Southampton: Early season contributor roundtable discussion

Who hasn’t fulfilled their potential so far?

Which player has been the least impressive, who has under-performed the most, and why?

Dan: I’m giving this one to Nathan Redmond. He had a better season than I thought he would for us last term but since competing in the U21 European Championships in the summer, it doesn’t seem like he’s the same player.

I think that could partly be down to a lack of rest and recovery time but he hasn’t made the runs or taken men on as much as I’d like to see. In his favor he had two cracking shots from distance early in the season which both struck the crossbar but I now think he’s at the age where he needs to reach the next level otherwise all of the potential he had as a 16-year-old and Birmingham will go to waste!

Ed: Mainly most of our attacking players. But due to his potential I’m going with Nathan Redmond. For me, he hasn’t offered much this season. The only highlight was his assist for Gabbiadini against West Ham. The wide man just doesn’t seem pushed enough. There is not enough competition for his place, and despite not looking sharp at all, he has not been dropped.

I think Redmond could offer the team quite a lot still, but needs to be re-motivated. Being dropped from the line-up could help in achieving this. Therefore making players work harder for their place and furthermore achieving results.

Marc: Nathan Redmond. Just a very frustrating player to watch sometimes. The only trick he has is to cut inside from the left and into traffic, so he needs to find a way to mix up his game to avoid permanently becoming a one-trick pony.

He is still fairly young at 23, but himself and Dusan Tadic on the flanks just haven’t produced enough of the creative play this and last season that we know they have in their locker. I haven’t lost complete faith in him, but he’s capable of much, much more.

Nikos: I think there are two answers to this. Nathan Redmond has been the least impressive, but I expect more from Ryan Bertrand, so for me he is the biggest under-performer. Both players don’t look at all incisive so far. While Redmond runs all over the place to no avail, Bertrand often looks uninterested and disengaged.

Ben: I think what’s been sad about our season so far is, there haven’t been many players that have made an improvement from last season. Dusan Tadic once again has been frustrating to watch and Fraser Forster continues to make mistakes. I think Tadic has been the least impressive just because from an attacking sense, he really doesn’t offer a lot.