Southampton manager Ralph Hasenhuttl has explained what his side needs to do when they come up against two strikers in the Premier League.
Hasenhuttl says that Southampton need to be more aggressive with their defending, or else they are making it too easy for a team with two strikers to be effective against them.
Speaking to the Daily Echo, Hasenhuttl said:
No, because we’ve played teams with two strikers up top, but we just defended better and more aggressive.
If you don’t do it then it’s easy. It was very easy for the other team to come in behind our line.
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So how could Southampton change their team in order to deal with teams who play with two strikers? One option could be bringing in centre-back Jannik Vestergaard and playing three at the back, with Jan Bednarek and Jack Stephens alongside him.
This could allow Southampton’s defenders to double up on whichever striker is posing the biggest threat at the time, while allowing the spare defender to pick up the second striker. Doing this could give Southampton two-on-one situations against an opposing striker, rather than one-on-one situations where they could be exposed at the back.
Bringing Vestergaard in could then boost Southampton’s chances of picking up results, and possibly clean sheets, against sides who play with two strikers and look to overload central areas in the final third.
Having the Danish international in the middle of the back three could also help Southampton when defending crosses, with the 6ft 7 giant averaging 3.2 aerial battles won per game in the Premier League.
