Saints Marching
Fansided

Fulham 3-2 Southampton: Premier League – Three key players

By Erik Franzo

LONDON, ENGLAND - NOVEMBER 24: Stuart Armstrong of Southampton celebrates after scoring his team's first goal during the Premier League match between Fulham FC and Southampton FC at Craven Cottage on November 24, 2018 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Christopher Lee/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - NOVEMBER 24: Stuart Armstrong of Southampton celebrates after scoring his team's first goal during the Premier League match between Fulham FC and Southampton FC at Craven Cottage on November 24, 2018 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Christopher Lee/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
1 of 4
Next
LONDON, ENGLAND – NOVEMBER 24: Charlie Austin of Southampton battles for possession with Calum Chambers during the Premier League match between Fulham FC and Southampton FC at Craven Cottage on November 24, 2018 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Marc Atkins/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND – NOVEMBER 24: Charlie Austin of Southampton battles for possession with Calum Chambers during the Premier League match between Fulham FC and Southampton FC at Craven Cottage on November 24, 2018 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Marc Atkins/Getty Images) /

Southampton dropped three more points from a winning position, however, all the more concerning as it came against bottom of the table Fulham.

Stuart Armstrong’s first two Premier League goals were not enough as the Southampton leaky defence continued.  The Saints totaled 19 shots and held 63% of possession and were still ousted by a desperate Fulham side, who have conceded the most goals on the season.

Newly appointed Claudio Ranieri deserves some credit for the win, and his adversary Mark Hughes has taken the brunt of the blame for the Saints’ continued inability to close out games.  The Southampton manager has nearly lost all his support with fans, and after a season long relegation battle in 2017-18, many are calling for a quick change.

With Leicester City in the cup midweek, it may not be time for a sacking, but how many more lost opportunities can Southampton take?  Huddersfield’s win over Wolverhampton have put them in the relegation zone with just eight points and one victory to start the campaign.

There were some strong individual performances within the Southampton side, and some of the key players are rather obvious, but the negatives continue to outweigh the positives.  Likely due to the lack of leadership and team unity required to win Premier League games.