The defeat to Liverpool still saw us fragile in the centre of defence and it needs fresh blood in, Kevin Danso is the man brought in to do that, but who will he replace ?

Saints need to get Kevin Danso into the starting line up and fast, his height and pace is desperately needed, although the debacles at Burnley were in the main not repeated against Liverpool the fact remains that both goals conceded could have been prevented and we needed the keeper and a bit of luck to make sure the score stayed respectable.

The problem is that in the centre of defence we have lacked pace and we have lacked players getting tackles and blocks in and that has to change, both of Liverpool's goals saw the scorers with players around them, but making no attempt to get a tackle or a block in even when it was obvious that they were going to shoot.

But if Ralph Hasenhuttl opts to bring Danso back in, who would be replace ?

Perhaps the only player who can be fairly confident of retaining his place is Jan Bednarek, in the main he has been consistent not only last season but in the two Premier League games played so far, he is young and learning fast, he has been the most mobile and commanding in the air of the other three who have played so far in the centre and he is the only one who seems prepared to make a tackle.

Jannick Vestergaard will be a contender, he did not have the greatest game against Liverpool although in fairness he is less equipped to handle pace and counter attacks than the other contenders in the position, Brighton are still reliant on getting the ball in the air to Glenn Murray, so that could save Vestergaard from the drop for this game at least.

Yoshida was on the bench at Burnley, but he does not seem to be favoured by Ralph Hasenhuttl after his return from International duty with Japan in February and he played only around half of the games in that period although in fairness he was injured at the end of the season.

In pre season it was hard to judge who the manager preferred but Yoshida was on the bench for the opener with Jack Stephens chosen instead.

Against Liverpool he was probably had the best game of the three on show and this might save him, if Ralph is confident that Kevin Danso can handle the aerial aspect of the game then he might be more inclined to drop Vestergaard.

The real problem though is that whoever plays there is no leader, no calming influence in the centre of our defence, it needs someone to take control and organise, talk to the players and point them in the right direction (literally).

Yoshida is not that man and neither is Vestergaard, Bednarek and presuambly Danso due to his youth are still learning and it will be a problem all season i'm afraid, we truly need someone who can keep the defence together and hold the line.

Thinking outside the box, Oriol Romeu has played in the centre of defence before albeit temporarily, as a defensive midfielder he has at times dropped into the back as an auxiliary centre back both for Chelsea and Saints when defenders have moved forward into attacking positions, he has the ability to read the game and tackle, I don't think it would be the worst defensive trio if he was partnered by Bednarek and Danso.

I would still like us to investigate to see who is still out of contract, I know we have a template for the type of player we want, ie young and athletic, but we truly need an old head in the back four at the moment, Gary Cahill would have been ideal and sometimes you have to break with a vision in order to bring it to fruition.

Certainly Saints have done that over the years with the likes of Chris Nicholl, Alan Ball, Jimmy Case etc all coming in to steer the youngsters in the right direction till they are ready to lead themselves.

There are still a number of central defenders available out of contract and therefore able to be signed after transfer windows close, Martin Caceres a former player of ours who came to St Mary's almost three seasons ago is one of those after being released by Juventus.

The manager does have two other options available, Jack Stephens was dropped completely after the Brighton game and from that perspective now looks to be 5th choice behind the three who started on Saturday plus Danso, so will struggle to get a game in the foreseeable future.

The other is Wesley Hoedt who has not featured in the squad so far, we have to assume that the Dutchman could be leaving before the end of the month, but of that doesn't happen then it could be he is reintegrated back into the squad, certainly he would be a better option that at least two possibly three, he played in some of the pre season games and looked OK, perhaps Ralph can work his magic as he has appeared to on others who looked substandard previously.

But for the Brighton game Ralph Hasenhuttl has a decision to make, he has signed Kevin Danso for a good reason, we keep making mistakes in the centre of defence, he has to try and be proactive here and not wait for the next mistake to happen but prevent it happening and that means

Photo: Action Images

Butty101 added 09:46 - Aug 21 Get Bertrand in at centre back. He did a decent job in the past
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saintmark1976 added 10:06 - Aug 21 Nick, both Adams and Redmond had good scoring opportunities against Burnley before they scored. On Saturday, Adams missed with a header as did Yoshida, both again before Liverpool netted. Add in the fact that Ings later missed an absolute sitter and that shows where the problem is. No defence is going to keep the opposition from scoring indefinitely. I'm afraid that at the moment what applies is the old football adage "goals change matches". Currently we just don't score enough of them.

