Some Southampton fans are raving about the performance of striker Shane Long in the club’s recent 3-1 win over Aston Villa in the Premier League at the weekend.
The Saints climbed back out of the relegation in the Premier League, thanks to a convincing 2-0 win over Dean Smith’s Villa side. A Danny Ings brace and a goal from Jack Stephens proved enough for the Saints to win the game, as Jack Grealish pulled one back in the second-half however it worked out to be just a consolation.
Southampton fans: Is Shane Long underrated?
He deserves immense credit!
He gets enough credit
After the game, Saints fans couldn’t help but hail Shane Long. While he didn’t score, many of the Southampton faithful feel that he should be lauded for his performance at the weekend.
Shane is the one!!!
Year after year people moan at him and make him a scapegoat. Ralph & the players know he’s the key outlet.
Ings is on fire, out & out goalscorer, fit, hungry and successful!!!!— Will Potter (@pottsy02) December 21, 2019
Deserves so much praise after today. Links very well with Ings. There’s a reason he starts ahead of Che
— Myles (@Myles_SFC) December 21, 2019
His work rate is unreal
— Ralph Rabbithutch (@sfckieran) December 22, 2019
Without him Ings would struggle imo. He does so much for the team. First goal was one of many examples. Rate him very highly
— SFC// (@SaintsFan10111) December 21, 2019
Agree, Long is a great foil for Ingsy
— Julian Hood (@harvey_hood) December 21, 2019
Not sure who it was but a pundit the other day said if he could finish he’d be world class, always puts in a shift, always puts his body on the line, love him.
— Tim Foley (@salessaints) December 22, 2019
Long is now 32 and has been at the St. Mary’s for almost six years now and he joined the club from Hull City in the summer of 2014 for a fee of £12 million. Since then, he has played 194 times in all competitions for the Saints, scoring 32 times and assisting 23 times as well.
This season, the Republic of Ireland man has played 13 times in all competitions under Ralph Hasenhuttl. He has racked up one assist and is yet to register a single goal. Last season, he played 28 times in all competitions for the Saints and racked up a tally of five goals and three assists.
His highest goalscoring stint came at Reading. He played 199 times for the Royals, scoring 54 times and assisting a total of 29 times.
What do we think?
Long has, arguably, sometimes been disrespected due to a lack of goals. He has never been a prolific goalscorer. He has always been a grafter and there is a stereotype that strikers always have to score goals. That appears to always let Long down, taking away a lot of credit from him.