da 888casino： This article is part of Football FanCast’s The Chalkboard series, which provides a tactical insight into teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…
da apostaganha： Things aren’t going too well at Southampton right now.
The Saints’ last league outing saw them suffer a 9-0 defeat to Leicester at St Mary’s, a result that equalled the 24-year long record for the largest ever Premier League win set by Manchester United in 1995.
Incidentally, Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side are leaking at the back like there’s no tomorrow, shipping the most goals in the Premier League this season with 25 concessions in just ten outings – that does not make for good reading, to say the least.
To make matters worse, the Austrian’s side have scored the third-least amount of goals with nine in ten games.
It goes without saying that, if you’re struggling to keep the goals out at the back, and failing to put the ball in the opponent’s net as well, things aren’t going to go too well for you in football.
So, what can Hasenhuttl do in order to turn the ship around?
Stick with a formation
In 12 games across both the Premier League and Carabao Cup this season, Hasenhuttl has used six different formations – worryingly, that works out at a different system used every two games on average.
The former RB Leipzig boss has used a 5-4-1, a 3-5-2 flat, a 3-4-1-2, a 4-4-2 double six (4-2-2-2), a 3-4-2-1 and an attacking 4-3-3, and with mixed results – mostly losses, in truth.
The 4-2-2-2 has been used on four occasions, and has seen Southampton win two, draw one and lose one – on that basis, perhaps this is the system that Hasenhuttl should opt for.
One thing is for certain though. The Austrian must settle his players down into one formation.
Stop picking the same underperfoming players
Angus Gunn, James Ward-Prowse and others have all performed poorly so far this term.
In fact, we outlined how the aforementioned duo need to step up, but it is not their fault that Hasenhuttl keeps picking them to play.
Alex McCarthy, an England international, hasn’t made a Premier League appearance yet this term, watching on as Gunn concedes 25 goals in ten games.
Jack Stephens and Kevin Danso have also had to watch from the sidelines as Jan Bednarek, Maya Yoshida and Jannik Vestergaard continuously flounder.
The three of them must be wondering what on earth needs to happen for them to get a chance, and rightly so.
Hasenhuttl has to stop showing loyalty to players who are letting him down.