Southampton: Crouch describes unbelievable moment in Saints training

Former Southampton striker Peter Crouch has described the unbelievable moment that Theo Walcott and Nathan Dyer burst onto the scene in training back in the 2004/05 season.

Crouch spent just one campaign at St Mary’s and scored regularly despite Saints being relegated to the Championship, whilst Walcott and Dyer were still working their way through the academy age groups.

Now it has been highlighted just how badly out of form Saints’ defenders were back then as former manager Harry Redknapp introduced the academy duo to a training session.

Speaking on That Peter Crouch podcast, the 6ft 7in striker said:

"“These two young lads came over and started absolutely ripping our two centre-halves to shreds in two vs two. It was embarrassing – they were megging them, outpacing them and whipping balls in. It was attack vs defence but they were constantly scoring goals, and Harry was fuming."

As Crouch describes, the centre-back pairing were Claus Lundekvam and Andreas Jakobsson. Both were ageing at this time and were seemingly taught a lesson by the two youth talents who would soon break into the senior picture.

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

Lundekvam is fondly remembered by Saints fans having been a consistent defender in the Premier League for many years, but Jakobsson only spent one year with the club before heading back to his homeland of Sweden.

As mentioned before, Saints did ultimately end the 2004/05 season with relegation to the English second-tier. They did have talent in their team though, and a young Crouch was certainly in that category.

It was on the South Coast that he began to show that his ability in the air was a match for any top-flight defender and that he wasn’t bad with his feet either. He scored 15 goals in 30 games before joining Liverpool for around £10m.

Walcott and Dyer would get their chance to show their full potential as Saints dropped down to the Championship and relied on their homegrown talent more.

Walcott’s ability became clear as he scored five times in 22 games for the club before being snapped up by Arsenal, and he would then go on to play for England alongside Crouch as the duo became regulars with their clubs.

Dyer remained at St Mary’s until 2009 and made 64 appearances in all before moving on to Swansea City.