Goalkeepers

The season started with Alex McCarthy being given the nod as first choice
goalkeeper, which was a bit of a surprise to many including me, who thought
Fraser Forster had been the better of the two at the tail end of last season.  However, it was McCarthy from the start and in the main he did pretty well but
as usual with goalkeepers you only really remember the horror shows and there
were two of those. The first was away at Norwich, who at that point had hardly
won a game and Alex, uncharacteristically it has to be said, threw in two horrendous
goals by basically doing an impression of a falling tree.  The next shocker was in the home game against
Brighton when, having just signed a new contract in secret (more on that later)
he played on when injured, when we still had a substitution left to make and
ultimately, couldn’t move to make any attempt at saving Neal Maupay‘s 94th
minute equaliser.  Ralph went nuts and
called him unprofessional which is not a great thing to start a new contract
with.

Around the time of this injury, Fraser Forster had also picked up an injury so
the only other fit senior keeper we had at the club was Harry Lewis, who is one
of those players who has somehow stolen a living as a professional footballer
for a number of years, without actually playing any football.  Clearly not good enough, he’s already been moved on early.

The thought of Lewis playing a Premier League game or even, playing 5 minutes
at the end of the Brighton game, seemed to concentrate everyone’s mind and so
we brought in a third choice goalkeeper in the shape of Willy Caballero who had
been playing for Chelsea and Manchester City for the last five or six years.  When I say that Caballero was playing for City
and Chelsea, I use the term very loosely in that he was the reserve or third
choice goalkeeper at both of these clubs.  At 40 years old, his contract with Chelsea had
not been renewed for this season so he was training with AFC Wimbledon until he
got a call from Saints. A couple of half decent performances later and he was
signed on for the rest of the season, an ideal man for that role. When he was
fit however, Fraser Forster resumed between the sticks and kept his place for
the rest of the season.  There has been
the odd bad moment.  An aimless wander
from his line against Wolves and a shot against Crystal Palace going straight
through him but there have been many highs as well including a ridiculous
performance at home to Arsenal which ultimately won the three points that kept
us up, as our end of season freefall meant that we were still looking over our
shoulders with one game to go.  

I suspect that based on this season, if you asked the average Saints fan who
they would like to keep, going for next year, Fraser Forster would be the man
but here’s the thing. It looks like Saints jumped too early and gave a new
contract to Alex McCarthy. For me, Fraser proved that we could possibly have waited
another one or two years before we sign a new first choice goalkeeper and a
situation where he was first choice next year and Caballero was second choice
would’ve been ideal. The problem was, McCarthy signed a secret contract and
it’s still a secret in that it hasn’t been announced by the club. Absolutely
bizarre behaviour.  Who does it benefit
by not announcing it?  Alex would find
that slightly weird and it’s not as if it would be a secret from Fraser.

Basically, the club has fucked it.  It’s
not as if Alex McCarthy needed to be tied down early to stop another club
coming in and poaching him.  McCarthy’s season
ended with Ralph calling him unprofessional and Fraser Forster would be one of
the favourites if there was a ‘Player of the Second Half of the Season’ award.

Here Next Year?

Alex McCarthy – Whilst he is a decent goalkeeper, he is not first team starter
level in the Premier League.  Needs a serious challenger for his place to be brought in.

Willy Caballero – There is an art of being a substitute goalkeeper at the main thing
about it is that you’ve got to be happy to do it and Caballero has had a lot of
experience of this over the last few years and he still looked decent when
called upon. I would certainly keep Caballero on as a cheap, reliable No 2 or No 3.

Thank You and Goodbye?

Fraser Forster. I would have kept him as first choice next season because there are
other areas of the team that need strengthening more than the goalkeeper
position.  He’s gone though.

Harry Lewis. All the best at Bradford City.

Full-backs

(Kyle Walker-Peters 8, Tino Livramento 7.5, Romain Perraud 6.5)

Tino Livramento arrived from Chelsea Academy at the start of the season and was
immediately thrust into the first team, replacing Kyle Walker-Peters it right
back. On the face of it, it seems slightly ridiculous but then Tino started to
play and we began to realise that it might not have been such a far-fetched
flight of fancy after all. His form remained superb until he picked up an
injury as teams began to kick the shit out of him and he struggled a bit for
form after that, before picking up a season-ending knee injury at Brighton
which is going to keep him out for about the first five months of next season
as well.  He of course has this buyback clause which be honest, I cannot see Chelsea
invoking whilst they have Reece James who is only a year or so older than Tino.
The surgery on his knee appears to have gone well so with modern sports
medicine being what it is, I’m sure we can expect to see Tino again after the World
Cup finishes in December.

