Southampton: Elyounoussi let Ralph down | OneFootball

Southampton’s winless start to the Premier League season continued as they succumbed to a 1-0 loss at home to Wolves on Sunday.

Raul Jimenez’s goal eventually put the away team in front after wasted efforts from both sides. A long punt up the pitch from Jose Sa was latched on to by the Mexican forward and he kept his composure to open an angle up for himself to slot the ball into the corner with ease.

This came after Southampton managed four points from their first five Premier League games, drawing with Manchester United, West Ham, Newcastle and Man City after losing to Everton on the opening day.

Whilst it was a disappointing loss overall for the Saints, one player – in particular – who struggled throughout the game was Mo Elyounoussi.

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He lined up out wide and was unable to positively impact the game, wasting numerous openings and failing to cause real problems for the Wolves defenders with the time he had on the ball.

The Norweigan let Ralph Hasenhuttl down with his performance, after the manager brought him back into the side ahead of the likes of Moussa Djenepo and Nathan Tella.

Instead of repaying Hasenhuttl’s faith, he showed why others may deserve to play ahead of him in future games. Offensively and defensively, he did not do enough to suggest that he is able to compete consistently at the Premier League level.

Defensively, he was lightweight. Per SofaScore, he made one tackle, zero interceptions and zero blocks in 96 minutes on the pitch, whilst also losing four of his six ground battles. This suggests that he was too weak to win his battles against the Wolves players.

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Offensively, he was wasteful too. Per SofaScore, he had four shots on goal and three of them were blocked before they reached the goalkeeper. On two occasions, he picked the ball up in acres of space on the edge of the box and attempted a poor effort instead of working Jose Sa or providing a pass to a teammate in a better position than himself.

Along with that, he also managed zero key passes, which shows that he lacked creativity in the final third. Aff this to his 23 losses of possession and his pass completion of just 62% and it paints the picture of a player who is not ready to start regularly at this level.

This emphasises the point that he let Hasenhuttl down with his performance. He was a liability at both ends of the pitch and this display could put his place in the starting XI at risk heading into Southampton’s next Premier League match.