12 games in to the 2018/19 season and Southampton FC’s goal scoring problems are still continuing following their dismal campaign last season.
Southampton have scored 1 goal less than they did under Mauricio Pellegrino last season after 12 games in the league, with Mark Hughes men scoring a measly eight Premier League goals.
And with Southampton losing one of their most creative players in recent years in Dusan Tadic they have, as expected, continued their struggles infront of goal. In four seasons at Southampton, Tadic was involved in 47 goals in 134 league matches, and his replacement, Stuart Armstrong, hasn’t quite had the chance to stamp his foot down due to limited starts.
The eight Premier League goals Southampton have scored have been shared between only four players and just two forwards: Manolo Gabbiadini with one and Danny Ings with four, two of which were penalties.
Mark Hughes has openly admitted that they are struggling to convert chances to goals with his side joint second bottom with Crystal Palace in the league for goals scored with eight, only above Huddersfield who have six.
Is it Mark Hughes’s fault or do the players have to take their share of the blame?
Southampton have created 14 clear cut chances in the league but have scored just 57% of them, with Charlie Austin, who is yet to score in the league along with Shane Long, missing three of these chances.
It’s clear to see that the strikers are Southampton’s main issue in not finishing chances and not being clinical enough as they should be.
Mark Hughes is already under huge pressure following a poor start to the season and will be hoping he can fix the issue of goals sooner rather than later.
So what are Southampton’s options?
With the January transfer window only a couple of months away, Southampton are understandably being linked with some attacking names.
Kemar Roofe, part of Leeds’s strong start to the season, has already scored 7 goals in only 11 championship games, but could he continue that type of record in the premier league?
A more surprising link considering his pedigree, Edin Dzeko has been linked to the saints and would be a welcome addition due to his goal scoring record and previous Premier League experience, but this would be unlikely due to the transfer fee and his wage demands being deemed to excessive.
However in recent years, big money transfers mostly haven’t panned out as planned. Carrillo, Osvaldo, Austin, even Gabbiadini to a certain extent, haven’t produced the goals consistently enough (or at all), so that leaves the other option.
In recent years Southampton haven’t utilised their academy like they used to, bringing through talent such as Lallana, Shaw, Chambers.
So why not give youth a chance? Michael Obafemi has already made his debut for the Republic of Ireland but has yet been given a proper chance for the senior side, though he has been lethal for the youth sides. He is an extremely pacey forward who likes to get in behind and could be the spark that Sparky has been so desperately been looking.
Another option, though with less years on his side, Sam Gallagher could be a useful addition to the 1st team. A 6ft4 target man, he proved he could score goals in the championship with Blackburn Rovers and Birmingham City and given Saint’s previous success with target men such as Lambert and Pelle, Gallagher could be the next striker to cement his place in the 1st team.
Given the recent sackings of Martin Hunter and Les Reed, it’s clear Southampton want to go in a different direction and could now look to the youth academy as they did only a few years ago. Youth has brought success to Southampton in the past, so could this be the start of Southampton’s return to what made them so unique?
