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It’s rare for a team to not want the season to end, especially one that’s gone on for 100 days longer than it should have. But given the groove Southampton find themselves in, who could blame them for having quite the polarising view.
Their 3-1 victory over Sheffield United put the seal on an unforgettable campaign for Southampton, in just about every way. The win made it five wins out of nine since ‘Project Restart’ began, with three draws and just a sole defeat coming in that period.
They are third in the post-lockdown table, with only the two Manchester clubs accruing more points. Right now, Southampton are revelling in their best, most unshakeable mood they’ve been in for years. Not since Ronald Koeman and the Europa League days, when they last gained 50+ points, have Saints had such a distinctive air of confidence and a clinical entitlement all good teams worth their salt, have.
Check the form post-restart. Check Southampton’s record on the road. You’ll come to the conclusion that this is a damn good Premier League side. For Ralph Hasenhuttl, the endless hours of lockdown must have been spent in his home office back in Germany, deliberately re-configuring tactical tweaks and smoothing the rough edges of his eccentric, pressing-frenzied philosophy.
Meanwhile, his troops back in England used the home-ridden four month lay-off ensuring they returned conditioned to fit back into their bosses demanding remit.
And now, the fruits of lockdown labour have paid off. If anything, the last nine games have shown us that Southampton have gone from a team that works hard and creates success through out-hustling opponents, to one that can win by working as a cohesive, technical unit, with genuine quality at both ends of the pitch.
Saints are no longer out-and-out workhorses. Instead, they have transitioned into beautiful, elegant, thoroughbred stallions. They have been groomed to perfection, delicately caressing every stray hair or unclipped hoof. They are working as one, with every single fibre or mechanism in perfect harmony. Chris Wilder started this strange, perhaps irritating horsing analogy of mine, admitting his side’s season had “ran its race” during the second-half of Sunday’s defeat.
On Sunday, Saints passed another test. If any game exemplified how far Southampton have come in recent months, it would be the end-of-term win against Sheffield United. As Hasenhuttl flawlessly summed up afterwards, it was a 90 minute “grown up performance” which encapsulated all the enhancing hallmarks of Southampton’s development over the season, where they had to adapt and overcome a staunch Blades defence.
After going a goal down, again down to a defensive error, Saints were posed with one of their main Achilles heels – breaking a team, who defend in a low block with something to hold onto, down. There is no disguising that Saints are markedly better without the ball. Hasenhuttl even seems to share this viewpoint, as shown after the game against Manchester United, when he didn’t appear all too thrilled to hear his side had the lion’s share of possession.
But against Chris Wilder’s men, they came back from a goal down to overpower Sheffield United in the second-half, with 73% possession. Hasenhuttl branded it “one of the best performances with the ball this season.”
No doubt about it, Ralph Hasenhuttl has installed a clarity to the chaos he first inherited upon arrival in December 2018.
But if Southampton are to progress and rightfully match Hasenhuttl ambitions, they face a crucial transfer window. The 2020/21 campaign will begin on September 12, which is likely to give players only two weeks off before they return for a truncated pre-season.
Before we know it, the new season will quickly come back around and Hasenhuttl needs re-enforcements, fast. The onus is on the board for business to be swift and Southampton need to go out and get what Hasenhuttl wants, early in the window.
Protracted transfer sagas are often a source of frustration for the Saints boss, who in Sunday’s post match press conference didn’t want to talk about the pending sale of Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, because the deal had taken long enough. Prolonged deals would certainly deprive the Austrian of the necessary time to insert his methodology onto a new player before the new season starts.
For all the positivity and waves of optimism that surround Southampton, the cold hard facts remain. Saints need to strengthen in the window and beyond it if they want to reach Hasenhuttl’s desired land of European football. But who will be on the journey to Europe and who will be sent packing?
Southampton have 14 or 15 players who are capable of consistently fitting into Hasenhuttl’s various automatisms on and off the ball, and have success with it. But there is a crippling lack of depth, once injuries and fatigue starts to have an impact on the key men. There is an increased possibility those issues will begin to mount at some point next season, due to the style of football and the lack of rest between this season and next.
Recent evidence from previous windows suggests Hasenhuttl has a distinct type of player he wants.
In what has become a particular trite of his, not a press conference goes by where the Austrian doesn’t use the adjective “open-minded” – a player who is receptive to his concepts and football ideologies. If they don’t fit or cannot be shaped into what he wants, they will not play.
They are most likely to be under the age of 24.
The four players Hasenhuttl has signed have been all below that age, with the eldest being Che Adams, 23-years-old at the time of signing. Southampton’s pending signing of 21-year-old centre-back Mohammed Salisu suggests Saints will be sticking with a similar recruitment strategy for the upcoming window.