Kyle Walker-Peters started off the season on the bench before he got his head
down and decided to make a go of things as a left back. There have been many
games where I thought his lack of left foot would be a problem, but he is
obviously worked at it and improved and he got to a stage where the full-back
he was running at didn’t know genuinely whether he was going to go left or right.
He seems to have added magic feet to his game this year as well, slaloming
through several challenges, never better illustrated than Leeds when he beat
about six players before being chopped down on the edge of the box which led to
JWP smashing in the free-kick. Got a deserved call up to the England national
team as well and acquitted himself well in the two games. Unfortunately for him
he is competing in a position where are England are incredibly well stocked so
he is as it stands, unlikely to make the World Cup squad but he has had a
brilliant season and probably came second in everyone’s player of the year
vote.

Romain Perraud arrived from Brest in the summer as a replacement for Ryan
Bertrand and has had an up-and-down acclimatisation season which is to be
expected for a relatively young new arrival in the country. I have a feeling
he’s really going to take off next year and his hammer of a left foot will be
put to good effect going forward. Defensively, he is fine when he gets up close
to whoever he is playing against but positionally he seems to struggle
sometimes and gives the winger too much space. There have been a few games this
season where there has been a steady stream of crosses coming in from his side
because he just never gets close enough to block any and that something he
really needs to improve on next season but an encouraging season nonetheless.

This area of the pitch wouldn’t be a priority at all this summer but for Tino’s
injury which means we probably do have a to bring a player in to cover until he
is fit again. It can probably be a young player from one of the big boys B
teams and maybe it can be a player on loan. We seem reluctant to use Yan Valery
as a full-back anymore so in effect, we only have two fit players for the two
positions at the moment because Thierry Small doesn’t look like he’s ready as
yet. There is a big opportunity for him though if he can show something in pre-season.

Here Next Year?

KWP – great season and we’re lucky to have him. 
Will move on to a bigger club at some point if he keeps improving but
not yet.

Tino Livramento – get well soon – sky is still the limit.

Romain Perraud – solid first season and improvements expected for next

Thierry Small – Big chance for him with Tino’s injury if he can prove that he’s
ready for the step up.  Could potentially
go out on loan.

(Mohammed Salisu 7, Jan Bednarek 5, Jack Stephens 5, Lyanco 5.5)

The main central defenders of the season have been Salisu and Bednarek and the
pair of them, when fully switched on, made a good partnership. When they were
both totally on their game, they defended aggressively and didn’t give forwards
any space and it looked like we had found a really good partnership. Bednarek’s
form in particular only came in fits and starts and he has in the main been
dreadful in the second half of the season. I didn’t think much of it at the
time but him basically requesting to miss the Manchester City FA Cup Quarter-Final
so he could concentrate on playing Poland a few days later, is quite a damning
thing for a player to do. We pay his wages at the end of the day and at the
time he would certainly have been in the team. Since that moment his form has
really gone off a cliff to the point where he got dropped the last two games of
the season and deservedly so. He is one that I really wouldn’t be bothered if
he moved on in the summer

Salisu has got everything in his game to make him a good central defender and
his first half of the season was excellent. In January however there started to
be a few stories about potential moves and whether it went to his head or
whether he just got tired I don’t know but his form deteriorated and after one particular
shocker he got dropped.  He made a bit of
a fair recovery at the end of the season but never managed to regain the
composure he showed in the first half of the season and was basically very
erratic. Sali is crying out for a good solid experienced central defensive
partner for next season, in the mould of José Fonte. Give him that and we will
have a serious player on our hands again.

Jack Stephens had a Jack Stephens season. 
No more, no less.  He got in the
team at various points and had a few good games, then he had a shocker, then he
got dropped and when he found himself out of the team, whenever he came back in
he was terrible and the problems that he’s always had with dozing off and not
marking players close enough resurfaced. Like Alex McCarthy, he’s another one
that’s had the mysterious secret contract given to him and I guess if he’s on a
salary level suitable for a player who is third or fourth choice and it’s not
really a problem. His best moment of the season and one which I will always
enjoy was him getting in Bruno Fernandes face when United came to St Mary‘s and
telling him that he was not basically refereeing the fucking game. Quality.

