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In an otherwise sombre week, Takumi Minamino perhaps gave Ralph Hasenhuttl a fleeting moment of catharsis.
The debutant’s 30th minute strike at St James’ Park was Southampton’s first goal from open play in a Premier League game since December the 16th, when Theo Walcott struck against Arsenal. While there has been two further goals from open play in the previous two rounds of the FA Cup since, both had a hint of fortune to them.
57 days on and nine Premier League games later, Minamino offered a break from the steadfast diet of James Ward-Prowse’s hellacious free-kicks and imperious set-pieces.
And while two further open play goals came in the previous two rounds of the FA Cup, both had a hint of fortune to them.
Up until that week, Saints had been managing. Despite an injury to Jannik Vestergaard, they had bolted the defensive door reasonably well, paying credence to the antiquated managerial saying, ‘if you can’t win, make sure you don’t lose.’
But there was always going to be a turning of the tide. As viewed through the prism of the Newcastle game, sadly you cannot keep relying on the seductive nature of your captain’s penchant for a delicious dead ball to bail you out of trouble.
In a system that is based on flawless, choreographed synchronisation with and without the ball, it’s fair to say Southampton’s transparency in attack hasn’t been at its optimal during the winter period. An unstable starting lineup, mainly due to injury, hasn’t helped matters but neither has the asymmetrical form of the front players. The inconsistency in selection has meant building partnerships across the pitch has suffered, leading to the team looking rigid in their approach and left wanting for creative ingenuity.
“Sometimes you score more, sometimes not, it sometimes depends on the quality of strikers, how good a form they are in,” said Ralph Hasenhuttl. “But if we didn’t have any chances, then I would be worried. This is something a manager must be worried about, because then something general is not working well. I think as long as you get the chances, everything is ok.”
As this writer previously opined earlier on in the season, Southampton were always going to endure a decline in their goalscoring performance, having dramatically overperformed their expected goals total over the first half of the campaign. James Ward-Prowse’s proficient expertise from set-pieces were the catalyst for the overachieving data, with Ings’ business-like finishing chipping in.
They didn’t tend to create a lot of chances, but when they did, boy oh boy, did they take them. This season, 13 teams have attempted more shots than Southampton (232), with Everton (215) the only team above in the table to have recorded fewer.
In November, Wolves became the first team to ostensibly adjust their system to resist Southampton’s propensity for funnelling attacks through the middle. Nuno Espirito Santo went to a back four for the first time in his managerial career in the Midlands, adding more bodies and more disruption to central midfield. This caused Southampton to circumvent their customary layers of attack, instead having to use the wider areas of the pitch to fashion something conducive; a route that doesn’t come quite as natural to them.
Since then, other teams – most notably Manchester United who came armed with a midfield diamond to St Mary’s – have heeded the advice of Wolves. As a result, there is a case to be heard that the forward line has become increasingly starved of service, nor getting the sufficient variety of service in which they used to dine upon.
Under Hasenhuttl, Southampton do not tend to cross the ball consistently or often, causing the likes of Ings and Che Adams to come deep to receive the ball and further away from potent goalscoring positions. On average, Hasenhuttl’s men cross the ball 15 times per 90 minutes. Only Tottenham and Crystal Palace, two teams that notoriously sit in a low block and counter attack at breakneck speed, cross the ball less.
“If you have always luck, you’re good. If you have always bad luck, then you’re not good,” Hasenhuttl rather matter of fact, stated. “I think this is key. Always unlucky is not a good team. Always lucky? There is some reason why the good teams are always luckier because they have quality and they force the luck and this is what we have to do.”
Despite the Austrian’s reluctance to accept misfortune has played a mitigating role in the slump, particular metrics underline Southampton’s goalscoring austerity has have been accentuated by not getting the rub of the green. His side have hit the woodwork nine times this season, and have had other factors, such as the tempestuous system of VAR and Mike Dean’s showmanship, go very much against them.
“In our good shape this season we didn’t speak about luck. We also had the game against Villa away where we scored after two minutes, and it was a disallowed goal nobody knew why, and then scored four times again. So this is what I mean, forced the luck, and do everything that you can do to bring the luck back.”
Danny Ings is still a working progress in his recovery back to full fitness and more pertinently, sharpness. The striker’s bout with COVID-19 coincided with niggling injuries and the encompassing headlines of his contract situation.
The striker can be afforded a little bit of respite from any wrath having endured his first lean spell in the best part of two years and usually acts as the crucible and pressure valve for this Southampton side. His striking partner Che Adams hasn’t scored since the 3-0 win over Sheffield United on December 13 and has been a profligate consumer of goalscoring chances in some matches.
When asked if the confidence of Adams has taken a knock, Hasenhuttl said: “Like all the other players, I’ve seen him better, for sure. We miss the goals from him and from Ingsy at the moment. This is a little bit of a problem. Sometimes when we have chances, we cannot finalise. But it’s all about believing in what you are doing, working on your decision-making and don’t struggle too much about ‘what if I don’t find the target?’
“Try to find it and try to create chances and try to be there where you can earn something and the more often you come in those situations, the higher the chance that you score. It’s also my job to bring them in this position that they come more often in this situation where they can score.”
Returning back to the West Midlands to face a team and a manager that relishes the style match-up against Hasenhuttl is likely to prove arduous. Breaking a compact Wolves side down may just cajole Southampton into being quicker in their build-up play and taking more risks with vertical, rather than horizontal, passes through the lines.
And when they do get that chance in front of goal, they need to make that ball is in the back of the net and not rattling off some white thing.
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