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This was Ralph Hasenhuttl and Southampton’s greatest performance.
It’s even fine to let your mind wonder if this was Southampton’s greatest performance since returning to the Premier League. It’s alright to think about it. Heck, you can even say it out loud.
It was more than three points or Hasenhuttl getting one over on Jurgen Klopp. It was a culmination of an outbreak of emotions that could only have transpired in a game like this.
Saints weren’t at their translucent best or most fluid in possession. In fact, they often found it hard to retain possession and experienced tumultuous periods of being unable to fend off the constant waves of Liverpool attack.
Yet the intense outpouring of emotion that marked Andre Marriner’s final whistle is nothing we have seen before. Southampton fans are accustomed to witnessing their manager’s fervent celebrations on the touchline, but not one that possessed the same profound, entrenched meaning as the one displayed on Monday night.
The way in which Hasenhuttl collapsed to his haunches with his eyes simultaneously filling with tears underlined a much deeper importance. This was him at his most authentic, where the inner struggles that often encompassed the air at Staplewood and St Mary’s were let out for the wider world to see. Those celebrations were only heightened given the arduous ordeal Hasenhuttl and Southampton have endured over the last seven days.
The game itself was a 90 minute passage that flawlessly captured the Southampton narrative. It was a night where 14 men and their manager donned the football club’s crest with glorious honour. By the end of it, that crest was soaked with blood, sweat and prideful teardrops from Hasenhuttl.
Afterwards Jurgen Klopp paid homage to Southampton’s stoic, resolute defending, admitting though the home side were “on the edge,” they never quite caved in.
For all 45 minutes of the second half, Southampton took a beating. In boxing they talk about a particular fighter needing a ‘gut-check’ or only really knowing how badly they want something when their back is on the ropes and they are taking a thudding pounding.
Essentially, it means you can talk a good game all you want, but only when push comes to shove will your true self emerge. It is a series of intangibles, of physical strength and unrelenting mentality that decides this – no one can predict how you will cope in that situation, as going through an enduring beating is against all human instinct.
On Monday night, there would be no towel thrown in. Nor would there even be a single similar thought entering their minds. They absorbed the punishment, occasionally wilting but never ostensibly beaten. They rode the storm together, each player handing out incessant advice and encouragement to another teammate.
“Don’t worry, next one” was the common retort after an individual error. They picked each other up, willing one another through the heavy Liverpool onslaught. No criticism or downing of tools, no second-half implosion, no triggers of criticism. Instead, there were calls to demand more, particularly from Ryan Bertrand and Jack Stephens who navigated an inexperienced front-line through the final 10 minutes.
The victory epitomised and showed that Southampton’s cultural reboot has come full circle. Remember, these are mostly the same players that were there during the dark, inert days of Mauricio Pellegrino and Mark Hughes, often lambasted – and rightly so – for being soft mentally and developing a penchant for hollowing during defining moments of a season.
On the surface of things, these players may appear the same. But aside from their outward appearance, they are anything but similar nowadays. Improving players technically and tactically is one thing, but changing a team’s long stagnant perceptions and psychological state?
That is a whole other level.
Take Fraser Forster’s performance. Irrespective of having to make just the one save, it was the latest demonstration of Southampton’s reconditioned and reformed mentality. A goalkeeper who once possessed such a glaring vulnerability in coming off his line, displayed a clarity in thought no one had seen from him before.
In the 18th minute, Mohammed Salah was running through on goal. After an initial momentary lapse of hesitation, Forster took the positive route and rushed out, legs akimbo, and got a toe onto the ball. Regardless of Salah’s chance being offside, the manner in which Forster swiftly opted for the brave and correct decision presented a clear shift in mentality, a change that could only have transpired after endless hours of work on the training ground, altering and amending the goalkeeper’s subconscious psyche.
While Ralph Hasenhuttl’s unapologetic emotions will hit the headlines and surely capture the central narrative, the Austrian continues to blur the lines between money and a collective team spirit that most managers could only wish to be bottled. In a league so vastly influenced by capital and billionaire owners pushing for more control – see the interminable concept of ‘Project Big Picture’ as a case in point – what the Austrian continues to do is simply spellbinding.
Southampton manager Ralph Hasenhuttl’s reaction is everything ? (? @SouthamptonFC) pic.twitter.com/ybq4nuEbbS
— B/R Football (@brfootball) January 4, 2021
Time and time again, Hasenhuttl reaffirms football’s archaic adage that an innate team spirit is worth far more value than any amount of money.
“If you look at the bench it was Longy (Shane Long) and seven academy lads,” the Saints boss pointed out in his post-match conference with the media. “We have an unbelievable mentality. Maybe more than they (Liverpool) had today. We needed to have a perfect evening, this was one.”
Though the Saints boss is largely entering the Premier League battleground with a rather blunt pencil as his primary weapon, proper coaching, belief in the collective and an indomitable desire to improve with each passing day is a powerful composition.
Southampton’s transcendent philosophy is changing the way we view the Premier League. Money and the ability to acquire the world’s best talent is not the be-all and end-all, nor is it the most revealing in how we perceive how success is accrued.
A unique set of circumstances made the 1-0 win Southampton’s best under Hasenhuttl. Absentees due to COVID-19 is a sure sign of the times, while muscle and concussion injuries played its part in depleting the squad to a point at where it appeared stretched to its maximum prior to kick-off. All of these mitigating factors only led to emphasising how good that performance really was.
Last time out against West Ham, Hasenhuttl was consigned to the four walls of his living room, with nothing but a white cabinet and an uncomfortable chair in sight. But six days on after a false positive result, he was back, stronger and more fiery than ever.
At first glance, it wouldn’t have been surprising if Hasenhuttl fell to his knees as a result of pure exhaustion, opposed to any outpouring of emotion. For 90 minutes, he lived and breathed the game, shouting “come on!” at every fleeting moment the ball went out or reminding his team to be brave and resist the heavy duty press from Liverpool.
He was completely submerged in the beauty of the match, where its tempo and competitive nature was at the sport’s optimal. He kicked every ball, appealed every referee decision, paced his technical area with a velocity than even Jurgen Klopp couldn’t quite match.
Southampton have had great results under Hasenhuttl and in all fairness, have probably played better with the ball. But this was a game like no other. A display of inherent fight, resolve and an attitude emitted from their manager.
Given the eccentric set of sequences that ensued prior to the match, only a victory like the one on Monday night could extract that type of emotion. It was a game that perfectly reflected the journey Southampton have been on under Ralph Hasenhuttl – all of which led to their crowning moment.
When Hasenhuttl arrived, he was labelled the ‘Alpine Klopp’ by the national media. You can’t call him that anymore. Don’t call him that. His name is Ralph Hasenhuttl, Southampton football club and city’s leader.
He is the man who carried tears in his eyes and grass stains on his knees. The man who reformed a flailing, stagnant club and imparted a palpable sense of hope for everyone to believe in.
We all know things are tough right now and times are troubling. But Southampton and Ralph Hasenhuttl have and will continue to offer the most marvellous form of escapism, doing it so with an untold amount of pride and honour in their club’s badge.
That is simply the essence of football. A source of entertainment that provides a deluge of emotions that simply cannot be replicated anywhere else or in any other walk of life.
And for that reason, victory against Liverpool will always be remembered as Southampton and Ralph Hasenhuttl’s defining night.
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