday snaps, the backlash would have come in fifty shades of rhyming slang.
Stewards, laughably armed with goggles and football boots, were ready for trouble – but apart from a symbolic protest march against the board from Stratford through the Olympic Park, there was not a peep of mutiny inside the ground.
On the evidence of West Ham’s vast superiority in the first half, they should never have been down in a relegation battle in the first place.
Moyes was particularly impressed with the contribution of Portuguese schemer Mario, saying: “To come into the Premier League and perform straight away isn’t easy, but Joao Mario probably had his best game for us.”
For Moyes, salvation is now within touching distance. But for Saints, a wretched season now looks likely to end in more tears than Aussie ball tampering cheats.