Opinion : Three things to like from Aribo's friendly debut for Southampton against Leipzig

Arguably the biggest Nigerian transfer story so far this summer transfer window, Joe Aribo has made his friendly debut for his new club Southampton against German club Leipzig today.
 

The Saints started their pre-season tour with a defeat against RB Leipzig with goals from Angelino, Forsberg and a long-range powered effort from Moriba enough to seal the win for the German side.

Southampton were only able to grab a consolation goal through Adam Armstrong who flicked a header in off the post.

Despite the game ending in a defeat for Southampton, there were many things to like about Aribo's performance and three of them will be highlighted below.

Combinational play

In the 8th minute of the game, Aribo showed great combinational play by interchanging with his teammates in quick one-twos with that sequence of play ending up in a cracking shot from Diallo.

Aribo's energy, balance and technique all came to the fore in that single sequence.

Pressing

As he usually did while at Rangers, Aribo tried to lead the press from the front. While he was largely unsuccessful due to Southampton's incoherent pressing scheme which still needs a lot of work.

Understanding with Walker-Peters
 

It is not yet known if Aribo would be deployed in the centre of midfield or on the right side very often. However, one obvious thing was that he quickly forged an understanding with Saints right-back Kyle Walker-Peters.

Partnerships are important in football and Ralph Hasenhüttl may look to build on this one.

While it is still early stages and everything hasn't been done at the top end, the signs are definitely likeable and Aribo would be hoping to make more impressions.

Sofoluwe Mayowa

Photo Credit : southamptonfc.com

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