Claude Puel may turn to Ryan Bertrand to solve his central defensive crisis as he attempts to plug a massive gap in the middle of the defence.

It cannot be argued that Saints have a massive problem ahead of the date at Wembley at the end of the month, although Yoshida has proved to be an able deputy (at times) there cannot be too many Saints fans who consider him to be of the consistent standard overall to replace both the departed Fonte and the injured Van Dijk on a long term basis.

That is evidenced by the utpourings of vitriol on social media afet Saints inexplicably failed to land a central defender in the January transfer window.

No disrespect to Yoshida who has been a big servant to the club, but he would not get into any other Premier League side as first choice and therefore he is not good enough in that role for ours.

But there is no use moaning about it now, we cannot do much about the problem other than trying to solve it with what we have, the cruel truth is that Jack Stephens is a little too raw and at 23 you have to wonder why he has not really pushed for a first team place in his five years at the club, there is a good answer I feel.

Florin Gardos has limited experience at this level and if he was slotting in alongside Virgil Van Dijk I would feel confident that he might be able to do a job, but after two years out I wonder whether he can come back and show why we signed him in the first place.

So we have to think outside the box and therefore it does please me to read that Claude Puel is thinking of playing Ryan Bertrand in the centre of defence.

This makes sense for two reasons, firstly we do have adequate cover for him in the left back role with Sam McQueen able to deputise ad secondly Bertrand will bring pace, experience and leadership qualities into the centre of defence and that is just what we need at present.

It is the leadership qualities we really do need, we have no one commanding the back four without the two men who were so outstanding last season in the centre, Yoshida is not a leader of men and with a game that sees plenty of lapses of concentration in him he cannot lead by example.

This is not a new idea though, Ronald Koeman used it on several occasions during his reign and this has been suggested to Puel by someone withing the club as an option as he commented.

“It’s always difficult, but I don’t like to suffer in a situation like this,”

“We work on the training ground and we find a solution to give the squad possibilities, solidity and opportunities. We will seek to develop other players."

“The former trainer [Ronald Koeman] found the solution with Bertrand at centre-back. It’s a possibility also for us. We will see for the next game.”

This should bring a little hope to those Saints fans who have been going into meltdown after the close of the transfer window, I reiterate the fact that now that window has closed we have to look to what we have and not surround the build up to the Cup Final with negativity.

If we as fans are positive then it can only help the club tackle Manchester United at Wembley a task that would be difficult enough with a full squad, but constantly whinging about what has happened and now cannot be changed, will only bring the morale and the atmosphere around the club down further and will only hamper our preparations.

Photo: Action Images

aceofthebase added 09:14 - Feb 3 Nick you managed to get your quota of anti -Yoshida statements in this article. Give him a break, he is playing well and fully justifies his position in the side.
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saintmark1976 added 09:26 - Feb 3 Nick. A good post spoilt once again by yet another attack on Yoshida. What is it with you about him? He may not be a world class centre half but then again other than possibly VVD we do not have world class players in any other positions either. The perceived problem we now have at centre half has not been caused by Yoshida. It has been caused by Vardy injuring VVD and the club making a complete hash of the Fonte situation. You end your post by telling fans to remain positive and support the team having started your post by once again being negative about one of the teams current players. Can I respectfully ask that you start to practice what you preach and get behind Yoshida yourself. After all, is there any other option at present?

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highfield49 added 09:42 - Feb 3 I'm not Yoshi's greatest fan either but he's not the worst in the league either. Despite his faults he's the best we've got at present and unless Gardos defies the odds and becomes first choice in VVDs absence then Bertrand seems to be the best option to plug the gap. That said if we'd gone out and signed Lescott to fill the void I'd be really concerned that Les Reed had lost the plot. Cheer up guys it could be a lot worse!

