With Southampton fans feeling disappointment once again this weekend as we fell to a largely unfair defeat to Manchester United at Old Trafford, there were certainly plenty of positives on show.
Academy graduate Yan Valery continued his impressive development having been promoted into the first team by new manager Ralph Hasenhuttl, and he opened the scoring with a sublime effort midway through the first half. James Ward-Prowse’s effort with 15 remaining in the game looked to have returned a point, but typically they retook the advantage late on and with the referee giving us nothing on the day, he, of course, awarded them a penalty, but Angus Gunn matched it.
Taking to social media to reflect on the game, plenty of Southampton fans were delighted to take the positives and 20-year-old Valery was certainly one of them, not just his goal, but his overall performance.
If he can continue this, he’s certainly a bright light for the future.
Every single #saintsfc player was pretty much a 7 or 8 out of 10 today. Special mentions to Valery and JWP who were both superb. Happy to put my hand up and say JWP is finally proving me wrong ????????♂️ turning in to the player we all hoped he’d would become – brilliant freekick!
— Charlie Hawkins (@charliehawk93) March 2, 2019
Don't wanna be too optimistic or anything, but Yan Valery is the best RB in the league and by the end of the season will be the best RB in the world #saintsfc
— M (@SaintMatt7) March 2, 2019
Honestly all the heartbreak this #SaintsFC season is tough to swallow. Performance today at Old Trafford was really quality and we deserved something. For all those that said Valery wasn't quite ready… it is far more than just the goal, this kid is special.
— Erik Franzo (@EFranzo17) March 2, 2019
This lad is going to be the real deal……..????????#saintsfc
— Jason Lawson (@jase1962) March 2, 2019
Don't think teams will be giving that much space to Valery from here on in, unbelievable strike against the best goalkeeper in the world IMO. #saintsfc
— Andrew H (@andrew_h2k19) March 2, 2019
Some big positives to take away from today:
– #Valery is going to be some player
– #Ward-Prowse is just brilliant at the moment– Cardiff have a very tricky next 5. Yes freak results happen but even a point or two in the next few for #saintsfc could be telling.
— Tom Murray (@T214Murray) March 2, 2019
Poor end result and we deserved more but if we play like that from now until the end of the season we’ll be fine. Valery and ward prowse with bangers by the way ???? #SaintsFC
— Harry Drew (@HDrew92) March 2, 2019
Had my reservations to begin with, but I think Yan Valery is going to be a really, really good player. Getting better with every single game. Credit to Ralph Hasenhuttl for putting his faith in him instead of favouring Cedric Soares. #saintsfc
— Luke Osman (@LukeOsmanRS) March 2, 2019
Started of shaky when he first came in, a few it and miss games and that silly red card, however he is now looking better each game, started this afternoon taking on Pogba and looking to bomb forward – defensively improved also… long may it continue ???????? #saintsfc
— Ed (@Sainted7) March 2, 2019
@yan_valery should be absolutely chuffed with his performance today. What a lad. ???????? #SaintsFC
— Kayleigh• (@KJAOrchard96) March 2, 2019
