2:58 FREE TO WATCH: Highlights from Southampton’s win at Bournemouth
Ings has played an active part in the process.
“He listens, he is open-minded and he likes to learn.”
There is the work out on the pitch but there is also the video analysis. The key messages that are drummed into the players. It can be the difference between a 20-goal season in the Premier League and a difficult campaign – as fellow Saints striker Che Adams has found out.
“It is a lot of videos. Showing them all the time. Telling them not to save this run. Telling them this is where they have to be. These are things we are doing now all the time with Che, showing him that he must come to the position where Danny is and then he will score more.
“In the Premier League, you do not have the time to turn and play through two players to score. You must run before the ball comes. Then you will have a chance to score.”
This video work has also played its part in helping Ings to score another of his trademark goals. Perhaps you recall it. Three times since the restart, in wins over Norwich, Watford and Bournemouth, he has cut inside from the left and shot right-footed into the far corner.
His first against Watford was arguably the best of the bunch.
“It was nice,” he told Sky Sports afterwards. “I really love cutting in from the left and finding that far corner. We watch clips and the spaces were in the No 10 position, which would give me a chance to drop in a little bit deeper and pick it up and get at defenders.”
In Italy, they used to call it the Del Piero zone, so often did the former Juventus forward curl strikes into the corner of the net from that position. Hasenhuttl smiles. He remembers it as the Schweini position in Germany – so-called because of the Bayern Munich legend.
Perhaps the Premier League should know it as the Ings zone right now.
Whatever the name, it is no accident that he continues to engineer space in that area of the pitch. It is by design and it is something that Southampton work hard to achieve.
“This is what every coach does – or should do,” says Hasenhuttl.
“This is the only chance for your team. Show them the spaces they can use. Bring them there. The rest is about individual quality. When he is in the space, he can score.”
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That is what Ings has done 21 times and counting in the Premier League this season. Given that form, he could be forgiven if he is feeling frustrated by the postponement of Euro 2020. The tournament could have been well timed for him to make an impact with England too.
But perhaps next year will be even better.
“I do not know whether he will score 20 goals again,” says his club coach. “But I do not see any reason why he cannot improve. You never stop developing your players.”
Listening to Hasenhuttl, Ings’ remarkable record is easy to understand.
Sourse: skysports.com
