Under Mauricio Pochettino and Ronald Koeman, Southampton gradually got better.
Finishes of eighth, then seventh, then sixth showed that the Saints were back in business as a truly exciting Premier League outfit, the living proof of which is the sacking of Claude Puel after a League Cup final appearance and another eighth place finish.
The harshness of the sacking can be debated, but the fact the St Mary’s outfit decided to part company with their manager based on style rather than substance tells you what you need to know about Southampton’s ambitions: they want to do things the right way at the very least.
That’s why it must be a severe kick in the teeth for Saints fans to look at the league table right now and see their club just a point and a place above the relegation zone.
This weekend it gets no easier as Tottenham Hotspur come to town, with the visitors aiming to close the gap on the top four and set themselves up for a momentum building second half of the season. Indeed, it’s just a few short weeks since Southampton visited north London to face Spurs, and came away with a 5-2 thumping on a dismal Boxing Day.
Biggest goal threat
The return of Mauricio Pochettino to St Mary’s this weekend brings with it a sense of foreboding. On Boxing day the question posed to the current manager Mauricio Pellegrino was how to set up a team for the counter-attack when your striking options are Manolo Gabbiadini – who lacks pace and is off form – and Shane Long who hadn’t scored in months.
Since then Long has managed to find the net, but it mattered little – Saints are without a win in 10 league games and find themselves in the same position they were in on Boxing day with regards new signings. Having seen their interest in Theo Walcott and Daniel Sturridge fail to materialise.
That means the pace of Nathan Redmond or Sofiane Boufal would be the Saints’ most potent threat on paper, but neither are in good form and both seem out of favour with the manager. Indeed, the boss seems reluctant to play both at the same time.
Last week away at Watford, James Ward-Prowse started on the right wing and scored two goals whilst making more tackles than any other Saints player. He is probably the most likely threat to Pochettino’s side this weekend, but that says much about the position his former club are in at the moment.
Biggest fear
Tottenham are in fifth place in the Premier League at the moment, but the congestion between Manchester United in second and themselves is marked, with only six points between them.
Three points behind the top four, and having scored 15 goals in their last five league games, Spurs are clearly a team on fire, and Harry Kane seems to be a source of constant, industrial grade fuel for it. The forward has scored ten goals in his last five starts, including two hat tricks.
When he scores, he seems to do it multiple times these days. The last time the England man scored just one goal in a game was November.
Kane is on 20 Premier League goals already this season, whilst Saints have scored just 23 as a team, but perhaps they’ll fear Dele Alli even more: in just four games against Southampton in his fledgling Spurs career, the attacking midfielder has scored five times and assisted a further four.
It could be a long afternoon.
Most likely formation
4-2-3-1 seems to be the formation of choice for Pellegrino, with Oriol Romeu partnered in midfield by Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and playing behind Dusan Tadic in each of the last four games.
The last time that changed, though, was against Tottenham on Boxing day when the manager opted for a three-man midfield with Mario Lemina joining Romeu and Hojbjerg. That might have hinted tantalisingly at a tactical switch to get more men in the middle this week if it weren’t for the fact that it failed so miserably last time.
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