With so many attacking options available to him Ronald Koeman faces a dilemma in how to employ Dusan Tadic this coming season.

There can be no doubt that Dusan Tadic was a talent, he started last season like a train but tailed off after Christmas although he still made some vital contributions including the winner at Old Trafford.

The reason why his form dipped can't be pinpointed as being down to one thing but a combination, the first was possibly when he switched sides he never quite looked to have the same impact after that.

Then there was a niggling injury that he was carrying and with Saints themselves having an extraordinary amount of injuries to the rest of the squad, he had no choice but to soldier on, but this did little for his form.

Those injuries through the squad did little for Saints form itself and Tadic was not the only player in the team struggling for form.

Finally there is perhaps the physical aspect of the Premier league, there are those who would point to that and suggest that this alone might stop him from becoming a legend for Saints, I would disagree, he is no shrinking violet and I think the first three possibilities are far more of a factor than the fact that he might not be up to it physically, especially when you consider he was carrying an injury that clearly restricted him to a degree.

But just where will Ronald Koeman use him ?

Last season it was a little easier for the manager at least early on, Pelle up front with Tadic and Mane as the ewide attackers backed up with Shane Long, but the return of Jay Rodriguez from his year long injury adds a whole new dimension.

This means that Koeman has options to change formation that especially in the second half of the season due to those injuries he did not have and with everyone fit it will be hard to give everyone a game.

In the first half of the season Ronald Koeman tended to switch his midfield depending on the opposition and whether it was home and away, for the tougher games he would anchor the midfield with Schneiderlin and Wanyama, but in the easier games he would switch Jack Cork in for the Kenyan to offer a quicker attacking option especially on the break.

The arrival of Jordy Clasie suggests that he along with Wanyama will be the base the midfield will build on, but Clasie is much better at using the ball and turning defence into attack than Schneiderlin was, so the option to switch there perhaps wont be used so much.

Assuming Pelle continues as the spearhead, that leaves Tadic along with Mane, Long & Rodriguez battling for the two wide roles in the team and we havent even mentioned Juanmi, add him into the equation and we effectively have six attacking players for the three roles.

When it comes to previous form and again assuming Pelle is the central striker you would put in Mane and Rodriguez as the two wide attackers and it could be said that in the second half of the season Shane Long would push both very close for a place.

This means that perhaps Koeman will look at other options and it could be that he will consider moving Tadic into the centre to play in front of the two central midfielders, certainly it is something to consider although of course we still have Steven Davis and James Ward Prowse as options there plus Harrison Reed.

All of this highlights just how Ronald Koeman has carefully built up his squad over the past year and now with so many options we will start to see him utilise it and different formations used according to the game, he did this in the first half of the season, but less so in the second half due to at any given time so many being injured/suspended etc.

So perhaps the most important job for RoKo is to get the best out of Dusan Tadic, turn him into the prestigious talent that he showed he has the ability to become in the first half of last season, that is why I feel that Tadic might well be used in a more central role, with Wanyama and Clasie behind him to watch his back he might well be best used in that number 10 role as it is now called, picking up the ball in the cnentre and picking passes to either Pelle or the two wide men, with less emphasis on getting up and down the line it could be a role that is very suited to him.

Ronald Koeman is an experienced manager and a great footballing brain, he will know how to get the best out of not only Tadic but the whole squad, in the midfield and attack we are now very strong and that can be seen from the number of options we now have, not only numerically but in the fact that most can play at least two roles, last season we dropped out of the top four due to a lack of depth in the squad, already it is looking like we won't have that problem in the coming season.

Photo: Action Images

palmsaint added 11:55 - Jul 20 Think we will score more than last year .... But need one or two central defenders to make sure we not let in more than last year I for one am excite about this season bring it on
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davidhosey added 12:00 - Jul 20 As you have highlighted Nick, we have a really good attack midfield group. No doubt. What is worrying me is the defence at the moment. The main reason we finished so high last year was the fact that we conceded fewer goals than anyone except Chelsea. This meant clean sheets and we could pick up points when we were not playing so well. With Forster out all season, Clyne and Toby gone I worry that we are going to be much more vulnerable. This is where I want us to spend money on real quality. If we do we can be even better!

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Jesus_02 added 12:11 - Jul 20 I’m looking forward to watching Tadic again. He has more options to deliver to so I think he will have a good season. It’s pretty simple for me, to get the best out of him he needs to have a free role so when we can afford two up front let him wander to provide for them. When we have one up front he could play a tighter "false 9" position. Overall Koeman has all sorts of options in the attacking 3rd and a pretty inexperienced back 4 so it should be a pretty entertaining year!

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Zambucco added 12:37 - Jul 20 Good stuff Nick, I was banging on all last season to those who were prepared to listen (approx none!) That Tadic should have a free role, let him find the ball, move and pass. I think Lallana was playing a similar role and it seemed to empower him. This seems the case with tadic, tie him down he wilts, give him freedom he blooms. Especially if he's got his mojo back. I'd like ot think that Ramirez has toughened up after a year in Hull, I'm sure he could be used to give Tadic the much needed rests, he craved last season. I'm also very excited about the coming season, as it seems the emphasis has moved to attack. Maybe for a bit of fun we could employ the very entertaining "score more goals than them" tactics?

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SaintDownUnder added 13:43 - Jul 20 I like 4-2-3-1 with clasie and VIC in the double pivot and mane and jrod out wide as part of the three, Tadic in the hole and Pelle up top..... The Dutch grow up on 4-3-3 though which I think Davis, clasie and VIC anchor then one of jrod,mane or Tadic miss out..... Good problem to have I suppose. I think the important thing is that we have depth with 2 games a week we'll need it.

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aceofthebase added 14:06 - Jul 20 Might be time to guess the starting line up for coming games.
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IWOZTHERE added 14:45 - Jul 20 If his early (last season) form is reproduced consistently it might end up similar to the situation with Le tiss when Alan Ball was in charge. Team talk: Just give Le Tiss the ball !
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SaintBrock added 23:26 - Jul 20 At his best Dusan Tadic is a mesmerising player and he will be an automatic starter all the time he remains fit, notionally as a winger but as Zambucco suggests mostly in a lallana-esque roving role as our playmaker. The keys are his physical robustness and staying fit both causes of concern last season. We must hope that he has fully recovered from whatever traumas affected him last time that were never fully explained.

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