It’s fair to say that Kevin Danso has had a mixed start to life on the south coast as we head into the first international break of the season.
While most Saints fans were content with the transfer business that the club had done early in the window, after capturing the signatures of Che Adams, Moussa Djenepo and making Danny Ings’ move permanent, there was clearly something missing.
People were desperate for Southampton to sign a centre-back, in order to improve on an overall poor defensive showing the previous season.
As the clock ticked on, Deadline Day looked like passing by without any further movement and without adding a defender. That was until the final few moments when a little-known Austrian started to be linked with a move.
After lots of anxious waiting and praying that the deal had been done in time, the transfer was eventually confirmed the next day for a season-long loan with an option to buy the 20-year old.
I’ll be the first to admit that I didn’t know too much about the former FC Augsburg centre-back but was looking forward to seeing him in action.
Unsurprisingly, Danso didn’t feature in the first two matches of the season, with manager Ralph Hasenhuttl looking to give him time to adapt to the club and league.
It was, therefore, somewhat surprising to not only see him in the starting line-up at Brighton but to see him play in the left-back position.
Hasenhuttl then revealed that the usual left-back, Ryan Bertrand, picked up an injury which made us think that he was just filling in.
However, the manager also revealed that it was always his intention to play the Austrian at left-back, and looking back on the win; it starts to make a bit of sense.
Saints opted for a back-five in the first two matches of the season, without Danso, but lost both of them 3-0 at Burnley and 2-1 to Liverpool.
The gaffer then chose to revert to a formation that he has been itching to use since his arrival last season: 4-2-2-2.
A big reason why Hasenhuttl had used this system sparingly beforehand was that we didn’t quite have the players to fully optimise it, especially in defence.
It appeared that we didn’t have two centre-backs who were strong enough to cope without a third centre-half, while Bertrand and Yan Valery as full-backs were too attacking, which left us rather exposed at the back.
5-3-2 was, therefore, the system used for much of last season until Southampton’s survival was almost assured before Hasenhuttl started to experiment.
It’s fair to say that when Danso was signed, he was expected to play at centre-back and potentially partner Jan Bednarek to finally form a stable partnership.
However, Jannik Vestergaard partnered Bednarek against Brighton with Danso at left-back, and this just seemed to work.
While the 20-year old often looked uncomfortable when he was approaching the final third, he was imperious defensively and didn’t bomb forward like Bertrand often does; this protected both centre-halves in a way that Bertrand struggles to do.
Although the game was made easier by Florin Andone’s sending off, Saints kept a rare clean sheet and were rarely troubled over the course of the match.
After a 2-0 win at Brighton and then a 1-0 victory at Fulham in the Carabao Cup, in which Danso did play at his expected centre-back position, Hasenhuttl then opted for a similar line-up against Manchester United last Saturday.
It was the same back four, with the exception of Cedric Soares in for Valery at right-back, which meant that Danso once again played on the left.
One of the problems mentioned earlier about a Saints back four was not having a solid centre-back pairing that coped without an extra man at the back. However, Bednarek and Vestergaard had excellent games and looked like a partnership that could work going forward.
Add into the equation that Danso provided more cover again and seemingly gained more confidence with the ball as well.
In the 1-1 draw against United, Danso assisted the crucial equaliser with an excellent cross that was headed home by Vestergaard.
He also made a couple of great runs down the left, provided an extra aerial presence in both boxes and showed he had another attribute of long throws, which can be utilised even more in future games.
However, there was clearly one negative about his most recent performance: discipline.
I can understand his first booking on Saturday as it was a cynical challenge that he thought was preventing a United attack.
When you’re on a yellow card, though you have to be careful. You have to be disciplined in your defending and to stay on your feet more often than not.
Given that left-back isn’t his usual position, this was always going to be a difficult task and one that the youngster ultimately failed with around 20 minutes to play.
Danso seemed to lose his head for a split second and went in for a lunge on Scott McTominay that was extremely rash and deservedly received his marching orders.
While this could be seen as a concern, it’s easy to forget that Valery received an equally silly red card in his early days in the team against Leicester City last season.
He also picked up two rash and avoidable yellows that almost cost a result, but ultimately got away with it, with the side still winning 2-1 on that occasion.
People started to write the young right-back off when this occurred last January, but he proved to be the breakthrough star of last season after learning from this error.
He hasn’t been sent off since and has put in some stellar performances instead, so I would advise people not to write off Danso and to give him time to flourish in the way that Valery has.
It will be interesting to see what Hasenhuttl does when Bertrand fully returns from injury in this unexpected battle for the left-back role.
The 30-year old could be given the opportunity to show that he can play on the left of a back-four after the break against Sheffield United with Danso set to be suspended.
While most people will only note the red card that could have cost Saints a point, I think fans need to look beyond that and see the potential that Kevin Danso has in this squad.
He could finally be the answer to Southampton’s defensive conundrum that has prevented them from being able to play four at the back for so long. Although it is still early days and we must be patient with this very young backline before we reap the rewards.
