The transfer window has closed, and the nightmare has begun. All Saints fans are used to heartbreak, but this may be the toughest pill to swallow. Claude Puel has just announced that Saints captain Virgil van Dijk will be out for between two to three months, potentially marking his last game played in a Saints kit. There is no turning back the clocks so we must move on. Where do we go from here?
Jack Stephens has looked the part of a promising centre-back for the club. The chance for him to step in as a regular part of the first team is the exact opportunity needed for him to develop into the type of player we need to succeed down the road. Keep in mind the lad is only 23-years of age and has a lot of room to grow. Although he may not develop into the kind of star that van Dijk has become, he has the opportunity to be a very solid option in the defence for the long haul.
Florin Gardos has been out of the mix for a while, and it was apparent with the amount of rust shown in the FA Cup match against Arsenal. Gardos is just starting to find his feet again, and it is still a mystery as to what type of quality he holds. Puel seems to have confidence in the player and sees promise from training. If he can shake off the rust, he could be an above-average rotational player that will make the occasional mistake here and there. That does not mean, however, that he will lead us to the path of relegation.
There are also other options on the team such as Ryan Bertrand playing in the middle alongside Maya Yoshida. Bertrand has the type of talent that can enable him to play anywhere along the back line. This would give Sam McQueen the opportunity to get much more time on the pitch at left-back, giving him a chance to develop. McQueen has shown good promise every time he has played, but it is hard to justify putting him out there over Bertrand, who is arguably one of our best attacking options. Although this is not the ideal situation, it has the promise to be a strong back line and a defence Southampton can feel comfortable with as a short-term option.
With the loss of van Dijk, we look to be in a rebuilding state. Southampton has been known as a team to sell their top talent rather than keeping them and replace them with younger and promising options, which may be starting to catch up with the club.
Rebuilding may not be so bad of an option, however. When you take a look at the current roster that we have, it is a lot of very young, promising individuals with only three players whose contracts are expiring. The signing of Manolo Gabbiadini looks to be the missing part on the scoring end for us to become a dangerous attacking team. This roster has the kind of talent that has us finishing closer to the top of the table, rather than relegation.
Finishing in the top half of the table, as well as winning the EFL Cup, would be considered a very strong season in the eyes of most fans. If we take the rest of this season to develop the young talent that we have, identifying our key weaknesses on the pitch, and have a strong summer transfer window, we could see Southampton back in Europe by next year.
