Southampton - Expected Line-Ups 13 August 2016

[FootballWriter1]

Report below written 2 August. Further updates to come in the run-up to Southampton's home match v Watford on Saturday 13 August at 3pm.

Club Review

Last season was one of the best in Southampton's history, as they finished 6th in the Premier League, just 3 points behind Champions League football. They played great football, especially at the end of the season, when they recorded just 1 loss in their last 10 league games, winning 7 and drawing 2 games. Results against the bigger clubs showed how good Southampton were playing last season. They beat Arsenal 4-0, Chelsea 3-1, United 1-0, Liverpool 3-2, City 4-2 and Tottenham 2-1 and this just shows how good they were last season. With Ronald Koeman in charge, Southampton played brilliant football and no one had an easy game against them.

After the season ended, some major things in this club have changed. First and the most important thing is that Koeman is no longer the manager of the Saints. Ronald Koeman after finishing 6th with this team last season, took the job as manager with Everton who finished 11th in the previous season. Also a few of their best and key players left. First one was the defensive midfielder Victor Wanyama who joined Tottenham for around 12 million pounds. After him, Sadio Mane, the player who scored the most goals last season for Southampton – 15, left to join Liverpool for around 35 million pounds and their main and best striker Graziano Pelle went to China, to secure himself for life financially, for around 13 million pounds.

This will surely effect the team a lot this season, because they have to turn to other players now and to build a team around them. They appointed Claude Puel as their new manager. They did an amazing job getting this man, former Monaco, Lille, Nice and Lyon manager who took that team (Lyon) to Champions League semifinals for the first time in the team history. It will be interesting to see how will he handle the situation and the pressure in England, because he was a manager only of Ligue 1 teams. I think they made a right choice with this one and they will not regret too much letting Koeman go. It will be extremely hard for the club in the new season without their key players. They have signed Nathan Redmond from Norwich for around 10 million pounds, very young and promising player but has been inconsistent. He is just 22 years old and played in 35 games last season for Norwich scoring 6 goals and assisting 3. He plays in the winger position but in the preseason games, Puel played him in the striker position with Long. They made another signing, former Bayern Munich player Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg who signed a five-year deal for around 13 million pounds. Another very young (20 years old) and talented player that fits their system and plays in midfield position. They also signed a defender from Nice, Jeremy Pied, and goalkeeper, Alex McCarthy, from Crystal Palace as substitute for Forster. Also very important thing for the club is that Shane Long, Ryan Bertrand, Steven Davis, Fraser Forster, James Ward-Prowse and Virgil van Dijk all signed new contract extensions with the club.

Defence

An unusual thing happened for Southampton last season: four different goalkeepers played in the Premier League, Fraser Forster, Maarten Stekelenburg, Paulo Gazzaniga and Kelvin Davis. Forster is their main and the best goalkeeper in their squad. In March 2015 he had very severe knee injury and was out for 10 months until finally coming back against Watford in January this season. After his comeback, he played 18 games and had 6 clean sheets in those games. He played for 708 minutes without conceding the goal and set a new team record. They were in the top 5 for the least goals conceded the past season and I think if he stays healthy for the season, they can improve and be even better. As I said, they confirmed the transfer of Alex McCarthy, an experienced goalkeeper from Crystal Palace who will only play when Forster is injured as was the case this season.

The Saints have one of the best and experienced defences in the Premier League. New European champion with Portugal, Jose Fonte is captain and true leader of this team. This 32 years old centre back is very proven defender and won Saints player of the year award in the 2014/2015 season. He is a member of Southampton from 2010 and made 243 appearances for the team and even scored 15 goals. Last season he played in 37 games in the Premier league, missing only one game and scored 3 goals. His centre back partner was and still is Virgin van Dijk, 25 years old Dutchman who came to Southampton last season from Celtic and made a huge impact on the team in his first season. Another fact that shows that defence is the main part of Saints’ game is him winning the player of the season award last season. He partnered Fonte in 34 games and won the heart of the fans with the hard work he immediately put in when he came to the club and his eye for a goal. This was their first year together and if they continue to make progress, Southampton will have a much easier job winning games. Their substitutions are Maya Yoshida who can also play at right back position and Florin Gardos who is currently injured.

Ryan Bertrand, a 26 year old Englishman plays at the left back position and is pretty consistent. That fact got him a call-up to the England National Team at the Euros 2016 and he played in one game. He had a great season, playing 32 games and getting the job done on the defensive end of the pitch. His substitute was a very young player and big talent Matt Targett who is just 20 years old. A bright future is ahead for this player and the new manager will surely use him more. On the other side, the right back position used two players Cedric Soares, who won the Euros with Portugal and Cuco Martina. Soares is 24 years old and Koeman used him more in the first half of the season, while Martina played more at the end. They combined for 5 assists in the season and did great job defensively but also offensively which reflected a lot in The Saints’ game. The new manager has brought in right-back Pied on a free transfer who he has worked with in France.

