Despite throwing away points with a late conceded goal yet again, and in fact, almost giving away all three points at the death, the Saints managed to achieve what they set out to do in securing their Premier League status for another season against Bournemouth.
Unlike in recent history, next term promises to be a good one with the right manager in charge in Ralph Hasenhuttl. So, what needs to be changed and where?
Our goalkeeping department is arguably one of the strongest in the league, with Angus Gunn and Alex McCarthy rock solid and both contending for England squad berths. So, there is no need for much change there apart from shipping Fraser Forster and his massive wages.
Forster has arguably been one of the most overrated keepers we have ever had – our solid defensive midfield and the presence of Virgil van Dijk masked his inefficiency in goal for many seasons.
What Les Reed and Ralph Krueger were thinking when they offered him a lengthy bumper new contract a few seasons back, no-one will know. Ultimately, the mess that those two left the Saints in cost them their jobs. It’s now left for Hasenhuttl and others to repair the damage. Let’s hope Forster lowers his wage demands for the sake of his career and finds a potential suitor.
It’s no secret that our defence needs some serious work. Our left and right flanks are adequately stocked with Targett, Valery and Bertrand, although the latter needs to up his game. Cedric Soares needs to be offloaded, and a replacement found.
Central defence is where arguably our most urgent upgrading is required. Yoshida, for all his endeavour, is just a tad soft for this league. Stephens is too inconsistent and prone to costly errors. The margins in the Premier league are just too small to be able to absorb the kinds of mistakes he regularly makes, so he certainly has to go. Two centre-backs could be required, and I would love to see the likes of Fulham defender Alfie Mawson and one other come in – possibly Cardiff City’s Sol Bamba?
The midfield has a good mix of steel, youth and creativity so the limited budget available could be best used elsewhere. Oriol Romeu, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, James Ward-Prowse, Josh Sims and Mario Lemina could be well supplemented with Jake Hesketh, Harrison Reed and Callum Slattery. Stuart Armstrong could be used as a potential back up, but we need to offload Mohamed Elyounoussi and Sofiane Boufal if possible.
Up front, it’s clear that Charlie Austin has run his race. There should be no place either for Sam Gallagher, Shane Long nor Guido Carrillo.
Michael Obafemi, Danny Ings, Nathan Redmond and two new signings – hopefully, Che Adams and, dare I ask, Aleksandar Mitrovic – would create a nice balance up front. Long has shown some form of late, but really not enough if we want to be clinical up front.
Rebuilding should start right away. The trick will be to offload as many of the high-earning underperformers as possible (Cedric, Hoedt, Boufal, Elyounoussi, Forster, Carrillo) along with Stephens, Yoshida, Austin, Long and replace them with four to five quality signings coupled with the latest talent from the youth team.
