---
title: "Saints’ Striker Shopping List"
canonical: "https://readsouthampton.com/2015/05/21/saints-striker-shopping-list/"
type: "post"
language: "en-GB"
author: "Nick Chadwick-Williams"
section: "Feature Writers"
published: "2015-05-21T11:02:17Z"
modified: "2015-05-21T11:02:17Z"
---

# Saints’ Striker Shopping List

It seems ironic that following a game in which Saints scored six, albeit against a lacklustre Aston Villa, to release an article bemoaning a lack of goals – but this really has been Southampton’s downfall this season. A winter period where goals and results dried up has very much cost the Saints a higher finish.

Graziano Pelle arrived last summer with a goalscoring record as sharp as his haircut. 55 goals in 66 games in two seasons under Ronald Koeman convinced the new Saints manager to pack him in his suitcase on the flight from Rotterdam.

And while at first glance Pelle has had a successful debut season at St Mary’s with 16 league goals, a 15 match goal-drought that lasted from December to April heavily contributed to Southampton dropping out of the race for the Champions league. Where early in the season he held off defenders, brought others into play, and finished moves off in style, as the games kept on coming his strength ebbed, his touch became erratic, and his confidence visibly drained – yet only once in the league this season has Koeman left him out of the starting line-up.

In Koeman’s 4-3-3 formation Pelle’s size, strength and hold-up play are crucial in occupying central defenders and creating space for the wide forwards. Although there are a number of forwards at the club, it seems Pelle is the only one Koeman trusts to be the focal point of the team’s attack.

Of the other attackers at the club, both Sadio Mane and Shane Long have been played predominantly in wide role, rather than as the focal point. Although both Long and Mane possess surprising strength for their size, their touch and link-up play with back to goal isn’t good enough to play this demanding role. Other players able to play out wide include Tadic and the on-loan duo of Elia and Djuricic. Jay Rodriguez’s long awaited return from injury won’t provide much cover for Pelle either, firstly because his best form for the Saints has come from a wide left position, and secondly because he’s been out for so long that predicting when he’ll be back to his best is near-impossible. 6ft 4in Sam Gallagher’s physique suggests he could be a more natural fit to provide competition for Pelle, but although he showed promise in his 20 appearances for the first team in the 2013-14 season, a bad knee injury has slowed his progression to the first team.

Pelle’s inability to effectively play a full season as the team’s focal point was one of the reasons why Champions League, and perhaps Europa League, has seemingly slipped out of Southampton’s grasp. It therefore seems likely that Koeman will need to dip into the transfer market this summer to rectify a problem initially identified by his predecessor. In the summer of 2013 Mauricio Pochettino paid around £15m for Dani Osvaldo for to provide competition and rotation to Rickie Lambert. However, averaging a ratio of just 2 goals per head-butt meant Osvaldo was soon packed off on loan to whoever would take him, and Lambert had to soldier on as the sole target man.

Of the strikers that have been linked with the Saints this season, the most persistent links have been with Javier Hernandez, Danny Ings, and Charlie Austin. Although Danny Ings’ first season in the Premier League shows obvious potential, both his and Chicharito’s skill-set may not be ideally suited providing a strong alternative if they were to play as lone strikers; both have played predominantly as strikers who play alongside another striker – something Koeman has tried on occasions this season when switching to a 3-5-2 formation or a fluid 4-4-2.

Finally, after an impressive 17 goal season in a rather awful QPR side, 25 year old Charlie Austin will surely not be playing championship football next season. His strength and ability to play with back to goal would fit Koeman’s requirements, while his instinctive finishing would be a welcome addition to a team that has been guilty of fluffing their lines in front of goal this season.

Having fought his way up through the leagues these is something Rickie Lambert-esque about Austin, which could endear him to the fans at St Mary’s. And although he may not be the headline signing Saints fans will dream of, by providing Graziano Pelle with some competition, Austin might just be the signing that, like Rickie 6 seasons ago, takes the Saints to the next level.