2016/17 Southampton season review: Dusan Tadic

Dusan Tadic’s third season with the Saints would end as perhaps his most controversial, and as a result his Southampton future could be in doubt.

Playing in England for the first time without Ronald Koeman at the helm, Dusan Tadic was watched with a scrutinizing eye this past campaign.

But it was something he had set himself up for, thanks to direct involvement in over 20 goals in the season before. He was well and truly the Saints’ lead playmaker.

However fans were keen to see how he’d perform in a more patient and defensive set-up, with Tadic’s best performances last season coming from when he had the likes of Mane and Long making the runs ahead of him.

This past season it’s been hard to argue that Tadic has lived up his expectations in any way. He finished with just three goals in all competitions for the Saints while his assist tally was near-enough halved to just six. What made it all the more frustrating is that he scored more goals in eight appearances for Serbia than he did in over 40 on the south coast.

Tadic was vocal about his lack of minutes under new manager Claude Puel, with the Frenchman often substituting the attacking midfielder with around three quarters of the game gone.

As a result the 55-year-old gave in to player power, and Tadic often played the full 90 whether he deserved it not. This included six games straight through the Saints’ barren run in April-May, resulting in boos when better players were withdrawn and the 28-year-old remained on the pitch.

With nothing to suggest that Puel will leave it could be the end of the line for Tadic at Southampton. West Ham have been quite strongly linked with him should he stay in England, while whispers have linked him with moves to Italy in recent months.

Next: Southampton need to break their wage structure

Blowing hot and cold

Dusan Tadic’s season, much like many Saints players’, was blighted with inconsistency. Never once did he get a goal or an assist in consecutive games, instead often going five or six matches without direct impact in one.

After getting an assist in the win over West Brom at the start of April, Tadic drifted away towards the end of the season, despite playing more and more minutes that he was used to.

Despite this his stats weren’t too bad, with a 79 percent passing accuracy in the league and near enough two key passes. He was still certainly creating chances.

It could therefore be argued that Tadic’s lower stats potentially come from a worse end product from teammates. Long’s goal return is but a third of his from the season before and there’s no target man for the Serbian to find with a whipped cross.

My verdict

As a technically gifted player I still think Tadic is the best on our books. And with that I do believe that his lower stats do come from bad finishing and decision making from the likes of Long, Boufal and maybe even Redmond.

However I can’t stand a player without a professional attitude, and the way he’s spoken to Serbian media isn’t acceptable in my opinion. I think he might leave if Puel stays in all honesty. I give his season a six.

Dusan Tadic: 6/10