Despite a positive away performance at Anfield, several key departures had left pundits and fans tipping the Saints for a relegation fight.
But with less than a third of the season remaining, Koeman’s success at St. Mary’s has been one of the standout stories in the Premier League. Oddly, prior to Liverpool’s trip to Southampton, the Saints held a four-point advantage over the Reds with both sides involved in a dogged battle for Champions League football.
Therefore, the significance of the match was evident: a Liverpool win would classify them as a legitimate top four contender, whereas a loss would see Koeman’s side leapfrog Manchester United and Arsenal for sole possession of third place. With that being said, Koeman’s team selection was quite peculiar ahead of kickoff.
Following an 11-day break –– whereas Liverpool was in Europa League action Thursday night –– it was odd to see Morgan Schneiderlin and Sadio Mane starting on the bench; Koeman later confirmed that the latter was punished for arriving 25-30 minutes late for a pre-match meal. This meant Eljero Elia and Filip Djuricic joined James Ward-Prowse in an attacking three behind Graziano Pelle, in Southampton’s 4-2-3-1.
However, the match was lacklustre subsequent to the opening five minutes. It was logical for Brendan Rodgers’ side to play on the counter following an extraneous midweek home clash with Besiktas, while Southampton’s attack surprisingly lacked urgency and dynamism.Without Schneiderlin in midfield, Southampton was deprived of penetration in deep areas, and neither Steven Davis nor Victor Wanyama were proactive in possession. They often played safe horizontal passes out wide, and their laboured passing tempo enabled the Reds to retreat into their shape, despite minimal pressure.
This thwarted Southampton’s ability to create numerous chances from open play because the attacking trio behind Pelle isn’t renowned for creativity, nor playing incisive defence splitting passes. However, with several runners behind the Italian striker, Southampton was aligned to play direct, and there was no coincidence that their best moves stemmed from simple long balls behind the Liverpool defence.
Djuricic had latched onto a Pelle long ball behind Lazar Markovic within the opening seconds, but a contentious Emre Can intervention kept the scoreline levelled. Two minutes later, Maya Yoshida’s long diagonal into Pelle saw Djuricic run onto the lay off, before being taken down by Joe Allen in the box –– which also raised a legitimate penalty appeal –– thus resulting in Simon Mignolet making a key save to deny Elia. Lastly, Elia slipped behind the defence to receive Nathaniel Clyne’s diagonal pass behind the defence, only for Mignolet to clear his lines in another controversial situation that saw the Liverpool keeper handle the ball.
Rodgers’ side found it relatively easy to cope with Southampton’s threat in open play. Jordan Henderson and Joe Allen took turns pressing the deepest Southampton midfielder, while Philippe Coutinho and Adam Lallana shifted wide to ensure the adventurous Southampton fullbacks didn’t surge forward. But in terms of offence, Liverpool’s threat was scarce due to Southampton’s territorial dominance, and the fear of conceding space for Saints attackers to penetrate in transition. Liverpool solely appeared threatening when Jordon Ibe consistently got the better of Matt Targett but his end product in the final third was poor.
Koeman made quite predictable substitutions within the opening 15 minutes of the second half replacing Davis and Ward-Prowse with Schneiderlin, and although there was a slight improvement in the home side’s overall play, Southampton’s possession remained futile. Surprisingly, Koeman placed Mane out wide opposed to the central role he’s relished in recent weeks behind Pelle.
Southampton’s intricate passing opened up diminutive shooting lanes that were often blocked, and without a creative source in attacking areas, Mane may have thrived behind Pelle. Mane and Pelle form the ideal partnership: the latter drops deep to receive the ball and link play, and Mane has the pace to run into vacant space behind the defence. Here, he was often out-muscled by Can, or forced to evade several challenges before being fouled –– Mane finished the match with the second highest amount of fouls suffered during his brief substitution appearance.
Ultimately, defensive mistakes from Schneiderlin and Targett resulted in Sterling doubling Liverpool’s lead, as they cautiously stormed forward on the counter when the opportunity presented itself. An early Coutinho wonder strike enabled the Reds to sit deeper in a 5-4-1 out of possession, and force Koeman’s side –– missing a natural no.10 –– to break them down.
The home-side overcame their difficulties playing through Liverpool’s pressing in midfield on three separate occasions with simple long balls into the striker or behind the defence, and it was shocking to see their reluctance to persistently adopt this method of attack.
Perhaps Koeman’s decision to drop key players and exploit the issues Liverpool endured in the opening half led to Southampton’s downfall, but their current issues in front of goal, along with a mid-season resurgence from Spurs and Liverpool may have ignited the end of a fairytale Champions League run at St.Marys.
