Totaal Koll: Southampton

Tomas 16 maj 5 min
Liverpool FC status

Frånvaroläge: Salah(skadad), van Dijk(skadad), Fabinho(skadad), flera spelare som antagligen kommer vilas
Trolig startelva (4-3-3): Alisson Gomez, Matip, Konate , Tsimikas – Milner, Jones, Keita – Jota, Firmino, Diaz

Tankar om elvan: Att gissa elvan fortsätter att vara svårt, återigen måste vi försöka vila spelare och nu är det flera startspelare som har 120 minuter i benen från lördagen. I backlinjen skulle jag vilja se oss vila Konate, men jag kan inte riktigt se hur vi ska få ihop en slagkraftig elva utan honom och samtidigt kunna vila Alexander-Arnold. För inte kommer Klopp slänga in Rhys Williams? Mittfältet behöver också få in en del nya namn, Keita spelade minst i helgen och får starta här. I anfallet måste Mané få vila, Salah är skadad, men jag tror Diaz kan vara med från start. Kanske kan Origi få chansen här, men jag tror ändå att han får nöja sig med en bänkplats.



Southampton status – Allen Gunn(@a_gunzy), från @StMarysMusings

1. The season is about to end, how do you rate your team’s performances this season?
Mood swings. Really good runs to really poor and frankly disturbing ones and nothing in between. Just when we think Hasenhuttl has figured it out and the team has bought into it, it all switches and it is like no one knows what they’re doing. The team goes from looking experienced to inexperienced and it’s unbearable to watch.

2. How do you think your team has developed under Hasenhuttl? Do you think he is the right man for the club going forward?
This is a very hot bed topic at the minute amongst the fanbase. It doesn’t seem like the board or new ownership is too concerned as they’ve come out saying they’re in support of Hasenhuttl and will support him in the transfer window, so it all may be moot anyway. But that said, every owner has said that about every manager and so far we’ve seen nothing but the same: low risk buys with a potential high upside. The new ownership said they will spend, but not spend ridiculously so it’s possible we’re in for much of the same.
Personally, I think we’ve seen enough from Hasenhuttl. He has polar opposite runs – it either goes well or it goes really badly. I don’t care about net spend. Shock horror, we’re always going to have one of the lowest net spends in the division because we buy low and sell high so we never spend above our means. It’s then up to the manager to have the squad over perform in a tactical and smart approach. This happens for a period long enough to keep us in the division, but Hasenhuttl has to be questioned over his record from winning positions and his regression of a number of players that were at one point not replacement in the side. Going forward, we don’t have the ability or luxury to give him the summer and 10 games. That would put us back even further considering the club has built its entire ethos around one man, from the first-team through the youth teams. It’s either change now or risk being 2-3 years away from fixing what he left behind to someone else’s style. The time to make a change – if there is going to be one – is now. For note. Hasenhuttl’s Southampton has conceded 225 goals in 135 Premier League – 250 goals including all competitions – and that’s the worst record of any team still left in the league since he took over.

3. James Ward Prowse was among the players nominated as player of the year, tell us a bit about his season and What he has meant for Southampton.
Ward-Prowse has single handedly kept us in the Division. Well, he and Armando Broja for the first part of the year before he became disinterested – and I don’t blame him. He has no reason to be interested in us when we’ve been so dreadful and he gets moved in and out of the squad. Ward-Prowse is a back-to-back Fans and Team Player of the Season. His value to us really doesn’t have a number – he’s invaluable. He’s shown at different points of the season that he’s more than a free-kick merchant. Granted he is that! But he’s shown he can defend within a team plan, against a single player and that he can be versatile in his position. He’s definitely a box-to-box midfielder, but has the ability to play out wide either as a winger or half back if needed. Obviously his strength is through the middle of the park, but his growth – whether you call it due to Haasenhuttl or just his own natural progression – he’s fully deserved of a Player of the Year nominee. If you ask me, amongst the others, if you took them out of their respective squad, they would all be just okay. If you removed Ward-Prowse from the equation, Saints would’ve already booked their place back in the Championship.

4. What do you hope to see from your club during the summer transfer window?
It all matters on what the new owners and board are willing to spend. We’ve not got the same spending power as the big clubs, but we’ve got the ability to buy smart and impactful players to help our cause. I doubt we’re going to keep Broja – one half of a good season and his price tag is going to be way too high – so we will need a striker. Adam Armstrong is down the pecking order so we don’t really know what he’s going to actually offer from a goalscoring standpoint in the Premier League, but we can’t wait to find out if Broja isn’t in the picture. Frankly, we’re just inept in front of goal. We also need a centre back to partner Mohammed Salisu if Jan Bednarek is not the answer there, as well as a number one goalkeeper if Fraser Forster doesn’t sign or isn’t offered a new contract. At 34 years old, if he’ll take a one year deal on small wages then maybe he’s worth it, but his form will decline. … Needless to say, we have a long way to go before we are competitive, especially with the deficiencies in our squad.

5. How is the team’s current form?
As bad as it can get. We went from what could’ve been a top 10 finish to picking up just five points (1W, 2D) in our last 10 matches, and, to be honest, the win over Arsenal was an anomaly. Without a masterclass in goal from Fraser Forster we would’ve been hit for six or 7.

6. What kind of game do you expect against Liverpool?
I expect Liverpool, who are chasing a title and a necessary goal difference to absolutely run through us. Everyone jokes we’ve not had the 9-0 defeat this season and that Liverpool are the lucky winners – and I don’t think it is much of a joke. We could easily concede seven, eight, nine goals to a team that desperately needs goals. Or we could win 1-0. I don’t expect it to be close, however.