Southampton's loss to Manchester City doesn't mean what you think

The bubble was always going to burst. 

Floating high above 18 other Premier League clubs coming into this weekend's action, Southampton had to come back down to earth at some point. Their name - in that it isn't Chelsea, Manchester City, Arsenal or Manchester United - dictates that. 

The Saints aren't at that level. Not yet. Ronald Koeman has concocted an impressive squad, comprised primarily of Eredivisie stars and castoffs deemed surplus to requirements at other clubs. But despite their blistering start to the campaign, they simply will not be able to hang with the big boys.

Victories over Sunderland, Hull City, Stoke and others of their ilk were a series of simple, open-book tests. Sunday came the midterm. Graziano Pelle and company didn't study nearly enough. We wanted to see what they could do against the top clubs. Sunday, we saw. We didn't like what we were watching.

A 3-0 home loss to defending champions Manchester City, one of two legitimate powerhouses in England right now, was vindication for those whose doctrines regarding Southampton had sought to sow skepticism and doubt. 

(Courtesy: Reuters)

On the surface, there was reason for the anti-Southampton crowd to walk with some added pep in their step, and patronizing grins on their faces.

The league's best defense coming into the weekend, having been breached just six times on the year, ceded half that total in just 90 minutes - with goals from Yaya Toure, Frank Lampard and Gael Clichy doing the damage. Worse still, City's final two tallies came with 10 men, as Eliaquim Mangala's ignominious start to Premier League life continued with a red card in the 74th minute.

It was a pundit's dream. A small club, coming off a summer in which they demonstrated their miniature status by selling off a handful of their best players - and watching their manager move to what he thought were greener pastures (cue laughter) - were battered in their first real test.

Koeman, disappointed but not discouraged, said as much after the match:

The difference between the two sides today was their quality, and we knew that we would have to be good in all the aspects of our game, and it was not like that.

There was a clear difference, indeed. We learned about Southampton on Sunday, but not in the way many might imagine. What we learned is how important one man can be to an entire scheme. 

Morgan Schneiderlin controlled proceedings at St Mary's Stadium in the opening 45 minutes, dominating the midfield from his deep-lying role. The Frenchman, whose notorious summer feud with the club's front office is now firmly behind him, was everywhere. A blocked shot and an interception, both on the edge of the Southampton penalty area, showcased his defensive importance in shielding the back-four, as did his four successful tackles.

Going forward, the 25-year-old was responsible for creating a scoring opportunity for his side, something not typically associated with a player (not named Andrea Pirlo) who operates so deep on the pitch. The two sides went into the halftime interval the same way they came out for the opening kick-off, and Schneiderlin's influence was a big reason for that.

Felled by an adductor injury that forced him to be replaced by Maya Yoshida, Schneiderlin watched the second half from the sidelines. Toby Alderweireld was pushed into midfield to try and compensate for the loss. It didn't work.

By the time referee Mike Jones brought the whistle to his lips to signal the end of the match, the impact of Schneiderlin's absence was palpable.

A few caveats, of course. Manchester City is very good. While they've stumbled through much of the season, they're now up to second place in the table, leapfrogging Southampton with Sunday's win. It's been viewed as a down year so far. That's how talented this squad is.

Sheer skill accounts for some of those chances in the graphic above. Some of them, however, resulted from the extra space afforded to City on the break as Southampton pressed for a goal with the clock ticking away. Would they have had those chances to hit on the counter without a late lead? Would that lead exist at all if Schneiderlin was on the pitch to block Yaya Toure's strike that beat Fraser Forster?

It was Alderweireld's slight deflection that helped Toure's low drive beat the outstretched arm of Forster and find the back of the net. Things could have turned out very differently, and while that counts for a grand total of zero points in the table, it should not be discounted.

So what did we really learn on Sunday? Narratives are easy to spin. That's why most of them are entirely nonsensical. 

Southampton is still a good squad. During a strange Premier League season in which somebody looks likely to fall into the top four by accident, there's no reason the Saints can't be that team. One loss doesn't change that, regardless of what some will try to tell you.