Tonda Eckert

[SouthWalesSaints]

1 hour ago, OnceaSaintalwaysaSaint said:

Thought Bree's miss was even more glaring.

Good analysis, SouthWalesSaints. I see a much more superficial game than you and don't blame Tonda at all for his tactics yesterday. On another day, we would have won 3-1 or 4-1.

Be really interested how he neutralises Bowen next week.

I think Tonda has demonstrated his best selections and tactics in games where we aren’t favourites.  Cov, Arsenal, Fulham, City ( winning three of those ).  So I do think we’ll show up well for the game.  

[die Mannyschaft]

After the Bolton game I was sure we played almost the same football as Russell Martin relating to a possession heavy game so looked for dome evidence. Its AI so no Optiva or official statement but its shows an overall less percentage and a more less ridged formation.

Will be interesting to see Tonda's full season win rate and points tally. Which should be higher than RM

 

At Southampton, Russell Martin and Tonda Eckert implemented vastly different tactical setups, which is heavily reflected in their average possession percentages:

• Russell Martin: Implemented a relentless, possession-dominant philosophy. During the 2023/24 Championship promotion campaign, his Southampton team broke historical records, averaging an astonishing 66% possession—the highest across any of Europe's top five major leagues or secondary divisions that season. Even during their difficult stint in the Premier League, his side maintained a high-volume passing game that hovered around 60% to 65% possession. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]
• Tonda Eckert: Shifted the team away from Martin's extreme possession identity after taking over. Categorized tactically as "Passive Controllers," Eckert's Southampton prioritizes structured, Italian-style defensive discipline and measured build-up over keeping the ball for the sake of it. Under his tenure, Southampton's average possession dropped significantly, generally operating at a much more balanced 51% to 54% possession. [1, 2, 3]

Tactical Comparison

Manager	Average Possession %	Tactical Style Classification
Russell Martin	65.9% – 66%	Attacking Engine / Possession-Dominant
Tonda Eckert	51% – 54%	Passive Controller / Defensive Discipline

[Saint Pete]

On 17/10/2026 at 23:33, SouthWalesSaints said:

 

Reading a lot of Tonda over complicated it tweets/messages etc. 

I’ll try my best to convey from a tactical view point why he has done this.  Again these elite managers are far advanced from me but i probably see it through their lens slightly more than the average joe. 
 

We’ve lined up today in a 4-4-2 because Bolton defend very uniquely. So they’ve condensed the pitch into a 15 meter pitch and aggressively high playing an offside defensive unit similar to that of the German Flick. I was really impressed with how high there line was, and credit them for that.  I’m presuming because of this Tonda has played strong sided wingers as Bolton wanted us to come inside where there was no room. Fellows and Matsuki from left and Scienza and Azaz at different times from the right.  Playing Azaz as a 10 is the same problem we can’t get three lines into their 15 yard defensive unit and they planned for this.  The other interesting thing was that Scienza started as a striker with Larin but kept getting to wide so they switched that in game but couldn’t work out how, fellows was poor he got caught far to many times.  First half it worked much better than second ironically as we were in complete control but we didn’t create enough clear cut chances. Scienzas aside. 
 

Losing Larin was an issue as we then couldn’t play more direct as the game progressed meaning they could stay higher from restarts and we couldn’t cross the ball late from deep as no one to hit, a big problem for the team and one I’ve called all season.
 

Was the same as wolves v Bolton midweek, no Jimenez and Armstrong the replacement, Bolton stopped them playing.  
 

Interestingly I watched Azaz for Ireland against Austria and he played in a deeper role something we’ve not seen loads of. I’d have preferred to see us start with him in with JWP and have two flying wingers on from the start. Edozie and Scienza with Larin + Dobbin. 
 

The biggest two misses were manning and Downes/Jander. We had no deep runners from midfield to break Boltons high line both Jander and Flynn would do that. And we really missed Manning’s quality to pick a pass.  Having no back up striker is an issue, we need to act on this in Jan.  I won’t stop telling anyone this.  Lincoln, Wrexham, Today - cost us at least 5 points so far this season. 

 

Positives for me - Dobbin and Edozie have had good weeks. Edozie should have had an assist for dobbin. Minus taking his chances I thought dobbin looked sharp. Can certainly play as a second striker. 