Southampton’s most successful lineup this term
Goalkeeper
Saints are well-stocked in this area, perhaps though not enriched with the best overall quality.
A three way shoot-out awaits in in pre-season. Three goalkeepers all capable of the good, the bad and frankly, the very ugly. Alex McCarthy has the gloves for now, after a strong post-lockdown season – bar the Arsenal incident and a few other rushes of blood. McCarthy has always been a particularly odd case, never appearing to be in total control of the number 1 jersey at any of his clubs.
Angus Gunn is the youngest of the trio but at the time of being dropped, after a certain defeat in October, had a save percentage of 54.6 per cent, the second-worst in the league behind Kepa Arrizabalaga.
Fraser Forster will return after a decent comeback at Celtic. But the Premier League is an altogether different entity. For his 6ft 6′ intimidating frame, Forster’s demise has been based on a timidity in coming out for crosses and at times, looked scared stiff at coming off his line. Sweeping and a front foot starting position is required due to Saints’ defensive high-line, so Forster will need to make dramatic alterations to his game if he were to take the starting gloves.
It is likely one will be sold this summer.
Stay: Alex McCarthy, Angus Gunn
Go: Fraser Forster
Central Defence
With Salisu arriving from Real Valladolid for a fee believed to be in the region of £10.9 million, a deep, chasmic-sized hole right in the heart of defence is set to be filled. Defence is perhaps the sole area in which Hasenhuttl hasn’t improved dramatically. They end the season with 60 goals conceded, the sixth most in the league.
Nonetheless, Salisu’s signing matches the criteria of what Hasenhuttl and Southampton want. A young, “open-minded” player who has huge sell-on potential in the years to follow. He will also be the quickest of the Southampton centre-backs, who are laboured to say the least.
Due to Southampton’s high-line, the defence is often turned in-behind and placed in a foot race or a high speed recovery chase back to goal. Salisu’s long stride and his aptitude to make quick tackles/recovery runs, will hope to fix Southampton’s vulnerability against counter-attacks.
Although Jannik Vestergaard was chosen over Jan Bednarek against Sheffield United, Bednarek is believed to be Hasenhuttl’s favoured, first choice centre-back, once branding the Pole “a firefighter’ for his ability to sense danger and put alarming openings out.
His metrics add further evidence to make Hasenhuttl’s description of his centre-back, rather apt. Bednarek has made the the most blocks and the third most tackles of any player in the squad – the highest of the defensive unit. Bednarek is only behind Burnley’s James Tarkowski for clearances made, his 193 far exceeding the next best Southampton teammate, Jack Stephens (112).
Stephens’ performance have grown to be more reliable too, and offers the best build-up when playing out from the back. Kevin Danso’s one-year loan from Augsberg will not be extended and Jannik Vestergaard continues to be a cause of concern every time he plays. The Dane is is error-prone, slow (lost a foot race comfortably to Billy Sharp on Sunday), and is pretty poor in the air considering he’s 6ft 7. Amid interest from Leicester no less, Vestergaard is likely to leave this window.
With Salisu, Stephens and Bednarek all tussling in out for two starting berths, the heart of defence appears a settled, unessential area to add further.
Stay: Jan Bednarek, Jack Stephens, Mohammed Salisu (pending)
Go: Jannik Vestergaard, Kevin Danso
Full-backs
Pretty simple this one. Kyle Walker-Peters must sign for Southampton. He is simply ideal to Hasenhuttl’s 4-2-2-2 system and has the triathlete stamina which is so vitally essential to play in this team. Ryan Bertrand is still one of the most underrated full-backs in the league, but only has one year left on his current deal.
Yan Valery is an area of concern and may need a loan to discover his man strength. But that would likely mean Saints signing two right-backs in the window, which is unlikely. Jake Vokins has looked good in his intermittent appearances and another year of learning from Bertrand will serve him only well in the long run.
If Daniel Levy drives a hard bargain for Walker-Peters, Joakim Mæhle is a player who has been on Southampton’s radar for right-back spot.
Stay: Kyle Walker-Peters, Ryan Bertrand, Jake Vokins
Go: Yan Valery (loan)
Central Midfield
The most demanding position in Hasenhuttl football. They are the fulcrum of the team, battle-hardened with a ceaseless engine ready for anything. They are tasked with starting attacks and stopping opposing ones. They have to display the innate spiteful characteristics Hasenhuttl wants from his habitual pressing side. They have to be able to commit cynical yet intelligent fouls, and recognise triggers of when to press in packs. Endless reserves of energy is a must too, because with Hasenhuttl, there is no form of respite.