Lyanco has become a bit of a cult hero with his attitude and his passion for
the game, for the club and for defending in general. He does however only seem
to put in really good performances or really dire ones. I think he still
struggles with the physicality of some games because he struggled like hell
against Burnley and playing against a striker much bigger than he was.  However, he played really well against
Arsenal when the name of the game was concentration. We still don’t really know
whether he will be good enough to ever be anything more than a back-up centre
half or whether he will turn into a first team regular after being signed for
not much initial outlay. He did end the season though with a complete clanger
to gift Leicester a goal but he’ll still be around next season so all we can do
is hope that he improves.  He is a lunatic and this is a good thing as the game needs more good characters.

Yan Valery – Is he a centre back, is he a right back? He’s had the majority of his
appearances this season on the right-hand side of a three in defence and
surprisingly, looked pretty decent in that role. Still has the tendency to drop
one big howler a game though he’s young enough to get that out of his game. You
do feel it’s a bit of a crossroads for Yan and it’s hard to be honest, to see
him nailing down a place in a team with the preferred formation being four at
the back. He is currently our third choice right back and our fifth-choice
centre back in a back four.

The other centre half worth mentioning is Dynel Simeu who as well as being a
Southampton lad, seems to have quite a lot about him and had a really
successful loan spell at Carlisle in the second half of the season. It wouldn’t
surprise me if we loan him out again next season to a League 1 or preferably a
Championship side but if we clear out a couple of the other centre backs, I
wouldn’t be averse to him being around the first team squad.

Here Next Year?


Mohamed Salisu – endless potential but needs a reliable, experienced partner to
help him along.  22 is very young for a
centre back.  Hasn’t shown enough to be
tempted away by anyone else as yet.

Lyanco – not a bad first season.  We’ll
be better placed to make a judgement this time next year.  Don’t think at the moment that he’s the man
to partner Salisu to bring the best out of him however.

Dynel Simeu – maybe out on loan again but it depends on whether other centre backs get moved on.

Undecided?


Jack Stephens – same as every other season. 
He is what he is – not good enough to be starter but a decent back up to
have.  Would benefit greatly from playing
B Team games to keep up to speed for when he gets a chance in the first team.

Yan Valery – with just one year left on his deal, we may cash in or we may
extend his deal to protect what value there is. 
Showed more promise this season that in previous ones.  May keep him as the cover for Tino’s injury
to free up money elsewhere.

Thank You and Goodbye?


Jan Bednarek – a few good games but has gone backwards this season.  Requesting not to play in the FA Cup Quarter-Final
kind of tells you where his mind is at. 
What’s he going to be like in the build-up for the World Cup in November and do we want
that?  I’d move him on if we can.

(James Ward-Prowse 8.5, Oriol Romeu 7, Ibrahima Diallo 5)

JWP has absolutely been our saviour this year and he has been our most
important player by a long, long way. Real captain, leader, legend stuff.  The free kicks have of course become
ridiculous and he’s now closing in on David Beckham‘s Premier League record.  Performances in general play probably haven’t
been quite as good as in previous seasons but he still could be relied upon to
put in a solid performance in every game. The people that matter of the England
national team set up, seem to be noticing now so it looks like there is more chance of
him making the World Cup squad in a few months’ time than there was before. He
still plays for Southampton however, which could count against him because it
usually does, so we have to hope that he doesn’t decide that he wants to move on
this summer. To be honest, at his age and with the amount of service that he’s
given the club, I would not begrudge with him moving on at all, if that’s what
he decided he wanted to do, as long as we got proper money for him. The good
news is that with three years on his contract, we can more or less ask for whatever
we want.

Oriol Romeu has had a very solid season until the last 10 games when he
suddenly looked like he was running in treacle. Before Ralph came to the club, Romeu
had problems sometimes with just hanging onto the ball too long and not passing
quickly enough and he went back to that in the last few months of the season
and found himself getting left out of the team.  However, he is still completely irreplaceable
for us in the context of the squad we have and I don’t think we won a game this
season when he wasn’t playing.

His replacement Ibrahima Diallo has now been here two years and still looks
like he doesn’t really know what sort of player he is. He’s not a defensive
midfield player really because he does get caught too far forward too often and
players always seem to manage to run off the back of him.  He doesn’t have enough to the attacking side
his game to play further forward either so what we have here I think it’s a
player that just doesn’t suit the two-man central midfield which we play. He
basically wants to play in the same position as JWP and of course, that’s not
possible. When he partners the captain, all it does is means that we lose JWP’s
influence further forward.

