Oops, just re-read your post and I thought you said, "exactly why would you expect..." Sorry. I should have gone to spec savers .. .. (With Tom)
I know the Martina signing is a little underwhelming, but other than Shane Long, every permanent signature we've made has been bought in as a starter. I see no reason why our next centre back won't be starter quality as we have the resource to get them. If we sign more than Clasie & a CB. The squad will be stronger in terms of senior player numbers than last season.
You might be right, but Yoshida looked good last season. I feel like Koeman might be willing to give him a run in the side as first choice. Alderweireld was already here and can cover multiple positions. Martina is a worse version of Alderweireld that can cover the same positions.
Hi FLT - agree Juanmi could cover No. 2 - hope he does. But do think we overachieved last year (not a criticism) and will be hard to repeat without an influx of quality over and above what we had last year. We still have a lot of time to address this be fore the season kicks off proper, but do this it will be a challenge to maintain what we achieved, and nearly achieved last year.
As much as I like Yoshida and that's mostly because he's a Saints player (and a decent chap to boot), we're a weaker side compared to aldweireld or Gardos alongside Fonte. Pushing on this year which might still be defined by finishing 8-10th because of the Europa league, is not going to happen with Yoshida at the back.
Yes and no; we demonstrated that we had the first XI to go toe to toe with the teams above us, but their advantage lies in their depth of talent...both Man U and Arsenal had major injury woes that slowed them down in the first half but were able to muddle through, and then capitalized when fatigue and our own injuries made life difficult. That it was always likely to catch up with us means that I cannot say that we underachieved on the whole; without that depth, it would have taken an incredible effort (and quite a bit of luck) to sustain our performance for the full season.
I think 7th was an underachievement because we had the 5th best GD in the league, 16 goals better than Tottenham and 17 better than Liverpool. We just need to learn to win a few more of the games that are decided by the odd goal. A decent ref in the Liverpool (h) game would have helped too. If we'd have had the right decisions there and even drawn that game, we'd have finished above them.
Think it all depends on which CB we sign - Rodriguez, Tadic and Mané are a forward 3 capable of allowing us to sustain a top 8 challenge, while Wanyama and Clasie provide a well-balanced double-pivot. However, defensive stability relies on us signing a CB close to Toby's level (which admittedly will be a challenge) who could also attempt to undertake part of Morgan's role in terms of interceptions and passing variation. However, all of this is circumstantial, with our progress in each of the 4 competitions dependent on our squad depth. Are we to take the Europa League seriously, at the current depth I feel we're not strong enough to maintain a top half finish.
I don't. A gnat's cock from 5th and 6th. We had a chance we didn't take for all the reasons previously discussed. Saints finishing 7th underachieving? Sorry, no way.
Squad depth is slowly improving. Pochettino had virtually no options, but last season Koeman had a few games where he had two or three players capable of making a difference and certainly the most expensive list of subs we've ever had. Liverpool and Spurs have both struggled in recent seasons because they bought loads of players at once and occasionally two or three for the same position. That's not good for team spirit or team chemistry as you're not able to field a settled side. A major turning point last season was our win at Millwall where Koeman played close to a first team because they needed pitch time together
I actually think the exact opposite of this. I think the mountain gets bigger. The top 4/5 continue to buy expensive, proven players whilst we are buying the next level down with only the 'black box' to guide us. Actually, regarding the 'black box', if you look at last years signings, most, if not all, came from Ron's contacts in Holland. That doesn't suggest a 'black box' led recruitment programme.
I should add that my confidence is not so much based upon my knowledge of football as much as reading this thread. Most have underestimated Saints achievements by a considerable margin over the last 5 seasons. Therefore if the "Eeyore tendency " says 10th, I immediately think 6th. Now I realise that this cannot work every year. Or can it?
Maybe in the search engine of the black box they added an obligatory parameter 'players that Ron knows or has worked with'
I have total trust that we will deliver this window. There's something positive about the silent calm in which we go about our business, and whilst I hate hearing about us losing our first choice targets to other clubs, in reality the clubs that do their business quietly carry much more of a threat (as well as more class). Looks at how quiet Chelsea and City are this close season - don't tell me they're not going to try to counteract what Man U are doing. I think much of our business may get done towards the end of the window - not ideal when we've got Europa and pre-season; but selling clubs will hold us to ransom as they know we need players for Europa qualifying etc., and I don't think we'll want to bow to that. Feel sure we'll do some exciting deals at the right time.
I'm not sure that's true about Koeman's connections. Looking at last year's signings only Pelle and Tadic came from the Dutch league, although there was a connection to Alderweireld. I doubt Koeman had worked with Mane, Gardos, Long or Forster though.
True it was close but we forwent a lot of points to drop from 4th. We were in a position of command and the bubble (squad) did burst. And so many times you could point to refereeing or missing chances. One could argue that we'd overachieved in the first place I guess.
I am sure. There are 3 players with whom Koeman previously worked (Pelle, Stekelenburg and now Clasie) and 4 that played in the dutch league while Koeman was coaching there (Toby, Tadić, Elia, Djuricic).
