This article is part of Football FanCast’s Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers…
Sky Sports pundit Charlie Nicholas has been discussing Southampton in his Premier League predictions column, ahead of the Saints’ game against Manchester City this weekend.
The south coast side face a trip to the Etihad Stadium after their last league outing saw them suffer a 9-0 defeat to Leicester – the Foxes equalled the 24-year long record for the largest ever Premier League win set by Manchester United in 1995 with the victory.
Southampton did face the Citizens in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday, succumbing to a 3-1 defeat, and Nicholas has shared his views on this weekend’s league clash between the two.
What did he say?
Nicholas wrote: “What a wonder result for Southampton, only losing 3-1 through the week to – dare I say – ease the pain. Should Ralph Hasenhuttl be under pressure? No and I don’t think he is. It is one of the weekends where Southampton will wonder what to do. They will want to get over the line without being too embarrassed.”
Nicholas right to say Hasenhuttl shouldn’t be under pressure
As bad as things are at St Mary’s right now, Hasenhuttl isn’t solely to blame.
The Saints have conceded the most goals in the Premier League with 25 concessions in ten games, and have also scored the third-least amount of goals in the top-flight with just nine.
Despite these unflattering statistics, it appears as if the players are the ones letting the side and Hasenhuttl down on the most part – not the other way around.
This is a sentiment that we have already outlined using the xG and xPTS tables, and it’s also being quickly forgotten that Southampton have endured an incredibly tough start to the season.
After facing Manchester City, they’ll have played seven of last season’s top nine – including a vastly improved Leicester team – in just eleven Premier League games. It’s probably the hardest run of fixtures a team will have all year, and continues into November with clashes against Everton and Arsenal.
There aren’t many managers who wouldn’t be feeling the heat given the circumstances, but Nicholas is right. Hasenhuttl is a well-established manager who pulled off last season’s great escape and helped RB Leipzig reach second in the Bundesliga – he deserves support from the club, not scrutiny.
