In the fourth round of the FA Cup, Southampton will host the Premier League team Blackpool at home.

Having just eliminated the Premier League champions Chelsea, Southampton fans, media reporters, and even bookmakers all had high expectations for this game.

Blackpool is the bottom team in the Premier League and is basically certain to be relegated, and although Southampton is still a League One team, it has basically one foot in the Championship.

The strength of the two teams is not fundamentally different.

Especially when Southampton has Gu Ran, this level gap is almost negligible.

What's more, today is Southampton's home game. Southampton has just eliminated Chelsea and their morale is high.

Coach Adkins continued to use the 4231 formation today, letting Gu Ran play as a defensive midfielder and play a defensive counterattack.

After the game started, Blackpool relied on the fact that it was a Premier League team and forced an attack, but their flanks were very leaky. Compared with Chelsea, Blackpool was like a wild team.

After defending for a few rounds and testing Blackpool's strength, Southampton started to play freely.

In the 10th minute of the game, Gu Ran intercepted the ball from the backcourt and dribbled all the way, eating up five Blackpool defenders. While attracting the entire Blackpool back line, he used Matthews' shoulder to pass the ball through the crotch and passed the ball directly to Chamberlain who had cut in from the left to the left side of the penalty area.

Chamberlain easily pushed the ball into the net in front of the goalkeeper.

Southampton 1:0 Blackpool! Saints fans cheered wildly, and the entire St. Mary's Stadium was immersed in a sea of ​​red and white.

Southampton got off to a fantastic start! Chamberlain, who scored the goal, excitedly slid to his knees in front of Gu Ran and hugged his father's thighs tightly.

Gu Ran just used one palm to chop the wind without too much celebration.

After all, this is just the beginning.

Blackpool, who conceded a goal first, continued to intensify their offensive, trying to score a goal.

The Southampton team, led by Gu Ran, calmly defended and counterattacked.

From the field, Blackpool had a higher possession rate, but when the first half was about to end, the score between the two sides was still 1:0.

Blackpool's attack found it difficult to break through Southampton's defense, and Southampton's counterattacks also resulted in many mistakes.

The reasons for these mistakes were, firstly, that Southampton had just experienced a big battle with Chelsea, and many of the main players were injured and lacked physical strength, so there were often situations where the ball was not passed in place; secondly, although Blackpool's offense and defense were far inferior to Chelsea, they were still able to reach the Premier League level. Under such continuous high-intensity confrontations, Southampton as a whole still lacked experience in major competitions.

Therefore, games of this level are the ones that can truly enhance Southampton's strength.

The score in the first half was Southampton 1:0 Blackpool.

In the second half, Blackpool continued to attack to save face, while Southampton became more calm and composed after fine-tuning its tactics in the midfield.

In the second half, Blackpool fired 10 shots in a row but failed to score, while Southampton reaped the rewards in their second counterattack.

In the 72nd minute of the second half, Gu Ran intercepted the ball in the midfield and passed it to Lallana who came up to support. Lallana dribbled into the penalty area and shot directly at the goal. The ball was saved by Blackpool's goalkeeper and then cleared out of the penalty area by Blackpool's own defender, but Gu Ran arrived at this time and kicked the cleared ball directly into a world wave!

The ball went in! St. Mary's Stadium was filled with endless cheers and excitement!

The score on the big screen was immediately changed to Southampton 2:0 Blackpool!

Time is running out for Blackpool.

After the corner kick, Aaron Martin jumped over Blackpool's center forward, but the referee awarded a penalty kick.

Southampton players made various complaints, but the referee completely ignored them.

Blackpool's center forward stood on the penalty spot and scored in one go.

The score was immediately changed to Southampton 2:1 Blackpool.

After scoring the goal, Blackpool had no time to celebrate and continued to attack without delay.

Southampton continued to defend steadily.

Finally, after more than 5 minutes of injury time, the referee finally blew the whistle to end the game.

Southampton successfully eliminated the Premier League team Blackpool with a score of 2:1 and advanced to the fifth round of the English League One.

After this game, all the games in January are over.

Gu Ran was also named League One Player of the Month, head coach Adkins was also named League One Coach of the Month, and captain Davis was also named League One Goalkeeper of the Month.

The winter transfer window will close in just three days, and all clubs have stepped up the pace and intensity of recruiting.

After Coach Adkins spoke to Gu Ran on the phone, he asked the club's senior representatives to contact Moussa Sissoko and Phil Jones, and even tried to contact the hot-tempered Jan M'Vila mentioned by Gu Ran.

but……

When Moussa Sissoko heard it was a League One team, he ignored it completely.

Jan M'Vila demands a core starter, Southampton must build the team around him and he must enjoy the highest salary in the team.

Phil Jones is hesitating. After all, he is now a Premier League player. Transferring to League One would be a downgrade of his status.

It just so happened that Manchester United made an offer for Phil Jones, so Phil Jones immediately decided to accept Manchester United's transfer offer.

Southampton didn't get any.

There is nothing that can be done about it. Southampton's reputation as a club is too small, and the club's top management is hesitant. The funds they agree to provide for signings are pitifully small. It is not easy to recruit talented players.

In desperation, Coach Adkins could only turn to Gu Ran for help, asking Gu Ran to help ask Chelsea whether they could loan Nigerian superstar Mikel Obi to Southampton.

So, on the night after winning the fourth round of the FA Cup, Gu Ran called Sister NO.

After waiting for more than twenty seconds, Gu Ran was about to hang up when Sister NO finally picked up the phone.

Sister NO played this tactic of playing hard to get very well.

"Hey, Gu, I didn't expect you to call me!" Sister NO on the other end of the phone pretended to be calm but her excitement was hard to conceal. "Why, have you figured it out?"

...(End of this chapter)