Southampton: 5 Ways That It's All Gone Right This Season

3. Tactics That Encourage Fitness, Pressing And Holding Possession

It hasn't just been the introduction of Lovren and Wanyama that has been the cause of Southampton conceding six times fewer goals than this time last year. Pochettino's tactics have also made a big difference compared to their start under Adkins last season. Early last season Saints performed hugely impressively against Man United, holding on to the lead for most of the game. 2-1 up after 87 minutes, Southampton ended up losing 3-2. Two weeks earlier that had thrown away a 2-1 lead against Man City to lose by the same score. This season, though, when they faced United it was Saints themselves scoring the crucial last minute goal to pick up a 1-1 draw at Old Trafford. So, what's changed? The obvious point is that this year's Saints keep fighting to very end and the reason for that lies in a team that are now totally adjusted to the pace of Premier League football and maintain an impressively high level of fitness. Under Pochettino, Southampton play a game that revolves around keeping pressure on the opposition when not in possession and holding onto the ball otherwise. Even centre forward Rickie Lambert pushes to win the ball back and there is now a tenacity through the spine of the team that was lacking last year. Against Man United, Saints dominated possession for huge swathes of the game, having 54% of the ball overall, and 18 shots to United's 12. Under the circumstances Lallana's late goal was well deserved. Against lesser opposition this dominance of possession is even more obvious. The following week against Fulham, Southampton had 66% of the ball in an extremely comfortable 2-0 win and this weekend's victory over Hull featured 61% possession for Saints and 7 shots on target to Hull's 2.