Saints Marching
Fansided

Manchester United vs. Southampton: 4 Keys to Saints’ Game Friday

By Khaled Abdallah

MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - JANUARY 23: Charlie Austin of Southampton and Daley Blind of Manchester United compete for the ball during the Barclays Premier League match between Manchester United and Southampton at Old Trafford on January 23, 2016 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Michael Steele/Getty Images)
MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - JANUARY 23: Charlie Austin of Southampton and Daley Blind of Manchester United compete for the ball during the Barclays Premier League match between Manchester United and Southampton at Old Trafford on January 23, 2016 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Michael Steele/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
4 of 5
Next
MANCHESTER, ENGLAND – JANUARY 23: Ronald Koeman manager of Southampton leaves the pitch after the Barclays Premier League match between Manchester United and Southampton at Old Trafford on January 23, 2016 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)
MANCHESTER, ENGLAND – JANUARY 23: Ronald Koeman manager of Southampton leaves the pitch after the Barclays Premier League match between Manchester United and Southampton at Old Trafford on January 23, 2016 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images) /

3. Be Patient

Against a club like United, Southampton may feel that the best course of action is to press hard early, score early and park the bus immediately thereafter. This is precisely the wrong approach to take. As stated earlier, if you give United enough of the ball, they will punish you with it. Trying to force chances early is only going to lead to costly turnovers in midfield and open up the possibility of a United counterattack.

The proper approach here is going to be to sit back, feel out the flow of the game, look for the scoring opportunity to present itself and play smart football to make the most of it. Manchester United’s back line are not the impenetrable wall of years past; in 90 minutes of play, chances will develop. But against a team of this calibre, in it’s home ground, Southampton have got to play the match as a marathon rather than a sprint.

Next: All In Your Head