Young Southampton midfielder Harrison Reed is looking to make the most of his opportunity and impress the new manager at the club, Claude Puel, after Ronald Koeman’s move up north to Everton.
For many players like Reed, Koeman’s departure to Everton may not have been quite as bad as it seemed; because of the Dutchman’s tendency not to play the younger players.
Much of Puel’s career in management has involved bringing in youngsters and developing them into top, top players.
For exampe, Puel gave Chelsea star Eden Hazard his debut at Lille. He also brought through Alexandre Lacazette at Lyon and worked with Arsenal legend Thierry Henry in his spell at Monaco.
With Saints off to Baltimore for a week long pre-season training camp, the young and tenacious midfielder told Saints’ official website how important this trip to America could be:
It’s massive for me, it’s my time to show the manager what I can do and hopefully be in his plans for the rest of the season.
We’ve got a game out in America, which will be good to get going, and then the friendlies come thick and fast in Holland, so everyone’s buzzing to get going.
Although Reed and many others are keen to impress, the youngster also highlighted how important this trip will be for getting to know the new management team and team bonding:
It’s massive, because you get to spend so much time together on and off the pitch.
Obviously, when you’re in your rooms you’re chilling with different people and it’s nice to get to know everyone and how they work.
It should be really good. It will be nice to go away with the boys. Obviously, Nathan Redmond’s come in as well, so it will be nice to spend some time off the pitch with them, so everyone’s looking forward to getting away on Monday and cracking on.
This pre-season could be big for Harrison Reed and he needs to take his chances if he wants to force his way into Claude Puel’s plans.
