Southampton have improved, now they need to show it consistently in 2022

A resolute ten-man Southampton side waved 2021 goodbye with a well-earned point after a resilient effort against Tottenham on Tuesday afternoon.

The Saints had taken the lead thanks to an emphatic volley from captain James Ward-Prowse before Heung-Min Son was taken down in the penalty area by Mohamed Salisu. This resulted in a penalty for the visitors, which was converted by Harry Kane, and a second yellow card for the Ghanaian defender.

Plenty of attention will be on the fact that Antonio Conte’s side failed to find a winner, even though Kane did think he’d scored his second before a tight VAR call ruled the England captain offside. However, the Saints deserve plenty of plaudits, especially after Ralph Hasenhuttl made six changes to the starting lineup.

Now at the halfway stage of their Premier League season, there are clear signs that Southampton are a better side than they were at the start of the year, even though league positions would suggest otherwise.

The Saints were comfortably a top-half outfit going into the year but were about to experience a catastrophic downturn that would see them finish the 2020/21 campaign in 15th place.

Currently sat in 13th with 21 points from 19 games, there are signals of improvement in a variety of departments, particularly after impressive results post-Christmas.

Taking four points from West Ham and Tottenham in the space of three days was a remarkable effort, something that couldn’t have been done without squad depth.

Last season, injuries to numerous key players stacked up at the wrong times and academy players were called upon with little senior backup options. This was undoubtedly a contributing factor to the south-coast side’s downfall.

Now, Ralph Hasenhuttl has a squad of quality options in all department that he can call upon with busy fixture scheduling.

Alas, no schedule will be as hectic as that of the last couple of days, but with a home clash against Brentford in need of a new date before the end of the season and the possibility of further games to be postponed, the Austrian will need his squad for the remaining five months of the campaign.

Even with injuries and illnesses, the Saints had options to call upon.

Tino Livramento? Missing with a knock. Solution? Bring in £12m Romain Perraud at left-back and put usual left-back Kyle Walker-Peters to his preferred right-back.

Two centre-backs in Jack Stephens and Lyanco out with Covid? Put usual right-back Yan Valery at centre-back. Granted this solution was less straightforward but succeeded against Tottenham.

There are numerous examples of where Southampton have depth amongst their ranks now, so much so that Ralph Hasenhuttl told his players the planned starting lineups for the Boxing Day clash at West Ham and the home game against Tottenham two days later on Christmas Eve.

The 54-year-old also told them the formations and tactics that will be played. A 4-1-4-1 for the Hammers and a 3-4-1-2 for Spurs as opposed to the favoured 4-2-2-2. They are more tactically flexible too and it paid off.

You would have been forgiven for fearing the worst for Southampton when their best defender Mohamed Salisu was sent off against Antonio Conte’s side, but the ten men dug deep and were able to grind out a result. It was majorly impressive.

Another considerable improvement this term has been the home form.

If you’re one to look at the glass half empty, you would say that two home wins from nine games at St.Mary’s thus far is poor.

However, they have lost just once in SO14 this season and are currently enjoying their longest unbeaten run at home since October 2016 of six games.

Claude Puel struggled to sort out the home form. As did Mauricio Pellegrino and Mark Hughes…even Hasenhuttl at the start of his tenure.

Two wins, six draws and one loss is a strong platform to build upon going into 2022. Turn a couple of those draws into wins and we may be able to start using the F-word when describing St.Mary’s…

Fortress. I meant fortress.

On countless occasions this year, Southampton have been their own worst enemy and have held themselves back from progress.

Now, going into 2022, we need to see them do the good stuff on a more consistent basis. Take every aspect of the last two games, blend it, filter out the part with the red card perhaps, bottle it up and drink it. We need to see similar levels of discipline, shrewdness and togetherness in every single one of the remaining 19 league games.

It is very clear what Southampton must do to take the next step in the new year. Of course, that’s much easier said than done.

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