Graziano Pelle moved to China this summer as one of the main departures from the Saints. Has his move affected the form of playmaker Dusan Tadic?
Dusan Tadic has had arguably his most inconsistent season with Southampton to date. Not only has him form been generally poor, but he has had a run in with the manager Claude Puel about his game time. It has been reported he had an iron deficiency in his blood that contributed to his fatigue and therefore lack of game time and he is being heavily linked with a move away in the summer.
Now Saints fans are used to the latter, every summer the key players within the squad are linked with moves away from the club. But we are not so used to the previous when it comes to Dusan Tadic. He has been under the radar in terms of outside interest from other teams despite his consistent quality for Southampton.
Tadic was signed in the summer of 2014 from Twente of the Dutch Eredivise, for an undisclosed fee believed to be around £11,000,000. Since that day he has been pivotal in the Saints attacking prowess.
It comes as no surprise his most fruitful Premier League campaign came in 2015/16 when Ronald Foeman guided Southampton to a 6th place finish, with Southampton scoring a respectable 59 goals across 38 games. Tadic in this season contributed 12 assists and 7 goals across his 34 appearances, whilst Sadio Mane, Graziano Pelle and Shane Long all hit double figures.
It is a somewhat cliche to say that foreign players need a ‘bedding in’ season when they move over to England, this didn’t seem to be the case for Tadic. In his first season he played a total of 31 Premier League games, scoring 4 goals and assisting 7 more.
This Premier League season, it seems we are not seeing the same Tadic we are used to. I am a regular down at St Marys and have become increasingly frustrated with not only his form, but his attitude and decision making.
So far this season he has scored 3 goals and laid on 5 assists, not a terrible return in a team that is not hitting the same heights as the previous couple of years. But something does not seem right with him. He doesn’t seem to be enjoying his football as much as he has done. Whether this be down to his relationship with the management or the other players we will probably never find out.
Do we miss Graziano?
Now it may just be a coincidence, but this ‘sulky Tadic season’ has come immediately after the sale of Graziano Pelle. It is no secret that these two shared a special relationship, seemingly best friends on and off the field. They both seemed to up their game when the other was on the pitch. It is a partnership that not only Tadic clearly misses but the Southampton team in general.
Pelle was not the most popular player amongst fans, due to his tendency to try the flicks and tricks when they were not necessary. Alongside his occasional reluctancy to challenge in the air for someone who stands at a mighty 6ft 4.
That being said, he managed to score 12 Premier League goals in his debut season and follow that with 11 in 15/16. Finishing as top scorer for the club in both of his seasons on the south coast with Tadic contributing to a large portion of these.
Further proof the Tadic/Pelle partnership helped both players is Graziano’s current form for Shandong Luneng, scoring just 5 goals in 15 games. This would be seen as respectable in the Premier League but not at the level he is currently playing at.
Now there is absolutely no chance of a return to St Mary’s for Pelle to revive the friendship of these two players. So the solution to solving Tadic’s form and happiness is not easy. It is evident he has a chip on his shoulder, something Claude Puel needs to address soon as all of us want Tadic to play with the quality we know he has.
But do Saints miss Pelle? Does Tadic miss Pelle?