Saints lose depth at already thin winger position with departure of Sims. No Sims in the squad could have a major impact on Saints.
On Monday evening, it was announced that 21-year-old winger Josh Sims will be going out on a season-long loan to Reading FC. The move comes as a bit of a shock to a lot of Saints fans as Sims was expected to get first team minutes this season and have an impact with his play.
With many supporters calling for a new winger to be brought in during the summer it is an interesting move to loan one out that has showed potential.
In his handful of appearances for the Saints over the past two seasons Sims excited supporters with his pace on the ball and his direct style of play. He will be missed by many this season but the good news is he should be back and better than before. But for now, this move leaves Southampton with a severe lack of depth at the winger position and could spell trouble going forward.
With the removal of Josh Sims that leaves Nathan Redmond, Mohamed Elyounoussi, and James Ward-Prowse as the remaining wingers with any significant experience on the squad. Three is not a comfortable number especially when Elyounoussi has already picked up a knock and Nathan Redmond struggles to find his form.
Redmond has continued to struggle and make an impact on matches and this has been a theme for nearly a year now. He has recently stated publicly how badly he wants to find success again and be the player he knows he is. One can only hope he find his confidence and starts to tally numbers in the goal and assist columns again.
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With the move to loan Josh Sims it could be seen as a testament to the confidence Mark Hughes has in Redmond. He will continue to get chances to start due to the lack of natural competition as his position and chances to find his form or this could make for a long season for Saints fans and lots of frustration could be in store.
Ward-Prowse has featured on the wing recently and impressed in the last match at Everton. Completing 73% of his passes and having made five key passes in that match (according to Whoscored.com) it is tough to not be satisfied with his performance. This could potentially be the season the 23-year-old set-piece wizard puts it all together and excels.
As of now we do not know what to expect from Mohamed Elyounoussi. It is too early to know what he will bring to the game and how he will adjust to the Premier League. But, the injury he picked up in the Burnley match raises another concern. With the lack of wingers what will happen if one or two go down with injuries simultaneously?
If that happens Hughes will likely be forced to make major adjustments to what has worked better for him this season and that is running a 4-4-2 formation.
If one or two of the wingers go down with injury it may force Hughes to return to a 3-5-2 that was featured in the first half of the Burnley match.
If Hughes is forced to return to said 3-5-2 it will put more pressure on Bertrand and Cedric to get forward and create out wide which is not ideal. It could be more beneficial to try a player like Gabbiadini or even the pacey youth player Obafemi (who made a brief appearance against Tottenham last season) out wide and try to continue working with a 4-4-2 or even a 4-3-3.
Josh Sims will be missed this coming season and there will be times Hughes will wish he was still on the squad but the opportunity for him to play regular first team football is exciting and at a level of competition he can dominate. It will be great to follow his progress and Reading is in for a great treat. We all wish Josh the best of luck!