Who should play in Southampton’s #10 role against Swansea?
By Erik Franzo
Manolo Gabbiadini
Can he be a centre-attacking midfielder? Absolutely, but his job is to put the ball in the back of the net. Putting him in this role will take him out of goal-scoring position too often.
You can argue Manolo has the strength to hold up the ball and the skill and vision to find teammates off of him. However, his movement without the ball is paramount, and that is why he is our best out-and-out stiker.
Dropping him back in our formation also means Charlie Austin is starting. Which says to me we are probably playing a 4-4-2 shape, and the #10 role has changed anyway.