Let’s talk about Premier League for the first time today: Fulham vs Southampton!
Nathan Jones, the best coach in the English Championship last season, has been coaching Southampton for 6 weeks.
However, in their first game back from the offseason, they lost miserably to Brighton at home. Does this mean that Southampton failed to change their coach?
Xiaojiu has some different views.
Southampton's last game was a failure judging from the result.
But from the perspective of the process, there are still some remarkable things.
They hired Jones as coach, mainly because the players were tired of Hasenhüttl 's unchanging style of play, and their attitude towards the game became very negative.
This is their pressing intensity change curve last season. It can be seen that their game intensity gradually declined.
Jones is a head coach who is good at motivating players. In the last game, we could see that the mental state of Southampton players was completely different.
In the frontcourt, midfield, center, and wing, they have been pressing their opponents crazily.
And they have been attacking bravely. According to statistics, their shots, excellent opportunities, and xG value are all higher than Brighton.
So, what caused their failure?
On the surface, Southampton's performance was too poor. The goalkeeper made a low-level mistake and the defender made an own goal. The forward also wasted opportunities like crazy and even missed a penalty kick (a supplementary shot was scored).
The fundamental reason is that the technical and tactical style has been too restrained.
Brighton is also a team that presses very hard, and Southampton is afraid of this kind of opponent.
These are the top 6 BDP values in the Premier League (measuring pressing efficiency):
Except for Chelsea who were having internal strife before, the other five teams scored a total of 16 goals when they met Southampton, and even Leeds United scored 2 of them.
When encountering this kind of opponent, Southampton's backcourt ability, which is last in the Premier League, becomes its fatal weakness.
Their defenders and goalkeepers are already poor at handling and delivering the ball, and they are in a hurry when their opponents press them hard.
Let’s compare the passes of the two goalkeepers:
Brighton’s goalkeeper only made 10 long passes, accounting for 25%. There were many short passes and the success rate of the passes was very high.
Southampton's Bazunu made 13 long passes, accounting for 54%, and the passing success rate was only 54%.
Such a high ratio of long passes and such a low success rate is mainly because he felt so uncomfortable being robbed and had to take big shots frequently.
Southampton does not have a high center. The two centers Adams and Armstrong are both less than 1.8 meters. They have no ability to compete for the top. If your goalkeeper takes a big shot, the frontcourt will not be able to grab the ball.
This resulted in Southampton finally grabbing the ball in the frontcourt, but it was easily lost by its own defender and goalkeeper, so they had to keep grabbing it again. The whole court kept chasing the ball, which was very, very tiring.
However, Brighton's passing and control skills are still top-notch in the Premier League. It is not easy to grab, and Southampton has always been missed.
Therefore, not only is the defensive line under great pressure from being robbed, but it is also easier to make mistakes.
The forwards were also physically exhausted and performed poorly when shooting.
Even Ward Prowse missed a penalty kick. What is the concept?
How good is Prowse's shooting? In the past five seasons, no one in the five major leagues and has taken direct free kicks more accurately than him.
The free kick was so accurate, but the penalty kick was kicked like that. It was really tiring.
But when encountering Fulham today, Southampton can relax a little bit, because Fulham never does aggressive frontcourt pressing.
The reason is very simple.
First of all, the average age of their starting lineup is over 29 years old, and they cannot support the high-intensity pressing throughout the game.
Then they have to retain the physical fitness of Mi Shen, a heavy battering ram. It is impossible for Mi Shen to use too much physical energy in pressing, and they must keep the good steel on the blade.
Then, Southampton’s problem of weak ball play in the backcourt will not be easily exposed.
Although many people may despair of Southampton because of their four-game losing streak in the Premier League,
Southampton's lineup is actually quite good, and their record against Fulham in recent years has been very good.
As long as the players' mental problems are solved and their own weaknesses are not targeted, it's not that bad.
Can they satisfy the fans in the away game tonight? What do you think? The tipple will expect them to take away at least one point.
Well, for other competitions today, Xiaojiu will still send you text analysis in the evening. If you have anything unclear, you can ask me. "Watch the ball and you'll understand." We'll see you there!
If you like it, move your fingers, follow and like it!
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-