Two 9-0 defeats and some spectacularly dismal runs of form stick out in the memory but once the dust settles Southampton fans should look back on Ralph Hasenhüttl’s almost four years in charge with fondness.
When the Austrian first pitched up on the south coast in December 2018 he was a breath of fresh air. It had been a bleak few years at St Mary’s, culminating in the panic appointment of Mark Hughes to keep the side in the Premier League the previous campaign. Hughes served his purpose but should never have been allowed to take the club forward into the new season.
Before Hughes, there came Mauricio Pelligrino and before him there was Claude Puel. Pelligrino is arguably one of the club’s worst ever managers, winning one of his last 17 games in charge before being sacked nine months into a three-year contract. Puel faired better, taking the club to an 8th-placed finish and a Carabao Cup final which, had VAR been operational at the time, Southampton may well have won thanks to a Manolo Gabbiadini hat-trick; a feat that has never been achieved in a Leauge Cup final in England.
At face value it was harsh to sack Puel. For some, it is a stark reminder of being careful what you wish for. However, the football was relentlessly uninspiring; as was the manager. Leicester City fans will very much relate to this feeling of hopelessness watching their team under the Frenchman.
When Hasenhüttl took charge it was an injection of positivity into a club that had been shrouded in a dark mist almost since the day that Ronald Koeman departed for Everton in 2016. The lack of personality of both Puel and Pelligrino had left fans yearning for so much more. From Hasenhüttl, they got it.
In Southampton’s first home game under the ex-RB Leipzig manager they beat Arsenal 3-2 in an exciting, high-octane performance. A sign of what was to come. Some of the highlights of his reign include memorable wins over Manchester City, Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester United.
The sad reality is that the Hasenhüttl of this season was a far cry from that engaging, infectiously positive, manager that stole Southampton hearts early in his tenure. He looked a man beaten down by the negativity and bereft of ideas. The cries for his sacking from the fans had become too loud to ignore and, ultimately, it was time for the 55 year-old to be relieved of his duties. Some fans would argue this time had come a number of weeks ago but, after Sunday’s 4-1 home defeat to Newcastle United, the board decided they must act.
So, let’s take look at why things have been so bad for Southampton this season. Firstly, the obvious thing to point out is that they are in the bottom three, with just 12 points from 14 games. In that time, they have scored less than a goal a game (12) and conceded 24. It does not take a genius to work out that these sort of numbers are unsustainable if the club are to extend their latest stay in the Premier League to 11 years.
The defeat to Newcastle was the club’s sixth in their last nine league games and they have won just three of their 14 league fixtures; against Leicester City, Chelsea and Bournemouth. They have also managed just one clean sheet in that time – despite the recruitment of Gavin Bazunu in goal and defenders Armel Bella-Kotchap and Duje Čaleta-Car in the summer.
Throughout Hasenhüttl’s time in charge of the club he has been credited with keeping the club in the division on a shoe-string budget. Perhaps the reason he faced increased pressure this season is the fact that the club’s new owners answered the fan’s wishes and invested in the squad. Around an initial £50 million was spent in the summer and this was done without any significant outgoings. These are talented players too, and this is why there was an expectation that Hasenhüttl should be getting more out of his squad – perhaps for the first time in his time as Saints boss.
The team looked rudderless in the last few weeks and, unfortunately, the blame for that has to be placed primarily at Hasenhüttl’s door. The players have not covered themselves in glory so far this season but the lack of direction has been strikingly obvious.
Hasenhüttl compromised on his gegenpressing principles and paid the price for doing so. In a bid to ensure greater stability, the team became a mid-block side that invited pressure rather than the all-action, gung-ho, side that were synonymous with the first three years of Hasenhüttl’s time at the club. There were times when Southampton paid for their approach in that period, but when the plan was executed perfectly and everything fell into place they were a side that could beat anyone.
This season, that feeling was a distant memory. You can point to the Chelsea victory as evidence to the contrary, but that was a Chelsea team that were in poor form and sacked Thomas Tuchel soon after.
