--- title: "Can Southampton aim for Europe this season?" canonical: "https://readsouthampton.com/2015/10/10/can-southampton-aim-europe-season/" type: "post" language: "en-GB" author: "Daniel Emery" section: "Feature Writers" published: "2015-10-10T13:45:39Z" modified: "2015-10-10T13:45:39Z" --- # Can Southampton aim for Europe this season? It is well documented as to how impressive Southampton were last season and just what a fantastic achievement it was for the club to qualify for Europe. However, can they replicate that this season? Yet again this summer Southampton have had to deal with change. The losses of Nathaniel Clyne to Liverpool and Morgan Schneiderlin to Manchester United put a big dent in Southampton’s chances of another European finish ahead of the start of the season. The ‘loss’ of Alderweireld to Tottenham in the summer after Saints could not make his loan move permanent was another stumbling block for Ronald Koeman to jump over this summer. ![Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images Sport](https://media.readsouthampton.com/readsouthampton/2015/10/490704272.jpg) There were a number of new additions in the close-season; Clasie, Van Dijk, Juanmi and Cedric were among the biggest names on the list. With Clyne leaving, Koeman had to fill that gap and Cedric was brought in, and, has been superb so far. Koeman also had Schneiderlin’s shoes to fill, no easy task. Oriol Romeu and Jordy Clasie were both brought in this summer for that position, however, Clasie is yet to make his Premier League debut after suffering a hamstring injury early on. This means that we are yet to see if Clasie can be as important to the Saints as Schneiderlin was. This is maybe unfair on Clasie to expect anything from him that Schneiderlin offered as they are certainly different types of central midfielders. Jordy Clasie seems to be more attack minded than Schneiderlin was as he tended to sit back more in the midfield for the Saints and it looks as though Clasie may have more of a forward mentality than the Frenchman. Oriol Romeu has been filling in the position so far this season alongside Wanyama. He has been adequate,  nothing special from him as fans are still eagerly awaiting Clasie’s Premier League debut. This could possibly come against Leicester after the international break following an hour appearance for Clasie in a behind-closed-doors friendly against Ajax during the week. So, how does that leave Southampton’s ambitions for this season. I am sure that most, if not all, fans would be very happy if Southampton could achieve another top-half finish this season. Should their ambitions be higher? If you look at some of the squads from other Premier League teams who fight for a European place year in year out, are they much better than Southampton’s? I don’t think so. In my opinion, Southampton should be up there battling it out with the likes of Everton, Liverpool and Tottenham for the Europa League spots in the Premier League. ![Jordan Mansfield/Getty Images Sport](https://media.readsouthampton.com/readsouthampton/2015/10/4911444782.jpg) The top-four is almost always going to be the same consistent four, Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester United and Manchester City. Maybe with the odd year that a Liverpool or Tottenham have an amazing season and creep into the top-four. This then means that there are two Europa League spots, 5th and 6th up for grabs. Unless a top-four team wins the FA Cup, then 7th place gets in, as Southampton did last season. That leaves, in my opinion, Everton, Liverpool, Tottenham and Southampton vying for those coveted positions come the end of the season. Now, every season there seems to be a surprise package in the Premier League. A team that no one expects much of that goes on to have a superb finish. This season there have been a couple of bright starters. Crystal Palace, Leicester and West Ham currently occupy 4th, 5th and 6th in the league. Then, 7th to 10th in the league standings is filled by the four teams I think will actually be around the top positions this season, Tottenham, Everton, Southampton and Liverpool. It is very unlikely that come the end of the season, Crystal Palace, Leicester and West Ham will all be still battling for a European place. I think that maybe one of them will still be up there towards the end of the season, it is all about consistency. If one of them teams can keep up their good form then they will be there or there abouts at the ends of the season, however, the other two are likely to drop off and die down towards the mid-point of the season. Despite this, I still think Southampton have a much stronger, and more strength in-depth, squad than Palace, Leicester and West Ham. Realistically, anywhere from 7th to 10th for Southampton would be a good season in my books. A lot of teams that achieve a high-placed finish one season, tend to drop of the next campaign. There were fears of this earlier this season after Southampton had an indifferent start to the season, winning just once in August and being knocked out of the Europa League in the play-off, before even getting to the group stages. It was after the 3-0 loss to Everton that fans really started to think that they could be in for a very long season. However, that has changed over the last month or so. Comprehensive wins over Norwich, MK Dons, Swansea and Chelsea have given Southampton fans hope of another chance at a top-seven finish this season. With the form of players such as Sadio Mane, Graziano Pelle and Dusan Tadic, Southampton are climbing the Premier League table. Despite only being eight games into the season, you can already tell the opening few games for Southampton were just a blip on the radar and that Southampton are set for another good season in the English top-flight. ![Jordan Mansfield/Getty Images Sport](https://media.readsouthampton.com/readsouthampton/2015/10/4901198082.jpg) We are still only in October, yet there is already talk about Southampton losing one of their best players. Sadio Mane has been in excellent form for Southampton this season, already managing four goals and four assists this term. The way Mane has been playing has attracted some potential January suitors. Manchester United have been reportedly watching Mane with keen eyes as the look to move for a January swoop for the Senegalese star. United came in with a move for Mane in the summer, however, Koeman was adamant that he was not letting anymore of his star Saints go and every Southampton fan will hope that Koeman has that same mentality in a few months time. With still Jordy Clasie and Fraser Forster to come back for Southampton, the season ahead certainly looks brighter. Although Clasie is set for a return next weekend against Leicester, Fraser Forster is still a more long-term injury situation. There is still a possibility that Forster could miss the whole season with injury, and next summers European Championships. Southampton fans will be praying that this is not the case due to Maarten Stekelenburg still looking rather uncertain in-goal for Ronald Koeman’s men. The best scenario with Forster is that he returns in March/April, which is likely to be too late in the season for Forster to truly affect Southampton’s chances at European qualification again. So, in conclusion, should Southampton be aiming for European qualification again this season? Yes. That being said, a top-ten finish would still be classed as a fine season and if Southampton can keep hold of their star players such as Mane and Tadic as well as add to their ranks during the transfer window with more investment. Then Southampton could be set for many more years as a club challenging towards the top-half of the Premier League table and maybe, just maybe, one day fighting right at the top end of the Premier League with the likes of Chelsea and Arsenal. Comment down bellow or tweet us @ReadSouthampton with your opinion on this article and where Southampton will finish this season.