Watching Town lose isn’t a new experience this season but our 3-1 defeat to Southampton was hard to take. It was arguably Town’s worst performance of the season and we allowed a relegation rival to put breathing space between us and them.
Here are a few of my thoughts following a bad day at the office for Town.
Playing two strikers showed signs of promise but didn’t quite come off
Town started the game in a slightly altered formation. We still had three central defenders, with wingbacks providing some width. Billing and Bacuna were paired in defensive midfield, with Pritchard slightly further forward behind a front line of Mounié and Mbenza.
The combination of Mbenza’s pace and Mounié’s ability in the air has potential to be a successful partnership, but it didn’t quite work on Saturday. The two weren’t quite on the same wave-length and Mounié’s flicks didn’t find Mbenza’s runs in behind Southampton’s back line. It was good to see genuine pace at the top end of the field and it showed David Wagner is clearly aware we lack a threat in front of goal and is trying to fix it.
The issue with this shape was how lightweight we were in midfield, partly due to our first-choice midfield pairing being unavailable but also because we lacked bodies in that area. The wingbacks also played more conservatively than usual, so we didn’t make as much progress down the wings as we have in recent games.
Confidence disappeared after conceding
It was concerning to see how badly Town’s players heads dropped after Redmond opening the scoring. There was a distinct lack of characters on the pitch to gee the side up and motivate the players. The positive attitude that has helped Town to beat the odds so often didn’t seem in evidence and it didn’t look like anyone believed we had a chance of getting back into the game.
In fairness to Town’s players, we have yet to win a game from a losing position in the Premier League, so it’s obvious to see why confidence is low. It was worrying to see how poorly we responded to the goal and Southampton went on to dominate the rest of the first half.
Mooy and Hogg sorely missed
Hogg’s ability to protect the back line and provide vocal encouragement to his teammates was missed against Southampton. Mooy’s quality on the ball and ability to play a killer pass was another piece of the puzzle that wasn’t there.
Billing did a decent job in midfield, alongside scoring an unlikely goal from long range, but didn’t receive enough support from Bacuna or Pritchard. I think Bacuna is too young to be written off so early in his Town career, but it’s clear from the last two performances that he’s far from the finished article yet. He misplaced far too many passes and didn’t have the positional awareness to snuff out Southampton’s attacks.
Hadergjonaj moved into the central midfield area in the closing stages of the game and did a good job of breaking up play and rattling around. If Hogg isn’t fit enough to return for the Manchester United game then I think Hadergjonaj is better qualified to fill the gap than Bacuna, at least for now.
A brief return to 4-2-3-1
The only real bright spell for Town came in the period of play between Town pulling back a goal and Southampton scoring their third. It could be a coincidence, but this was also the period that Town switched to 4-2-3-1. This system allowed Town to get players forward and play with more of an attacking spirit.
This brief glimpse of the formation David Wagner preferred for nearly all of our promotion season and long spells of last season made me remember what we’ve been lacking this season. Having two out-and-out wingers and a number 10 behind the main striker gave Town a lot more attacking options and pushed the opposition onto the back foot.
I appreciate having three central defenders and three central midfielders gives Town more defensive cover and makes it easier to dominate possession but I’d rather we reverted to 4-2-3-1 in future games and attacked the opposition aggressively. We may be too open at the back and concede more goals with this formation, but at least we’d have a bit more chance of scoring.
Charlie Austin’s celebration reveal his true character
Southampton’s third goal was a real sucker punch to Town fans, as it came at a point where Town had recaptured momentum and were pushing hard for an equaliser. While it’s natural for substitutes and coaches to celebrate their team’s goals, Charlie Austin let himself down by goading Town fans by jeering at them in the Riverside Lower.
I never get why players would celebrate by winding up opposition fans rather than enjoying the moment, but in my opinion it shows a lack of character. Charlie Austin could have provoked a serious incident in the crowd with his nasty antics, instead he just received some verbal abuse from infuriated Town fans.
This isn’t Austin’s first run in with Town. Last December he booted Jonas Lössl in the face in a bad-tempered 1-1 draw, an incident he somehow escaped from without punishment.
Anyway, I think that he’s a bit of a knob, so I’m happy to share this video of him looking like a knob while complaining about referees to the tune of Blur’s Parklife:
Can Town arrest their current slump
Losing five games in a row is bad for any team, regardless of your ambitions for the season. It’s even worse when you look back and see these games have come against teams we’d expect to be able to compete with.
This was probably the first game in this losing run where I’d say that Town were poor, and even then there were signs of the kind of football we’re capable of plaaying. I think we’re definitely can do better than we did against Southampton, particularly the lacklustre first half.
Whether we can find someone to score the goals we need to win the eight or so games that would keep us up is far from certain. Depoitre and Mounié aren’t likely to turn around their terrible record in front of goal this season, so we’ve got to look to the January transfer window for answers to our problem in front of goal.
It costs over £50m for proven Premier League goal scorers that are in their prime, so we’re going to have to fish around in the bargain bin. An in-form Championship striker like Neal Maupay at Brentford might be a good choice, but it’s not clear he’ll cope with the step up in quality required to keep scoring the Premier League.
Getting an up-and-coming striker on loan from one of the top teams could be another options, such as Solanke at Liverpool. There’s no guarantee he’d be better than the players we already have, and I’ve heard rumours that many big clubs are insisting on loan players starting a certain percentage of games.
It still feels wrong to be calling for #WagnerOut
I’ve seen a few Town fans calling for Wagner to be sacked after the Southampton game, which isn’t a surprise but is still sad to see. Fans are entitled to their opinions, but making David Wagner the scapegoat seems a bit short sighted to me.
Like most Town fans, I would have liked to have seen more attacking football from Town this season, but I think Wagner has earned the right to manage Town for as long as he likes. If we go down then it’s nothing more than we could have expected but I genuinely think Wagner is the best person to help Town fight against the drop.
David Wagner is the best manager I’ve seen at Town in the twenty odd years I’ve been following the club. He’s arguably the second best manager we’ve ever had, behind Herbert Chapman. I’m sure he’d be the first to accept that he’s made mistakes during his time at Town, but in his three years at Town he’s consistently been able to turn around bad form and I believe that he can do it again.
A good report, accurate and to the point. I agree that, although we’ve lost 5 on the bounce and the first poor performance. Also, I hope, and think, we will stick with David Wagner even if we are relegated.
A good report, accurate and to the point. I agree that, although we’ve lost 5 on the bounce this is the first poor performance. Also, I hope, and think, we will stick with David Wagner even if we are relegated.