With Hojbjerg leaving, Harrison Reed should be brought back to add depth to the midfield, after doing everything asked of him and more during his three loan spells in the Championship.
It is likely Saints will need to add another midfielder too, purely to aid Hasenhuttl in rotating more freely than he’s been able to this season. This would retain a freshness to the midfield, thereby ensuring work rate remains at optimum levels. It is understood Olivier Ntcham from Celtic is being monitored. Schalke’s American midfielder Weston McKennie has been linked with the club but it is believed the reported asking price of £25 million will be out of Saints’ reach.
Will Smallbone’s role is likely to be given greater responsibility next season, following a bedding in period this year. Hasenhuttl spoke of Smallbone as being a “big hope for the future” after the Sheffield United game.
Arguably Saints’ most technically gifted midfielder, Mario Lemina still cuts a distant shadow after being exiled from Staplewood and shipped off to Turkey at the beginning of the season. It is believed Southampton would be open to the possibility of Lemina staying at Galatasaray for one more year.
Stay: Oriol Romeu, James Ward-Prowse, Will Smallbone, Harrison Reed
Go: Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, Mario Lemina
Wingers/attacking midfielders
Whichever way you cut it, this is a position of strength for Southampton. While Moussa Djenepo and Sofiane Boufal have had an up-and-down campaigns, there is widespread belief at the club that the pair’s, particularly Djenepo, exciting potential will be eventually unlocked in the near future.
Stuart Armstrong typifies the role of an inverted winger in a Hasenhuttl team. Signed as a archetypal number 8, Armstrong has been transformed into an inverted winger on the right side of the Southampton flank, having exhibited significant development in that position in recent months.
Armstrong’s adeptness at cutting inside and shooting with either foot has added another facet to Southampton’s offensive patterns. His ability to make unselfish diagonal runs across the 18-yard-box has been pivotal in giving space to the overlapping Walker-Peters or to Danny Ings to do what he does best.
Nathan Redmond is a favourite of Hasenhuttl and you could only imagine what he might have been if he started his career under the Austrian, whose greatly improved his industry and effectiveness on and off the ball.
But if we were to establish the devil in the detail, this could be marked as an area of improvement. Hasenhuttl could do with some added guile in the final third, as Saints’ decision-making can sometimes appear rushed. The inverted wingers, which operate in an area which Hasenhuttl calls the red zone – the area between the oppositions centre-backs and central midfielders – means an attacking midfielder would find success functioning within the 4-2-2-2 system.
It is a vital role in Southampton’s attacking patterns of play, where the inverted wingers or ‘wide number 10’s’ as Hasenhuttl sometimes calls them, require an intelligence and expert understanding of the position to correctly arrive in the ‘red zone’ at the right time and play incisive passes through the lines. The wingers tucking in creates space for the full-backs to supply the width and deliver crosses from wide.
Stay: Moussa Djenepo, Stuart Armstrong, Nathan Redmond, Sofiane Boufal
Go: N/A
Strikers
Che Adams is probably the head honcho of the “why does the season have to end” brigade. After taking 30 games to score his first goal, the former Birmingham and Sheffield United forward has got four in his last six, with two coming in the win against his former club on Sunday.
The halt to the season seemed to have offered Adams much-needed refuge during the intervening months and is now beginning to resemble the striker which spawned 22 goals at Birmingham last season. Speaking on Friday, Hasenhuttl said he “100% believes” in Adams and expects a striking improvement next season.
Danny Ings is Danny Ings and his starting spot for next season is as assured as the sun rising every day. Ings narrowly missed out on the Golden Boot by one goal, but his 21 goals from open play are the highest of any player in the league. Ings scored his first goal from the spot against Sheffield United to cap-off an incredible season with a total of 22.
In all honesty, there’s not really a need to attend the Southampton end of season awards. You might as well get Ralph Hasenhuttl up on stage at the start of the night to say “congratulations Danny, you win everything, good night” and get it over and done with.
Shane Long will continue to bolster the experience among the strikers and continues to be a viable option off the bench in most games. Michael Obafemi has been a slow burner but is capable of getting a goal, as shown in his injury time strike against Manchester United to salvage a draw. The young Irish International is also highly thought of at Staplewood.
Hasenhuttl says his attacking choices “are in good shape” for next season, perhaps suggesting this isn’t an area of immediate focus. But adding further strength in depth would help take the burden of Danny Ings’ shoulders in what will be busy, congested Premier League season.
Stay: Danny Ings, Che Adams, Michael Obafemi, Shane Long
Go: N/A
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