Southampton spent the whole of pre-season working on playing with a back three, but this was scrapped just two games into the new season following defeat to Tottenham Hotspur and a draw with Leeds United. This left the squad effectively a pre-season behind the rest of the teams in the league in terms of preparation given the almost-wasted summer months. By reverting so soon to a four at the back formation – albeit variations of this in the form of 4222, 433 and 4231 – it showed that perhaps Hasenhüttl never trusted the system in the first place. This did not reflect well on the manager, who previously had been so forthright in his favoured shape; the 4222 that he had built the foundations of his coaching career on.
Constant changes to the shape, as well as the personnel, did nothing to quell the opinion that Hasenhüttl had run out of ideas and had drifted from his principles. He was setting his team up in a way he didn’t believe in and they were subsequently playing with no identity. As mentioned previously, the players looked lost and as though they did not know what the manager’s plan was, but in some ways perhaps Hasenhüttl himself did not really know what he was trying to achieve.
The club had become a turgid watch and the air of anticipation that buzzed around St Mary’s on the best of days under Hasenhüttl had long since turned to toxicity and ill-feeling. Southampton fans are not deluded, they know that their club are a million miles from the team that Mauricio Pochettino cultivated before Koeman took it to new heights, but they expect to be entertained and to feel as though their team are all pulling in the same direction.
From the more subjective eye-test, Southampton have regressed hugely this season, but the stats tell an even more damning story.
As a team, Southampton’s xG for the season so far is just 13.6. They have scored 12, meaning that they have underperformed their xG – but not by much. The lack of creativity has been an issue since Dušan Tadić left for Ajax way back in 2018, but it has never been as apparent as it has this season.
Only Bournemouth (9.2) and Crystal Palace (12.8) have registered a lower xG than Southampton in the league this season. The difference being that both those sides have outscored their xG with 15 each after 14 games. Bournemouth have two strikers in Dominic Solanke and Kieffer Moore who have three goals and Phillip Billing who has scored four in this timeframe, Palace have Wilfried Zaha on six, Odsonne Edouard on three, and Eberechi Eze on two. Southampton have Che Adams on three goals and Joe Aribo and Romain Perraud on two as their top goalscorers after 14 games.
As a squad, Southampton are only managing 1.5 shot creating actions per game, which is simply not enough. In the likes of Adams, Adam Armstrong and Sekou Mara, Southampton combine a lack of chances created with a lack of goals in the team. One thing that you cannot blame Hasenhüttl for is the club’s failure to sign a striker in the summer who is capable of carrying that burden. The blame for that lies with the board and recruitment team. After selling Danny Ings to Aston Villa before the start of last season, Armando Broja joined on loan and was a threat for most of his season at the club, despite only scoring six league goals. And despite all of the business done this summer, not signing a striker capable of coming in and hitting the ground running instantly was a huge oversight.
Another reason that Southampton struggled so much to create chances under Hasenhüttl this season is that they have not been able to assert themselves in games and take control. A consequence of Hasenhüttl’s shift in approach to playing a lower block is the fact that his side have accepted having less of the ball than their opponents. In the 14 games under Hasenhüttl this season, only Everton, Bournemouth and Nottingham Forest have averaged less possession than Saints’ 44.9%. Less of the ball, less chances, less goals.
When you look at it in the cold light of day, this season Southampton have not scored enough goals and have conceded far too many. They have struggled with a lack of identity, lack of goalscorers, and a manager who it seemed had run out of ideas and perhaps the energy to reinvent his playing style once more.
Nathan Jones has come in from Luton Town and has a massive task ahead of him to improve Southampton’s fortunes. Despite the negative underlying stats, it is difficult to feel that Southampton would be struggling quite so much with a more prolific striker in their ranks and that is something that Jones will have to deal with until at least January.
Recency bias may mean that the name Ralph Hasenhüttl has negative connotations among the Southampton fanbase but – in time – large periods of his time in Southampton should be remembered for the excitement they brought and some great memories.
