Victor Wanyama was withdrawn on Saturday due to an ankle injury, however as good as the Kenyan is, it was a substitution that changed the game.

When Ronald Koeman first arrived he saw the benefit of tactically switching between Victor Wanyama and Jack Cork for certain games. For the tougher games when we had to dig in and battle in the centre of the midfield he would select the Kenyan, but for the games that he felt we would dominate the midfield and that we would be spending more time attacking he would put in Cork for his ability to get the ball forward quicker.

After Cork was firstly injured and then subsequently left the club in January, this was not an option that we had any more, yes Schneiderlin and Wanyama were arguably the best defensive pairing in the Premier League last season, but in the less tough games we struggled to break sides down as neither had the abiliity to get the ball moving quickly and catch teams on the back foot as we had been doing earlier in the season.

This season when his head has been right Wanyama has been selected for every game, yet perhaps on Saturday he should not have been, we did not need his power and strength and when he had to go of injured it perhaps changed the game, Oriol Romeu seemed a little more mobile and able to speed things up a little bit, we started to push Villa back and get it wide quicker to use the pace of Cedric and Ryan Bertrand overlapping down the wings.

So has this inadvertent change on Saturday reminded Ronald Koeman of just why Saints started the season so well last year and the reason why we slaughtered the likes of Sunderland at St Mary's, a game tht Cork started and Wanyama came off the bench.

It could be argued that Victor Wanyama is the best player in Saints current team, certainly he is the most coveted by other teams along with Sadio Mane if transfer rumours in the media are correct, however sometimes even you best players have to drop out tactically.

That means that sometimes you need the power and muscle of Wanyama and at others not so much and Romeu's performance on Saturday must have given Ronald Koeman food for though in that direction.

However Koeman's problem, especially as they try to persuade the Kenyan to sign a new deal is that if he leaves Wanyama out he will run the risk of unsettling the player and allowing the likes of Tottenham to try and play on that.

He has to make Wanyama feel he is the top man in the team and everything revolves around him and that means playing him every week, even if the situation perhaps warrants otherwise.

Photo: Action Images

Jesus_02 added 09:44 - Dec 7 The problem is that Vic is not the person to build a team around. Unless when Koeman bails out we get Fat Sam in. Classie needs to get up to speed, before Vic is totally exposed as being this generations Carlton Palmer!...Not Knocking CP BTW..he had England Caps :)
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lockseaf77 added 09:48 - Dec 7 I don't think Wanyama is the best player in the current team. He has physical presence, but then so does Romeu. And he still gives the ball away in dangerous positions at least two or three times every time he plays. If he does go it won't make a lot of difference. We need another Romeu type player in there. Van Dijk appears to be our best player at the moment.
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10i added 09:49 - Dec 7 I'm with you on this. Wanyama is not the type of player you need going into games like the one on Saturday. He is an excellent battler and a player you need in certain games, but RK got this one perfectly right in our famous run last year with Cork. Wanyama ideally needs a dominating and asured midfielder next to him to give the ball to after winning his duels as his vision and passing range is very limited. He has to give the responsibility to someone and right now there's no new Morgan found to do that. But i can't see that happen again, he now very much is RK's constant as DM - but what may Change, indicated by RK'S interview after the Cup game, is that against the top sides now Romeu will be used more alongside Wanyama. After a quite bright start to the season, Romeu for some reason didn't get a lot of game time any more, which now may change in an approach to better shield the defence in the upcoming games.

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IWOZTHERE added 10:12 - Dec 7 I've disagreed with a few of your articles/posts lately but I think you're spot on with this one.
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dirk_doone added 10:19 - Dec 7 He's probably learned that having to two men's work in midfield is shattering for Wanyama and his own game is suffering, the same as Fonte's did when he had poor players alongside him. We only have 4 or 5 players left now who'd be good enough for a top Premier League club: Wanyama, Mane, Fonte, Bertrand and possibly van Dijk if he continues to develop his defensive game.

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Ddobsy added 10:39 - Dec 7 I'm only seeing games on TV at the moment, but despite improving Victor is not going to unlock defences with pin point passes, and his lack of technique can slow down the attack. As to earlier comments Classie was brought in to move the ball forward quickly, and he has begun to do this. The problem is he can't win it back, being the most light weight player I've seen in a long time. The balance in the midfield is not right at present, we need to get the combinations right, and we haven't replaced Morgan or Nathaniel. Romeo might be part of the answer, but that middle 3 certainly seems where we lack versus last year.

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SaintJez added 11:07 - Dec 7 Wanyama is a terrific midfield force - who does have a habit of overplaying in bad areas - but it's missing the point to suggest he has anything to do with our inability to convert a chance. JWP, Davis, Mane, Tadic and Pele were all in that team explicitly to make us tick as an attacking force and to score goals. That we had 23 shots and only 5 on target speaks volumes for the quality in the final third. That game should have been out of sight before Villa had even woken up. I don't believe Wanyama's substitution really changed anything at all. We just started to get desperate and push harder at the same time as Villa retracted and tried to hold on to what they had. I would argue that Romeu was actually the wrong man to bring on but he obviously scored so history will judge Koeman kindly on that one...

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bstokesaint added 12:52 - Dec 7 Wanyama was excellent last season, but this season he is a shadow of his former self. I almost wish he had just gone now, as I'm concerned his dip in form might be rubbing off on others around him. He's definitely sloppier in possession, back to like his early days with the club. I'd be surprised too if his tackle success rate is still up there. What's more is it's unfortunate he's been getting himself into shooting positions recently because he never looks in danger of finishing anything. I'd certainly argue there are better players in the team right now; Bertrand, Van Dijk, Fonte and Mane to name four.

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SaintBrock added 13:57 - Dec 7 Too much is said about Wanyama who is better than average but not by much, he makes huge cock-ups in virtually every match usually through poor passing or hopelessly badly time tackles. van Dyke on the other hand has a keen eye for a tackle and rescued us several times in Saturday through perfect interceptions on the edge of our area when Vic would have bulldozed and blundered his way into those same tackles and conceded at least one penalty as well as earning his regular yellow card. He is not yet a liability but most of you will have had a heart stopping moment when Vic goes wildly into tackles - actually a bit reminiscent of old Morgan when he lost his rag as well.

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Bettwsresident added 16:21 - Dec 7 as for not passing forward, the cross field and forward ball he hit to set up Pelle's chance early in Saturdays game was simply brilliant. More of that please Vic.
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IWOZTHERE added 17:12 - Dec 7 A couple of months ago I was distraught at the thought of selling him. Not so now!
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TheFoo added 10:20 - Dec 8 Good article Nick. I understand why Cork left but I do miss him at times. Wanyama doesn't do enough for me. Oriel is arguably a pre-emptive replacement for him.
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saintsnutcase added 11:53 - Dec 8 Wanyama has 18 months left on his contract, and there is NO chance he will extend. I think if we keep him until the summer, he will contribute nothing in the second half of this season. I think we should cash out in January. Sadly, if he goes to Spurs or Arsenal, that is when we will find out how good he really is.
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RogerToye added 14:42 - Dec 8 Sell get the best out of him to get his value up his head is in two places.. i liked him but he is too sideways playing where he does.
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