Midfield

Southampton have had some great midfield players over the past seasons (Lallana, Schneiderlin, Mane) who have moved on. After Mane and Wanyama left (their key midfield players), Saints are now trying to find new players to shine in those positions. Players in these positions are mostly young and very talented. One of them is their new signing from Bayern Munich, Hojbjerg, who managed to score a goal in the preseason win over Zwolle 4-0. Another very young, promising and talented player who could turn into a star is James Ward-Prowse who is captain of the England U/21s. This 21-year old player had a lot of space under Koeman, playing in 33 games last season but mostly as a sub (in 19 games came off the bench) and is a good dead-ball kicker. He got much needed experience for his development and this could be his season and time to shine, now that Mane and Wanyama left. In those 33 games he scored 2 and assisted 4 goals, showing great touch and vision on the field. Just like Hojbjerg, he also managed to score in preseason, scoring the first goal in their first preseason match and win over DC United 2-0. This kid could easily turn into a big star and all he needs is a lot of playing time and he will show what he is capable of doing.

One of the best players from last season who stayed in Southampton this summer is Dusan Tadic. This offensive winger is a piece of art and he had great season last year playing in 34 Premier League matches. That was enough for him to score 7 and to assist 12 goals, which took him to spot no.3 in the most assists list last season. After the departure of Mane, he will have much needed space in attack and will definitely produce much more next season. I’m expecting him to be Saints’ best player with more than 15 assists in Premier League if the strikers perform. Well, he is surely capable of doing that. Another player that could shine in the new system and take the opportunity is defensive midfielder, Oriol Romeu. This former Chelsea player didn’t have much of a season last year, playing in 29 games and scoring just one single goal. He is still quite young, and with 24 years on his shoulders he still has time to improve and prove doubters wrong. This could be the crucial season of this career, where he will show his full potential and talent. Someone who is older and more experienced among these youngsters is Steven Davis. The vice-captain of the team is a member from 2012 as he made 135 appearances for the club and scored 9 goals. He had a great season, starting 31 games and playing 34 in total with a big contribution for the team with 5 goals and 3 assists. He is much needed to this team for his experience and mentor leadership on the pitch among young players. Southampton have two more midfield players, Jordy Clasie who is a 25 year old Dutchman bought by Koeman in 2015 (who had worked with him at Feyenoord) who played 22 games last season and the very young 21 years old Harrison Reed who is yet to show his abilities. Newcomer from Norwich, Redmond is also a midfielder but a very attacking one and the new manager used him as a striker in preseason, which worked pretty well as he scored twice in a win over Zwolle.

Strikers

Southampton have three very good and experienced strikers. We will first talk about Jay Rodriguez. Amazing player, amazing striker with incredible abilities but had a terrible injury in 2014 which caused him to stay off the pitch for 16 months. After that kind of injury you just can’t be the same and Jay is definitely not the same one after it. In 2013/2014 season he scored 15 goals for Southampton and got a call-up for England squad at the 2014 World Cup, but the ligaments injury turned his life around. He than missed the whole 2014/2015 season and in last season he played only 12 matches. I hope he stays out of injuries and wish him all the best in finding his old form back. A few days ago, The Saints signed a new four-years deal with Shane Long. This 29 year old player from the Republic of Ireland is a member of the team since 2014 when he came from Hull City. He played 60 matches since then in a Southampton shirt and scored 15 goals. He had a very good last season, playing with Pelle in 28 games, scoring 10 goals and assisting 4. His stats aren’t bad at all and with more free space this year, he could get even more goals. The best is saved for the last. Southampton signed a great striker and player last season, Charlie Austin, who came from QPR. A player with impressive stats in his two former clubs, scoring 86 goals in the Premier League and Championship in 164 games. Now that Pelle left, he should be their new number one choice at striker position and I think he can repeat his season with QPR in Premier league when he scored 18 goals. He now has even better players behind him and is much better and improved player.

Summary

Southampton had a great preseason, playing and winning all four of them. Nine goals in four matches and just one conceded shows that Southampton even with a much different team and new manager will still be a threat to everyone. For this upcoming season I expect them around 7th position and to fight for their spot in the Europa League. I think they will definitely beat a few big clubs and make difficult for them in the Champions League race. The Saints will continue their same policy for the next season and that is developing youngsters and shaping them into great players.

