SEKOU Mara will have hoped for more from his first appearance in a Saints shirt, even if it was only a friendly match acting solely to bring him up to speed with his teammates.

But to judge the youngster, who just turned 20-years-old yesterday, on a slow start versus one of the best defensive teams in the world is little short of absurdity.

Only three teams conceded fewer goals than Villarreal (37), semi-finalists of the 2021-22 Champions League and managed by tactician Unai Emery, in La Liga this season – despite finishing seventh.

They kept clean sheets versus both Juventus and Bayern Munich en-route to the clash with Liverpool, which the Reds eventually won in a relatively comfortable manner.

It is true to say that Mara, who arrived from French Ligue 1 side Bordeaux this week, touched the ball only half-a-dozen times in his first 45 minutes of football at St Mary’s.

Daily Echo: Sekou Mara made an immediate start in his first Saints appearance (Pic: Matt Temple)Sekou Mara made an immediate start in his first Saints appearance (Pic: Matt Temple)

On three occasions, he retained possession well. There were two wayward touches which conceded the ball to the Spanish visitors.

Mara’s first touch, seven minutes into the contest, was well composed and he showed a trick or two to keep the ball in a congested area to play to Kyle Walker-Peters.

Standing at six-foot tall, Mara was added to the group in order to bring some much needed physicality to the attack. 

Although he was unable to win any of his aerial duels, in open play or while tasked with standing at the front-post for Ward-Prowse’s corners, he showed something positive.

Half-an-hour into the contest Mara got into a physical battle with former Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Etienne Capoue, muscling his compatriot out and stabbing to Romeo Lavia.

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Strike partners Stuart Armstrong and Mara interchanged across the front line but it would always be the Scot who gravitated towards the ball.

Mara understandably, perhaps, nervous to get a foot on and potentially make an error. We have all hid from the ball in matches, but we are not all looking to be a Premier League forward.

On the other side of the coin, Armstrong wants to be on the ball stitching it together while Mara, even with Bordeaux, struggled to link up play and solely found his success from end-product.

Chances to shoot will be harder to come by at this level, and a team as organised as Villarreal are a good first test to showcase that to the promising young forward.

Mara almost had the chance for a first towards the very end of the half, following James Ward-Prowse’s direct free-kick that had bobbled into the area, but the defence were too sharp.

It was instead the pressing area of the game in which manager Ralph Hasenhuttl insisted Mara had the most to learn, when speaking to the Daily Echo after the match.

“The game doesn’t start when you get the ball, the game starts when the opponent has it. This is the thing he has to learn but it is also not surprising because this is different,” he said.

Inside four minutes, Mara was half a stagnant front pair allowing the visitors plenty of time on the ball, keen to not be played through by the composed outfit.

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Recognising the triggers to press, cutting the right passing lanes and not ball chasing, is something that comes with time – Mara has been in the country less than two weeks.

It was only after Yeremy Pino’s opener inside the first quarter-of-an-hour did Mara show some urgency, perhaps irked by the goal coming from a counter-attack in which Walker-Peters was unable to find the Frenchman in the area.

Mara began to hunt down the ball, including chasing a breaking Villarreal midfielder deep into the Saints half, to the praise of the coaches on the sideline.

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But there were probably occasions where Mara could have smelled blood, with goalkeeper Pepe Reina afforded almost 10 seconds with the crowd getting on his back.

Twice, Mara was marking the wide option – on either side, on each occasion – and shutting down a potential outlet for Reina well before yellow shirts made errors under pressure.

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Although Tino Livramento played just 45 minutes of pre-season before being thrust in at the start versus Everton last season, I would not expect to see the same with young Mara.

“Last season with (Armando) Broja it was the same, it took him minimum three/four weeks until he knew what it was about playing up front here,” Hasenhuttl added.

Mara will be pushed by Hasenhuttl and the coaching staff to improve on the aspects on the game he has not yet mastered.

Similarly to Broja, in a team that creates limited chances, Mara will likely have to carve a significant portion of his own to match his shooting stats from France. 

Broja was used four times as a substitute in the Premier League before he made his first start, scoring versus Leeds United at St Mary’s.

Meanwhile, Hasenhuttl already revealed that Saints will be looking to bring in at least another forward – adding there is no rush, with the window open until September.

Joe Aribo, for example, hopes to make an instant impact going forward – but it will not be instant. He has already had five pre-season matches to acclimatise to the team.

It could take Mara a similar sum of minutes and weeks before we get the glimpses of what Saints believe the prolific youth international is truly capable of.

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