This article is part of Football FanCast’s Opinion series, which provides analysis, insight and opinion on any issue within the beautiful game, from Paul Pogba’s haircuts to League Two relegation battles…
Following a run of four successive defeats in all competitions, Southampton finally showed some fight and quality during their 2-2 draw with Arsenal at the Emirates on Saturday – and they should have won comfortably.
With the five-at-the-back formation clearly not paying dividends and with a full squad to choose from, manager Ralph Hasenhuttl decided to deploy a 4-3-3 system against Unai Emery’s men.
What followed was 21 shots as the visitors dominated in terms of clear-cut chances, and there was another decent display from Stuart Armstrong in the middle of the park following a recent resurgence from the Scotland international.
For the first time this season Oriol Romeu missed out on the spot in the starting XI, with the midfield trio of him, James Ward-Prowse and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg that we have seen so often this term split up in north London.
Instead, Armstrong was named alongside the Englishman and the captain, and he showed just how useful he can be and the important thing he offers that his other central midfield teammates can’t.
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Ward-Prowse and Hojbjerg certainly didn’t have their worst games at the weekend – the former scored and the latter made six interceptions and won BBC Sport’s man of the match award, but they also showed their shortcomings in other areas.
While they may be good working from a defensive point of view – as well as tracking back – they simply don’t have that turn of speed needed to effectively press higher up the pitch with or without the ball.
In addition, they both showed their lack of ability to take the ball forward when they have possession of it, with Hojbjerg only jogging forward when completely on his own seconds after Nicolas Pepe messed up a two-on-one situation for the hosts.
More energy or a quicker pass was needed, but it never came.
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Similarly, Ward-Prowse wasted a four-on-three situation for Ralph Hasenhuttl’s men when instead of slipping in one of his attacking teammates, he instead chose to shoot from just inside the Arsenal half. And it wasn’t a good effort as it sailed well wide.
They simply don’t have the legs to do it, and that is a big problem at home – last time out against Everton the duo and Romeu struggled to make any impact from an attacking point of view as Hasenhuttl’s men fell to a disappointing defeat.
Armstrong brings something different though, and he has the energy to bring the ball forward as we saw glimpses of at the Emirates, successfully completing one dribble.
Given he only played 85 minutes of Southampton’s first 10 Premier League fixtures of the season – he played more than that against Arsenal alone – his recent emergence has been a little unexpected.
However, because of the traits he has, he could just turn out to be Saints’ most important midfielder ahead of their huge home matches against Watford and Norwich City, because he offers something Ward-Prowse, Hojbjerg and Romeu don’t.
