This article is part of Football FanCast’s The Chalkboard series, which provides a tactical insight into teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Back in the glory days under Mauricio Pochettino and Ronald Koeman, Southampton were a well-oiled attacking machine with some star names terrifying the opposition on a weekly basis.

The St Mary’s faithful were treated to the likes of Sadio Mane, Dusan Tadic, Adam Lallana, Rickie Lambert, Graziano Pelle and others, all of whom have since moved on to pastures new.

Nowadays, the Saints are a stale outfit in terms of their attacking ability.

Under Ralph Hasenhuttl this season, Southampton have scored the third-least goals in the Premier League with just ten in 11 games.

This is partly down to the former RB Leipzig boss being too defensive with his team selections, opting for a five-man or three-man backline with wing-backs on eight occasions so far this term, in systems that can only accommodate two forwards when combined with playing three central midfielders.

So, how can the Austrian make his side more expansive going forward? Here are two ways…

Switch to 4-3-3

Looking at this lineup on paper, you would struggle to see this XI suffer relegation.

Hasenhuttl has actually used a 4-3-3 system once in the league this season – in the 4-1 defeat to Chelsea – although he quickly threw that idea in the bin and hasn’t revisited it since, which was perhaps a hasty decision given the Blues’ quality.

With Moussa Djenepo, Danny Ings and either Nathan Redmond or Sofiane Boufal in attack, as well as a midfield three of Oriol Romeu, James Ward-Prowse and Pierre-Emile Højbjerg, there is a decent blend of defensive awareness and attacking inventiveness throughout the six of them.

Trust the 4-2-2-2

The 4-2-2-2 formation is something that Hasenhuttl has used on four occasions this season, with his side winning two and drawing one of those matches.

Transfermarkt states that it is the Austrian’s preferred formation, so why doesn’t he just stick with it?

Of course, it would need one minor tweak as James Ward-Prowse – a man who we detailed as potentially being a casualty of the system – lacks the pace required to play on the right wing, but other than that, Hasenhuttl should place his trust in this formation.

Strangely, he hasn’t used it since the 3-1 defeat to Bournemouth – the only loss suffered using this system so far this season.