Burnley midfielder Jonjo Shelvey reveals he was left unfazed by Southampton’s attacking tactics.
Slightly over three days ago, Ivan Juric would be feeling relaxed with his match preparation. No, I’m not talking about selecting the defence but finally getting to operate in his preferred attacking scheme again.
Honestly, Southampton isn’t an attack oriented team. Rather, the FA Cup occasion and fresh memories of that 3-0 third round win suggested that scoring goals would hold the keys to a Saints win.
As expected, Juric had planned to implement Southampton’s counter attacking formation. From the kickoff whistle, it seemed that the players were backing their manager’s trust in this tactic.
Unluckily, they couldn’t lift up themselves when presented with scoring chances. One after the other, those chances went in vain and later Burnley capitalised on theirs to complete a frustrating evening at St. Mary’s.
Since then, the Saints have become the talk of the town for all of their performance flaws. Well, pundits analysing crucial mistakes is quite common, but here, even rival players are joining the debate.
Burnley’s January signing laughs at Southampton’s gameplan
Recently, Burnley’s loan signing Jonjo Shelvey has revealed a rather sarcastic opinion about Southampton.
In his own words, Shelvey was quoted by the Daily Echo: “But even when the other team is on the attack, I mean that was my first proper game. You just feel like they are never going to score.”
Agreed, Shelvey may be feeling overconfident after the weekend’s win. Ultimately, they have given a statement Premier League display in front of one of those top-flight teams.
Yet, his comments reflect a growing concern for Southampton that has held them back. One, which is even bigger for the Saints than worrying about player injuries.
Coming to the solution, Mateus Fernandes provided a good starting point around two weeks ago. Still, there hasn’t been much progress made in terms of the on-field implementation.
This is an area where Ivan Juric must emphasize enough before the Bournemouth fixture. Only time will tell if he succeeds in forming a quality attack.
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