Tag Archives: ralph hasenhuttl

Premier League Game of the Week: Southampton 3-0 Sheffield United

Posted on by
Reply

The Saints keep marching on is a very apt song for this season as Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side keep punching above their weight.

Southampton’s seventh victory from 12 games was achieved at the weekend against the poorest side in the Premier League so far in Sheffield United. In winning 3-0 Southampton have climbed up to 4th place with 23 points and are just two points behind league leaders Tottenham.

Southampton actually started the season slowly but then had some consistency and a fantastic run of results. Since then they have lost and drawn games but taken a few hits with a few surprises, and what has surprised the vast majority is how the club have bounced back. Together with Leicester the Saints are knocking on Tottenham, Liverpool and Chelsea’s door and asking questions and it has been refreshing for the league.

What has also been refreshing is that to win games Southampton are not relying on the same players, and there are goals and performances throughout the side.

Southampton of course were the clear favourites to beat a beleaguered and under confident Sheffield United team and from the first whistle to the last the home side dominated the game. In the first half United had no shots on target and Southampton enjoyed almost 80% of the possession. Despite this the Saints would only go in at half time a goal up.

Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side took the lead through Che Adams who scored his fourth goal this season. A mix up in defence let in the striker for an easy prod home.

Southampton had to wait until the half way point in the second half to add their second goal of the game through Stuart Armstrong whose shot took a slight deflection and went in with the goalkeeper having no chance of saving that.

Nathan Redmond confirmed matters near the end of the game with easily the best goal of it as he played a one two with Oriol Romeu and slotted home at a nice angle. Southampton absolutely deserved their win and played with a very confident style and the club will be looking forward to playing Arsenal away in midweek in their next match.

As for Sheffield United it was another miserable afternoon at the weekend and many will now be wondering just how long manager Chris Wilder has in the job? It has been a huge fall from grace for the Blades who performed so well last season but currently they are rock bottom and have just 1 point for the season, the writing looks on the wall for Wilder. Sheffield United’s next game is at home to Manchester United.

Challenge the best EPL Fantasy Managers at www.fantasy-premier.com

Why Southampton could be the next Leicester under Hasenhuttl

Posted on by
Reply

One team of the last decade that has really made huge improvements on a limited budget has been Premier League side Southampton.

It’s interesting to go back 10 years and note that Southampton were playing in League One, the third tier of English football and have progressively recovered to become a staple side in the top flight. Since 2012 they have been a regular fixture in the Premier League and one senses that the club went through 3 stages; the first one was celebrating if they were to finish 17th, poor season, but survival. The second to become a mid table team and the third to challenge for honours and European places. This current season could be the one to define the club.

The Saints as they are known by their nickname have hired some very good managers. They were the ones that brought Mauricio Pochettino to England when they hired him from Espanyol and he guided the club to 8th place before joining Tottenham. They have also hired Ronald Koeman in that time who pulled off some terrific results. Koeman guided the club to seventh then 6th place finishes each time qualifying for the Europa League- no mean feat for a club who six years prior were playing in League One.

It was only in 2017 that Chinese company Lander Sports Investment decided to buy a stake in the club and now the overall stake owner is Gaio Jisheng, and he has invested a lot of funds within the club to bring in real quality. But with the team struggling to keep solid managers that had a proven track record they needed to nail down someone else that would commit more seasons to them. It seems that in Ralph Hasenhutl they have found their man.

Hasenhuttl came from RB Lepizig and spent the majority of his playing career in Austria though towards the end of his playing time he also played in Germany.

Hasenhuttl joined the Saints in the middle of the 2018/19 season where the club were residing in 18th place with Mark Hughes freshly sacked and he was able to guide the club to 16th and safety. Small steps but steps that were needed. At this time it felt like Southampton were going backwards from the beginning of the decade because they were not able to keep hold of quality managers and also were selling players. Virgil van Dijk and Sadio Mane who both went to Liverpool being prime examples.

In his next season the Saints finished 11th and 18 points from the relegation zone and finished the season so strong that he was awarded the manager of the month. In this current season the club are one of the best in form sides in the league and are in 4th place just 2 points shy of the top spot.

