Selles' hostile Saints ready to tackle relegation rivals Leicester

Adrian Clarke looks at key tactical points and players who can be decisive in Matchweek 26.

Ruben Selles' impact with Saints

Southampton’s new manager Selles has reverted to a tactical approach that was long favoured by Ralph Hasenhuttl, the man who brought him to the club last summer.  

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In both their 1-0 win at Chelsea and last weekend's 1-0 defeat at Leeds United, Selles set Saints up in a familiar 4-2-2-2 formation. 

His predecessor Nathan Jones had flitted between a back three (for four matches) and a 4-2-3-1 (also for four matches), so Selles has immediately stamped his own identity on the team.  

During both their last two matches Southampton have also appeared to press inside the opposition half with greater aggression.

This was arguably their key strength during Hasenhuttl’s four-year spell on the south coast.

Their next opponents, relegation rivals Leicester City, may not relish the prospect of facing a Saints side who close them down in advanced areas. 

During the Foxes' midweek 2-1 FA Cup defeat by Blackburn Rovers, they consistently struggled to deal with the Championship club’s press, conceding a goal when losing the ball inside their own defensive third. 

The bottom seven

Position Pos	Club	Played Pl	GD	Points Pts
14	West Ham WHU	38	-13	40
15	Bournemouth BOU	38	-34	39
16	Nott'm Forest NFO	38	-30	38
17	Everton EVE	38	-23	36
18	Leicester LEI	38	-17	34
19	Leeds LEE	38	-30	31
20	Southampton SOU	38	-37	25

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Leicester can expect plenty of challenges from Southampton. 

Under Selles they registered a season-high 31 tackles in their victory at Chelsea, before making 27 against Leeds. 

This ranks first and third for the most tackles from Southampton in matches this term. 

Most tackles by Southampton 22/23

Right-back Ainsley Maitland-Niles has snapped into 12 tackles during the last two matches, and Romain Perraud and Kyle Walker-Peters have also been aggressive as full-backs. 

Central defenders Jan Bednarek and Armel Bella-Kotchap have got tight to front men too, while making six and five tackles respectively. 

Saints' defensive highlights v Chelsea

The other significant alteration under Selles has been a change of role for captain James Ward-Prowse.

Jones wanted to use Saints' talisman in an attacking midfield position, either as a No 10 or on the right side, where he could deliver quality crosses and get into goalscoring positions more frequently. 

But Selles has brought Ward-Prowse back into a more orthodox central-midfield berth, partnering Romeo Lavia in midfield. 

Those differences can be seen on the two chalkboards below, which show where Ward-Prowse has made his passes. With Saints attacking from right to left, green arrows show completed passes, while red arrows show unsuccessful ones.

The first pass map shows Jones’ last match in charge at home to Wolverhampton Wanderers, while the second is from the narrow loss at Leeds under Selles last time out. 

Ward-Prowse v Wolves

Ward-Prowse v Leeds 

Selles appears to have steadied the ship at St Mary’s Stadium, and his side have been competitive in both matches since he was installed.

The Spaniard would like to see more controlled possession – so far they have averaged 39 per cent – but without the ball Saints have been harder to play against.

In a hugely important encounter at home to Leicester, you can expect Southampton to be hostile and well organised.

Also in this series

Part 2: Why are Newcastle struggling for goals?
Part 3: How Martinez added steel to Man Utd's defence