Everyone knows he hasn’t scored since February but there’s a reason why he’s started more games than he hasn’t in the Premier League this season.
Shane Long gives you more than goals – good thing too because he’s not giving you many goals these days.
Against United back in September, he put the shits up Jose Mourinho and his backline. He chases and harries, he sniffs around for any breaks, he leaps higher than any striker in the league and he does all of this relentlessly. He’s a dangerous player if it is for completely different reasons than your average striker.
So he was deployed against the rampant Manchester City on Wednesday night and whilst he wasn’t given one opportunity to shoot, whilst Southampton eventually fell to a 95th minute Raheem Sterling strike, Long was very good – if not good, useful. This picture pretty much sums up his evening.
The Tipperary native finished the game with 30 touches after 83 minutes.
Between 14 players, the Saints took 466 touches during the 2-1 defeat so Shane Long’s involvement was much more regular than a lone striker’s might’ve been away to City with everyone penned in for most of it.
He played up top in a 5-4-1 formation but he completed:
- 5 aerial duels
- 1 tackle
- 9 passes
Those passing stats aren’t something to be sniffed at. Imagine the sort of ball Long was getting all night and imagine the amount of blue shirts around him and lack of support.
But it was the work he was doing off the ball which set him apart anyway. He was sprinting channels, he was a ramrod when he needed to be trying to force the high City defence back and he was winning set pieces for the side. At one stage, he hounded Otamendi all the way to the byline and, feeling the pressure, the Argentine kicked out for a corner when he could’ve found touch for a throw-in.
When Long’s breathing down your neck, that panic can set in.
Naturally, the Irish attacker was asked to make himself a nuisance all over the field and that showed in his heat map which might as well be a cold map.
Shane Long heat map
Courtesy of WhoScored.com.
With Southampton attacking from right to left, Shane Long spent a hell of a lot of time in his own half, and he certainly saw more action there than he did in or around the opposition box.
Of course City had more sustained pressure and higher lines but Long’s shift all over the field is in stark contrast to what his opposite number Sergio Aguero had to do.
Sergio Aguero heat map
Aguero only had eight more touches than Long despite playing 12 more minutes (including injury time) and playing on a far superior and far more attacking setup.
He also got his touches where a striker might want them.
Shane Long was Southampton’s furthest forward, sure, but he wasn’t really a striker. He was doing what he usually does – a shift. Doing whatever was asked of him.
