Southampton 2-1 Bournemouth: Three takeaways
By Erik Franzo
The Formation Worked
The strength of the formation against Bournemouth was the three centre-backs. Yes, McCarthy had to bail them out a few times, but the game was frenetic, especially in the final moments.
Eddie Howe went with three forwards to match the three central defenders, but the high press denied the Cherries a lot of the ball. Oriol Romeu and Mario Lemina really held down the midfield, not so much in possession, but in work rate when breaking up attacks.
The wing-back position is suited for both Bertrand and Soares. They know when to make runs, but still lack that quality in delivery and ability to finish. Although Bertrand in particular got himself in very good position to score a couple times.
Charlie Austin wasn’t overly involved, but he did occupy the centre-backs enough to create space for Tadic and Redmond underneath. Redmond however, probably had the weakest game of the starting eleven, and still appears to lack some confidence.
Shane Long was effective off the bench, and created a lot of mistakes with his pressure. Hojbjerg and Ward Prowse acted as closers to see the game out, each taking a yellow when they had to for the team. A very good use of substitutions in my opinion.
OK, it is just one win, but the team has looked far more confident under Hughes and the current formation vs. the paltry Pellegrino 4-2-3-1. For these reasons, it would be very surprising to see any other shape the rest of the way.