I get that there was a plan behind what Tonda did, but I think a lot of what you say above could have been achieved without moving so many of our key players out of their normal natural areas of the pitch. It seems like we totally uprouted most of what we do so well at home to counteract how the opposition play, which as some others have said is giving too much respect to a middling Championship opponent. We should be largely letting them worry about our many dangerous attacking weapons when we are at home. The same kind of thing was evident with the starting of 3 CMs in the Pompey game, which wasn't needed in my opinion vs a very average side. 

That said, I agree we had the chances to have won the game, but I still think it would have been a performance that could have been much better even if we had converted one of those opportunities and got the win. 

[die Mannyschaft]

9 hours ago, Saint Pete said:

I get that there was a plan behind what Tonda did, but I think a lot of what you say above could have been achieved without moving so many of our key players out of their normal natural areas of the pitch. It seems like we totally uprouted most of what we do so well at home to counteract how the opposition play, which as some others have said is giving too much respect to a middling Championship opponent. We should be largely letting them worry about our many dangerous attacking weapons when we are at home. The same kind of thing was evident with the starting of 3 CMs in the Pompey game, which wasn't needed in my opinion vs a very average side. 

That said, I agree we had the chances to have won the game, but I still think it would have been a performance that could have been much better even if we had converted one of those opportunities and got the win. 

Good analysis and from saint Peter. We do try to out tactic the opposition's tactics. 

[saintant]

1 hour ago, die Mannyschaft said:

Good analysis and from saint Peter. We do try to out tactic the opposition's tactics. 

I know we didn't beat Bolton but let's be honest we should have and Tonda can't be held accountable for missed chances and a bent referee. I quite like his tactical changes and would much prefer a coach who uses his brain and tries other options over one who does the same thing week in week out. He won't always get it right but will learn more this way than sticking to a rigid way of playing in every match.

[Saint86]

4 hours ago, saintant said:

I know we didn't beat Bolton but let's be honest we should have and Tonda can't be held accountable for missed chances and a bent referee. I quite like his tactical changes and would much prefer a coach who uses his brain and tries other options over one who does the same thing week in week out. He won't always get it right but will learn more this way than sticking to a rigid way of playing in every match.

At the moment, the difference between ourselves and Middlesbrough is a load of dodgy refereeing calls and the points deduction. Bit of a farce really. Hopefully it starts to even itself out otherwise we've got next to no chance of coming 2nd.

[saintant]

16 minutes ago, Saint86 said:

At the moment, the difference between ourselves and Middlesbrough is a load of dodgy refereeing calls and the points deduction. Bit of a farce really. Hopefully it starts to even itself out otherwise we've got next to no chance of coming 2nd.

Reading between the lines I get the feeling you think there may be an agenda at work against us 🙂

[saintant]

It's clear that Tonda believes a solid defence is the route to producing a winning side. Three clean sheets in a row suggests that he is succeeding. We now have the second best defensive record in the Championship. His task is to make sure this is not to the detriment of our goal scoring stats.

[Saint Garrett]

23 minutes ago, saintant said:

Reading between the lines I get the feeling you think there may be an agenda at work against us 🙂

I actually do think there is a sub-concious bias away from us personally. I thought the same on the opening weekend against Watford, ref gave them every single 50/50 or even 60/40 decision.

[saintant]

1 hour ago, Saint Garrett said:

I actually do think there is a sub-concious bias away from us personally. I thought the same on the opening weekend against Watford, ref gave them every single 50/50 or even 60/40 decision.

I don't believe officials are consciously treating us unfairly. However, when you watch back the penalty incident at the weekend with the ref looking at the lino and neither of them giving the blatant spot kick it does make you wonder.

[Saint86]

1 hour ago, Saint Garrett said:

I actually do think there is a sub-concious bias away from us personally. I thought the same on the opening weekend against Watford, ref gave them every single 50/50 or even 60/40 decision.

The number of times opposition players have been allowed to kick Scienza (in particular, but not exclusively) out of the game essentially without punishment is really poor. The penalty was also a shocking decision which obviously cost us points.

Conversely, boro have had at least 2 offside goals (i think both match winners) and were getting quite evident bias in the games i've watched (Stoke/cardiff).

Not saying the refereeing approaches towards both sides are related (as that would be a proper conspiracy), but we're already looking at a circa 4 point swing if you just take one offside goal and the penalty. Add in the bias vs cardiff (which they won), and other matches and its already adding up to a lot of points. Let alone with the 4 points deduction.

Unless the officiating luck balances out asap, or west ham's form drops off a cliff, we aren't getting 2nd.

Edited 38 minutes ago by Saint86