Southampton: Hasenhuttl urges Saints to spend money on transfers
By Marc Walker
Southampton manager Ralph Hasenhuttl has urged the club to spend more money on transfers in the future to ease the burden on a slimline squad.
Dreadful luck with injuries this season has seen Saints preparing for games with youngsters and many key players on sidelines, with at least 16 senior players having had injuries or Covid-19 related issues so far.
Speaking to the media ahead of his side’s Premier League clash with Everton, Hasenhuttl said (via Hampshire Live):
"“What is the conclusion for the future? We definitely see that we have a lot of young players, they are not so far (away) to help us immediately, so we need to have a bigger squad in the future, this is what we know.“Therefore you need maybe a lot of money to get this, otherwise, it is tough to get players that they can help you immediately in the Premier League.”"
Bigger Southampton squad could compete for longer
Saints were able to field a consistent team in the early part of the season and this familiarity enabled players to get better and better in their roles.
It was no surprise to see Ralph Hasenhuttl and his team flying so high once those pressing patterns were being put into such efficient practise in matches. Since then though, things have got a lot tougher.
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A run that has seen them take just one point from a possible 27 has brought about a drop from sixth in the table to 14th. A couple more wins are desperately needed to avoid any danger of relegation.
Fans were hugely disappointed to not see Saints add a defender in the January transfer window, but they found it hard to find a breakthrough in negotiations with a number of clubs wanting to keep their own squad depth.
Now it is time for a concerted effort to help Hasenhuttl out. He can only bring positive results when he has the right players on offer all the time and the squad must be added to through the summer.
Saints’ build towards a successful future has been stopped in its tracks for the time being and we may only see things heading back in the right direction when the pandemic has passed. They now need to make sure that everything works in their and their manager’s favour as they look towards those future plans.
Another big task will be needed to steer the team out of their current predicament near the bottom of the Premier League but everything still remains in their hands if they can get some positive results in upcoming games.