In the loss to Southampton, Leeds United attacker Georginio Rutter just “could not live up to” the hype, but another prominent athlete also fell short.
Daniel Farke’s men travelled to St Mary’s unbeaten in six Championship matches and on the back of four clean sheets, but succumbed to defeat against a fellow recently-relegated outfit.
Why did Leeds struggle against Southampton?
Saints manager Russell Martin is known for his possession-based 4-3-3 system but he may well have taken Farke by surprise with how he set up things on the south coast, playing with more of a 4-4-2 diamond formation as Charly Alcaraz lined up through the middle as a ‘false 9’ with Armstrong and Sulemana wide ahead of him.
However, considering their outstanding goals against average and the fact that Southampton would have been demoralized after four straight league losses, the Yorkshire team may not have anticipated to give up so quickly. This set the tone for the remainder of the afternoon.
Leeds was undoubtedly stunned, and although you wouldn’t want to accuse them of being complacent, it was undoubtedly a wake-up message for the players that you must give your best effort in every game if you want to earn points.
What happened to Georginio Rutter against Southampton?
It’s difficult to single him out following a defeat in which none of his teammates were impressive either, but it’s natural that the spotlight falls on him given he cost £46m last season.
In addition, he scored twice, including one in the spectacular 4-3 victory over Ipswich Town, and made an incredible assist against Watford the week before. This is his second of the season.
Rutter didn’t receive a lot of help from his teammates at St. Mary’s, but when he did, his link-up play and decision-making were poor. For example, late in the game, he almost outmuscled James Bree before deciding to shoot from a tight angle rather than pass to a teammate.
