The sceptics were circling ahead of Ronald Koeman’s first year in charge of Southampton after former manager Mauricio Pochettino was followed through the exit door by a number of first-team regulars. The Dutchman proved them wrong, though, and after dipping into the transfer market to acquire the likes of Sadio Mane, Graziano Pelle, Dusan Tadic and Ryan Bertrand, he guided the Saints to a seventh-place finish – one spot higher than they’d managed under the Argentine in 2013/14.
In this members article, we cast an eye back over Koeman’s first campaign at St Mary’s, analysing the chief goal threats and creators and comparing their overall displays to Pochettino’s only full year at the helm.
8 years, 9 months agoI've been considering the so-called 'All Out Attack' chip and I honestly don't think I'll use it this season. As far as I'm concerned it has the propensity to do as much damage as good, and so for me this renders the risk greater than the potential reward. But then as the old adage goes, it's never over until the fat lady's tonsils are warmer than a moss-gathering early bird in the hand.
There seems to be two ways of using the chip. Option A is to stick with whatever squad you have in a given week, probably when your defenders have poor fixtures, and playing a (probably) £4.5 attacker instead. However, there are few options who actually start at this price, let alone any who garner returns, and the chances are you'll end up with 1-3 points*. Of course, it should be considered that an Ayew for an Ayew and a Huth for a Huth is better than two in the bush, but is that really better than playing a defender who could get 6+* just for a clean sheet, even from a tough fixture?
Option B is to use transfers and/or a wildcard to change your team structure and get an 8th attacker with a better chance of returns. For example, you could make 2 transfers the previous week for -4 to downgrade someone (possibly the defender you intend to rest) and then upgrade your £4.5ish benchwarmer (e.g. Wanyama -> Ritchie). However this not only weakens your side by sacrificing elsewhere, it presents a problem the following week when you are forced to make transfers and hits that you could have been better used, leave money on the bench, or even use a Wildcard. All for what? To play a low/mid-price mid who may average, say, 4 points per game* over a defender who may score a point or two lower (or higher)? To me, it seems a huge waste of transfers and funds. To make it worth the sacrifice, you would need a huge slice of luck, and for the attacker to score 8+ points more than the defender. Chances are you will have butchered your team for hits and gained no reward, laving your team in more Barney Rubble than Abu Hamza trying to tie a shoelace.
Now, doubtless, there will come a juicy post-Christmas double gameweek when team values are sky-high with 8 premium attackers in every team, and Ivanovic will pick up a convenient one-week niggle, and I will be left with a hen's produce lathered all over my humble-pie smeared visage. If this is the case, I will be the one sweating as a 1970's TV presenter does when he hears the doorbell, and my enemies will declare a day of feasting to celebrate my inglorious demise. But until that day comes, I will allow my chip to rot like the corpse of a Bavarian monk jack, and hope that '253' will be my rank, not my formation, as a result of my delicious evil genius. Adieu.
*All data is 100% made up and is based on no facts whatsoever.