Straight from the kickoff at Vicarage Road this past Tuesday, Watford centre-back Craig Cathcart received the ball at his feet off the first touch. The Northern Irishman’s subsequent long ball was abruptly blocked by a press from Shane Long, who found himself with only the opposing keeper in front of him. A touch and a deft chip later, and the Southampton striker had recorded the fastest goal in Premier League history at just 7.69 seconds into the match.
Harkening back to his days as manager of RB Leipzig in Germany, Southampton manager Ralph Hasenhüttl has implemented this lightning quick, counter-attacking style of play into the English side. This change in tactics has led to an 8-4-8 win-draw-loss league record for the Austrian this season, which is impressive considering Southampton’s league record before he was hired was an abysmal 1-6-8.
One of the key figures in the team’s turnaround has been 25-year-old forward Nathan Redmond. The English attacker has been involved in virtually every match since Hasenhüttl arrived, scoring eight goals and three assists in all competitions in a side that struggled to score at the beginning of the season. This analysis will break down how Redmond has thrived recently in this tactical system.
Redmond in Hasenhüttl’s attack
When Hasenhüttl was first implanting his tactics at Southampton, the manager used rather logical theories and strategies. He didn’t exactly have a midfielder with the ball-carrying capabilities of Naby Keïta, nor a striker with the goalscoring consistency of Timo Werner, as he had while at Leipzig. He therefore adjusted the system into a back-five formation.
This adjustment not only gave the defence stability at the back, but also put an emphasis on quick counter-attacks, relying on hasty disruptions of the opponent in which to exploit space.
One of Redmond’s best matches this season came recently against Wolves. The Midlands club’s defence wasn’t prepared to quickly adjust to Southampton’s vehement counter-pressing followed by swift attacks. Redmond scored his second brace of the year by taking advantage of the space around the Wolves back line. His vision and intelligence in attack make him daunting to defend on the counter-attack.
