Southampton lost track for one or two years but we’re fully back now, admits Ralph Hasenhuttl
Southampton boss Ralph Hasenhuttl admitted that the Saints lost their way for about one or two years but believes that the club are back on track for success now. The Austrian has spent just over three years at the club and has been a key reason why the St Mary’s side hasn’t been relegated yet.
Few expected Southampton to do well when they were promoted at the end of the 2011/12 season, yet slowly but steadily the Saints found their way. A shocking 6th place finish in the 2015/16 season was followed by an 8th place finish the next year although the two seasons after that were far from ideal. Instead, Southampton dropped like a rock and battled against relegation with the team struggling to find their footing.
However, that has changed under Ralph Hasenhuttl with the Austrian helping the club rediscover their identity along the way. Yet despite that, Hasenhuttl believes that the club lost “this track for one or two years” during that relegation-threatened spell but admitted that they’re back on track now. He also added that they’ve got a talented pipeline of players now and it’s a very healthy way to move forward.
"This club lost this track for one or two years, maybe three years ago, but now we are fully back in this track. I think it helps us to create these kinds of players, and no matter how long they are with us, this is a very healthy way of developing this club," Hasenhuttl told Sky Sports.
"What is the difference now is that we can maybe jump earlier on these talented players. The longer we have them, the better they will play football in the future."
One of those talented young players happens to be on-loan forward Armando Broja with the Chelsea man thriving since arriving over the summer. He is Southampton’s top scorer and has caught the eye with his performances although Hasenhuttl admitted that it wasn’t the same in training. But he added that young players need time and space to learn at a new club while also making mistakes and learning from them.
"To be honest, the impression he has given me in the games is a higher one than in the sessions. He was a slow starter here. He took time to adapt to our intense way of playing but he is getting better and he learned a lot.
"The young players need time. We need to let them make mistakes and learn from these. This ability he has and behaviour he shows is important because we are a hard-working club and if you want to perform here, you have to work hard for this team. This is what he's had to learn since he's here and it helps his development,” he added.