Do Southampton have enough goals in them?
metro
Why scoring goals could prove to be the big problem for Southampton this season
After the positives that came exuding out of an excellent display against Liverpool, the hope was for Southampton to follow that up with a convincing win over West Brom. But a tepid performance meant that never looked like happening.
Such is the nature of being a Saints fan; predicting anything is impossible!
The promise of the opening game was great, with our dominance in the second half meriting a victory. It wasnt to be, but the way in which we kept the ball and controlled the game after the break was encouraging.
But unfortunately we were unable to replicate the crisp passing and incisive attacking that we showed at Anfield, and it was a desperately disappointing day at the office against West Brom.
The most worrying aspect for me so far is our lack of threat upfront. Weve forked out about £20 million on Graziano Pelle and Shane Long, but it doesnt appear to be money well spent from the early showings.
Pelle does not seem to have anything about him; his movement is poor, he has no pace, doesnt hold the ball up well and is weak aerially. I sincerely hope that it is just a case of him needing to settle in to our style of play and to English football, but I do fear that he is not the man to replace Rickie Lambert.
I think Long should be starting because of the fee paid for him, but I cant see him being a prolific scorer he never has been. He is a good player in a number of aspects and I dont question the wisdom of his acquisition, but I dont envisage him scoring many goals for us.
So I feel we are short in the striking department, at least until Jay Rodriguez returns from injury.
We also dont have the look of a team yet there was an alarming lack of creativity against the Baggies, with almost no chances coming from open play throughout the match.
The lack of a second out-and-out winger meant that we were often too narrow on one side; whilst there was an over-reliance on Dusan Tadic on the other flank, who didnt get into the game as much as he would have liked.
The pace of our attacks was also ridiculously slow and didnt exactly help us in breaking down a negative West Brom side.
Having said that, defensively we are very good and Fraser Forster looks to be an outstanding goalkeeper with limitless potential.
So there are positives; but inconsistency is something that we might have to put up with until the side has gelled and the new signings have settled.
A couple of quality attacking additions though and I think that we still have the makings of a very good team.
Just no more games like the West Brom one please!
After the positives that came exuding out of an excellent display against Liverpool, the hope was for Southampton to follow that up with a convincing win over West Brom. But a tepid performance meant that never looked like happening.
Such is the nature of being a Saints fan; predicting anything is impossible!
The promise of the opening game was great, with our dominance in the second half meriting a victory. It wasnt to be, but the way in which we kept the ball and controlled the game after the break was encouraging.
But unfortunately we were unable to replicate the crisp passing and incisive attacking that we showed at Anfield, and it was a desperately disappointing day at the office against West Brom.
The most worrying aspect for me so far is our lack of threat upfront. Weve forked out about £20 million on Graziano Pelle and Shane Long, but it doesnt appear to be money well spent from the early showings.
Pelle does not seem to have anything about him; his movement is poor, he has no pace, doesnt hold the ball up well and is weak aerially. I sincerely hope that it is just a case of him needing to settle in to our style of play and to English football, but I do fear that he is not the man to replace Rickie Lambert.
I think Long should be starting because of the fee paid for him, but I cant see him being a prolific scorer he never has been. He is a good player in a number of aspects and I dont question the wisdom of his acquisition, but I dont envisage him scoring many goals for us.
So I feel we are short in the striking department, at least until Jay Rodriguez returns from injury.
We also dont have the look of a team yet there was an alarming lack of creativity against the Baggies, with almost no chances coming from open play throughout the match.
The lack of a second out-and-out winger meant that we were often too narrow on one side; whilst there was an over-reliance on Dusan Tadic on the other flank, who didnt get into the game as much as he would have liked.
The pace of our attacks was also ridiculously slow and didnt exactly help us in breaking down a negative West Brom side.
Having said that, defensively we are very good and Fraser Forster looks to be an outstanding goalkeeper with limitless potential.
So there are positives; but inconsistency is something that we might have to put up with until the side has gelled and the new signings have settled.
A couple of quality attacking additions though and I think that we still have the makings of a very good team.
Just no more games like the West Brom one please!
