Southampton: One Gamble Too Far

Football can be a strange and unpredictable game. Just seven years ago Southampton were in League One and a few years later saw themselves qualifying for the Europa League. But just one season after reaching the Capital One Cup Final and finishing eighth in the league, they find themselves in the relegation zone, but with still enough time to save their season. In the space of a week they face Chelsea twice, once at home in the league where any point is so important, then in a huge FA Cup semi final, where reaching a final would give the fans at least something to cheer for.

The club have been very clever in their managerial appointments in recent years, but they have been risks, where it could easily have gone either way. In their first season back in the top flight, they were struggling and decided to let Nigel Adkins go, and brought in Mauricio Pochettino. He impressed hugely, but in Southampton fashion, they couldn’t keep hold of him. Ronald Koeman came in and again was a success, but left for other opportunities.

The club are very similar to Watford and Chelsea, where they believe in starting fresh every couple of years so a project doesn’t become stale. The Saints have sold their best players every year it seems, and they always reinvest in talent from abroad and try to mould a good team. Unfortunately, this season, the decision to employ Mauricio Pellegrino was incorrect and it backfired with a lack of goals and creativity costing him his job, just the same as it did with Claude Puel. The Frenchman actually got the results though, where the Argentine couldn’t provide a stable back-line, like his predecessors did.

Now they have changed their thought process and gone for a manager who knows the league in Mark Hughes. The problem is that they haven’t scored enough goals and that means they now have to push for games as they need wins. They will have to go for it in the remaining fixtures and they have a tough run in too. Things looks rather bleak for the Saints and the next week could ultimately end their season. Of course they will still be able to catch the teams above them, but if the games this week go against them between the teams around them, it may just be too much.

Their problem in front of goal is down to a number of issues. Charlie Austin is their top scorer and has been injured for a large part of the season. Manolo Gabbiadini has been poor since his quick start to life in England last season and Guido Carrillo has been non-existent since his arrival in January. They have a few players in that squad as well that are too good for the Championship, so if they do go down, it will hard to keep many of them. It’s strange to see them in the position they’re in now after how many good players they’ve had in recent years, and they’re one of those clubs where you get people creating an XI out of those who’ve played for Southampton but have left. The likes of Bale, Mane, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Lallana, Van Dijk. They’re certainly not too bad at producing and improving players. The bad thing is that they never hold onto them, and now its coming back to bite them.

The teams around them all look like picking up points here and there, the only team that you would question is Huddersfield. Southampton do need to get points quickly though, and although the games against Chelsea might not define their season, anything but defeat would be huge.