Five Secrets To Pochettino's Southampton Success
Victory against Fulham took Southampton to the heady heights of third in the Premier League. Daniel Storey examines the tactical changes that have brought such success.
1. Press, Press, Press
One of the evident concerns of Southampton under Nigel Adkins last season was their rather too leaky defence. In fact, they shipped 28 goals in their first ten matches - the worst in the league by nine.
Whilst the performances of Dejan Lovren and Jose Fonte have been deservedly praised, and indeed made No. 2 on our Top Ten Nice Surprises
list, that the Saints have completely reversed their defensive weakness
indicates more than just a change of personnel - there has been an
alteration of approach and strategy.
The key to the tighter defence has been to cut off the threat at
source (only Chelsea, Spurs and Manchester City have faced fewer shots)
by utilising a tactic of deliberately pressing high up the field. To
make such a tactic work, the front two are required to press the
opposition central defenders, negating the opportunity for easy
distribution into midfield. Thereafter, an attacking midfield player
must sit on the opponent's deepest midfielder, with the aim of cutting
out passes into the middle third.
If this works efficiently, the ball is then forced wide to the full
backs, who in turn should be almost man marked by either a full-back or
wide midfielder. Finally, this leaves the most defensive midfielder (in
Southampton's case Victor Wanyama, bought specifically for the task)
almost acting as a sweeper in front of the defensive line, a sheer
protector. In the first half on Saturday, Fulham were completely
overrun, harried into giving away cheap possession from which the home
side could capitalise, effectively starting their attacks from halfway
in Fulham's half.
It is an approach entwined with Pochettino's methodology, a hallmark
of his tutorship under Marcelo Bielsa, and does require a huge
commitment from his players in terms of tactical discipline. It is no
surprise to hear players such as Nathaniel Clyne talk about the increase
in his workload since Pochettino's takeover. "I have never pressed as
much as he likes us to now but it is working, so why not? We seem to be
doing well from it."
Why not indeed, the proof of which lies in the evidence - this is currently the Premier League's meanest defence.
2. Witness The Fitness
It is clear that a consistently high pressing game does make significant demands for fitness and stamina from the players concerned. As Pablo Osvaldo put it when playing under Pochettino at Espanyol, "At times you want to kill him because he makes you suffer like a dog. But you get the results."
However, whilst Southampton players are expected to work stronger
(and Nathaniel Clyne has also spoken of never feeling fitter), it is
important to note that this is not simply a case of running for the sake
of running. Every player has an exact plan, an exact opposition player
to target, which simply focuses the task at hand.
Morgan Schneiderlin highlighted exactly that as early as February, a
fortnight after Pochettino had taken over from Adkins. "It may seem like
we are running more, but really we are just running in a more organised
way," was Schneiderlin's description of his manager's requirements.
Economy of effort is a vital task if their tactics are to be maintained
for the entire 90 minutes.
3. A Defensive Retreat
Whilst Pochettino has implemented this pressing policy to great effect, it is only intended for when the ball is in the opposition half.
As soon as the ball crosses halfway, mentality changes, with
midfielders dropping deep to create a solidity that proves hard to break
down. Victor Wanyama and Morgan Schneiderlin aim to prevent central
attacks, with Adam Lallana and Jay Rodriguez (when operating on the
left) expected to track any full back runs.
As proved in the 2-0 victory over Swansea, when a lead is established
this deliberately to a 'hold on to what we've got approach' in which
being difficult to breach is the most welcome characteristic. Swansea
dominated the second half but were unable to break their opponent's grip
on the game. Six clean sheets in eight games is evidence enough of a
successful strategy.
4. Cynical and clever in the tackle
One of the necessary results from Pochettino's pressing style is a tendency to give away fouls. In his only full season at Espanyol, the Argentinean's side received 108 yellow cards, a total 'bettered' by only five sides in La Liga. At Southampton, the same has occurred, and no Premier League side has given away more free kicks than the Saints' total of 127 (by way of comparison, Cardiff have conceded just 76).
The obvious worry with such a statistic is the potential disciplinary
issues surrounding this. The pressing philosophy favoured by Pochettino
could easily become unstuck with a few suspensions, such is the
inexperience in Southampton's fringe players.
However, the statistics show that, actually, Southampton have been
very clever when making their fouls. In the first half against Fulham
Southampton had far more of the ball (67%) and yet made more tackles
(23-12) and committed more fouls than their opponents (12-8) Most of
these acted to slow down an opponent's progress near to the halfway
line, allowing men to get in behind the ball. Such fouls rarely receive
bookings, except under the persistent fouls infringement.
The closer you look, the more obvious the cynicism becomes. Four
Southampton players expected to press most fervently (Morgan
Schneiderlin, Adam Lallana, Jay Rodriguez and Lambert) have given away a
total of 38 fouls this season, but received just one booking between
them. More fouls conceded that any other side, and yet only four have
fewer bookings- a plan is being perfectly initiated.
5. Direct In Attack - Use Your Weapons
One of Southampton's shortfalls last season was a tendency to labour somewhat in the final third. Short passing was the norm, but too often moves became stagnant. Under Pochettino this season, the Saints have not abandoned this short-sharp passing approach, but instead managed to combine this with an ability to go direct as and when required.
Doing so simply seems logical, as in Rickie Lambert and Dani Osvaldo
the Argentinean possesses to strikers comfortable with the ball to head
or chest, both accomplished at bringing others into play. As if to
emphasise the point, Southampton's first goal came from a set piece,
whilst the second stemmed from a ball stood up to the back post, from
which Lambert fed Rodriguez.
Southampton have played the fourth most long balls of any team so far
this season, showing the intention to change, but perhaps the most
obvious indicator of this is the lack of match time for Uruguayan Gaston
Ramirez. The selection of both Lambert and Osvaldo (picked together for
five of six games in which both have been fit and available) negates
the necessity for a no. 10 such as Ramirez, who is yet to start a league
game.
source: http://www.football365.com/f365-says/8993405/Five-Secrets-To-Southampton-s-Success
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