The midfield glider with chameleon-like functions – Stuart Armstrong is the key cog to Hasenhuttl’s machine

Stuart Armstrong makes everything tick.

No one has benefited more from Ralph Hasenhuttl’s indelible ability to shape, shift and mould players than the former Celtic man.

It is a relationship that clicks like no other. Armstrong gets Hasenhuttl and Hasenhuttl gets Armstrong. The Scot is Austrian’s running metronome; the lung-busting fire starter who initiates the type of offensive chaos the manager craves.

He sprinkles spice to attacks, balance to defence and stabilisers to the team’s equilibrium. Of course, Danny Ings takes most of the plaudits and rightly so. But whisper it quietly; Stuart Armstrong may just be Southampton’s most important player.

It was the 20th minute and Southampton’s midfield duo of James Ward-Prowse and Oriol Romeu were chasing shadows against Everton’s triumvirate midfield. They were being overloaded and out-powered in the central areas. Switches of play suffocated the Southampton press and forced Ward-Prowse and Romeu to shuttle across, from side to side, as they expended energy that wasn’t for any productive use.

But then Stuart Armstrong happened. The cog in Southampton’s engine fitted it all back together again. Just like that, Hasenhuttl dropped Armstrong deeper and tucked him inside, making it a three in midfield without possession. 4-2-2-2 with the ball became a 4-3-3 without it.

Hasenhuttl recognised the mercurial Kyle Walker-Peters was able to cope with Alex Iwobi on his own and did not require any further shielding from Armstrong. Not only did the tweak match Everton’s system, but it also enabled Armstrong to pounce on any turnovers in a more conducive area of the pitch.

He could have had a goal too, had it not been for Che Adams’ in-step straying into an offside position before half-time. Still, the exquisite whipped finish encapsulated the 28-year-old’s performance.

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Southampton are a proper Premier League team now. They are able to contend with the ever-changing variables of a football match and cope with any tactical issues. Rather than panic and let anarchy ensue, they now identify a problem, stop it, and then solve it. It was the first time in four years Southampton had recorded successive clean sheets at home.

At the end of last season, you caught a glimpse of what this Southampton side could achieve. Sure, they were rough around the edges and had areas of vulnerability, but they possessed unequivocal potential and had a manager with a penchant to overcome the odds.

The game against Everton all but confirmed the scope of improvement that has taken place since. Saints are now a refined, finely-tuned unit that have reconfigured the loose cables.

The narrative heading into Sunday’s game was about what happened this time last year. Yes, when that result occurred. Forget the scoreline, the chastening memories of those 90 minutes was how lost the players were when they were struck with the slightest of adversity. Ryan Bertrand was shown red and all hell broke loose.

But a lot can change in a year.

That particular evening 12 months ago, Stuart Armstrong was a second-half substitute for Southampton. Coming on at right wing-back to provide… well, anything really. They were already 0-7 down.

A switch in formation and a switch in mentality and look where Southampton are now. If their 2-0 victory against Everton didn’t finally lay down the demons of that Halloween October night, nothing will.

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Southampton have grown up and Stuart Armstrong is an integral part of that. He is the fixer, the flexible midfielder that can be moulded into whatever the team needs, at any particular moment, in any particular game.

While Armstrong is now Hasenhuttl’s  ‘go-to guy’ for when Saints need to adjust their pressing-frenzied system, the pair’s relationship has not been the best.”Our history together was not always the easiest one,” Hasenhuttl admitted in July. “He (Armstrong) is a smart guy. He has a very clear opinion on where he wants to play.

“I had to speak lots of time with him to convince him about how the No.10 is the perfect position for him in my shape. Now he feels very comfortable. He knows exactly what he has to do against the ball and with the ball.”

To carry out the type of job Hasenhuttl demands, Armstrong simply has to be all-in on his role to the team. It is the most demanding position in the 4-2-2-2 system. Under the Austrian, the high volume of ball turnovers resemble a game of ping-pong and each time there is one, you have to sprint at maximum effort in order to exploit the change in possession.

Armstrong regularly performs the highest amount of repetitive short sprints in the side, while also fluctuating positions and areas of the pitch more than any of his teammates. He is Saints’ space invader, the man tasked with seizing and sprinting into large areas of open grass. He is at the forefront of adding impetus to attacks and generating speed in offensive transitions.

He is an excellent vertical runner, often hustling his way in off the right with mazy diagonal dribbles. Not only does he excel in Saints counter attacks, but he also plays a vital role in breaking down sides who sit in a low defensive block. He often wonders into an archetypal number 10 position, allowing Walker-Peters to provide the width on the right-hand side, as shown on the image above.

This gives Southampton an extra facet to their patterns of play, something that had been missing for a significant chunk of Hasenhuttl’s tenure. They can now successfully break down deep sides, due to the front four becoming seamlessly adept at interchanging positions. This is largely due to Armstrong gliding across the lines and operating in-between opposition’s centre-backs and centre midfield – what Hasenhuttl calls ‘the red zone’.

In the second half on Sunday, Armstrong swapped flanks and doubled up with Ryan Bertrand to halt the threat of James Rodriguez. Minutes later, the Columbian drifted away from his right-sided channel and moved him to an unfamiliar wide left position, such was the intensity of Armstrong’s work-rate.

Armstrong’s substitution in the 85th minute was met with a smattering of applause from those scattered inside the ground. If there were supporters to watch as the Scot trundled off, you would assume – with reasonable certainty – not one backside would remain on its seat.

In Ralph Hasenhuttl’s kamikaze, all-action pressing system, Stuart Armstrong is the kamikaze, all-action player at the forefront of it all. He leads the press, he steers the frequent surges of attacks. Armstrong has left an unmistakable print on this Southampton side, which is only accentuated when he’s missing.

18 days ago, Stuart Armstrong tested positive for COVID-19. On Sunday, he was back with the same zip and spite in intensity than ever before. His energy is infectious and his ability to adapt to whatever is asked of him resembles chameleon-like functions.

Ralph Hasenhuttl wants his players to be malleable and no one comes more easily-crafted than Stuart Armstrong.

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