If you were to define Claude Puel’s start to life as Southampton manager you would have to call it average. That is in no way a criticism to the fromer Lyon and Monaco manager, it’s just the fact that his side sit 10th in the table and have a goal difference of zero. In fairness you cannot really get a much more average start than that.
If the Saints are to secure a Europa League place for the third season in a row then they are going to have to work their way up the table and ultimately, the only way that can be achieved is by winning games and to win games, you need to find the net with regularity.
After a start to the season which has seen them win three games, draw four and lose four, they are going to need to make sure that form improves as we move nearer to the halfway stage of the season and beyond. This team has looked impressive at times but the main worry is who will get the goals to fire them up the table.
As good as Charlie Austin has been, he still has a habit of wasting his chances, while Nathan Redmond is still adapting to a new position. Throw into the mix Shane Long, who never quite gets the rewards for his endeavours, and with Jay Rodriguez once again battling injury, and the options look sparse on the South Coast.
That’s not to forget the fact that they have record signing Sofiane Boufal among their ranks. We’ve only seen glimpses of what he can do but unfortunately for Saints fans, they will have to do without him for a month when he represents Morocco in African Cup Of Nations duty in February.
Therefore, Southampton may very well have to look to the January transfer market to improve their chances of securing European football once again. It was always going to be a tough task for Puel this season, to not only follow up on the incredible work that Ronald Koeman did, but once again do so with another player exodus in the summer.
After a slow start to proceedings, Southampton looked like they were finding their stride with a five game unbeaten run across September and October, although that mood of optimism has been tempered slightly after being comfortably beaten by Chelsea and upset away at Hull just before the international break.
And it was that game against Hull that was pretty much symptomatic of their season so far. After going ahead through an early Charlie Austin penalty, they then failed to put Mike Phelan’s side to the sword as they missed a hatful of chances.
Those missed chances would be punished later on when Hull performed an unlikely comeback to get their first win in seven matches and leave Southampton asking themselves how they didn’t manage to win that game. The answer to that question is simple; if you don’t take your chances at this level then more often than not you will be punished.
If the league campaign has been steady then it’s the Saints’ Europa League campaign which has arguably got them the most plaudits. After crashing out in the qualifying stages last season to Midjytlland, they now look set to advance to the Round of 32 with their cause being helped hugely by their win over Inter Milan a few weeks ago.
As it stands, Southampton certainly don’t have the squad to compete on two fronts, so it’s either going to take a near herculean effort from the players that Claude Puel has at his disposal or reinforcements are sought in the January transfer window.
The transition to English football has been a relatively smooth one for the 56-year-old Frenchman and with a couple of additions, he could very well take this side up to the next level and away from the trappings that mid-table mediocrity brings. This upcoming transfer window will be important for a lot of sides and Southampton will need to be at the front of queue when it comes to snapping up a striker with an eye for goal.
This article was submitted via our Write For Us feature. Think you can do better? Submit your own article by clicking here, and give yourself the chance of winning monthly cash prizes…
[ad_pod id=’playwire’ align=’center’]
