A number of Southampton fans were critical of Shane Long‘s “dreadful” performance in the Saints’ 2-0 win against League One Shrewsbury Town in the FA Cup third round on Tuesday night.
Ralph Hasenhuttl made a host of changes to his starting line-up and chose to rest a few of the Saints’ key players, which meant that chances were afforded to some of Southampton’s talented young players and others on the fringes of the first team. In the end, they had just enough quality to see off a determined Shrewsbury side and book a place in the fourth round.
One of the players brought into the side was Long, but the experienced Irish forward struggled to make any real positive impression in the final third against League One opponents. Instead, it was the likes of Caleb Watts and Dan N’Lundulu who were the brightest attacking outlets and helped earn Southampton to a tie against Arsenal in the next round of the competition.
During the 79 minutes that he was on the field, the 33-year-old struggled to link up the up the play and lost possession eight times. He was also unable to threaten the goal and registered just one shot all evening, which was off target (Sofascore).
Southampton fans slam Shane Long’s display
Many Southampton fans felt that Long did not take his chance to stake a claim for more game-time with his “pathetic performance”, with some believing that his lack of threat or impact shows that he should be coming towards the end of his time at St Mary’s.
https://twitter.com/ArthurGoddard13/status/1351645572785188865?s=19
Pathetic peformance once against from Shane Long! #saintsfc
— James (@jamessfc) January 19, 2021
I hate to say it, but that should be the last time we see Long in a Saints shirt. He was awful tonight and it was epitomized by the dreadful pass to N'Lundulu on the break. If Shane Long can't play at pace, what's the point in having him? #SaintsFC #soushr #sotshr
— Jody (@TheRealPsycrow) January 19, 2021
Tonight was a decent opportunity for Shane Long to have a good performance and get a goal for his confidence.
He’s not taken it. He’s been outshone by a couple of youngsters who’ve been bright in the final third.
I adore him, but it’s time for him to be moved on. #SaintsFC
— Dan Hargraves (@DanJHargraves) January 19, 2021
https://twitter.com/Beardedmetalman/status/1351644688193875968?s=19
I love Shane long but he’s just not good enough at this level anymore #SaintsFC
— Ben Evans (@Ben_FACoach) January 19, 2021
The fact Long has made no impact on this game shows he should be nowhere near the 1st team #saintsfc
— Joe Blakey (@JoeBlakey9) January 19, 2021
Shane Long is finished #SaintsFC
— Josh (@Josh_Fulford98) January 19, 2021
