Tonda Eckert turned things around for Southampton on an interim basis but has struggled since becoming permanent manager.
The German 32-year-old went from Under 21s head coach to interim and then permanent manager in the blink of an eye.
Initially, it looked like he had turned the Saints into the promotion contenders they were always supposed to be as a parachute team with lots of recent Premier League tradition.
But now they are enduring a seven-game winless run in the Championship. Even in Will Still’s disappointing tenure they hadn’t gone this many matches without a win.
Why have Southampton struggled with Tonda Eckert at the helm?
Rise
Tonda Eckert filled in after Will Still’s sacking for five games, winning each of his first four. A loss at Millwall followed, but so did his promotion to permanent head coach. A vote of confidence from the board due to the remarkable turnaround.
He took the Belgian’s more ‘modern’ approach based on intensity, pressing, recovering and doing everything near the goal and basically toned it down.
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For his first five matches, the Saints took their time, having less possession but a more patient approach in build-up. The pace seemed to slow down and their games weren’t as frenetic as before.
They also retracted when losing the ball instead of counter-pressing. And even allowed opponents more touches near their goal. But it worked wonders on both ends.
| Southampton stats in the Championship (per game) | Will Still | Tonda Eckert (interim) |
|---|---|---|
| Possession | 59.4% | 52.3% |
| Shot attempts | 14.4 | 14.6 |
| Big chances | 2.2 | 4.2 |
| Goals scored | 1.0 | 3.0 |
| Shots faced | 10.8 | 13.8 |
| Big chances faced | 2.5 | 0.6 |
| Goals conceded | 1.5 | 1.2 |
The main difference was in attack, though. Players like Adam Armstrong and Finn Azaz seemed to gain a lot of confidence with the new boss and manifested that in the form of goals and assists.
Right in the first game under Eckert, the former Newcastle striker went on a run of seven goals and four assists in nine matches.
Azaz, however, took it to another level: seven straight games with at least one goal involvement. Also right after Still’s sacking. Six goals and three assists overall in that span.
Southampton went from 21st in the Championship table to 14th in less than a month and everything was looking great.
Fall
But, as is often the case with caretaker managers who become permanent ones, everything fell off. To be fair, Southampton did win two more games, against Birmingham City and West Bromwich Albion, both in the start of December. But they haven’t won in the league since.
The honeymoon period is now officially over. Performances have dipped, results have disappeared and players’ confidence looks to be at an all-time low. Which is hard to imagine considering how the season started for them.
The Saints have gone back to being a ball-dominant side, but now look even slower in their actions. In all honesty, they are still creating good enough chances to win a lot of the games they have been drawing or losing.
The underperformance has been real and a constant the whole season, regardless of who was in the touchline.
| Southampton stats in the Championship (per game) | Tonda Eckert (interim) | Tonda Eckert (permanent) |
|---|---|---|
| Possession | 52.3% | 58.8% |
| Shot attempts | 14.6 | 15.9 |
| Big chances | 4.2 | 3.0 |
| Goals scored | 3.0 | 1.2 |
| Shots faced | 13.8 | 16.0 |
| Big chances faced | 0.6 | 2.3 |
| Goals conceded | 1.2 | 1.7 |
Ten games into Eckert’s tenure as the official head coach, a lot of their stats look as bad – or even worse – as it was before under Still.
| Southampton stats in the Championship (per game) | Will Still | Tonda Eckert (permanent) |
|---|---|---|
| Possession | 59.4% | 58.8% |
| Shot attempts | 14.4 | 15.9 |
| Big chances | 2.2 | 3.0 |
| Goals scored | 1.0 | 1.2 |
| Shots faced | 10.8 | 16.0 |
| Big chances faced | 2.5 | 2.3 |
| Goals conceded | 1.5 | 1.7 |
Finishing problems
Speaking of players’ confidence, their two main stand-outs from the ‘good days’ have basically gone missing.
Armstrong hasn’t scored or assisted in six games across all competitions (with six big chances missed in this span). Meanwhile, Azaz went from seven straight matches with at least one goal involvement to seven consecutive ones with none.
Leo Scienza, who has probably been their best player this year, has also seen his form drop. But he delivered a creative masterclass last time around in the loss to Hull City. So Saints fans will be hoping he goes back to his best form to try and get something out of the season. Even if it’s just finishing it with dignity.
Southampton rank first in big chances in the Championship (77), even ahead of leaders Coventry City (69) and high-flying Ipswich Town (70). But they have just the 17th best conversion rate in those situations (32.5%).
Armstrong leads the league in big chances received (22) but has a 36% conversion rate. That’s the fourth lowest return among the 16 players with the most clear-cut goalscoring opportunities.
In terms of creation, only Watford’s Imran Louza (13) has created more big chances than the Saints’ Scienza.
Goalkeeping issues
Things are equally worrying at the back. Especially between the sticks.
Opta’s expected goals on target model has Gavin Bazunu as the goalkeeper with the second fewest goals prevented in the Championship (-5.6). The Irish shot-stopper has recently gone on loan to Stoke City for the remainder of the campaign.
He lost his spot in the starting XI for a brief period, in which veteran Alex McCarthy took over. He had basically neutral impact in terms of preventing goals, but saved just 58% of the shots that went his way. That’s the fourth worst return of any goalkeeper to have played as many minutes as him this season.
The Saints signed Bayern Munich’s Daniel Peretz, who was on loan at Hamburg, until the end of the season.
The Israeli made some decent saves, but could have done better in all four of the goals he conceded in his two matches so far, against Doncaster Rovers in the FA Cup and Hull City in the Championship. He also looked shaky whenever he had to leave his line – especially in corners.
It already feels like a doomed season for Southampton, who had enormous expectations to go straight back to the Premier League.
Luckily for them, the distance from the playoff spots to midtable is short as ever this season. They are currently 15th with 33 points – 10 fewer than Preston North End in 6th. But they are showing no signs of going back to being the confident side they were during Tonda Eckert’s interim spell.