Premier League 2016-17 season grades: Southampton
Southampton finished eighth in the Premier League in 2016-17, but what grade do they get for their overall performance?
Southampton got off to a slow start in the Premier League this season, failing to win a match until week five. That win kickstarted a six-match unbeaten streak across all competitions for the Saints, part of a run of 10 games in which they lost only twice, once in the Europa league to Inter Milan and once in the league against Chelsea. That run set the table for what proved to be a decent first season for Claude Puel.
Southampton slumped around the turn of the year, losing six of seven in the league, but that disappointment was tempered by an excellent run to the EFL Cup final, where they narrowly lost to Manchester United despite dominating for the majority of the match. Their two-leg semifinal victory against Liverpool was perhaps the high point of the season.
The Saints struggled for goals with first-choice striker Charlie Austin injured for most of the year, but were buoyed by a characteristically strong defense, led in the first half of the season by the excellent Virgil van Dijk, who this summer is likely to become the latest in a long line of Southampton players to depart for a bigger, and wealthier, club.
Van Dijk missed much of the second half of the season, but 23-year-old Jack Stephens proved to be an able deputy alongside the vastly under-appreciated Maya Yoshida. The Saints’ negative goal difference and 41 goals scored were reflective of an occasionally boring team, but an eighth-place finish and an excellent run in the EFL Cup add up to a solid campaign.
The manager
Puel spent his entire playing and managerial career in France before coming to Southampton this season. The Frenchman led the Saints to a respectable league finish and a cup final, a good return in his first year in a new league. However, that might not be enough. There are rumors circulating Puel could soon be sacked. His critics point to a poor Europa League campaign and the fact Southampton had 17 fewer points this season than last, despite finishing only two places lower. There were also rumors that the Saints’ players were becoming frustrated with their manager’s approach.
As for Puel’s decisions on the pitch, he adapted well, switching from a diamond to a 4-2-3-1 when the former wasn’t working. The approach was perhaps a little more defensive than it needed to be, especially given some of the attacking talent in the squad, but a long list of injured or misfiring strikers, not to mention the loss of Sadio Mane over the summer, made a more pragmatic approach understandable.
Puel may be shown the door after only one season, but he’s hardly done a bad job. Nathan Redmond excelled in his first season at St. Mary’s, while we saw a brief glimpse of how good Austin can be when fit. He also helped van Dijk further cement his status as one of the most coveted center-backs in the world, and Oriol Romeu developed into one of the league’s very best defensive midfielders under the Frenchman.
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The players
After losing Mane and Victor Wanyama in the summer, things didn’t look great for a depleted Saints squad. However, the arrivals of Redmond and Sofiane Boufal bolstered the attack, while Romeu was able to cover for Wanyama in defensive midfield. In January, Southampton brought in Manolo Gabbiadini, who impressed when available.
Van Dijk is probably Southampton’s best player. The 25-year-old was a key cog in the Saints’ defense, his ability to defend against powerful strikers like Harry Kane and Diego Costa vital in the Premier League. In addition to his aerial prowess, van Dijk’s passing range opens up a lot of possibilities further up the pitch. He may not be at the club much longer, however, with several of the top six showing interest.
Redmond was the Saints’ most impressive attacking player. He scored seven goals in total, and was generally the catalyst for everything good about the team’s attack. If he continues to improve, the 23-year-old could become the latest player to be plucked away from Southampton by the league’s richer clubs. Austin also deserves credit for scoring six goals and adding an assist in only 874 minutes of play. That number is also a problem, of course, as the Englishman struggled with injuries yet again. When he’s fit, though, there are few better goalscorers in the division.