Kane leads charge to keep suffering Saints in mire
WHEN Son Heungmin got the third, it was written in the contortions of Ralph Hasenhuttl’s face.
He put on the scowl of a man who didn’t need long to realise he has walked into an almighty mess.
Hasenhuttl starts work this morning, but where can he even begin after surveying this performance from the stands? What possible thread of optimism can he pull on when the bunch that saw off the last manager were every bit as bad or worse in the first game since Mark Hughes’ departure.
Irrespective of whether he truly is the Klopp of the Alps, as some have rather amusingly put it, this mountain might just be impassable without significantly better players arriving in January.
Plainly, the greatest issue in this Saints side is the defence. With goals from Harry Kane, Lucas Moura and Son, Southampton have now shipped 29 for the season and are winless in 11. But digits alone do not explain how bad those goals were to concede. In every case they could be traced to careless or ineffective defending, which is never a good look.
As for Mauricio Pochettino’s team, what a gentle recovery this was from the traumas of the Arsenal loss on Sunday. They did it at three-quarter pace with five changes to their side and in a one-third full Wembley — at barely 33,000 fans, it was their lowest crowd for a league fixture. That move to the new stadium cannot come quickly enough.
But back to Southampton, whose need for change is more pressing. Kelvin Davis at least tried to make an impression, a stamp of authority in his sole game in charge before the next guy starts work.
He made four changes to the side that drew with Manchester United, bringing in Steven Davis, James Ward-Prowse, Manolo Gabbiadini and Matt Targett, and tweaked the system from 3-5-2 to 4-4-1-1. But the impact was limited, just as these players are limited. As Hughes might argue in defence of a quite dreadful reign, it is awfully hard to get a spark out of wet sticks. That is Hasenhuttl’s issue now and he will have seen plenty from the opening nine minutes of this game to show how much work is needed on his defence in particular.
Inside the opening three minutes, Southampton were chasing tails and lucky to survive a Son volley that clattered back off the post. In the build-up, Eric Dier had pinged a ball 50 yards and for all the time it spent in flight, Kieran Trippier, all 5ft 8in of him, was still able to win the header to tee up Son.
Their fragility was even more glaring in Kane’s goal. Trippier played short to Christian Eriksen and not a single Southampton defender was nearby before he whipped a low ball to the near post and on a course for Kane, who was running across goal.
If anyone was meant to be tracking the run of one of the most dangerous strikers in the world, it was not immediately obvious who that might have been.
With a neat finish, Kane had his 13th goal in all competitions this season and seventh in his past eight starts. Not too sloppy a return from a player who has not always looked at his sharpest since the World Cup and yet remains a dead-eyed killer.
Southampton, to their credit, took on a more robust form for the remainder of the half, limiting Spurs to one reasonably harmless drive from Son. They even had a good effort themselves when Gabbiadini laid off for Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and he rattled a shot from the edge of the area against the post. Replays showed Hugo Lloris got a decisive touch on its way past, so a superb save indeed. Stuart Armstrong missed the rebound but had already been flagged offside.
With the second half, though, came the collapse. Moura crashed Tottenham’s second through a crowd on 51 minutes after Davis only partially cleared a corner and Son got the third when Matt Targett was caught being a little too careless by Trippier, who in turn allowed Kane to cross.
Southampton did get openings, and good ones at that, with Ward-Prowse, Charlie Austin and Nathan Redmond going close. But it took until their 17th effort of the night to score one, Austin netting in stoppage time. It was an illustration of the statistic that they are among the worst in the league for finishing what they start. So, in essence, a mess at both ends.
And the new man knows it. TOTTENHAM (4-2-3-1): Lloris 7; Trippier 7.5 (Skipp 87), Foyth 6, Alderweireld 7, Rose 6.5; Dier 7, Winks 6.5; Moura 6 (Sissoko 74, 6), Eriksen 7 (Alli 79), SON 8; Kane 7.5. Subs not used: Llorente, Gazzaniga, Aurier, Davies. Scorers: Kane 9, Moura 51, Son 55. Booked: None. Manager: Mauricio Pochettino 7. SOUTHAMPTON (4-4-1-1): McCarthy 7; Cedric 6, Stephens 5.5, Yoshida 6, Targett 5.5; WardProwse 6, Hojbjerg 6.5 (Romeu 88), Davis 6, Redmond 6; Armstrong 5.5 (Elyounoussi 81); Gabbiadini 6 (Austin 70, 6). Subs not used: Vestergaard, Hoedt, Gunn, Valery. Scorer: Austin 90+3. Booked: None. Manager: Kelvin Davis 6. Referee: Anthony Taylor 7. Attendance: 33,012.