Saturday’s visit from Leeds United threw up a mixed bag from a Saints perspective but, importantly, the after taste was one of positivity and a step in the right direction. Matt Watts again gives us his take on the sittuation

As fans we have no choice but to accept manager Ralph Hasenhuttl’s utter determination to his plans through means he may only give a little when absolutely necessary - he won’t give it all.

By this I mean he had clearly noted and listened to the outpouring of disbelief at his selection and tactics at Tottenham Hotspur last weekend - it was evident to all onlookers at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and he had no choice.

As a result, in came Armel Bella-Kotchap, Moi Elyounoussi, Stuart Armstrong and Che Adams. However, as mentioned, when he gives he can’t give it all, hence the rigid belief in the 5-3-2 formation (5-2-2-1 with Adams as the lone striker).

It was a start though and, at the very least, some recognition of the failings of last weekend. However, it meant some of the frailties still existed - weakness at the back and a lack of any real threat down the wings or up top.

Given the mounting pressure of one win in 14 games going into the game, plus a record of 35 goals against and nine for, the Austrian knew he had to act when he found his side trailing by two goals after 60 minutes.

Cue, at long, long last, an acceptance of the need to change tactics and personnel.

Astonishingly, this happened within a minute of the second goal being conceded, with the introductions of Adam Armstrong and Joe Aribo on 61 minutes and Sekou Mara on 70 minutes - with Mara replacing a centre back in Jan Bednarek.

This signalled a change to what I would prefer to call a 4-3-3 with Armstrong, Adams and Mara up front supported by Aribo (my personal preference and what it looked at times), but to be strictly accurate a 4-2-2-2.

The impact, regardless, was significant, with Armstrong and Aribo combining for the ex-Rangers man to pull a goal back on 72 minutes.

Then, just nine minutes later, a sublime piece of skill from Frenchman Mara led to a through ball carving the Leeds defence open for Kyle Walker-Peters to drill home the equaliser.

It then looked at though Saints could use the momentum to win the game, with a stinger from Mara only just kept out by Leeds’ keeper Illan Meslier. Last week Hasenhuttl suggested Mara’s short settling in period prior to the defeat at Spurs was the reason for his exclusion - he looked confident and competent enough to me just a week later.

As always I like to spend some time analysing the manager’s thoughts and one thing that stood out to me was his reference to the formation and personnel changes.

“You have to go all in at such a moment. And the team, although we had very, very tough temperatures today, they were flying in the end and trying everything to win this game,” he said.

The argument here for me would be why the team would not be structured appropriately to be flying and trying to win the game from the outset, providing much more opportunity to hold the balance of power in the game - particularly at home - and aim for, or work towards, a comfortable victory.

When asked if the final 20 minutes would provide inspiration from this point onwards, he said: “Sure, we'll have to, but we also have to see why we are again, conceding goals. But I think the first half was very equal. We had, I think, some good moments, some good opportunities also but it was very tactical. But when you are two goals down then you go for everything.”

The mindset seems wrong to me. Conceding goals with a formation that leaked four the previous week would suggest there is an issue there, while going for everything at two goals behind is not where you want to be.

As I referenced earlier, it was a mixed bag for Saints but ultimately ended on a more upbeat note - the question will now be if Hasenhuttl can use it appropriately and take the positives and the evidence, rather than philosophy, into the trip to Leicester.

However, it is a starting point and it hopefully bodes well. Despite the gripes, it is one of the more rare occasions we have seen the manager act both prior to the game and swiftly within it.

It has also maybe demonstrated that, for all his emphasis on complicated systems and processes and inventive use of players, reverting back to simple and straightforward approaches can reap rewards.

There is much work to do but if the club can add some further reinforcements at the back and a striker before the close of the transfer window, we may feel there is some light at the end of the tunnel after a poor run going back to last season.

