Reaction given to Finn Azaz situation at Southampton - he is doing what Middlesbrough fans warned | OneFootball

FLW’s Southampton fan pundit has commented on the start Finn Azaz has made.

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Southampton have had a slow start to the new 2025-26 Championship season under Will Still.

The Saints were expected to be a force back in the Championship after their relegation from the Premier League, but have only picked up six points from their opening six league games.

They are winless since their last-gasp opening-day victory over Wrexham, drawing to Ipswich Town, Watford and Portsmouth as well as tasting defeat at home to high-flying Stoke City and most recently away at Hull City.

It may take an extended period of time for the senior first-team figures to adjust to the methods that Still is looking to implement, particularly when 10 new players arrived on the South Coast this summer.

One of those is playmaker Finn Azaz, who moved to the South Coast from Middlesbrough for a reported fee of £12m, that could rise to £14m with add-ons.

So far, Azaz has done very little to justify such a sizeable price tag, failing to register an attacking return so far for the Saints and contributing to their poor run under Still.

His early form has also drawn criticism on social media, with Saints supporters frustrated by his lack of impact in the final third so far this term.

With this in mind, FLW’s Southampton fan pundit has issued his thoughts on Azaz’s early showings for the Saints and whether he can click into gear.

Finn Azaz “ghost” verdict offered amid poor start to Saints career

Speaking to Football League World, Southampton fan pundit Martin Sanders revealed his disappointment at Finn Azaz’s slow start, but blamed the collective team struggles for his lack of impact so far.

Martin said: “Yeah, he’s not got going at all. I did a lot of podcasts in the build up to him signing and a lot of Middlesbrough fans said he could go missing. That was pretty much what he did in the derby. He was a ghost.

“We saw glimpses against Watford at Vicarage Road on his debut, glimpses, and then the last two games he’s been anonymous. I think he threaded one very good pass through to Damian Downs this weekend, who scuffed it and put it wide, but he hasn’t got going, he missed a lot of pre-season with injury, so it was always going to be a bit of an ask to get going.

“I think he’s a good player, but the whole team is playing so badly, so it’s hard to expect him to do well when the team is so bad, we can’t even go from back to front, it’s just a mess at the moment.”

Finn Azaz should be given time to be Southampton success

There was always going to be strenuous pressure on Finn Azaz to immediately step up and deliver for Southampton due to his fantastic previous term, price tag and expectation for Southampton to be in the promotion mix.

But that hasn’t been the case, with Azaz struggling to stamp his authority on the team so far and be their standout creative spark.

His struggles were similar though at Middlesbrough. After leaving Plymouth halfway through the 2023-24 season to link up at the Riverside Stadium, Azaz contributed just four goals and five assists from 20 games as he bedded in on Teesside, before his contributions exploded the following season when he notched 12 goals and 11 assists.

From his previous track record, it should be a warning to Saints fans to give him time. It isn’t particularly helpful that the team collectively aren’t playing well enough, but it is the biggest move of his career, and he just needs to get off the mark to restore his confidence and begin firing on all cylinders again.