Minamino’s goalscoring debut was one of the only positives Southampton could take home on Saturday after they succumbed to a 3-2 defeat to a nine-man Newcastle United.
Former Saints skipper Hammond has heaped praise on the Liverpool attacker for how he took his goal against the Magpies, lauding the player’s first touch and finish.
The Englishman was also impressed with Minamino’s awareness, movement and intelligence and was satisfied with what he saw from the 26-year-old, but feels he lost steam towards the end of the game.
Hammond also explained that Minamino showed signs of the class player he can become and is confident that the Liverpool loanee will score more goals for the Saints.
“I think you’re definitely seeing more goals from him“, Hammond said on Southampton’s The Final Whistle podcast.
“I think he did okay, I think the pitch hindered him [in the] second-half because the ball didn’t quite move as quick as he would have liked.
“But, he was neat and tidy, his awareness was very, very good, use of both feet, very, very intelligent in his movement.
“I think, first-half, when Nathan Redmond tried to slide him in with the outside of his right foot, he made a really good run across the box, so his movement is intelligent.
“Obviously for the goal, again his positioning, he was kind of playing in that number 10 role, that 9 role, moved across unaware and his first touch is fantastic, into the box, and then a great strike at the near post with his weaker foot, his left foot.
“So, he did okay and you can see that there is definitely signs of him being a class player, a class act and I think he will be really effective.
“Second-half, I think, towards the end, he ran out of a little bit of steam, couldn’t quite get the ball into the pocket because it was very very congested and crowded in the middle.
“But, did okay for his debut and obviously giving his confidence a world of good with scoring an excellent goal on his debut.“
Having scored a goal on his Southampton debut, Minamino will now be looking to add more to the tally and help the Saints bounce back from their five-game losing streak in the league.