Photo: Action Images

Block8 added 21:34 - Aug 14 Good article Matt and pretty spot on. The seemingly more rigid idiosyncratic actions of the manager are all the more surprising, considering we have recruited players to fit the style he chose to persevere with all last season?
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Colburn added 21:41 - Aug 14 Fair summary overall. I don't think Ralph made enough of a positive change in the line up. We had to put our a more positive line up after last week as we were home to one of our relegation rivals potentially and after 1 win in 14, there is no other choice but he only went halfway and only changed the mindset when we were two down and the back 3 hadn't worked again. Its not enough to say he thought things weee even first half, that's not enough. We should have gone at them from the start, as you say. This appears to be because he is scared of being hammered rather than thinking about how we can hammer the oppo. It's just groundhog stuff again and another opportunity missed to grab a much needed win.

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Monksway added 22:05 - Aug 14 My preference has always been 4-2-3-1. We need to be confident and play KWP, ABK, MS, RP across the back, Lavia and Romeu holding JWP in the Steven Davis role and Stuart Armstrong/ Aibo/ Elyanoussi, Djnepo/ Adam Armstrong supporting Che or Mara upfront.
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ItchenNorth added 23:04 - Aug 14 I think Ralph has been pretty clear about what he's doing. He's openly said his preferred formation is 4222, but with a number of new players, learning this system will take time. Therefore his starting position is a back 5 to try and stay in games first. Now, some will no doubt say, 'well look what happened Saturday, both in a back 5 (conseeding 2) or in the susseful last 20 mins in a 4222 (turning the game around). But Ralph has also said he feels we can't start in a 4222 as if we get it wrong, the game will be our if reach before we know it. I think Saturday he's tactic were spot on, in that for the first 45mins, the game was even. We were in it. What any manager can't mitigate for is players switching off and tossing away 45mins good work in a flash. And this is what happened for Leeds's first goal 1 minute after the break as both Bednarek and Salisu failed to communicate with each other and they both left their man to run in unmarked for a near post shot. The substitutes were excellent, the 4222 work well for that period of the game, as Leeds sat back happy with their 0-2. The big question next is, will we see 4222 as a starting formation soon or will we gradually evolve back to this. There were positives on Saturday. We'll get better. COYR

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Avior added 23:26 - Aug 14 Agree with most of the comments on here but just a couple of extra thoughts: We were not good in the first half and the defence and midfield still look very uncomfortable with the 5-3-2. Djenpo in particular but to be fair he ran his socks off and was dangerous coming forward. Ralph actually had Armstrong and Aribo ready to come on before the second goal and chose to hold them for the corner. So he was at least prepared to roll the dice at 1-0. Dilemma now is how we line-up on Saturday since we effectively finished playing 4-2-4 which would be entertaining but unlikely on a long-term basis. Also does he keep going with the youngsters /new signings who have all been pretty good? IMO keep rolling the dice.

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lemmsy added 23:26 - Aug 14 Itchen north, I don’t believe we just switched off for the goals,in the first half Patrick Hanford had a carbon copy situation of there first goal but misse the target & they also worked the same corner in the first half , which resulted in a weak header they should have scored from.with that in mind I felt we were very naive.I do agree we will get better with massive positives from Bella kotchap, lavia, bazuna, aribo & Mara ( apologies for any spellings it’s late ) Thought che looked off the pace & a little disinterested but really believe the new youngsters can build something

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ItchenNorth added 00:18 - Aug 15 Fair comments Jemmsy. And certainly yes, all the new signings played very well.
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JoeEgg added 07:59 - Aug 15 A crazy starting line up and tactics. Nothing learned apparently from almost a wasted pre-season. Strike force for a home game we needed to win and be strong of Adams and Elyanoussi mindbogglingly ridiculius. Players warmng the bench that needed to start. The late revival has given Ralph more borrowed time but the guy never learns and in my consistent view is clueless. A very sound article from Matt asking all the right questions.

