Assuming that new Japanese defender is available for selection at the Emirates, who should make way for him ?
The stark answer to this question is that sadly there is a case for either Jos Hooiveld or Jose Fonte being dropped to make way for the new aquisition from VVV-Venlo, in fact its pretty clear that there is no doubt that Yoshida will be in the side, the only real poser is when !
Given our appalling defensive showing so far I would say that it should be sooner rather than later, both of our central defenders so far have confirmed what was starting to become apparent last season, that although for long periods of the game they are solid, they suffer from lapses in concentration, in the latter part of our promotion winning campaign it started to show itself more and it was difficult to remember a goal that wasn't the result of a defensive lapse, both were equally culpable but in the Championship you dont get punished as much as you do in the Premier.
Now its a different story and as both Hooiveld and Fonte have found out, you cant take your eye of the ball for a second, nor can you dive in, in this division the slightest touch sends opponents sprawling to the ground and whilst that isnt directly the fault of for instance Hooiveld who has been on the end of two penalty decisions that possibly wouldnt have been given in the Championship, the fact of the matter is naivety is no excuse.
So the only real question that now remains is who makes way for Yoshida, its fair to say that before Saints being linked with him, few had heard of the Japanese central defender, yes Im sure there are a few you tube clips out there, but essentially we know little of him as a player and its the type of player that he is that will determine the fate of Hooiveld and Fonte.
IF Yoshida is a more ball playing defender then that could be good news for Hooiveld, of our current partnership, he is more of a stopper and it would contrast Yoshida to have some steel beside him, but contrastingly if the man from the land of the rising sun is himself more of a bruiser than cultured then it could be that Nigel Adkins would consider that he would be better partnered with Fonte.
On paper a simple question, however its not quite that simple, Adkins has to also consider which of Fonte and Hooiveld can adapt his game in the Premier, so far and I said this on many occasions last year, I dont think Fonte & Hooiveld compliment each other and never really gelled as a partnership, one or the other always seemed to be out of sorts and Fonte never seemed to be the same player that he was the previous year with other partners.
Many Saints fans took to Hooiveld, mainly for the vital goals he scored and for some that made him a better player than the Portugese, but that would be having a short term memory, Fonte himself has an eye for goal, he scored 7 in our promotion from league 1 including that memorable winner at Brighton that in hindsight was truly the difference between success and failure, the difference between last season and that one though was that it was Hooiveld often sent up for corners and set pieces rather than Fonte.
At time of writing its a hard one to call, both Fonte and Hooiveld deserve to be dropped and the one thing that is certain is that their partnership needs to be disolved, Im sure either can prosper in the Premier with the right partner, but the opening games have proved my theory from last season that they are not a match, but who will be for the axe is hard to call and indeed that axe may not be permanent as Adkins may feel that he needs to play one or the other alongside Yoshida according to the opponents.
The big worry though is whether Yoshida himself is up to the task, we just dont know as although he has experience in both Japan and Holland and of course the International stage, all three are completely different ball games to the Premier, make no mistake Yoshida's is probably the signing that will make or break this season.