As a result of their 1-1 draw against the struggling Aston Villa at home last weekend for Southampton, their win-less run of games was extended to four games; a stat that Ronald Koeman will be scratching his head at in disbelief and discouragement from the successful side he was faced with only a couple of months ago. Southampton were flying high as the season was just getting underway, finding themselves in a comfortable top seven position with good team performances coming left, right and centre – especially away from home.
Koeman’s side managed to carry out a six game unbeaten streak away from home that featured a comprehensive 6-0 cup win against MK Dons and an important 1-0 victory against Sunderland. As well as their impressive away form, The Saints were also demonstrating their class with well disciplined and tactically brilliant performances against the footballing heavyweights of the Premier League, with the historic 3-1 victory away to Chelsea being one.
However, nine games on from their superb feat over Chelsea, The Saints find themselves in the bottom half of the Premier League with 15 games played and in a bit of a rut.
It is unquestionable that every top side needs a wide outlet of goals from plenty of positions, instead of relying solely on the striker in the team – Graziano Pelle in Southampton’s case. Although the Italian powerhouse has racked up a fairly good tally of goals this season, he is another player that has gone off the boil along with Southampton’s poor performances.
Goals have been hard to come by for Southampton and with the injury to Jay Rodriguez that was revealed last month regarding a foot injury that would require surgery, Ronald Koeman may be looking to his striking options and seeing minimal options. The current strikers that the Dutchman has at his disposal are Shane Long, Juanmi and Graziano Pelle; three is simply not enough at this busy time of the season. Koeman needs someone who knows where the back of the net is and someone who is looking to shine for his club and offer something different to this Southampton side. So, if Koeman wants this kind of player, he should look no further than the prolific Ryan Seager.
The exciting English forward has been the talk of the town at Southampton, with his knack of goal-scoring being clear to see for everyone at such a young age as he helped to fire The Saints to winning the Under-21 Premier League Cup last season, scoring a goal in the final.
His performances throughout the under-21 season last campaign for Martin Hunter’s men gained him several plaudits and caught the eye of first-team boss Ronald Koeman, who rewarded Seager’s excellent form with two cameo appearances. The clinical finisher managed to bag an outstanding 21 goals for the young guns and led them towards a strong league finish.
Seager could be a good fit in this Southampton side that is struggling badly for a cutting edge, with his predator instincts in the 18-yard-box. If he is given a good chance to play for The Saints and to show his quality, there is no reason why he cannot become a regular fixture in Ronald Koeman’s plans for the future and for Southampton beyond.
There have been calls for the youth academy at Southampton to be utilised and if there is one player that deserves a good go at Premier League football with the club, it’s Ryan Seager.
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