There needs to be a new arrival in the centre of midfield who is capable of
playing as the number six in the way that Romeu does. Diallo is not that
man so we need someone else, so Romeu doesn’t have to play every single game.
We cannot afford to have JWP’s influence diminished by having to be the deepest
lying midfielder.

Here Next Year?


JWP – have to keep him at all costs – he’s the main man and is the only player
we have who can be relied upon to dig us out of the brown stuff on a regular
basis.

Oriol Romeu – last year of his contract next season but can see him playing it
out.  Still a force in a majority of
games.

Number 10s

The next position in the playbook is the number 10 which for us means the wide
midfield player. We have a lot of them and most of them are basically not good
enough.

Stuart Armstrong is the best of a bad bunch but he struggled throughout the
first half of the season for fitness and his eventual return to the team
coincided with our best run of the season when we picked up the points that
ultimately kept us in the Premier League at the end of the season. When fit he
is the only 10 that plays with enough intelligence and ability to actually make
things happen though he hasn’t contributed enough goals this season as he
should be looking to get seven or eight instead of the two or three that he did
yet.

This time last year, the thought of Moi Elyounoussi getting regular game time
this year was horrifying (because he’d been so useless in his first spell) but to be fair, he came in back from Celtic and had
some decent games, again with his best spell of the season, coinciding with our
good middle third of the season.  After that though his form fell away and he went
back to being the nonentity that he was in his first spell at Saints before he
went out on-loan. Basically, there is a good footballer in there but too often
the game is just passing him by and his lack of pace always becomes very
evident in those games because he never beats anybody and his defensive work is
mainly non-existent.

Talking of which, Nathan Redmond is what he is. He is half decent when he gets
the ball in space and there’s no opposition player anywhere near him and he can
get up to full speed (see goal v Liverpool last week). That’s it though. If he gets the ball in a tight area
then forget it because he has absolutely zero physicality and will bottle it
and basically hand possession over or he’ll pass it backwards. He is possibly
the most frustrating player I have ever seen because he can definitely do it
but he just chooses not to.  He’ll do something great and you kid yourself that the penny might have dropped… but no.  I said last
year it would be better for all parties if he moved on and the same applies
this year and with one year left on his contract, I would say it’s probably
quite likely. He is what he is and he’s been here for six years now and something needs to change.

Nathan Tella is a bit of a quandary. He is young (but not as young as you think),
quick and enthusiastic but I think the maximum number of games in a row that
he’s managed to start this season is two and that tells you everything you need
to know. It’s partly fitness and partly that he can’t put a couple of decent performances in
a row together.  He’s 23 in a month and he really should’ve progressed more
than he has in the last couple of years. I feel that next year is a now or
never time for him. Oh.. and all that “Star Boy” shit doesn’t help either – he’s
not 18.

Will Smallbone is another who like Tella, never seems to say fit enough to give
himself a chance of having a run in the team. I was somewhat disappointed when
he came back from his injury layoff looking as skinny and lightweight as he was
before. He clearly needs to build himself up to have any chance of surviving
the rigours of regular Premier League football. In another similarity with Tella,
I feel next season is now or never, though he would probably be a good
candidate to go out on loan somewhere.

Theo Walcott made a really good impression when on loan and he was obviously
only doing that to earn himself a two year contract, which has so far been a
complete and utter waste of money. To go from being in England international
three years ago to struggling to make a nine-man bench at Southampton, tells
you all you need to know about his fall from grace. There are rumours that he
might be off to the MLS in the summer and that would be a fantastic solution
all round. It’s impossible to dislike Theo but there has to be more than that
I’m afraid and paying him just to be a mascot for the young players is
absolutely fucking ridiculous. We got sentimental about him returning to
Southampton and it’s come back and bit us on the arse.

Moussa Djenepo has been around this year but you wouldn’t know it.  I think that Ralph just got fed up of
waiting.  Like Sofiane Boufal before him,
a player signed because he had unpredictable brilliance but that appears to
have been coached out of him.  Boufal was slightly different because he just refused to conform.  It couldn’t
have worked but it hasn’t and with just one year left on his deal, we have to
write this one off.

Here Next Year?


Stuart Armstrong – if he stays fit then he starts.  A vital player in the context of the current
squad.

Nathan Tella – it’s next year or never. 
There has to be more end product and not just flashes.  There has to be more appearances.

Maybe Out On Loan?


Will Smallbone – I would look to put him out on loan in the Championship to
toughen him up.  Should be looking to one day take over from Stuart Armstrong but needs to show more.