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SanMarco added 08:23 - Aug 15 The comeback saved Ralph's job and if he wants to stay on longer he needs to learn. Start with what is most likely to work. Pick your best players in positions they specialize/are comfortable in and you are far more likely to succeed. Five at the back for 150 mins = 1 for 6 against 0 points. Four at the back for 20 mins = 2 for 0 against and 1 point (or 3 for just the 20 mins). Of course there are other factors but those stats seem very suggestive to me.

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saintmark1976 added 08:39 - Aug 15 Spot on JoeEgg. Who in their right mind starts with one forward (Adams) at home to Leeds after getting spanked at Spurs last Saturday? Defensively Leeds looked what they are, a very average team who ultimately managed to throw away a two goal lead. We should have gone for them right from the kick off. Elyanoussi was invisible and J W P just looked as though he was just going through the motions. I’m no McCarthy fan but wasn’t our new keeper completely out of position for their second goal? To me he looked caught in no man’s land, neither coming for the ball or staying on his line. Interesting to note that Redmond was not in the squad. Hopefully his days of stealing a living by impersonating a Premiership footballer with us are finally over. One win in Fifteen attempts now and Saturday was just another opportunity missed by Ralph. How much longer will we have to put up with him?

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wrathoftazz added 08:51 - Aug 15 Lmao it was a DRAW.... so still no wins We may have "held our own" in the 1st half but we're simply undone by 2 goals in the 2nd. We (they) didn't switch off, we were out classed by Leeds players. Salisu should be sent out to pasture. He is useless. I'm sorry, but this is STILL the same crap after numerous years. It's NOT a step in the right direction... that would have been getting some experienced players. This was simply the same as last season when we had looses and then a draw cried shouts of "we told u so" from the Ralph lovers. If the so called "real supporters" think Ralph is amazing after stats, hammerings, 14/15 games with no wins, then please, go support Pompey... I can handle laughing at them, instead of Saints being the joke of the PL. And yeah, I've been a supporter for 30+ years, held season tickets for over 20 of then and also my kids have season tickets, so please don't give me that "your not a true supporter" nonsense. A true supporter wants improvement and goals, not mediocrity, complacency or a manager that couldn't manage to open a tea bag box

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mattthelegend added 09:30 - Aug 15 Good to see the comeback, but that was clearly 2 points dropped against a bang average Leeds United team. Should of have been on the front foot from the kick off, not wait until we were 2 down.
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Peterx added 11:05 - Aug 15 The weaker teams last year were waiting for us to punch ourselves out when we play 4-2-2-2 last year, especially when we are at home, so something like we tried Saturday v Leeds (who finished below us and arguably weaker than us) has some merit. BUT I would like to see us go for the first 35/40 with 3 at the back and then switch with a few mins to go in the first half to 4-2-2-2 which I think most agree ends up more attacking for us. Also with their ace goal scorer getting injured early I would see it as more of a reason to go on the offensive. We have 5 subs lets take the initiative and use them. We react too much. Who Dares Wins and all of that.

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GRIM added 12:25 - Aug 15 Picking up on an earlier comment suggesting that Che Adams was poor & looked disinterested. It's not surprising when he's expected play up front all alone and be massively outnumbered by opposing players. Look how he came alive in last 25 mins when he had somme support up front. I thought he was excellent in that period & proves the point that he needs help. You could have put Harry Kane up there on his own & he'd have looked disinterested too. Although we didn't concede when we reverted to back four, I'm not convinced that KWP + BK + MS + MD would be good enough to keep clean sheets against better teams than Leeds. We still need a dominating leader at the back. And MD is not good enough defensively to play at L/back, I think he's been really effective going forward recently , please Ralph get MD further up the field. And why oooh why risk bringing Stephens on at L/BACK in dying minutes, it's still long enough for him to cock up & cost us BIG time. Please get Stephen's & Redmond off the payroll ASAP, they might be good to have in the dressing room but they're liabilities on the pitch.

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