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Southampton: Review of Alex McCarthy’s Saints season so far

By Marc Walker

BURNLEY, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 02: Alex McCarthy of Southampton during the Premier League match between Burnley FC and Southampton FC at Turf Moor on February 2, 2019 in Burnley, United Kingdom. (Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images)
BURNLEY, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 02: Alex McCarthy of Southampton during the Premier League match between Burnley FC and Southampton FC at Turf Moor on February 2, 2019 in Burnley, United Kingdom. (Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images) /
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An entirely different situation arose for Southampton’s Alex McCarthy at the beginning of this season as the club added extra competition in his position.

England Under-21 international Angus Gunn arrived on the South Coast from Manchester City for around £10m and provided a quality back-up option with the likes of Fraser Forster out of picture entirely.

Despite this, McCarthy has retained his place in the Saints starting line-up and has made a total of 25 appearances so far this campaign.

Six games have come the way of Gunn who – despite impressing in his appearances – has yet to convince Ralph Hasenhuttl of a regular starting role.

Although his position seems safe at the moment, McCarthy may need to put in some work to secure his position for the long-term.

SOUTHAMPTON, ENGLAND – AUGUST 12: Alex McCarthy of Southampton makes a save from Aaron Lennnon of Burley during the Premier League match between Southampton FC and Burnley FC at St Mary’s Stadium on August 12, 2018 in Southampton, United Kingdom. (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)
SOUTHAMPTON, ENGLAND – AUGUST 12: Alex McCarthy of Southampton makes a save from Aaron Lennnon of Burley during the Premier League match between Southampton FC and Burnley FC at St Mary’s Stadium on August 12, 2018 in Southampton, United Kingdom. (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images) /

Next. Mario Lemina's Saints season so far. dark

In particular, his claiming of the ball and punching at balls into the box must improve.

If he can sort this, it will be a huge relief for the Saints defence as the amount of work they have to do reduces and confidence in the man behind them increases.

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A strength of McCarthy’s is certainly his reflex saving and he has saved many a shot from finding the Saints net across the season.

However, it has been noticeable that a few goals have looked a little soft for him to be letting in at times.

Sometimes he has been unsighted and unlucky, sometimes the defence in front of him hasn’t helped at all but a few instances have also been down to McCarthy himself.

He has been beaten at his near post on occasion and may need some help from goalkeeping coach Dave Watson to provide some varied work in training that can help him back to his excellent levels of last season.

One thing is for sure though, it has still been a decent season for the 29-year-old. He won his first cap for England back in November in a friendly against Switzerland at Wembley; very much a reward for his form at the end of 2017/18.

He’s been put through his fair share of work too and has made the fifth most saves of any goalkeeper in the Premier League this season (source: premierleague.com).