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Southampton fans who may have had some renewed optimism in 2019 after Ralph Hasenhuttl’s appointment will have been brought down back to earth with the Saints failing to pick up a win in their last five games of the season, making the need for fresh blood this summer apparent.
If the south coast outfit are to realise their top-ten ambitions under their mercurial new manager, then they need to establish an XI that will ensure they can dominate games from start to finish. Southampton led 21 times in 2018/19 but won just nine of those games, losing five and drawing seven – the worst ratio in the league.
This has been in parts due to poor finishing; lack of chances created; a drop-off in intensity and a high number of individual errors leading to goals, none of which are easy to control. However there is something Hasenhuttl can do to give his side their best chance of improving on this glaring weakness next campaign – by reverting back to the 4-2-2-2 system that served him so well at Leipzig where he won 41 of 83 games.
Bringing in Aleksandar Mitrovic, whom the Saints have been linked with for a reported fee of £30m, will give the St Mary’s outfit the kind of bullish, physical presence up front that Hasenhuttl found success with in the Bundesliga.
Big man Youssuf Poulsen partnered speedster Timo Werner up front for Hasenhuttl’s Leipzig – the perfect thunder and lightning combination, and the Austrian will do well to encourage a similar combination at Southampton. Danny Ings now joins permanently from Liverpool for an initial £18m and this pairing could fire the Saints to glory in 2019/20.
Of course there’s a place for Nathan Redmond – Saints’ player of the year – while James Ward-Prowse provides the genius creation from out wide that Hasenhuttl had in Emil Forsberg across the channel.
Most important of all, though, are the defensive-midfield duo: Oriol Romeu and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg. The industrious pairing are the foundations of the team, allowing the front four to do what they do best with minimal defensive responsibilities.
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Spaniard Romeu will have no qualms sitting deep and mopping up, while captain Hojbjerg’s iron lungs allow him to cover every blade of grass on the pitch. This steel wall in front of the back four will be crucial if the Saints are to hang onto their leads next year.
Yan Valery has impressed greatly in 2019 and should be first-choice right-back for the next few years at least, while the pairing of a resurgent Jan Bednarek and behemoth Jannik Vestergaard leaves no room for error-prone Jack Stephens nor veteran Maya Yoshida.
Angus Gunn might have a mistake in him, as the Terriers’ Alex Pritchard found out to his benefit on the final day, but he’s streets ahead of Fraser Forster and he could become a shrewd signing for Southampton in the years to come.