Why Tonda Eckert is doing what Will Still couldn't at Southampton - key reasons revealed | OneFootball

One player in particular has benefited from the change in management at St Mary’s

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…

If Southampton’s season so far has felt like two separate campaigns stitched awkwardly together, that is because, in many ways, it has been.

The first - under Will Still - was built on caution and control, shaped by a coach whose reputation had been forged in the trenches of French football, organising underdogs to resist superior opponents.

The second - under Tonda Eckert - has been defined by risk, tempo and release. Same squad, but a radically different energy.

Still inherited a group designed to dominate the Championship. Parachute payments, Premier League-level forwards, and a fanbase impatient for momentum all pointed towards a front-foot approach.

Instead, Southampton often looked like a team braced for impact, rather than one delivering it. Possession circulated without incision, attacking players were constrained by structure - the results never quite compensated for the stasis.

Eckert’s arrival has been quieter but far more disruptive. Appointed initially as an interim figure following Still’s dismissal, the 32-year-old German - previously the Saints' under-21s coach - has overseen four wins in five matches, enough to convince the hierarchy to hand him the job permanently until 2027.

Saints have climbed to 14th, five points from the play-offs, but the league position tells only part of the story.

What separates Eckert from Still is not simply aggression versus restraint, but compatibility. Still’s greatest successes came with teams who thrived without the ball.

This Southampton squad is constructed for dominance - pace out wide, runners off the shoulder, creators between the lines. It required a coach willing to hand responsibility back to attacking players rather than protect them from it.

The key differences between Tonda Eckert and Will Still at Southampton

So what has Eckert actually changed? And how has one subtle positional adjustment helped unlock one of the most productive spells by an attacking midfielder in the Championship this season?

Speaking to Football League World, in house Southampton fan pundit Martin Sanders answered that question for us - what Eckert is doing differently to Still to really get the Saints ticking.

“He's getting them playing out of the field and playing them forward,” Sanders told FLW.

“Do you know what? 
A good friend of mine said this to me the other day and I think he made quite a good point. Still managed sides in France that were maybe underdogs, and they're playing against big sides, and they probably just had to defend and absorb pressure. Be hard to beat, try not to let goals in. And they weren't maybe that expansive.

“Whereas we've got all the parachute payments. We've bought players to play attacking forward flowing football and I think that's probably what the club wanted to do. They bought wingers with pace and power to go forward.

“And that's exactly what we're doing now. 
Like he's letting them play forward with freedom. He's got Azaz playing.

“I watched all the games from Will Still’s time - all the extended highlights - and I watched all the games under Eckert and the biggest notice is Finn Azaz plays so much more central now, and you can see the goals he's getting.

“Scienza can go on the inside and the outside of defenders because he's so rapid and so fast. He's the best player in the Championship by miles, by the way. He's so good.

“But we've got some great talent. Fellows looks good. And he's found a way to get Adam Armstrong playing football.”

Finn Azaz’s form sums Up Southampton’s revival under Eckert

Azaz is the clearest footprint of Eckert’s impact at Southampton - not because the numbers existed before him, but because the context for them has radically changed since his appointment.

The match-by-match uptick since Eckert took interim charge tells its own story: goals at Sheffield Wednesday, Charlton twice, Leicester, Millwall and Birmingham, arriving in a flurry that has coincided precisely with his repositioning through the centre.

Across the season as a whole, the underlying data shows why the surge was waiting to happen.

Seven league goals from an xG of 3.87 points to elite finishing. Twenty chances created, three assists from 1.64 xA, and 44 touches in the opposition box underline a player who has consistently found high-value spaces, even before the tactical shift fully favoured him.

Eckert has not conjured a new footballer - he has simply removed the obstacles between Azaz and influence.

What makes Azaz so emblematic of Eckert’s early tenure is not simply his output, but the clarity of role that now surrounds him. Eckert has not flooded the team with ideology. He has adjusted angles and priorities.

The result is a side that moves faster through the centre of the pitch, attacks space earlier and trusts creators to decide games rather than merely decorate them.

Southampton’s promotion talk remains tentative, built on momentum rather than certainty. Defensive instability lingers - Eckert himself has spoken about the need for greater discipline without the ball - but the mood has shifted from hesitation to intent.

But what has already been restored is purpose - and in Finn Azaz, Southampton have found both the tactical beneficiary and heartbeat of that purpose.