Southampton: After 4 losses in a row, what's going wrong with Saints?

Southampton started off the season well enough, but what has happened to the Saints’ recent form?

Southampton had a summer of change in 2016, like most summers for the south coast club. Claude Puel arrived as the club’s new manager and there was a high turnover on the playing squad. Which has unfortunately become the norm these days.

However, it seemed like Southampton might just be about to defy the doubters once again. Despite not quite catching they eye, the Saints were sitting in 9th place after the first 10 games. It was a comfortable position and one that was not exactly expected.

Maybe Puel was underrated coming in? Maybe the club’s ability to continuously replace important players who left the club was being overlooked? Perhaps people were wrong in suspecting that a club could only pull a cat out of the bag so often? This season must surely be one too many, right?

Well, initially it looked like all of this was to be proved wrong once again. But just 11 games later, and maybe those doubters are actually now being proved right. In the last 11 games, Southampton have won three, lost six and drawn two.

Six losses is a lot, but the most worrying part is that four of them have come in Saints’ last four Premier League games. So where did it all go wrong?

In truth, 9th place probably flattered Southampton early on. Despite being in 9th position on 13 points, 17th position was only three points away. It could so easily have been different. Player unrest has to be an issue too.

Jose Fonte and Virgil van Dijk have both been linked with moves away, either this January or in the summer. That speculation cannot possibly help matters. And that’s on top of the club already losing Sadio Mane, Victor Wanyama and Graziano Pelle last summer.

How many times can you realistically sell your best players and get away with it?

In came Nathan Redmond, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Sofiane Boufal to replace the outgoing stars. Hojbjerg has played from the bench more than expected, although Oriol Romeu has impressed in central midfield. Boufal began the season injured but has since been working his way back to form.

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Whilst Redmond has played a lot of games, and although performed okay overall, has fluffed a lot of goalscoring chances. Charlie Austin has been the team’s top goalscorer and was playing well earlier in the season before injury struck.

That injury was at the beginning of December. Almost six weeks later – including a busy Christmas schedule – and Austin remains the team’s top scorer. The 27-year-old has six Premier League goals, which is double Redmond’s three.

Overall, Southampton are the second-lowest scorers in the Premier League with just 19 goals notched. Yet it feels like the team create enough chances to be higher scorers than they actually are. Is taking chances really the only problem?

Puel has rotated his team a lot, too. It’s a part of the modern game, but there is a thin line between keeping players fresh, and not allowing them to maintain a rhythm and an understanding with each other.

Next: Man United are over-reliant on Zlatan Ibrahimovich

It’s not easy to put your finger on the exact problem Southampton are having right now. Maybe it’s just a combination of everything? Either way, it’s a situation that Puel needs to be looking into urgently.

A continuation of the team’s current form will only see the Saints continue to march in the wrong direction.

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Southampton: After 4 losses in a row, what’s going wrong with Saints?

By Craig Pearson | Jan 20, 2017

Southampton started off the season well enough, but what has happened to the Saints’ recent form?

More from The Top Flight