Opinion: Do Southampton need strengthen in defence this summer?

With the Saints boasting a very poor defensive record this past campaign, there has been emphasis put on the club by the fans to bring-in defensive reinforcement – but is this a requirement?

Despite the turnaround of fortunes after Ralph Hasenhuttl’s appointment as Southampton boss in December – on paper the team’s defensive display has not immensely improved, prone to leaking sloppy goals as proven multiple times across the season, and especially on the final day of the season against relegated Huddersfield Town – resulting in a 1-1 draw.

Across 38 Premier League games, the Saints conceded a high figure of 65 goals, which averages out at 1.71 per game – essentially two every other game, (stats via the Premier League).

To put this into comparison, every team that finished from 14th to 20th, conceded more than 60 goals across the Premier League campaign – Brighton who finished just below Saints, being the tightest defence amongst the seven bottom teams.

So what can Saints do about this going forward?

There’s the suggestion that Hasenhuttl could tighten up the defence with what he’s currently got could be a real possibility – after all, since his arrival, Southampton’s concede rate has been 1.5 goals per game (36 goals in 23 matches), where as before it was 1.93 goals per game (29 in 15 matches).

This spread across a whole campaign comes to about 57 goals in a 38 game campaign, which is two less than what Watford achieved this campaign who finished 11th.

Tie this in with what is currently a very young backline, in Gunn, Bertrand, Vestergaard, Bednarek and Valery – the average age is only 24.2, which goes onto suggest that it’s still a work in progress.

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To back this up, the Austrian manager has already flexed his muscles in terms of youth development, with the mentioned Gunn, Bednerak and Valery all becoming first team starters this campaign – some of them going on to have break-out seasons, and look like real exciting prospects for the next upcoming fixtures.

Given that Ryan Bertrand has already been linked with a move away this summer – and the likes of Matt Targett, and Jake Vokins being given a larger role within the squad at the left back position, the average age of the backline would drop to 23.

This is also not mentioning the likes of Kayne Ramsay, and Alfie Jones, who are both young defensive players on the fringes of the first-team squad.

Essentially, it comes down to if Saints are willing to take that gamble on their young players, so is it worth it?

Given that Hasenhuttl is looking to acquire players under the age of 24, it means that there is not much on the market that fits within Southampton’s sustainable transfer plans – club owner and chairman Jisheng Gao recently discussing his plans for the club to not depend on major investment from himself.

To add, with no rumours of any defensive reinforcement in place at present, it speaks volume of the club’s intentions over the summer transfer window – players such as Dayot Upamecano and Willi Orban have been linked to arrive on the south-coast in the past, but these are more rumours due to their previous ties with the mentioned Hasenhuttl.

On a personal note, Southampton are not in desperate need of any acquisitions in the defensive area, given their depth through their youth system and being in a position to offload higher wage players such as Ryan Bertrand and Wesley Hoedt, this would help to fund signings in attacking positions which seems more desperately needed.

Plus with Hasenhuttl being able to find some hidden gems within the clubs youth ranks in which he has already shown, and to develop the talent currently in the first team – a whole season under the former Leipzig manager could be a very successful one despite the lack of defensive additions.