"Welcome to Ralphampton," read the poster - a play on words by a sponsor, sure, but also a portent of the stunning effect the Austrian would soon have on a south coast team which, improbably, is threatening to break into English soccer's established elite.

Southampton currently sit in third place in the standings - behind only Liverpool and Tottenham - and are under the radar no more.

Hasenhuttl vowed to push his players "to their limits" when presented as Southampton manager almost exactly two years ago, and he has been true to his word.

He's been nicknamed by some "The Klopp of the Alps" because of his similarities to Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp in the high-energy approach he likes his teams to adopt.

It's typified by central midfielder Oriol Romeu, who has won more tackles and made more ball recoveries than any player in the Premier League.

Oriol's fellow central midfielder, James Ward-Prowse, may not only be the best set-piece taker in the league but his work rate is also such that he has had the second most touches of any player in the league.

Hasenhuttl has turned Southampton into a well-organised, pressing machine as Arsenal's players found out on Wednesday when they were given the runaround at home in a match from which they escaped with a 1-1 draw.

"You can feel that a lot of teams have respect for what we are doing and how we are playing," Hasenhuttl said, "and this is a good message for the players."

Under Hasenhuttl, Southampton have been able to pin opponents back and force turnovers in dangerous areas with an aggressive 4-2-2-2 formation.

Given Manchester City's regression as a pressing unit, the comparison in this area could be intriguing when the teams meet at St. Mary's on Saturday.

"We like to be the pirate - it's more fun than to join the Navy," Hasenhuttl said last month. "It's definitely something we can use every day and makes it fun to go and grab some points from the big teams."

The most notorious challenge Southampton have had to overcome was the 9-0 home loss to Leicester in October 2019 that will go down as one of the darkest days in the club's history.

But they bounced back to finish the season ninth and this term, after a 2-0 home win over Newcastle last month, Southampton even ended a day in first place in England's top division for the first time since 1988.

In this strangest of seasons being played largely without fans, and when any team can seemingly beat anyone else, why can't 'Ralphampton' last the pace?

Under Hasenhuttl, anything appears possible.

Australian Associated Press