Southampton may have lost Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg to Tottenham – but they’ve already been busy in the transfer window this summer.
Tottenham full-back Kyle Walker-Peters has returned to the club on a permanent basis in a £12million deal following a successful loan spell in the second half of last season.
Meanwhile, last week Saints also tied up a £10.9m deal for Real Valladolid centre-back Mohammed Salisu and Schalke’s Weston McKennie is also believed to be in talks over a £20m switch to St Mary’s.
Ralph Hasenhuttl deserves huge credit for turning around what looked like an impossible situation for him at Southampton following the club’s disastrous 9-0 defeat at home to Leicester last October.
Southampton ended the 2019/20 Premier League season with a seven-game unbeaten run, including four wins, as they finished 11th – just four points behind Arsenal.
Below, talkSPORT.com have looked at how Saints’ latest permanent recruits could line up next season…
4-4-2
Hasenhuttl’s high-pressing style is clearly demonstrated in Southampton’s game, and a major reason why they are one of the better possession-oriented sides in the Premier League.
The two forwards, in this case Danny Ings and Michael Obafemi, are the first line of pressing in conjunction with the two wide midfielders and one of either Oriel Romeu or James Ward-Prowse.
Saints are very effective at creating 4 vs 2 situations, especially on the flanks, with Ryan Bertrand’s consistent and valuable work on the left displaying this, forcing errors out of opponents or winning the ball back.
While Salisu is certainly a player who can really flourish in the future, he will also play an integral role in the here and now.
Hasenhuttl has already highlighted how strong the Ghanaian is defensively and how composed he is on the ball.
He will also add much-needed pace to a Saints backline, with Jan Bednarek expected to line up with him at centre-half.
The addition of Walker-Peters is a shrewd investment and, with Bertrand’s experience on the left-flank, Southampton have a good chance of pushing on again next season.
4-2-2-2
Whilst Hasenhuttl’s formation is 4-4-2 on paper, it does resemble what looks like more of a 4-2-2-2.
Ward-Prowse and Romeu drop deeper allowing the wide midfielders – in this case Stuart Armstrong and Nathan Redmond – to drift into central positions.
In this formation the wing-backs are heavily relied upon to attack the flanks and support the front two, knowing the central midfielders are deep enough to cover.
This allow Saints to press in packs, while they also now have a good ball-playing defender in Salisu now among their ranks – essential for this team.
They are very effectively at counter-pressing, which helps them regain possession in dangerous areas of their opponents’ half.
And with the likes of Ward-Prowse and Redmond capitalising on this, the pace of Ings, Obafemi and Shane Long allows Saints to get into lots of one-on-one situations.
