Ings central to Saints’ brave revival under Hasenhuttl
Danny Ings was on the pitch for 45 minutes on that Friday night when the football world wondered if Southampton needed to be switched off and then on again as they reached peak malfunction against Leicester City.
The scoreline at St Mary’s was 5-0 to Brendan Rodgers’ side at half-time, the striker removed with Saints attempting damage limitation by sending on defenders to stunt the embarrassment.
Only, oops! Leicester continued to shred them at will, recording the biggest ever victory by an away side in
English top-flight history.
That 9-0 defeat spelled utter disaster for Southampton, down in the relegation zone and at risk of being psychologically devastated.
A humiliation that could have defined and tanked their season was twisted into a turning point by Hasenhuttl and ensured by Ings’ clinical edge.
That home game against Leicester is now purely framed by how Saints reacted to it. A 2-2 draw at Arsenal on November 23 signalled an upturn in results, which saw them slay Chelsea and Leicester away as well as Tottenham and Manchester City.
“What the team showed after this result, where we knew it was an absolute disaster for us, was absolutely outrageous from the mentality and character to fight back to a successful way,” Hasenhuttl said in January.
“When you look now how the team is playing it looks completely different and I cannot praise them enough for the reaction they’ve showed.”
It’s not just about positive results, however. Southampton’s performances – their relentlessness out of possession and slick, purposeful patterns of play on the ball – have been enjoyable to watch.
When digging through the debris of the Leicester debacle, Hasenhuttl realised he had betrayed the principles that served him so well at RB Leipzig. He’d become more passive and focused on control at St Mary’s, but decided to track back to bravery.
“I think you have to find the right decision and the right solutions,” the manager explained.
“And then you must say: ‘OK you’ve got no more stable in going back deeper, deeper, deeper, so you must come again on the front foot.’ This was a brave decision – when someone has to be brave then it’s first the manager.
“It took a long time to not only get the right shape but the right behaviour in this shape. And this is a lot about being brave and on the front foot. It’s not enough to show them and speak about this, it’s to live this system and live this behaviour.
“Every player is now absolutely convinced about what we are doing. Even against the big teams we play with a back four, we changed the shape and stood on the gameplan and were successful.”
At the heart of this courage is Ings, a player who personifies bouncebackability. The forward swapped Burnley for Liverpool in the summer of 2015, getting off to a goalscoring start at the club while enjoying fresh status as an England international before suffering ACL damage during Jurgen Klopp’s first week on Merseyside.
That injury sidelined him for 210 days before knee surgery the following season led to another lengthy absence and question marks over whether a promising career was now only on a downward curve.
At Liverpool, there was conviction that if Ings returned to top physical condition and was afforded regular minutes – the latter not possible at Anfield given the wealth of attacking talents – he would return to being an all-action threat in the final third and an expert finisher.
The transfer to Southampton, but more pertinently, the high-octane style introduced by Hasenhuttl, plays to the 27-year-old’s strengths.
As showcased most recently at Everton on Thursday night, he was a menace to mark: getting Southampton’s only goal, creating the most chances in the game, completing three out of four take ons, recovering possession, leading the press.
“Every week Danny Ings pushes and works hard for the team,” Hasenhuttl said after the 1-1 draw at Goodison Park. “He knows how important he is for our side.”
Thursday brought the attacker’s 19th league goal of the season, with only Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (20) and Jamie Vardy (22) ahead of him in the Golden Boot chase.
No player has netted the opener more than him (9) in the top-flight this season.
He has contributed 44% of Southampton’s goals in the division during the campaign, which is the largest share held by anyone.
Southampton’s story of recovery and their bravery is snapshotted by Ings.
Hasenhuttl has given them his squad the right intention with the striker making sure the execution leads to goals and points to enhance the belief in what they’re doing.