Mauricio Pellegrino must learn from two up top working in the draw against Burnley
Southampton moved out of the Premier League relegation zone when substitute Manolo Gabbiadini scored a late equaliser in his side’s 1-1 draw against Burnley at Turf Moor on Saturday, and it came when they had two strikers on the pitch.
While the 4-2-3-1 formation helped Saints achieve some of their best ever top flight campaigns and qualify for the Europa League twice in recent years, they haven’t looked the like the same team that played so successfully using that system when they had Rickie Lambert and then Graziano Pelle as a focal point.
Of course, the south coast outfit also had the likes of Adam Lallana, Jay Rodriguez and Sadio Mane supporting the centre-forward, but it’s fair to say that Southampton have been a completely different outfit since Pelle left for China in 2016 and Claude Puel took the reins from Ronald Koeman.
They certainly haven’t been the same from an attacking point of view and they have largely struggled to score goals in the 18 months since then, while the striker – whoever it may be – is often left too isolated with the attacking midfielders not close enough to them.
Whether that is down to those individuals or the tactics of the manager – this is a theme that has continued since Mauricio Pellegrino succeeded Puel last summer – isn’t entirely clear, but both bosses should take some of the blame for perhaps being too negative and not committing enough men forward.
Saints have already lost at home to Watford, Crystal Palace, Leicester City and Burnley and only drawn with Newcastle United, Huddersfield Town, Swansea City and Brighton and Hove Albion at St Mary’s this term, and in all of those fixtures they haven’t had the firepower required to break the opposition down considering they haven’t been as good defensively as in previous years.
Southampton supporters have often called out for Pellegrino to play two strikers up top to give them more of a threat, and that was even more apparent following the 1-0 home defeat against the Clarets on the south coast in November.
With the game goalless after 65 minutes, the crucial moment of the match happened as Manolo Gabbiadini was replaced by Charlie Austin for the hosts, while Sean Dyche saw an opportunity and decided to be bold by bringing on two strikers and taking one striker and a midfielder off.
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Burnley went two up top and they got their reward as Sam Vokes scored the winner nine minutes from time, to leave the St Mary’s crowd disappointed – a recurring theme this term.
It was clear from that incidence that putting two up top can be effective, but despite the fans wanting it and Pellegrino often being questioned about it at his various press conferences, he has never taken the plunge even though he will have Gabbiadini, Austin, Shane Long and new boy Guido Carrillo to pick from when everyone is fit.
Southampton had put in yet another poor performance on the road against Burnley at the weekend, and when they fell behind to Ashley Barnes’ 67th-minue goal Pellegrino decided to act by bringing on Sofiane Boufal for Oriol Romeu, Josh Sims for James Ward-Prowse and Manolo Gabbiadini for Dusan Tadic over the course of the following 15 minutes.
That left the visitors with Gabbiadini and Carrillo as the two strikers, as the Argentine boss finally took a risk to try and salvage a point.
It was something that the Saints fans have barely seen during Pellegrino’s time at the helm, and they would have been delighted when the decision paid off as Sims crossed to Carrillo, who nodded it down for Gabbiadini to fire home his first Premier League goal since October.
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For many supporters it would have been no surprise that the tactical change worked and it is something that they have been calling out for a while, but now their boss needs to learn from it too.
Southampton face a huge match against 19th-placed Stoke City at St Mary’s on Saturday, and in all honesty it is a must-win encounter if they are to secure their top flight status for another season given some of the tricky fixtures – mostly away – that they still have to come.
Pellegrino’s men need to have an attacking threat and take the game to the Potters, and Carrillo and Gabbiadini should be starting as a front two after their fine link-up for the goal at Turf Moor.
It’s not as though the Argentine boss doesn’t have the options to play 3-5-2 or 4-4-2 either because he does, and playing both up top on Saturday could be the difference between one point or three points, which could ultimately decide the south coast outfit’s fate this season.