Claude Puel is having a nice start at his new club and the formation that he uses is 4-4-2 and I think that suits the best with:

Forster(McCarthy)
Soares(Pied/Martina), Fonte(Yoshida), van Dijk(Yoshida), Bertrand(Targett)
Redmond/Romeu*, Ward-Prowse(Clasie), Davis(Hojbjerg), Tadic(Rodriguez)
Long(Redmond) Austin(Rodriguez)

* depending how defensive/attacking the manager wants to be - Ward-Prowse to shift out to the right if Romeu plays defensive central midfield

Players to look for in fantasy football :

Fraser Forster – The Saints have one of the best defences in the League and when Forster came back from injury that defence was even better. Now that he is healthy and ready for the new season I think he will make the top 5 list for the most saves in the season. He made a new team record with 708 minutes without conceding the goal and won a lot of points for his club. I think if you don’t want to spend a lot of points on goalkeeper than Forster is your best choice and you won’t regret it.

James Ward-Prowse – This youngster played great last season and this is a breakthrough season for him. He should definitely get a lot of playing time with the departure of some high quality players and I think he has a big potential and talent and has shown his strong mentality by being captain of England U/21s. All he needs is playing time and he will show the world that he could turn into a star one day. Not a lot of people have heard of him but this kid will be for me one of the biggest surprises for the upcoming season in the Premier League.

Charlie Austin – Very underrated and classy striker who will score a lot of goals this season. Now that Pelle went to China, he has a lot of free space and will enjoy a lot of playing time this upcoming season. Two years ago while he was a member of Queens Park Rangers he scored 18 goals in the season, but now that he is surrounded with the best teammates that he had in his whole career, we will see the true value of Charlie Austin. He is one of my underdogs for the Premier League most goals scored award and I have no doubt that he will find the back of the net many times.

Great news for Southampton is that they don’t have any significant injuries and all players are available for the new manager Claude Puel.

[FootballWriter1]

5 July: DC United Under-23s 0-2 Southampton (Washington DC, US). Goals: Ward-Prowse, Rodriguez

23 July: PEC Zwolle 0-4 Southampton (Netherlands). Goals; Austin, Redmond 2, Hojbjerg

27 July: FC Twente 1-2 Southampton (Netherlands). Goals: Gallagher, Van Dijk

30 July: FC Groningen 0-1 Southampton (Netherlands). Goal: Austin

7 August: Athletic Bilbao (St Mary's)

[admin]

Southampton's 1st 10 EPL fixtures:

Southampton V Watford
Sat 13 Aug 15:00
Man Utd V Southampton
Fri 19 Aug 20:00
Southampton V Sunderland
Sat 27 Aug 15:00
Arsenal V Southampton
Sat 10 Sep 15:00
Southampton V Swansea
Sun 18 Sep 14:15
West Ham V Southampton
Sun 25 Sep 16:00
Leicester V Southampton
Sat 1 Oct 15:00
Southampton V Burnley
Sat 15 Oct 15:00
Man City V Southampton
Sat 22 Oct 15:00
Southampton V Chelsea
Sat 29 Oct 15:00

[happyhoppy]

Didn't think we are allwoed to list fixtures for fear of breaching copyright? Is this the case or not as I would like to list them in my Survivor predcition game.

[admin]

Didn't think we are allwoed to list fixtures for fear of breaching copyright? Is this the case or not as I would like to list them in my Survivor predcition game.

Listing fixtures is fine now after recent court decisions.

[FootballWriter1]

Preseason Friendly : Southampton 1-0 Athletic Bilbao (Long)

Southampton head coach Claude Puel expects captain Jose Fonte to remain at the club this season.

[FootballWriter1]

Southampton striker Sam Gallagher is close to joining Blackburn on a season-long loan deal.

[FootballWriter1]

Claude Puel is confident captain Jose Fonte will stay at Southampton, despite reported interest from Manchester United.

[DelR]

Ryan Bertrand is expected to miss Saturday's game with injury.

Derek

[admin]

So based on the above and comments on SkySports, I think the line-up today could be:

Forster
Cedric Soares (fitness test), Fonte (fitness test), van Dijk, Targett (as Bertrand injured)
3 from Romeu, Ward-Prowse, Clasie, Davis or Hojbjerg.
Redmond (maybe playing as 2nd striker) & Tadic
Long

Austin to be used from the bench.

[FootballWriter1]

Premier League : Game 1 - Southampton vs Watford 1-1 (Redmond 58', Capoue 9')

[fred1266]

Any word on Betrand

[admin]

Line-up was:

F Forster, C Soares (J Pied, 79), M Yoshida, V van Dijk yellow card, M Targett, D Tadic, O Romeu, J Ward-Prowse (P Hojbjerg, 55), S Davis, N Redmond, S Long (C Austin, 83)
Subs not used: J Fonte, A McCarthy, J Clasie, J Rodriguez

Bertrand may be back in a week or two from his knee injury but won't play tonight. Maybe a couple of changes to last weekend's starting line-up but Redmond & Long expected to continue up front and many fantasy managers will be watching how winger turned striker, Redmond, performs.