Yan Valery is the only victim that emerged from Southampton’s tactical transformation. The only casualty in Ralph Hasenhuttl’s switch to a back four.<\/p>\n
I also present to you another theory<\/em>: Yan Valery\u00a0displays all the hallmarks of a quintessential, perhaps even retro, early millennial right winger.<\/p>\n But for now, let’s begin with hypothesis one.<\/p>\n It was November 2019 when Ralph Hasenhuttl finally decided to throw all his coaching notes into one standalone playbook. The 2-2 draw at the Emirates marked a watershed moment in the relationship between coach and club, the moment where the Austrian drew a line in the sand and fully embraced his favoured 4-2-2-2 system.<\/p>\n Results speak for themselves. Aesthetically, the club appear more refined and defined, a far cry to the anarchy that had been running amok in the days and years following Ronald Koeman’s departure.\u00a0What emanated after the tactical shift was overwhelmingly positive.<\/p>\n Well, that is unless you’re Yan Valery.<\/p>\n “You never know with the COVID situation. Suddenly you have players out so you need every player here,” Ralph Hasenhuttl said after Southampton’s 2-0 victory over Shrewsbury Town.<\/p>\n It was a telling response from the Saints boss after a question had been postulated over doubts towards Valery’s future. Essentially, Hasenhuttl was explaining external, undeterminable factors made him feel compelled to keep peripheral figures such as Valery at the club for the sake of an extra body. It was an apt retort indicative of the fallen standing the Frenchman has suffered over the past 18 months.<\/p>\n There was a time when Valery wasn’t just another player or an extra spot on the bench (well in the Kingsland stand now). It wasn’t so long ago that he had been on track to achieve eminent success on the south coast and had become the fresh-faced poster boy that could not only exhibit Saints’ resurgence in academy talent, but also their extensive scouting system across the world.<\/p>\n