Marching On: 7 Keys to Southampton's Success This Season

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SOUTHAMPTON, ENGLAND – AUGUST 07: Shane Long of Southampton in action during the pre-season friendly between Southampton and Athletic Club Bilbao at St Mary’s Stadium on August 7, 2016 in Southampton, England. (Photo by Jordan Mansfield/Getty Images) /

5. Fill the Void in Attack

It goes without saying that the losses of Sadio Mane and Graziano Pelle were body blows to Southampton, if expected ones. Between them, the club have lost 20 goals and 11 assists. Put more simply, a third of the squad’s league goals last year came from this pair of wingers.

Southampton may have made a decent buck off their sale, but money only buys goals if you make it do so, and so far, the Board have failed to live up to it. Granted, the new formation opens things up a bit, and we can perhaps expect the goal distribution to be more spread around, rather than leaning on one or two key playmakers.

Still, the point remains: absent any late signing (Manolo Gabbiadini being the latest of Southampton’s reported targets) the onus will be on the likes of Long, Rodriguez, Tadic, Redmond and Hojbjerg to find a way to fill the void.

Next: Midfield Madness?

Marching On: 7 Keys to Southampton’s Success This Season

By Aaron Preston | Aug 10, 2016