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da betobet： This article is part of Football FanCast’s Opinion series, which provides analysis, insight and opinion on any issue within the beautiful game, from Paul Pogba’s haircuts to League Two relegation battles…
Since Ralph Hasenhuttl was appointed as Mark Hughes’ successor on December 5th 2018, Southampton have undoubtedly improved as a side.
The Austrian boss has managed to squeeze some decent form out of Jan Bednarek, brought Yan Valery and Michael Obafemi through from the academy, and results have improved compared to when Hughes left the Saints in 18th place in the Premier League.
However, one thing that stands out from the former RB Leipzig boss’ tenure so far is his side’s tendency to start games slowly.
So far this season, the South Coast side are yet to score a first-half goal in the Premier League and have won just one game – a 2-0 victory over Brighton, who had a man sent off with the scores at 0-0.
In fact, during Hasenhuttl’s 27 games in charge, Southampton have only ever come from behind to win once – a 2-1 victory over Tottenham at St Mary’s.
To make the situation seem even bleaker, they have come from behind to gain a single point on just one occasion.
The 1-1 draw against Crystal Palace at St Mary’s last season, in which Wilfried Zaha opened the scoring before James Ward-Prowse equalised, was the only other game in which Hasenhuttl’s side have bounced back to record a result.
One thing that the Austrian boss could potentially do to halt this worrying feature of his side’s game is focus the play around £15m summer signing Che Adams, a man who is also guilty of struggling to stay involved throughout matches.
The 23-year-old often has a great chance early on, before doing very little for the remainder of the game.
To amend Adams’ negative trait whilst also solving his own side’s sluggishness from the first whistle, Hasenhuttl should build his attack around the forward in the early stages and look to maintain an attacking ethos which keeps the Englishman involved at all times – given his 22-goal haul for Birmingham last season, the numbers suggest Adams will find the back of the net if given enough chances.
Seeing as Hasenhuttl has been in charge for nearly a year now, this worrying trend must come to an end sometime sooner rather than later, and Adams could be central to that.
By allowing the opposition to get the first goal more often than not, Southampton are finding themselves with a mountain to climb rather than having a lead to hang onto.
Hasenhuttl must ensure that his side comes flying out of the blocks more often, or this problem will continue; Adams is the man to trust.
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