Urgent Change Needed After Sale Of Schneiderlin
The Saints have now played three league matches this season and are still waiting on their first win of this campaign. Losing once and drawing twice have caused alarm bells to ring at St. Mary’s, having had a spectacular 7th placed finish last year.
Southampton lost two of their, arguably, most influential players of last season, Morgan Schneiderlin and Nathaniel Clyne to Manchester United and Liverpool, respectively, and have consequently suffered as a result. Although they seem to have found a suitable replacement in Cedric Soares for Clyne, the South Coast club still hasn’t fully covered for their loss of Morgan Schneiderlin in the central midfield spot. The Frenchman moved to Manchester United just over a month ago and in response to this, Ronald Koeman signed Jordi Clasie from Feyenord at a bargain £7 million. But, Clasie has been out with a hamstring injury since the start of the season, possibly adding to the reasons why The Saints are struggling at the moment. Clasie is a very similar player to Schneiderlin, but the Dutchman had been playing football in the Erividisie all his life and the step up needed for the Premier League is massive.
The Saints manager said in a recent interview: “I don’t have any doubts about the players of those positions but it needs time, and the whole team needs the time to develop like last season.”
After 6 games in the last Premier League campaign Saints were 2nd, behind Chelsea. The Saints had lost a total of 7 players that season, so how is Southampton now doing even worse than last year when they’ve only sold 2 key players this time around?
Schneiderlin made 26 appearances for the Red and Whites last year, playing a vital role in the clubs most successful Premier League season since 1985. His ability to control the match and link defence to attack was fundamental for Ronald Koeman’s men in their successful 7th placed finish. The defensive midfielder had been at St. Mary’s for a lengthy 7 years, the team had moulded around him, the Frenchman started the attacks, intercepted the opposition constantly and was the catalyst for most forward movements, dictating the pace of the game all by himself.
The midfielder lay ninth in the league for the most successful passes completed per game with an average of 52.9. His successful take-on rate was an impressive 72.73%, but his pass completion rate was even more triumphant at 89%. These are just some of his many astounding attributes that he has as a player. Southampton are missing their ‘Spiderman’ this season and desperately need a change.
So who will be Schneiderlin’s successor? Southampton should make urgent changes before they end up prolonging this poor start and potentially deflating the morale of the players and fans. Clasie is set to come back from injury in the next week or so but may take some time to return to full fitness before featuring for a whole 90 minutes. Koeman may be forced to change his game plan and strengthen the team in both quality and size, sooner rather than later, in order to progress in this year’s Europa League.
Southampton needs to learn that they have to spend big if they are to sell big. Clasie and Romeu have got a lot to prove in the next few matches. Wanyama needs a man next to him that will make the passes, interceptions, blocks and ultimately control tempo and pace of the game, otherwise this poor form may continue.