Thank You and Goodbye?


Moi Elyounoussi – Better than expected this season but with just a year on his contract,
not good enough to offer another one.

Nathan Redmond – is what he is, infuriating and frustrating in equal measure.  Can do it but most often won’t.  Nothing’s going to change at this stage of
his career so with one year left, move him on if we can.

Moussa Djenepo – One year left, time to go – see if we can get a few million
back.  Never going to do it I’m afraid.  Hasn’t developed as he should have done and a
gamble that didn’t work.

Theo Walcott – lovely bloke, not good enough anymore.  If we can move him on then we should but
otherwise, it’s an expensive mentor to have around the place for the young
players.

(Che Adams 7, Armando Broja 7, Adam Armstrong 5, Shane Long 4)

There was always going to be a lot of focus on the strikers this season with
Danny Ings departing just before the season started which threw things up in
the air somewhat.  To replace him we
moved to the transfer market to recruit Adam Armstrong permanently from
Blackburn and youngster Armando Broja from the Chelsea talent factory. It was
hoped that these two new signings along with Che Adams would provide enough
goals for us to not miss Danny Ings this season. Though Adam Armstrong
struggled to make an impact, it looked as if Che and Armando would score enough
goals but around February time it all stopped and neither of them scored until
the end of the season. It wasn’t totally their fault of course because the
supply wasn’t there, but they both went right off the boil.

Che Adams seems to be a striker who is judged more harshly by Ralph than others are, and I get
the impression that Ralph got fed up with Che’s habit of missing chances by basically
smashing the ball straight at the goalkeeper in any situation, be it from 20
yards or from two. Che’s hold up play and passing has improved massively and he
now looks like he’s a really good footballer but he still needs to add more
goals to his game because it’s three seasons in the Premier League now and he
hasn’t reached double figures in any of them.

Armando Broja has shown that he’s an absolute beast when the ball is in front
of him and he’s running at defenders or has space to run into.  He wasn’t that great with his hold up play and doesn’t
play like the 6 foot 4 striker that he is. Armando certainly has something
though but there were some games where he looked lazy and there were others
where he just didn’t have the impact he should’ve done.

Adam Armstrong just had a sort of season that Che Adams had when he first
played in the Premier League. It appears that we have bought in a player that
does not fit our style of attacking play and he has therefore struggled. He
really should be used as a partner for either Adams or Broja but it never seems
to work out that way after the initial few games. He was used in wide areas a
couple of times and used up front on his own but never looked remotely
convincing in either of those roles. He quite simply, has to do better next
year when given the opportunity to do so.

It is staggering that in 2022, Shane Long was still getting minutes in the
Premier League and this alone was a damning indictment of our forward options
this year and also of the clubs failings when it comes to buying players and
rewarding players with new contracts over the last few years. He should never
have been given a new contract two years ago but he was and here we are and
there are even whispers of him getting another year. All Shane had was his hard
work and his running and this year he looks to have lost his legs a bit in
terms of pace and he doesn’t look as fit as he has done before which is maybe
not surprising considering he doesn’t play that often and he’s 35. I like Shane
a lot for his hard work and effort but there is no way that we should show any
sentimentality an award him another contract. Absolutely no way.

Adams and Armstrong will both be here next season and both Broja and Long will
need to be replaced.  Captain Obvious
here states that we absolutely need a striker to stick the ball in the net.  Rumour has it that Danny Ings may be
available again and if so, we should swallow our pride and get him back.
Failing that, we should certainly be looking to spend a large chunk of whatever
budget we have on a striker who we think is going to be able to reach 15 goals
for this season.

Here Next Year?

Che Adams – not enough goals.  He’s close
to being a really good striker at this level but next year he absolutely has to
get double figures.

Adam Armstrong – a struggle and has looked limited.  Could go either way but deserves another
season to try and make a mark, which of course he will get.

Thank you and Goodbye?

Armando Broja – endless potential which he will hopefully realise, even though
it won’t be at Southampton.  Got
criticized by the manager a few times but took it on board and got on with
it.  Would love him to stay here despite
disappointing end to the season but it isn’t happening.

Shane Long – Thanks for your service but it’s time to go.  Was good in a good Saints side in 2016 (6
seasons ago, aged 29) but has struggled since. 
Hasn’t been good enough for about 4 years and there’s no room for
sentimentality around first team football in the Premier League.  If he gets a new contract we may as well all go home.