Southampton are reportedly closing in on Ralph Hasenhuttl.
According to Sky Sports, Southampton have agreed a deal in principle with Ralph Hasenhuttl to become their new manager after sacking Mark Hughes earlier today.
Hasenhuttl, 51, has been out of work since leaving RB Leipzig at the end of last season, and now looks set to become Southampton’s new manager to replace Hughes.
The Austrian is a hugely exciting manager who not only flourished with Leipzig, but also with Unterhaching, Aalen and Ingolstadt in an impressive career in Germany.
Hasenhuttl could now try his luck in England, and whilst he may bring many tactics with him to the Premier League, he enjoyed great success with an innovative 4-2-2-2 system at Leipzig – and here’s how Southampton could line up in that system…
Goalkeepers aren’t a problem for the Saints; they have a proven, experienced stopper in Alex McCarthy, as well as a star of the future in Angus Gunn. McCarthy is likely to get the nod, as Hasenhuttl went with experience in Peter Gulacsi over youth in Yvon Mvogo.
Hasenhuttl used two attacking full backs in Lukas Klostermann and Marcel Halstenberg, and that should fit well with Cedric Soares and Ryan Bertrand, as well as youngsters Yan Valery and Matt Targett, whilst he went with two ‘undersized’ 6ft 1in centre backs in Dayot Upamecano and Willi Orban, which may mean that Jack Stephens and Wesley Hoedt can get the nod; is offloading of giant centre back Atinc Nukan may not be great news for summer signing Jannik Vestergaard.
The hard work of Diego Demme and box-to-box ability of Naby Keita could be recreated by Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Mario Lemina respectively, though it would be little surprise to see him make a move to bring Demme with him to the South Coast.
Emil Forsberg’s play cutting in as one of the attacking midfielders was key to Hasenhuttl’s style, and in-form Stuart Armstrong or even Mohamed Elyounoussi could fill that role, whilst Nathan Redmond can provide pace down the right like Bruma or Marcel Sabitzer did for Leipzig.
Danny Ings has the movement skills to play in the Timo Werner role, though finding somebody to take Yussuf Poulsen’s role, with the pace of Michael Obafemi maybe the best option, but the Dane should be a top target for Southampton.
Hasenhuttl may not go with a 4-2-2-2, but if he does, this could be Southampton’s line-up – and it would be fascinating to see these players in a more expansive style than they played in under Hughes.
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