Southampton were battered 6-1 away at Manchester City on Sunday and have won just one of 11 Premier League games this season under Mark Hughes.
Cast your minds back to May 2016 and Southampton produced one of their finest performances of the Premier League era against a shell-shocked Manchester City side.
Sadio Mane scored a clinical hat-trick, while the influential Shane Long grabbed the other, helping the Saints secure a dramatic and deserved 4-2 victory that summed up the speed, desire and commendable team-ethic of a side transformed into neutrals’ favourites under Ronald Koeman.
Southampton have declined a fair bit since then. Sunday’s match against a rampant City was far removed from that wonderful performance two years ago, as the Saints were battered 6-1 at the Etihad Stadium.
Speaking to Alan Brazil on talkSPORT (5 November, 9:00am), club legend Matt Le Tissier did not sound confident about Southampton’s prospects over the next few months.
“You don’t expect to be beaten six in the Premier League game. Some of that defending was a little bit shoddy to say the least,” Le Tissier admitted.
“It’s too many mistakes. You’re looking at it and thinking it’s a lack of desire, there’s a lack of intensity. We’ve been poor in front of goal.”
Mark Hughes took over at St Mary’s in March, and led a side who appeared to be sleepwalking towards relegation under Mauricio Pellegrino to Premier League safety in the final few games of the campaign.
But Southampton have failed to build on that momentum, winning just one game and scoring seven goals in the first 11 matches of 2018/19. Le Tissier believes that the decline has been very pronounced.
“The team that played towards the end of last season is completely different to (this one) and that’s a little bit worrying,” he added.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
