Southampton: Why pre-season will be crucial for the Saints squad this summer

With the 2019/20 season now fast approaching, Southampton will be preparing for what is a crucial Premier League campaign for the club.

After finishes of 17th and 16th in the last two years, it will be up to Ralph Hasenhuttl and his players – old and new – to work towards a more comfortable end-of-season situation this time around.

With this in mind, pre-season will be vital for a number of reasons and for several players.

It has been reported that some first-team members will be leaving St Mary’s this summer in order to refine Hasenhuttl’s squad and free up funds for signings.

However, there is likely to be out-of-favour players left at the club following the closure of the transfer window; either unable to get moves or wanting to stick around to prove their worth.

A recent report from respected Telegraph journalist Jeremy Wilson said that, whilst the club were looking to sign a striker, a wing-back and a centre-back, it was likely that five first-team players would leave.

More from Saints Marching

• Grading the Southampton Transfer Window Part 2: Arrivals
• Grading the Southampton Transfer Window Part 1: Departures
• It’s time to talk about Gavin Bazunu
• Rain clouds on the horizon? Southampton beat Plymouth Argyle
• A lament for Southampton legend James Ward-Prowse

Looking from outside the club, those five players could be made up of any of Cedric Soares, Wesley Hoedt, Charlie Austin, Sam Gallagher, Fraser Forster, Sofiane Boufal, Jordy Clasie or Guido Carrillo.

If moves don’t then materialise for some of these names, pre-season will need to be when they make an impression on their manager and get themselves back into his long-term plans.

Along with this, Hasenhuttl will be wanting his men to take on the information they need to carry out his game plans effectively too.

We know from the Austrian’s pressing style of play that the players need to be very fit, but he could well turn to his favoured 4-2-2-2 system that served him and RB Leipzig so well in Germany for the upcoming season.

This formation was tried out by Hasenhuttl at the back end of the last campaign, but the side looked uncomfortable playing it at the time and will need some more intensive work before August.

3-4-2-1 was used mostly after December as it provided the defensive solidity to build performances on.

Only three or four players (potentially), will have seen similarities between that system and the 4-2-2-2: Nathan Redmond in his attacking-midfield role and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Oriol Romeu in the central-midfield positions (James Ward-Prowse too depending on if he takes the second attacking-midfield role in 2019/20.

It could well be an exciting campaign under Saints’ current boss, but he will need the foundations of potential success to come from fruitful pre-season work.