Even if Ralph Hasenhuttl remains true to his plan to retire in 2024, the various shades of agony and ecstasy he experienced during a chaotic 3-2 victory against Tottenham were no indicator of a passion wearing thin. As the full-time whistle blew, Southampton’s manager almost collapsed into the sodden turf in north London, such had been the momentous nature of his side’s comeback, with two goals in three minutes leaving Spurs utterly bereft.
It was a fightback engineered by the exquisite poise of James Ward-Prowe’s right foot, whose two pinpoint crosses exposed the holes in a ramshackle Tottenham defence, but it was moulded in Hasenhuttl’s image and unmistakably fuelled by his spirit. The Austrian had already outwitted Antonio Conte once this season when Southampton clawed desperately onto a point at St Mary’s after Mohammed Salisu was sent off in the first half. But if that was a plan forged on survival instincts, this was a far more precise blueprint that saw Southampton dominate the ball and press with the sort of furious intent that regularly reduced Spurs to panic. That was nowhere more obvious than at full-back, where Southampton’s overloads put Emerson Royal and Sergio Reguilon under constant pressure and the pair contrived to lose the ball an astonishing seventeen times each.
It is an area of deficiency Conte sought to address in the transfer window, but their problems here stretched far beyond the regular scapegoats. Southampton had total control of the midfield, were clearly better-organised and, although he took his goal well, had Armando Broja been more clinical the game might have been as good as over when Spurs’ players were booed off at half-time. “I’ve been here for three years and this is by far the best performance we have shown,” Hasenhuttl said afterwards. “The first half was unbelievable. We must score normally three or four goals.”
Instead, almost all that hard work went unrewarded. Son Heung-min’s goal, while well-worked, was laced with controversy and injustice after David Coote refused to award a foul in the build-up when Royal clattered into Broja and then failed to stop play with the striker still on the floor nursing his head. It felt like a cruel but almost inevitable smash and grab, with Conte celebrating maniacally before offering out half of Southampton’s coaching staff as they complained furiously to the fourth official. And yet, it only made the drama that followed all the more definitive.
Southampton can be a volatile force, one week a little soft and blunt, the next razor-edged, meticulous and oozing confidence as they were on Wednesday. A run now of just one defeat in nine games in all competitions represents something closer to consistency, though, and three points have propelled them into the top half of the table. If prudent investment follows in the summer in their first window under Dragan Solak’s ownership, the foundations are clearly there to be built on steadily and sustainably, so long as Hasenhuttl remains at its centre. The 54-year-old might be wary of the candle burning at both ends, but the soaking rain certainly did nothing to extinguish the fire yesterday evening. “This is why we love this job,” he said. “This is why we love this game. Congrats to the fans who were here. These are the moments you want to celebrate with your club.”
Yet, for Conte, it was the type of night where his own vision - much like his players - fizzled out. “For sure we are improving in many aspects, but we are still very emotional,” he said. “If we want to grow and to be competitive as a team, the first thing you have to improve is stability.” The Italian radiated little of that himself throughout a match where he put his frustration in plain sight and was left to contend with a significant slip-up after Spurs had been presented with a great chance to gain a foothold in the top-four race. Rodrigo Bentancur and Dejan Kulusevski were only introduced from the bench and Cristian Romero’s presence did little to shore up a defence that seemed anything but watertight. There is still a vast amount of work to be done to execute Conte’s vision and doubts remain over the capacity of several players to realise it at all. After already being outsmarted by Hasenhuttl once in December, this time the Austrian’s celebrations at full-time were as impassioned as they were warranted.
