SAINTS manager Ralph Hasenhuttl admits he sometimes leaves his players without knowing the team selection until up to two hours before kick-off.
Ralph Hasenhuttl said: “Not always but there are some games where the finding of the starting XI is a journey through the whole week. And we have a lot of opportunities that can be sometimes an advantage. Sometimes it is structured a little bit because you have so many options and you think what is the best to take and if you don’t have any options, it’s easier if you pick the XI you have. But we have more than this and it’s sometimes a very hard decision to take for me, but also for the players. But in the end I have to take it and I’m responsible for the result. I’m responsible for this, for the 11 and this is the job you have to do. Sometimes we, in the final session, don’t show them exactly who’s playing on the next day so they don’t know it and then they know it two hours before the game. It’s enough.”
Asked if that would not drive him mad as a player himself,
Ralph Hasenhuttl responded: “Sometimes it’s good for you – it depends on the player. Some players are good when they don’t know it because they put themselves under so much pressure. Others maybe need to know it. But most of them know – it is more about one or two positions.”