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JDawg added 10:29 - Feb 3 Whenever Yoshida plays for a long period the pundits start purring about him. He is a good defender, not the best but still PL quality. Also in the last couple of seasons his concentration has got better. So give him a break and stop lining him up to fail. We need Yoshi now more than ever!
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SaintBrock added 10:52 - Feb 3 Amazingly, if we sneak a win tomorrow we could be up to 9th even after all the highly crap-acious results of the last two months. What a boring shambles this league has become. Needless to say saintmark1976 you have perfectly summarised the reactions of many. Nick will never get a visa to visit Japan that's for sure, Yoshi will have seen to that!
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halftimeorange added 10:52 - Feb 3 I'd rather see a 100% committed player than a prima donna wanting out because they think they're better than either they or Saints are. He's not the best but I bet Yoshida will die trying in the EPL Cup Final. Personally speaking I would move McQueen across. As I have observed before, he's taller than most of our relatively small squad, can jump and isn't a bad passer of the ball. Not bad at tackling either.

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charlie357 added 10:56 - Feb 3 Yoshida gives 100% every game he plays for us. Sure, he makes the odd mistake but he makes up for that with usually 3 or 4 times as many excellent tackles/clearances. He's an international with over 70 caps and has played over 100 games for us. I think you need to give him a break. This season he has been getting the most consistent game-time he has ever had at the club and he has been performing fantastically. I think you need to stop bashing Yoshida and actually pay attention to how plays for us...

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SonicBoom added 11:02 - Feb 3 Yoshida is now our best centre back so I wouldn't be slagging him off. I'm far more worried about Stephens and Gardos.
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the_saint added 12:09 - Feb 3 Agree with all above posts Yoshi is having a great season.
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SanMarco added 12:24 - Feb 3 I like halftimeorange’s idea – not because McQueen is better than Bertrand at CB but because losing RB as an attacking option is a very big loss. His appearing on the left wing and putting in a low cross is often, especially away from home, our best prospect of a goal. As for Yoshi, I can see Nick’s point but I do think it is a drum he doesn’t need to beat quite so regularly – as SonicBoom points out Yoshi is now the best we have available and I think the comments about recent improvement are fair. Personally I would stick with Yoshi and Stephens for the moment. If Stephens does prove to be out of his depth (after all, Nick’s point on his length of time at the club is a good one) then an RB or McQueen switch may well be better than risking Gardos.

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SaintBrock added 14:40 - Feb 3 We do have other options, what happened to our recent U23 captain and Cup winning leader laddie, Jason something or other who seems to be playing regularly elsewhere and knocking in a few goals to boot
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SaintBrock added 15:20 - Feb 3 The simple answer to the question posed is no! CBs tackle with their arms, bodies and heads whereas FBs tackle with their feet. The last thing we want is a CB who tries to tackle with his feet as his first instinct and then dribbles in his own box.
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ahatcher added 15:49 - Feb 3 The sensible option would be 3 of Yoshida, Bertrand and Gardos(height) or Stephens so that the latter two could get support while developing. McQueen and Cedric could bomb down the wings with Romeu and Davis controlling midfield, Tadic or Boufal in the hole floating and two up top from Long, Jayrod and Gabbi. Only problem is this will never happen as leaves no natural place out wide for Redmond which Puel would never do. Solid base with attacking threat and can get us out of a hole for now.... But this won't happen and the predictable line up will ensue. We march on regardless!

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Lazz added 17:44 - Feb 3 Southampton are considering a summer move for Chelsea defender Nathan Ake. According to a report from The Telegraph this evening, Saints are planning to use the expected sale of Virgil van Dijk to their advantage, as they monitor Ake’s situation at Stamford Bridge. The young Dutch defender impressed for the first half of the season at the Vitality Stadium, catching the eye of many with some cultured performances at the back for Bournemouth. I hope it's just paper talk.

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SaintBrock added 23:34 - Feb 3 Would make sense if he played along-side van Dyke for a couple of seasons before the latter moves on. Two Dutchies together could work very well. Discount the claptrap of VvD leaving in the summer. It ain't gonna happen folks
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