Southampton 2018/19 Season Player Review: Angus Gunn

Southampton tried to provide significant competition for Alex McCarthy at the beginning of the 2018/19 season with the signing of Angus Gunn.

The England Under-21 international joined from Manchester City for around £10m as Saints added £56m worth of talent to their squad during the summer.

With Fraser Forster struggling badly for form, the club were left with limited and unreliable backup for McCarthy if he got injured.

McCarthy would remain as the first-choice keeper until late February, and Gunn had to make do with three Carabao Cup appearances up to that point.

He was given his first chance to impress in the league in January when Saints travelled to Stamford Bridge.

It proved to be a defining moment in the season for the 23-year-old as he made six important saves to maintain a clean sheet and, crucially, a point for his side.

However, McCarthy returned for the next five league games that included wins against Leicester City and Everton and draw versus Crystal Palace and Burnley.

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Gunn’s next opportunity came in another tough game at the Emirates, and his poor clearance led to Arsenal’s second goal on the day in a 2-0 loss.

Despite this though, he kept his place for 10 of the last 11 Premier League matches of the season; only losing his place as Fraser Forster was given a run out at West Ham.

Some important saves came from him during the run of results that got Saints to safety, with one particular highlight of his coming when he saved Paul Pogba’s penalty at Old Trafford.

Overall, Gunn has done enough to show that he can be the first-choice goalkeeper going forward.

However, a few mistakes did creep into his game. The most notable of these was on the last day of the season when he delayed a clearance too long to allow Alex Pritchard to dispossess him and score.

He is likely to retain the number one shirt if he has a good pre-season, and McCarthy may be his only competition with Forster looking like leaving this summer.

Limiting the mistakes he makes will be vital, and he may need to become more dominant in claiming high crosses into the area in the next campaign (as the stats below show).

Gunn’s Key 2018/19 stats:

Appearances (all comps): 17

Clean Sheets: 5

Goals Conceded: 23 (1.35 goals conceded every game)

Saves (PL only): 33

Penalties saved: 1

Punches: 3

High Claims: 5

(all stats from premierleague.com)