'We've set our standard now': Jack Stephens on Saints' statement win at West Ham
Saints captain, Jack Stephens called the 3-2 win a response to the home draw with Bolton Wanderers. Saints wanted to prove a point in London, he said, and that is where the line about the new standard comes from.
His first-half review was glowing. Kuryu Matsuki scored after two minutes, James Bree added a second in the 11th, and Lewis Dobbin had a third before the break, which Stephens described as good football and control. It was the sort of half that sets a tone.
Then Tomáš Souček scored in stoppage time, and Stephens admitted the finish was more nervous than it needed to be.
That candour is what makes the standard line useful. Stephens also said the season has been inconsistent, with strong displays and weaker ones, and that the focus is on building rhythm and momentum. A captain who says that in public has handed his own team a test.
The test is the standard of the next performance, and the one after that.
Peretz, Jander and the back line
Stephens singled out Daniel Peretz for saves he called outstanding, and the club's match report supports him in describing several incredible saves, including one in stoppage time. Stephens was just as clear about the shape he wants: a side that can score at any time and locks it up at the back when it does.
Eckert made four changes from the Bolton game. Caspar Jander started in the middle for his first competitive start since the play-off semi-final second leg against Middlesbrough, as the club's match report recorded.
The German was booked in the 51st minute, the result of a battling, energetic return.
The back line just about held out despite Souček's late goal, with Stephens marshalling the troops. One last-gasp challenge just about summed up his recent return to form.
The win lifted Southampton to sixth, two points behind West Ham. Saints Marching named Eckert's most trusted player as the day's standout, and Stephens would be the first to share the credit.
He also thanked the travelling fans, who travelled in poor weather, and called their support outstanding. Those are the details a captain remembers, and they say plenty about how he sees the dressing room: grateful, direct and aware that the job is not finished.
So what is the standard? It is a goalkeeper who makes eleven saves, a first half that produces three goals and a captain who takes ownership after the dip against Bolton.
QPR come to St Mary's on Saturday afternoon. A side that has set its standard away at West Ham has to rise to the same level at home too.
