Last season was one of great promise for Southampton fans. The Saints returned to the Premier League after a seven year absence, and despite a slow start to their 2012/2013 campaign, eventually finished up rather comfortably and above expectations in 14th place.
But manager Mauricio Pochettino, Chairman Nicola Cortese and owner Katharina Liebherr are an ambitious bunch, and have capitalised on the club’s rapid momentum by investing £20million on new recruits this summer. Could the Saints push on next term and become one of the surprise packages of the Premier League’s top half? Or are there still too many obsacles standing in the Hampshere outfit’s way?
Southampton’s Premier League survival campaign hit a huge turning point in January, when former manager Nigel Adkins was controversially sacked in favour of Pochettino. The British footballing world was in shock; not only had Adkins overseen the Saints’ back-to-back promotions from League 1 to the top flight, but overall, in terms of results and performances, the first team were holding their own in the relegation scrap at the foot of the table, with important wins against QPR, Newcastle United and Aston Villa.
But the former Argentina international, who recently parted company with Espanyol, had an immediate effect, claiming a draw against Everton and a win against reigning Premier League champions Manchester City. Suddenly, the Saints emerged as a tight-knit, well-drilled and highly motivated outfit, with successive victories over Liverpool and Chelsea, accompanied by a sophisticated, positive and aesthetic brand of football along the way.
The summer purchases from 2012 were also beginning to off. Many baulked at the fees paid for Maya Yoshida, £3million from Dutch side Venlo, Jay Rodriguez, £7million from Burnley, and Uruguay international Gaston Ramirez, £12million from Bologna, but after a slow start and difficulties adapting to the English top flight, all three became mainstays in the first team. Ramirez finished the campaign with five goals and three assists from midfield, Rodriguez six goals and five assists up front, and Yoshida emerged as a reliable centre-back, despite the limited track record before his arrival at St. Mary’s.
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At the same time, the club’s pre-existing nucleus embraced the step-up, despite many of them joining the Saints in the lower tiers, or through the youth academy. Rickie Lambert headed the club’s scoring charts with 15 league goals (the seventh highest in the top flight) as well as five assists, whilst Morgan Schneiderlin was shortlisted for the PFA team of the season, contributing five goals from midfield and putting in regular dogged displays.
Free signing and promising youngster Nathaniel Clyne had an excellent debut campaign at right-back as his left-sided counterpart, 17 year old Luke Shaw, was linked in the tabloids to Chelsea, Manchester United and Manchester City. Jason Puncheon, Jack Cork and Adam Lallana, mainstays throughout Southampton’s promotion campaign, also made healthy and vital contributions.
It’s left the Saints with a strong squad ahead of next season, already well acquainted with each other, and all the better off from their year of staving off relegation. Perhaps most impressively though, and rather undocumented throughout last term, is the age of the players who underpinned Southampton’s successful campaign; Yoshida, Cork and Rodriguez are just 24, Schneiderlin ,23, Clyne and Ramirez, 22, Lallana, 25, and as previously mentioned, Shaw is still a teenager. The youthful bunch show promise and potential for growth, whilst the Saints management’s ambitious nature appears to be rubbing off on the roster, with regular all-or-nothing displays against the Premier League’s top clubs.
But as previously mentioned, the board aren’t stopping there. They put their money where their mouth is last summer, spending a total of around £30million on new players, and their stance hasn’t changed this year. The Saints have already pulled off two major coups in the signings of Victor Wanyama and Dejan Lovren, both inkeeping with the youthful theme at St. Mary’s, and both players previously linked to other clubs of much higher calibre and reputation.
Wanyama was mentioned in the same breath as Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal after putting in exceptional displays in the Champions League, as well as the SPL last term. The 22 year old is an absolute beast of a central midfielder, with a 6 foot 2 frame and considerable power and strength. His ten goals in 61 domestic appearances throughout two years in the Scottish top flight demonstrate Wanyama’s abilities in the air, whilst he came away from seven Champions League performances last season averaging four tackles, 1.3 interceptions and 3.6 clearances per game, as well as an 81% pass completion ratio.
There’s often a stigmatism with former SPL players jumping ship to the Premier League, and the £12million investment still represents either a sizable risk or the utmost faith on Southampton’s part. But like the Saints roster, Wanyama is ambitious, young and hungry to succeed, and has already plied his trade at Champions League and international level. The Kenyan, who received his first cap in 2007, also provides some physicality, aggression, defensive nous and height to Southampton’s midfield, that was absent on occasion last season amid the first team’s knack for positive play.
