Southampton are facing a difficult situation heading into the summer as Shane Long’s contract is due to expire.
Long is set to become a free agent and leave the club at the end of June, unless the club decide to offer him an extension on his current deal.
With four months still to go until a final decision needs to made, it would be nice to resolve the situation as quickly as possible so that everyone knows where they stand. But, does Long deserve a new contract?
For me, his performance against Tottenham in the FA Cup on Wednesday proves exactly why he does. Long may not be known for scoring goals these days, but his strike was the cherry on the cake of an excellent all-round performance from the forward.
Long’s constant runs into channels split open the Tottenham defence and created space for the Danny Ings and Nathan Redmond to work in.
He kept darting down the left and right wing to hold the ball up or drag a defender out of position in order for a midfielder to run from deep or for Ings/Redmond to drop into space and collect the ball.
his is what makes him the ideal foil for Ings in a partnership. Throughout the night, Long made clever runs to drag Toby Alderweireld and Jan Vertonghen out of position. This then freed up Ings to run into the space vacated by the centre-backs.
Ings is not the type of striker to consistently win headers and hold the ball up for others, but he is a goalscorer. The forward has 17 goals in all competitions this season, whilst Long has only two. However, Ings can often become isolated when not playing alongside Long, as he does not have the support needed to open up gaps in opposition defences and hold the ball up to bring others into play – allowing them to then feed Ings with balls into the box.
Whilst Long recently turned 33, he is showing that he still has plenty to offer and that he can help bring the best out of Ings.
This is why he deserves a new contract at the club, as he is still proving to be a useful asset on the pitch for Ralph Hasenhuttl.