There are a few players, stand out ones, that have really contributed to Southampton’s start. Danny Ings really burst on the scene last season for the club scoring 22 goals meaning he finished joint 2nd in the top goalscorers list for the Premier League. He has started this season off well too netting 4 goals in just 5 games. After selling van Dijk and Mane to Liverpool it only seems fair that in the end Southampton would get some quality back, and Ings was brought in from the Reds initially on loan and then a permanent transfer.

Jannick Vestergaard at the back has been another astute signing. The centre back has made mistakes but he has also remained solid after his transfer from Borussia Monchengladbach 2 years ago and has worked closely under Hasenhutl. He also pops up for the odd goal too and has already made himself quite a name this season.

There is a lot of quality in this Southampton side to the point that on any given week when everything clicks they can absolutely beat any team in the league. And their figure point is James Ward-Prowse, the current captain of the club.

Ward-Prowse has been with Southampton since the beginning of the 2010s when they were playing in the Championship, he is the Jamie Vardy of Southampton, a one man club for so long, though in Ward-Prowse’s case he really is a one man club. They will likely build a statue of him when he leaves, and fans will be hoping that the 26 year old will stay at the club for many more years yet.

His form has been brilliant and of course that could well attract some of the bigger players in the game. He is the pivotal reason Southampton have started the season so well and when he is on form the club as a whole are.

Could Southampton go a huge step forward then and win the league? It doesn’t seem likely but then again look at Leicester and what they achieved with a decent manager and a few good players.

Of course the objective this season for Southampton isn’t so much to win the league but to be a force within it and try and finish in their highest ever position. At this current time without doubt they are one of the best this season and that in itself is an incredible feat given this time last year they were reeling from a 9-0 home defeat by one…. Leicester City, in which many comparisons can be made.

Challenge the best EPL Fantasy Managers at www.fantasy-premier.com

Brilliant Danny Ings puts Leicester to the sword as amazing form continues

Posted on by
Reply

Danny Ings at 27 is having the best top flight season of his career and is in perhaps the richest form of it. His 14th league goal of the season helped Southampton beat Leicester at the King Power Stadium by 2-1. This was one of the best transformations for the Saints given that they had lost to Leicester at home only in October by a record 9-0 thrashing.

Of course football is a team game and no one would doubt that but it is clear that Danny Ings’ goals are going to keep Southampton up this season. It is incredible to think that only a month ago the Saints were in the bottom three with their Premier League survival under immense threat but no striker has been on the rich form that Ings has.

Whilst the former Liverpool forward started the league slowly he has more than made up for it in the past month. But we can go further back when we talk of Ings’ contribution. Since the 9-0 beating by the Foxes Southampton have played 12 games and Ings has scored 10 goals.

Ings has never had a such a successful campaign in the top flight of football and his previous league best was last season when he netted 7 times for the Saints in 24 games, now he has double the figure from two games less. When we take into account his cup goals that figure goes up to 16 for the season so far and he is well on course to beat his best season ever. That occurred in season 2013/14 in the Championship for Burnley when he scored 26 goals in 45 games and it was that type of devastating form that irked the interest of Liverpool in the first place.

Since Ings’ move from Liverpool for £18m he has scored 24 goals in 49 games and has an average of 1 goal for every 2 games. But it is in this period of his career where Ings has been earning praise and one wonders if his scoring feats can give him the chance of playing for England at this summers Euro 2020 tournament? He only has 1 cap so far and surely he deserves some place in Gareth Southgate’s selection?

As for Southampton boss Ralph Hasenhuttl he was full of good words for Ings’ impact a few weeks ago when he said: “This is the result of a guy who is working his ass off. This is exactly how it should be and he’s absolutely positive all the time. You can feel and you can see how much he invests to win balls, to work for the team, and in the last games, he has a fantastic run and hopefully it stays on.”

Ings certainly deserves all the praise he is getting and long may it continue for one of the Premier League’s best loved players.

How well do you know English football? Want to challenge the best English Fantasy Managers? Play www.epl-fantasy.com now.