Southampton news: Opinion – ‘Pressure building each game’ to hit 12-point mark

Another standard week from Southampton Football Club. Another loss and another collapse to condemn us to our 26th league defeat – a 3-0 humbling at home to Aston Villa.

The search for those two more points rolls on to next week. Will we get them under new interim boss Simon Rusk? If the Villa game plan was anything to go by, then it is not looking likely.

It was clear from the off on Saturday that Rusk had set his team up to defend at all costs and scrape a 0-0, drawing conclusions that he must get these points by any means necessary. Does that ever work?

During Rusk’s first stint as interim back in December, he took charge against Fulham at Craven Cottage. The set-up was a carbon copy of last weekend’s. Three at the back, a four-man midfield and two strikers, but with relative success. We played out a 0-0, which in the grand scheme of things, turned out to be one of our biggest positives from this whole campaign.

Up against Villa, it failed. However, it took the Champions League quarter-finalists 73 minutes to break the deadlock. We did soak up Villa pressure for large portions of the game and faced 25 shots and heavy possession.

There is no reason to assume Rusk will switch things up for the remainder of the season and should expect more of the same at West Ham next. For a team that has conceded the most in the division and our lack of goal threat, this may get even worse.

If/when we reach that magic 12-point mark, we may see Rusk play a more exciting brand of football. Maybe the likes of newly-debuted Jay Robinson will get more minutes. But it is a very difficult situation for the interim boss. The pressure is building each game, and with Manchester City, Arsenal and a Goodison Park swansong on the agenda, games against West Ham and Leicester may be our last hopes.

Find more from Ray Hunt at the In that Number podcast