Saints Marching
Fansided

Southampton vs. Chelsea: Pre-match talking points – 07/10/18

By Joe Mcindoe

LONDON, ENGLAND - APRIL 22: Gary Cahill of Chelsea embraces Charlie Austin of Southampton following The Emirates FA Cup Semi Final match between Chelsea and Southampton at Wembley Stadium on April 22, 2018 in London, England. (Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - APRIL 22: Gary Cahill of Chelsea embraces Charlie Austin of Southampton following The Emirates FA Cup Semi Final match between Chelsea and Southampton at Wembley Stadium on April 22, 2018 in London, England. (Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
3 of 4
Next
SOUTHAMPTON, ENGLAND – AUGUST 04: Jan Bednarek of Southampton during the pre-season friendly match between Southampton v Borussia Monchengladbach at St Mary’s Stadium on August 4, 2018 in Southampton, England. (Photo by Jordan Mansfield/Getty Images)
SOUTHAMPTON, ENGLAND – AUGUST 04: Jan Bednarek of Southampton during the pre-season friendly match between Southampton v Borussia Monchengladbach at St Mary’s Stadium on August 4, 2018 in Southampton, England. (Photo by Jordan Mansfield/Getty Images) /

Indefensible fefending the Saints achilles’ heel

It should probably go without saying that in order to get a positive result against one of the best teams in the Premier League you need to defend well, but there’s virtual column inches to fill so we’ll say it anyway.

Saints have struggled in recent years to deal with powerful strikers winning crucial battles in the box. The team has also consistently failed to master the art of organization. For proof of the former you need look no further than the last match against Wolves, where players like Stuart Armstrong virtually stepped aside rather than get bulldozed, and Jannik Vestergaard fell meekly under pressure, opening the door for the first goal. If you need proof of the latter just take a look at most free kicks and corners the Saints concede and the errors will become abundantly clear very quickly.

One man that knows all too well about exploiting Southampton’s weakness is Olivier Giroud. The Frenchman has scored five times in four appearances against Hughes’ men.

Giroud is well-built, good in the air, and is decent on the ball. Essentially, he is Southampton’s version of a footballing kryptonite.

Regardless of whether the goalless front-man makes it onto the pitch on Sunday, the south coast side have to be able to deal with this type of threat. Zonal marking has been a large contributor to the team’s problems and it might be beneficial to switch to a basic man-to-man set up, with the best defender on the best striker. It sounds basic, but with each player given a specific defensive assignment, as opposed to marking space, it should make it tricky for opposition to simply select the area with the most favourable matchup.