Southampton boss Ronald Koeman isn’t exactly in the most enviable position. Sure, taking over at the South Coast club after they enjoyed yet another successful Premier League campaign doesn’t sound all that bad on the surface, but once you start to compare squad sheets, the problem he has on his hands becomes apparent.
A mass exodus from St. Mary’s following the departure of former boss Mauricio Pochettino will be punctuated only further when they line up against Liverpool on Sunday. Although there’s been a high profile departure or two to other clubs — with more possibly on the horizon — ex-Saints trio Rickie Lambert, Adam Lallana and Dejan Lovren are all sporting the famous red shirt these days and things could get a bit awkward in the Anfield tunnel before kick-off.
Liverpool may be without Luis Suarez following his move to Barcelona earlier in the summer, but the Reds are still a sight to behold when they find their flow. Their successful pre-season tour of North America coupled with their 4-0 demolition of German giants Borussia Dortmund last weekend was a clear indicator that the Merseyside outfit remain a force to be reckoned with — something that Koeman himself has witnessed first hand.
Having successfully navigated the cauldron that is Anfield while in charge of both PSV Eindhoven and Benfica, the Dutch manager is no stranger to the Kop. “I was at Anfield yesterday to watch Liverpool against Dortmund,” he told the Saint’s official website after being spotted in the crowd doing a bit of scouting. “It’s a great stadium with a lot of history, and we’re looking forward to playing against them” he continued before downplaying the win in typical fashion. “They played well, but we have to understand that Dortmund was very poor. They didn’t make it difficult for Liverpool, but we will do that.”
If nothing else, Koeman will be hoping to replicate Southampton’s 1-0 win at Liverpool last year, though he’ll have to look to someone other that Lovren — who scored the only goal for the Saints the last time out, but completed a big money move to the Reds last month — to do it. That player could very well be ex-Hull City striker Shane Long following his £12mil move to St. Mary’s just in time for the opening day fixture.
“This came out of the blue for me” he said following the whirlwind transfer. “It was a hard decision for me to make but when you come down to Southampton and you see how big a club it is and how well set up it is, I can’t wait to get going” he continued. “They are developing a new squad for this year to try and achieve the accomplishments of last season and hopefully I can be a big part of that.”
Following the departures of Lambert and Lallana to Liverpool and Dani Osvaldo to Inter Milan on loan, Koeman has done an admirable job of bringing in new faces to plug up the holes, but one of his most significant feats hasn’t come in the transfer market at all — rather, it’s been in convincing defender Jose Fonte to stay at the club.
With the aforementioned Lovren deal shaking up their back-line, keeping Fonte, and with him some stability in defense, could very well be a key piece to putting the Southampton puzzle back together. “I am very pleased about his new contract, which keeps our ambition and philosophy of the club. I am happy about that” the manager said following the Portuguese defenders contract extension. “We lost some good players and have had a little bit of rebuilding of our team and we said: ‘OK, it’s enough now’ – we have to bring new players in, and we like to keep the good ones in the squad.”
Well, at least some of the good ones — right Ronny?
–Steven
