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Portsmouth 0-4 Southampton: Carabao Cup – Three Match Takeaways

By Alastair Case

PORTSMOUTH, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 24: The Southampton side celebrate at the final whistle during the Carabao Cup Third Round match between Portsmouth and Southampton at Fratton Park on September 24, 2019 in Portsmouth, England. (Photo by Dan Istitene/Getty Images)
PORTSMOUTH, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 24: The Southampton side celebrate at the final whistle during the Carabao Cup Third Round match between Portsmouth and Southampton at Fratton Park on September 24, 2019 in Portsmouth, England. (Photo by Dan Istitene/Getty Images) /
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PORTSMOUTH, ENGLAND – SEPTEMBER 24: Maya Yoshida of Southampton looks on during the Carabao Cup Third Round match between Portsmouth and Southampton at Fratton Park on September 24, 2019 in Portsmouth, England. (Photo by Dan Istitene/Getty Images)
PORTSMOUTH, ENGLAND – SEPTEMBER 24: Maya Yoshida of Southampton looks on during the Carabao Cup Third Round match between Portsmouth and Southampton at Fratton Park on September 24, 2019 in Portsmouth, England. (Photo by Dan Istitene/Getty Images) /

Has Ralph stumbled upon his first choice defence?

Although Portsmouth caused real problems in the opening quarter of the match, Southampton’s back four looked considerably more stable than it has done for a while. Maya Yoshida was restored to the centre of the defence alongside the classy Jan Bednarek and after an initially shaky few minutes where the latter was forced to clear the ball off of the line, they complimented each other well.

With Ryan Bertrand back in his rightful place at left back, the defensive line looked balanced with Cedric also looking more assured at right back. Moreover, with the central duo looking more comfortable, it allowed the full backs to maraud forward more and offer valuable support to the attacking players on the overlap.

Hasenhuttl is evidently a manager who enjoys keeping his players on his toes but the uncertainty in the defence has been clear for all to see this season. With Oriol Romeu in the form of his life in front of the back four, the Southampton boss should be considering giving last night’s back four an extended run in the starting eleven. If nothing else, the game at Fratton Park along with the second half against Bournemouth should be enough to convince the Austrian that the left back experiment needs putting to bed, with Bertrand looking significantly better than any other of the options tried in the past few weeks.