Bilic’s half time changes
James Tomkins was solid again out of position.
Slaven Bilic made his substitions early, taking off Alex Song and Mauro Zarate. He brought on Carroll and Lanzini, leaving Noble and Kouyate in midfield. It was clear that the midfield wasn’t functioning, Song looked lost playing further forward and couldn’t impact the game going forward. This also meant he struggled to help defensively and the midfield was exposed time and time again. Bringing on a natural attacking midfielder in Lanzini, while bringing on a more natural target man striker in Carroll meant the team had a lot more balance with Antonio and Valencia playing wide.
Bilic also rearranged the defence. There were calls for Ogbonna to start at left back with Tomkins in the middle. But Bilic left Tomkins at right back and played Jenkinson in place of Aaron Cresswell. Jenkinson has been struggling for confidence of late, so it seemed like an odd choice to start him out of position. It would be harsh to blame Jenko for the Saints goal, as the team as a whole should have dealt with it. But he was caught by a sharp Tadic and didn’t react quick enough to the cross. In the second half he was moved back to right back with Tomkins moved the left. This seemed to settle the defence. Massive credit to James Tomkins for his performance, he seems assured anywhere across the back four and put in a great performance at left back, even with a black eye.
