Does Mauricio Pellegrino have what it takes to succeed at Southampton?

Pellegrino arrived at the club amid promises of a return to 'exciting, attacking, high-intensity football'. But Southampton have made an inauspicious start to the new season

Mauricio Pellegrino has made a slow start to his Southampton career (Getty)

It took Southampton’s executive director Les Reed three weeks to lead the post-season review that concluded with Claude Puel losing his job. But the writing had been on the wall well before that, perhaps from the very moment the Frenchman decided to haul off James Ward-Prowse in favour of centre-back Jeremy Pied, while trailing Stoke 1-0 in their final game of the season.

St Mary’s briefly fell quiet. Then it groaned. And then the chanting began — furious cries of 'You don’t know what you’re doing' which lasted until well after the final whistle. The hapless substitution rather summed up Puel’s troubled reign. He may have led Southampton to an eight-place finish and first major final for 14-years, but his patient possession game won him few fans in the south-east.

If his successor, Mauricio Pellegrino, had not already worked out that his new job was going to be about more than just results, it was spelled out to him on his very first day by Reed.

“Mauricio has an excellent understanding of the ‘Southampton Way’, and his style of play and aspiration matches the philosophy, culture and ambition of the club,” he blustered. “We want to play exciting, attacking football, taking the game to our opponents by playing a high-intensity game.”

There was little evidence of all of that good stuff during the 2-2 draw with Newcastle United on Sunday, unless of course the ‘Southampton Way’ means toothless wingers, a lack of ingenuity in the middle and repeatedly dumping cross after cross onto the heads of the opposition’s centre-backs. In fact, eight games into the new season and there has been precious little to write him about at all.

Indeed, what’s most peculiar about the start Pellegrino has made to life at Southampton is how similar they are playing to the season before, under Puel.

Puel was sacked after just one season in charge (Getty)

The formation has largely remained the same, with its emphasis on wing play despite the continuing struggles of Nathan Redmond, who threw a minor tantrum when withdrawn in the second-half, and Dusan Tadic, who is stillbeing played out of position on the right. At least Sofiane Boufal impressed upon being introduced, and he must now be considered worthy of a place in the starting XI.

Pellegrino did at least finally decide to experiment with two forwards this weekend — with Shane Long playing off the shoulder of goalscorer Manolo Gabbiadini — but the manager’s post-match admission that his side “never controlled the game” may suggest an impending return to a more robust five-man midfield.

Meanwhile the team remain starved of creativity in the middle. Mario Lemina, who arrived for a club-record fee of £15.4m from Juventus this summer, has shown flashes of real promise, but Pellegrino seems reticent to letting him off the leash and frequently waved him back into his withdrawn position from the touchline on Sunday, wheeling his arms around like a frustrated father at a Sunday League game. Alongside him Oriel Romeu has made a poor start to the new campaign, while captain Steven Davis had drifted in and out of the team.

Lemina has shown flashes of potential (Getty)

Perhaps the simplest — if far from easiest — way for Pellegrino to make his stamp on this team would be to drop some of the club’s most high-profile players. Fraser Forster’s erratic form has bled over into the new campaign and he was at fault for both of Newcastle’s goals. Ryan Bertrand is going through the motions. Virgil van Dijk is a shadow of the player Liverpool attempted to sign for £60m this summer and no longer deserves to start.

It is still early days, of course. Pellegrino deserves time to implement his methods, even though the club’s fixture list takes a turn for the worse in November, with games against Manchester City, Everton and Liverpool coming thick and fast. And yet the fact remains that Southampton boast a number of fine players who are capable of digging the club out of trouble.

Southampton have come so far since the still-recent days of Rickie Lambert, who joined the then League One side from Bristol Rovers in 2009 and announced his retirement recently. Since then, the club has spent six successive seasons in the Premier League, reaching a cup final and playing in European competition. They are now a model for all newly-promoted teams.

And, although football forums are hardly the most rational corners of the internet, it was rather telling that a threat entitled ‘PELLEGRINO OUT’ sprung up on one popular Southampton site in the hours ahead of the Newcastle match, attracting over 100 responses almost immediately. It is a ludicrous proposition — of course — but indication that expectations have been significantly and rightly raised at St Mary’s in recent years.

Pellegrino has a significant job on his hands to match them.