Southampton At Aston Villa The Preview Friday, 16th Sep 2022 10:12 The last time Saints played at Villa Park was only six months ago, that game was a disaster, but things have changed at Southampton Football Club massively in that period and there could be as few as only two starters from that game than will start in this. The trip to Villa Park at the start of March started with optimism, in the previous 13 games in League & Cup Saints had lost just once and with Villa struggling themselves, the travelling support was confident of the third premier League victory in a row and pushing for a top 10 place. By the 54th minute we were 4-0 down and looking back it is a miracle that it was not more.
Ralph Hasenhuttl made mistakes in his starting line up that day, but six months on he has a far better and deeper squad to choose from, of the 11 players who appeared in the starting line up back in March, 5 are not at the club this season, either permanently, on loan or in the case of Armando Broja back to his parent club, if we look at the other 6 starters, you have to say that only James Ward Prowse & Che Adams are likely to be on the pitch for the opening whistle. With the exception of Tino Livramento who is long term injured, the remaing 3 are now likely to be fringe players with everyone fit, Romain Perraud, Moi Elyounoussi & even Stuart Armstrong who now finds himself fighting for a place in the side.
That shows how the squad has evolved over the summer and now it is a case of gelling that squad together and helping it reach it's potential. Back in March Ralph was scraping the barrel a bit for the trip, trying to keep a squad from being jaded and with injury issues he tried to freshen things up and came a cropper, he is not the first or last manager to have that happen. But now he goes into the game with options all over the pitch, back then we had Jan Benarek & Jack Stephens at centre back, both are out on loan, Bednarek ironically at Villa and he won't be able to play in this one.
Now we have Mo Salisu & Armel Bella-Kotchap in fine form at the back, we also have the option of Duje Caleta-Car to come in in the centre of defence, our weak spine of a just six months ago has been overhauled and although it is not yet completely proven, it is surely an upgrade on last season. So perhaps the first decision of Ralph Hasenhuttl on Saturday will be does he stick with the formation that has done well in the past few games or does he play with three central defenders to bring in Caleta-Car, although some would say that would be a big mistake and point to the opening two games as proof, it should be pointed out that the system failed then, not because of the system, but because of the players that he had to hand to play it.
Caleta-Car could be that mixture of experience and quality that could hold the back line together, Jan Bednarek certainly wasn't. If he does that then Ralph then Ralph's team could look something like this. Bazunu Bella-Kotchap, Caleta-Car, Salisu, Ward Prowse, Diallo Walker- Peters Maitland- Niles or Edozie Aribo Adams, A Armstrong That would be a good side, yes the system has not worked in the past, but it could well do now with not only three strong centre backs, but wing backs who can actually play as wing backs. I would think that Ralph will be looking to utilise this system again at some point, albeit it a few tweaks, this preview is not aimed at an in depth look at it's merits or exact formation. But is that point the trip to Villa Park and i would think that Ralph may well start with the tried and trusted, that being the case then his first question is who plays left back, Romain Perraud is an option, but I would not be surprised to see Kyle Walker Peters switch to the left back spot and Aynsley Mailand-Niles fill in at right back.
Then a centre two of JWP & Diallo with Aribo just ahead and a front line of Che Adams, Adam Armstrong & Sam Edozie. That would leave the likes of Stuart Armstrong, Moussa Djenepo, Juan Larios, Duje Caleta-Car, Moi Elyounoussi, Romain Perraud, Lyanco, Sekou Mara all on the bench and there is still Livramento & Lavia to come back from injury and Theo Walcott not even able to get into the matchday squad, I haven't even mentioned the youngsters on the fringe such as Tyler Dibling, Dominic Ballard & Diamond Edwards. Six months ago one or two would be able to get a place on the bench, but it is a lot harder now.
So Ralph has a few selection problems these days, but unlike the last three years or so they are nice one to have and far different from even six months ago let alone even a year or two. The squad is evolving nicely, on the other bench is Steven Gerrard, a man whom some people believe I have named my dog, house & children after, whilst I thought he was a great player, I am still far convinced about him as a manager, yes he got a long awaited title in Scotland for Rangers, but at Villa he has yet to convince. Villa's transfer strategy seems to be the polar opposite of ours even before Gerrard's arrival, in the summer of 2021 they signed Danny Ings from us, £30 million for a 29 year old who is now 30, Gerrard's first signing was Lucas Digne from Everton for £25 million, big money for a man who will turn 30 next year, this summer they have added Diego Carlos, £26 million for another 29 year old who will be 30 before he plays another game for them due to injury, Phillipe Coutinho was a mere £17 million, but he had already turned 30.
Ludwig Augustinsson is only a loan signing from Sevilla but he is 28 and even Leander Dendonker from Wolves is 27, add to that an existing squad that includes, Tyrone Mings who turns 30 in March, Calum Chambers 28 in January, even Ollie Watkins is no spring chicken. It seems Gerrard is not assembling a Villa squad for the future, but one for now that will keep him firmly in mid table and therefore not throw a spanner in the works for his plan to replace Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool in a few years, the problem is as Brendan Rodgers has found out at Leicester, you allow a squad to age and it slowly gets worse and more to the point it's transfer value drops and you have no funds to replace players who have grown old. So it will be a case of youth against experience at Villa Park on Saturday, some night say that was the case six months ago, but they would be wrong, last season's side was packed with experience, it was just little on quality, in the starting line up, only Armando Broja could be said to be inexperienced, in age yes but even he had played over 50 top flight games at this stage split between Vitesse & Saint on loan with 1 for Chelsea on top.
So we tried experience last season and this year we will try youth, but it will be better balanced and there will be plenty of experience still on show. Saints have nothing to fear going to Villa Park, six months ago things looked rosy, but we had been playing out of our skin and we collapsed like a pack of cards and the knock on effect saw us win just once in our last 12 Premier League games, some would say that shows how weak our squad was and they would have a point, but it should also be remembered, that on 6th March before the game we had also proved the potential that was within the squad and what it could achieve in short bursts.
Now that squad has evolved and improved, we have done so with the medium to long term in mind, yes there will be bumps along the way, but there will also be highs, if we could force our way into the top 10 by March of last year, we must have a chance of doing it again this year given the quality now within the squad and more to the point the better balance. Hopefully Villa Park this season like last will be looked back on as a true turning point in our season, only this year in a more positive way. Photo: Action Images Please report offensive, libellous or inappropriate posts by using the links provided.
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