‘Wonderful’ £18m ace shows Southampton what they’re missing as he inspires 3-0 win

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As questions start to arise regarding Will Still’s management of Southampton, the Championship underachievers could do with a few of their summer signings stepping up to the plate.

Will Still has been forced to defend Damion Downs already, the £7 million centre-forward yet to open his account for the Saints.

Leo Scienza brings ‘exceptional qualities’ to St Mary’s, meanwhile. But there was nothing exceptional about the sitter he squandered during the midweek EFL Cup defeat by Liverpool.

Mads Roerslev, Caspar Jander, Finn Azaz and Tom Fellows all performed well below their usual standards as Still was left to rue a Hull City collapse on Humberside. In particular, the aforementioned Finn Azaz has much to prove in his new red and white shirt.

But as former Southampton winger Kamaldeen Sulemana marked his fourth Atalanta appearance with a first goal and a maiden Serie A assist, this feels like the right moment to remind the less-forgiving supporters that new signings occasionally take a few weeks to get up to speed.

Ivan Juric hails Kamaldeen Sulemana after former Southampton duo are reunited at Atalanta

Southampton sold Ghana international Sulemana for a fee which could rise to £18 million at the beginning of July.

And on a day when those big-money arrivals started to repay those hefty price-tags, Sulemana rolled a first Atalanta goal into the bottom corner of the Torino goal. He then set up new £25 million centre-forward Nikola Krstovic with a fine run and first-time cross.

Sulemana was one of the few Southampton players who appeared to relish Ivan Juric’s brief and highly-unsuccessful spell on the South Coast. Reunited with the veteran Croatian in Italy, that 3-0 trouncing of Torino was a massive step in the right direction for both player and coach.

“[Sulemana] is a wonderful guy,” beamed Juric, under massive pressure to fill the boots of Atalanta legend Gian Piero Gasperini. “He’s not just a goalscorer and an assister, he’s fantastic defensively and with his application.

“I have to say he wants to improve a lot, and that’s why we signed him.”

“I’m very happy. I thank my teammates who helped me score,” Krstovic added, one half of a new-look and expensively-acquired La Dea frontline.

“I’m thinking of Dino Sulemana, who gave me a great assist.”

Ali Maxwell suggests Will Still must change his tactics ahead of Middlesbrough clash

Back at Southampton, life does not get any easier for the new man in the dugout.

With only one win so far – and that came against ten-man Wrexham on the opening weekend – the Saints next play host to pace-setters. Middlesbrough.

Under Rob Edwards, Boro have made their best start in 149 years.

EFL expert Ali Maxwell felt Taylor Harwood-Bellis summed up Southampton’s defensive issues last time out on Humberside. Though it’s fair to say Still’s tactics are yet to pay dividends.

“Still’s tactical style seems to be turning games into shoot-outs. If they’ve got better players than everyone, you can understand the logic of this approach rather than having to break down a low block every week,” Maxwell told the Not the Top 20 podcast.

“But at the moment, those attacking players seem really low on confidence, and that’s going to have to change. And certainly, regardless of whether that changes, they have to tighten up. That’s four games this season they have conceded 1.5 XG or more and that’s just not good enough.

“Harwood-Bellis sort of summed it up. The second goal, he gave the ball away with a loose pass and then got absolutely dunked on by Oli McBurnie for the knockdown for [the goal scored by John] Lundstram.”