Ralph Hasenhuttl
RALPH Hasenhuttl has insisted that struggling Adam Armstrong is not under pressure to perform now with Saints and that he is “absolutely convinced” of the striker’s talent. The 24-year-old forward, who turns 25 next week, is taking time to adapt to the standard of the Premier League despite netting 28 Championship strikes in 40 matches last campaign.
Ralph Hasenhuttl said:“When I remember the first year of Che Adams here, I think at this time of year he didn’t have one goal. When you compare Adam with him then it’s a good start! It takes a little bit longer as a striker to adapt to the Premier League. This league is really tough. Some do it quicker, some take a little bit longer. But I’m absolutely convinced he is a player who will score a lot of goals for us in the future. So we will give him the time and when he gets time to play, he shows that he can help us. I remember some really good games he played so far. But what is also clear is that this season we have a lot of duels up front with Broj, Che, Nathan Tella, Longy. Even Reddy and Theo played up front. There’s a lot of quality up front and it’s not so easy to get in the starting XI.”
Adam Armstrong on his performance yesterday: “Yeah, you know as a striker you’re always going to get chances, but you’re not always going to put them away. But it means that when I put them away it’ll be a nice feeling and I can’t wait to get going.”
The number nine, who comes across as a shy and quiet character in media interactions, can take confidence in knowing that Hasenhuttl’s words are genuine. Under the Austrian, he will be afforded the time to come good on the club’s £15million investment. He was unlucky not to score more at the very start of the season, and there was that Manchester City penalty too. Hasenhuttl was then asked whether Armstrong seeks advice from Adams, who will relate to his start at Staplewood.
Ralph Hasenhuttl admitted: “Maybe, I don’t know how much they talk about this topic. I think it is well known here that some players get all the time they need to adapt. I remember (Mohammed) Salisu had nearly three-quarters of a year before he was playing for us for the first time. We see Adam like all the other players as a long-term project. We want to invest in him, we want to make him better. We want him to learn and get better and give him all the time he needs. I think this is the perfect spot to be in this club because there is no stress. We try to help them. We see that he is willing to learn and this is a good combination.”
