Tonda Eckert isn’t usually a manager who gives the media more than he wants to give them during a press conference, but on Friday he let his guard down.
Asked about Finn Azaz’s ability to break low-block defences down by the Daily Echo’s Alfie House, Eckert leapt to the defence of his mercurial attacking midfielder.
It’s the best part of Azaz’s game
“I think that Finn has had so many distributions where he just sometimes does rely on the finish, and then it does look different
“If you see how many chances he has set up even against deep blocks, I don’t think this is an area of his game he needs to improve. Actually, it’s one of the best areas of his game that he can create something in small spaces
“He can determine games when the spaces do open up, but where that’s really tough is where you don’t have a lot of space, and I think he’s excellent in those moments.
“Unfortunately, I think in some of those games we haven’t really had the finishers that then also put the spotlight on him, but I don’t think this is a part of his game that he needs to work on specifically.“
The three most wasteful ‘finishers’ at St Mary’s
The finishing that Eckert must have been referring to was that of Adam Armstrong, Cameron Archer and even Léo Scienza.
All of the above have wasted great chances created by Azaz over the course of the season, and this is the closest that the Saints’ young manager has come to showing his frustration about it.
The decision to sell Armstrong may have been mainly a straightforward business choice, but there is little doubt that Eckert was happy to approve that sale. Armstrong’s finishing was so poor that, had he taken the chances that xG indicates he should have taken, Southampton would now be comfortably in the automatic promotion spots.
Southampton will need the qualities so coveted by Eckert today, against an Oxford United team that relies so heavily on the counterattack.
Matt Bloomfield’s side are no pushovers on the road, as demonstrated by their win at Leicester City and draws at league leaders Coventry and high-flyers Middlesbrough.
Looking to consolidate their position in the top six with a positive result at St Mary’s today, Eckert will hope that Azaz can add to the 10 goals and 6 assists that he already has to his name.
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