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legod7 added 10:18 - Aug 21 76, Adams & Ings missed sitters which is horrendous as they are strikers. But Yoshida didn’t miss with a header against Liverpool. It was a brilliant save from Adrian.
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Ripleys_revenge added 10:19 - Aug 21 The more we play with a back 5 the less it seems to suit us. I recall Hughes introduced it when he brought in Bednarek as we squeezed to safety the season before last. Given how sh!te all our centre backs are, wouldnt it make sense to play with less of them? The more CBs we play, the more space there is for monumental f@ck ups as we have seen over these first two games and throughout last season. No an expert by any means but my feeling is that by playing 3 rubbish CBs you increase the chances of them messing up due to their individual incompetence and the increased difficulties in organising yourselves as a three, rather than simply as a two. Therefore for me it has to be a back four, with extra protection in midfield, one of whom drops very deep (i.e. Romeu) as and when needed. Against Brighton I'd go with Danso and Bednarek, 3 CBs just seems to bring teams on to us more. I also noticed against Liverpool and Burnley the amount of times the 3 CBs line was all over the place - very easy to spring the offside trap when we're so poorly coordinated Still can't believe we haven't sorted this after six transfer windows

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Ripleys_revenge added 10:19 - Aug 21 The more we play with a back 5 the less it seems to suit us. I recall Hughes introduced it when he brought in Bednarek as we squeezed to safety the season before last. Given how sh!te all our centre backs are, wouldnt it make sense to play with less of them? The more CBs we play, the more space there is for monumental f@ck ups as we have seen over these first two games and throughout last season. No an expert by any means but my feeling is that by playing 3 rubbish CBs you increase the chances of them messing up due to their individual incompetence and the increased difficulties in organising yourselves as a three, rather than simply as a two. Therefore for me it has to be a back four, with extra protection in midfield, one of whom drops very deep (i.e. Romeu) as and when needed. Against Brighton I'd go with Danso and Bednarek, 3 CBs just seems to bring teams on to us more. I also noticed against Liverpool and Burnley the amount of times the 3 CBs line was all over the place - very easy to spring the offside trap when we're so poorly coordinated Still can't believe we haven't sorted this after six transfer windows

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JGH added 11:10 - Aug 21 A lot of deja vu reading this article... same old problems for a long time. Let's hope KD is the silver bullet we all want him to be. Agree re leadership but can't see how a guy who couldn't get in the team beyond Stephens and Yoshida a couple of years back suddenly could/would/should now... Free agent option all very well but there's a good reason they've not been snapped up by now. Adil Rami maybe? Very old though...

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saintmark1976 added 11:23 - Aug 21 Ripleys revenge, for what it's worth I couldn't agree more with you. For whatever reason playing three centre backs simply don't work for us, so let's try something different starting at Brighton.
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I_would added 12:20 - Aug 21 Ward Prowse I hope.
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EasyTiger added 12:28 - Aug 21 Does anyone know why Martin Caceres didnt work out before? Can't remember him playing, but thought at the time it was a good option but we never used him...?
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landerwal added 12:52 - Aug 21 Everything is dependent on improving the defence. 4-4-2 is Ralph's preferred formation and so using Danso and one other CB, we get an extra player in midfield (Djenepo) which gives us far more options in attack, so hopefully lead to more goals scored and less being conceded. With all respect to Brighton, they would be a far better testing ground for a changed formation, than Liverpool were and Manchester United would be.

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helpineedsomebody added 13:00 - Aug 21 we have now a very good squad of players / options plenty it takes 6 games to get up to speed in the epl the manager still does not know his 1st eleven yet che adams cannot play at no 9 he plays great roving across the back line the other forwards must come inside to fill that position but that will only come with more time together playing 5 at the back is a large block of players they also play far too deep which encourages the opposition to have more attacking options but when we break forward we only have 2 players attacking ilike hooty he has pace but has he got the right concentration levels iwould not drop benny JV has been a massive dissapointment BUT HE HAS SOMETHING going for him presences maybe. for me i would allways play 4 in midefield & 4 at the back that way they have to work reilly hard & not get in each others way at the back

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Colburn added 13:34 - Aug 21 Got to be Bednarek and Danso at the back on Sat, even if we lose. That's going to be the best partnership for me. Having lived in Germany and learned the language, I have to say I'm very excited about Danso after reading German sports journalists reports on him. They all can't speak highly enough about his potential. May take a few games to settle but that's the future along with Ramsay and Klarer. I agree with 4 at the back, less clumsiness on the pitch and enables another attacker.

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RedandWight added 15:06 - Aug 21 ....and it means? what Nick? I agree that Danso and Bednarek are potentially our best CB pairing and Danso is really highly thought of by the German sports press so fingers crossed we will see a massive improvement. Yan Valery is great going forward but he looks absolutely lost when he has to switch to defense from attack - he needs to learn that sidfe of his game to give the CB's more cover.

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SanMarco added 21:47 - Aug 21 I agree with the 4-4-2 Bednarek and Danso comments. I reckon Yoshi and Vestergaard should be the two reserves and the other two should be sold ASAP. We should then get a good CB in January (that's January 2020 by the way.)
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wibbersda added 10:34 - Aug 23 "Jannick Vestergaard will be a contender, he did not have the greatest game against Liverpool" Really, and Burley, and pretty much every game last season. Remember Cardiff Away! He is too Slow which is unacceptable in the Prem.
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