Southampton: Promising record from Hasenhuttl’s first 10 league games
By Marc Walker
Southampton manager Ralph Hasenhuttl’s first 10 games in charge yielded more points than the club’s previous three managers.
Last weekend’s loss to Cardiff City marked the Austrian’s 11th league game in the dugout but he has managed to gather more points than Claude Puel, Mauricio Pellegrino and Mark Hughes did in their first 10 at the club.
Wins against Arsenal, Huddersfield, Everton and Leicester and draws with Chelsea, Crystal Palace and Burnley saw Saints gain 15 points as the team started to familiarise themselves with Hasenhuttl’s style.
This is a vast improvement on the nine points in the first 10 of previous boss Mark Hughes, who managed Saints to top-flight safety but won just three games in his nine months at St Mary’s.
Whilst some valuable points have still been dropped under Hasenhuttl, he has also bettered the first 10 of Claude Puel and Mauricio Pellegrino who both gained 13 points at the start of their reigns.
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Despite four important wins since December, Saints are still in the bottom three and face a tough challenge to survive again this season.
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Teams around them such as Cardiff City and Newcastle have gained points at a similar rate and an intriguing finish to the 2018/19 campaign is now on the cards.
Saints’ games against their direct rivals should be targeted for the majority of their points but a bonus point or two against the top-six would go a long way to helping too.
They travel to the Emirates to face Arsenal next Sunday before facing Fulham, Manchester United and then Spurs in a tricky four game spell.
Hasenhuttl and his staff will be doing everything they can to help their players and the training camp in Tenerife last week certainly could help things.
Tactical work on the defensive and attacking sides of the team’s performances is understood to have been done to try and aid the players in matches.
A big emphasis on video analysis is also evident and players have reportedly been shown specific clips on parts of their games where they need to improve.