Southampton may be on the run of a lifetime in the Championship, but that has not stopped club legend Matt Le Tissier from suggesting room for improvement.
The Saints humbled relegation-threatened Blackburn Rovers 3-0 last night to make it seven wins on the spin in all competitions, including their famous triumph over Premier League leaders Arsenal.
Tonda Eckert’s side have now gone 15 matches unbeaten in the league, turning their season around from potential relegation candidates to genuine promotion hopefuls.
With Southampton fourth in the table and just three points off the automatic promotion places in pursuit of Ipswich Town, Le Tissier, now advisor to the board, has revealed what his club need to do more of.
Matt Le Tissier urges Southampton players to be more clinical
Le Tissier was a forward known for his long-range goals and built a stunning back catalogue of strikes while plying his trade on the South Coast.
The 57-year-old left his role as club ambassador four years ago, but upon his recent return to St Mary’s Stadium, a part of his job is to pass on his experiences to the current crop.
When asked by Ally McCoist on talkSPORT whether there are enough long-range efforts in the modern game, he revealed his plan for the Southampton cohort.
“Actually, it’s one of the things that I want to encourage in the Southampton squad because I think that’s one of the things that we don’t do enough in our football team.
“We get a lot of good possession in the final third and a lot of the time the centre midfielders find themselves with the ball at their feet 25, 30 yards out and with a lot of space.
“If you don’t buy a ticket, you never win the lottery, and you never know what happens with these shots. A little deflection and anything can happen.
“You’ve got to take chances. If you want to score goals, you’ve got to take chances, and that’s one of the things that I’ll be encouraging.”
Does Le Tissier have a point about Tonda Eckert’s players?
As football has progressed, shooting from distance has been increasingly discouraged, particularly following Pep Guardiola’s influence on the English game.
Indeed, that notion has filtered down the pyramid, with clubs favouring a more attractive, free-flowing game built on working the ball into dangerous positions rather than taking hopeful punts from distance.
Southampton are not a side who have trouble scoring goals, though, as they rank as the second-highest scoring team in the Championship with 73 goals, behind only league leaders Coventry City, who have netted 84 times.
Not only have they scored heaps of goals, but data suggests that the Saints have actually found the back of the net more than they should have, as they have outscored their xG by 1.79, according to Opta.
Of course, these are fine margins, and there is an argument that if Eckert’s men took more of a gamble from distance, then they have the quality to find the back of the net.
One thing that is for sure is that whatever the manager is saying to his players, it is working, and it would be foolish to change a winning formula at this vital stage of the season.
Discussion about this post