Dejan Lovren too, is a major step forward for the South coast club. The Croatian international, like Wanyama, had been linked to a number of major Premier League outfits after impressing at Lyon since his arrival in 2010. The 24 year old is regarded as one of Europe’s most promising young defensive talents who, unlike many of his counterparts of similar age, comes with considerable experience, with over 200 competitive appearances throughout his career, two domestic titles with Dynamo Zagreb and a Coupe de France with Lyon.
The 6 foot 2 centre-back is a Europa League regular, and along with Wanyama, brings the experience, talent and ambition required to make it to the continental stage. Furthermore, he addresses one of the biggest criticisms of the Saints’ spending last summer, where there was an imbalance between the amounts invested on attackers in comparison to defenders.
According to the tabloids at least, there could be more signings to follow. Due to the Saints’ growing reputation as transfer market enthusiasts, they’ve been linked with a host of talented strikers, including Pablo Osvaldo – a 27 year old Italy international who has 50 goals in 104 appearances for his last two clubs and worked with Pochettino at Espanyol – who could be available for a pittance of his worth considering Roma’s dire financial situation, as well as former Tottenham target Leandro Damiao. Now that would be an intriguing revelation in his long-anticipated move-to-Europe saga, but most importantly, it would mean the Southampton management have brought in a stellar individual, whose quality, ability and reputation exceed that of the current personnel, in every department.
At the same time however, Cortese and Pochettino will have a fight to hold onto what they’ve already got. Ramirez is highly rated in Italy from his time with Bologna, and is apparently in Inter Milan’s crosshairs. The Saints don’t need the money, as we can tell from this summer’s activity, but the midfielder himself may be unable to resist the call from the San Siro. Similarly, the prospect of Rickie Lambert has interested several Premier League clubs, including West Ham who are hell-bent on improving their striker options, and the Saints may find an offer too good to refuse, considering the striker is now 31 years of age.
Furthermore, Southampton’s immediate divisional arrivals are heavily re-arming too. Norwich, who finished three places above the Saints last term, have been spending lavishly this summer on promising talents, including Ricky Van Wolfswinkel, who signed for the Canaries in a record-breaking £8.5million deal after successful spells at Utrecht and Sporting Lisbon, as well as former Everton target Leroy Fer, Celtic star Gary Hooper, hotly-tipped starlet Nathan Redmond and Blackburn man Martin Olsson. By my reckoning, Chris Haughton’s boys are set for a strong campaign.
Similarly, Aston Villa have continued their transfer policy of signing youngsters with a point to prove, bringing in Jores Okore, Antonio Luna and Nicklas Helenius, but perhaps most importantly also keeping hold of Christian Benteke, whilst Swansea City, Everton and Liverpool, the biggest threat to Southampton breaking into the top half, have also been busy in the transfer market so far, although they could all end up with weaker squads than last season by the end of August, should the likes of Luis Suarez, Marouane Fellaini, Leighton Baines or Michu be pinched by higher powers from their respective clubs.
On the pitch too, the Saints still require some intrinsic improvements. Trumping the Premier League’s top sides creates unforgettable moments, but cannot be relied upon as a steady supply of points. If Southampton wish to improve enough to get into the Premier League’s top ten, there will have to be greater consistency against the middle-order and lesser teams, with worrying defeats to West Brom, Newcastle, Wigan, QPR, Sunderland and West Ham, as well as stale draws against Stoke, Fulham, Everton and Norwich.
But the new signings could address the first team’s inconsistency, and the acquisitions of Lovren and Wanyama should not be taken lightly. Both possess the ability to drastically improve the Saints next season, whilst Pochettino and Cortese should be commended for adding to a nucleus of young talent with two well-invested, astute signings that could have easily ended up at clubs in the Premier League’s top half, rather than diluting their finance and quality of roster by bringing in numerous, cheaper players.
The club and the first team are in an incredibly healthy position, with talent and youth throughout, an ambitious manager in the dug-out, and an ambitious chairman in the boardroom. The Saints have spent big on a select few, but their faith in Lovren and Wanyama could pay off dividends. I tip Southampton for a top half finish next term, although a Europa League place remains out of their reach barring qualification through the cup competitions, as the club’s momentum continues to grow year upon year.
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