Tonda Eckert has hailed his team’s transition into a side that can win matches, regardless of the opposition’s style or tactics.
Against Watford, one goal was enough to grind out a positive result against a physical team. Then at Leicester in the Championship, his side came back from an impossible deficit to come away with the points.
Yesterday, Eckert’s young guns continued the trend, winning against a vastly more experienced team after extra time.
Saints fans must learn this key lesson
There is a lesson in football that every supporter must learn. It is not always pretty. And it is not always comfortable. But it still counts.
At Southampton, there has been a desire to dominate games, play with style, and control the ball. That is admirable. That is the modern way. That is part of the Saints’ identity.
But sometimes you have to win tight games in ugly fashion because that is how promotions are built and that is how momentum grows.
Saints first team head coach Tonda Eckert made that clear.
“The team in general deserves credit,” he told the Daily Echo. “I think the toughest part is making those steps to become a winning team. It doesn’t happen overnight.”
And that is the key.
Becoming a winning team is a process. It is not a switch you flick. It is a habit you build. The home draw against Swansea under Will Still is a case in point. It’s not a game that will live long in the memory, but Southampton should have won it. Now, under Eckert, they are winning those games.
“There will also be setbacks along the way; we’ll always have them, but we’re moving in a good direction toward being able to win different games.”
Tight games require a different mentality
Different games require different tools. Sometimes it is free-flowing, expansive, and full of goals. Sometimes it is narrow and tense, decided in a single moment. That was true of the Cyle Larin header against Watford.
“Sometimes nicer games and sometimes games where we need to score some more goals to win, or that we just put away on a set-piece.”
That is football in its raw form. Set-pieces matter. Second balls matter. Clean sheets matter. It does not always need to be a masterpiece.
“The baseline is that we need to win football games and find ways to win football games. Today we did this with a lot of energy and young players.”
Energy wins duels. Young players grow through these moments. Confidence builds when you grind out results because belief comes from doing hard things.
Supporters love swagger. They love four and five-goal displays. They love flowing moves. But tight wins teach resilience. Not every game can be easy like the trip to Charlton. Those games are the outliers in a season decided by matches won by the odd goal.
“There will be very different games coming up, it’s going to be a big one against Charlton. We need a day’s rest and to prepare in the best way.”
The message is clear. It will not always look beautiful.
But if Saints are serious about promotion, they must accept that three points, or a cup match, won in an ugly fashion, is more important than playing attractive and entertaining football.
Southampton have a winning mentality under Tonda, and Saints fans must get used to it.
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