Saints need to get the balance of the squad right before this transfer window closes if they are to enjoy a succesful Premier league Season.
Most Saints fans would have concurred during the summer recess that Saints needed to be more flexible in their team formation and tactics in the Premier league, the variey of teams faced and the increased quality of opponents means that its not always wise to be rigid in your line up and good managers adapt to different situations that might occur, part of that is being flexible enough to revert to 4-4-2 when neccessary and not always being rigidly 4-5-1 or 4-3-3, whichever way you describe it the line up is identical.
This being the case most supporters would accept that 4-5-1 is the best default starting line up, but to play this you need the right personel, at the moment we dont have that, in that we dont have the pace down the flanks and that using forwards as wing backs as in Rodriguez against Wigan and Lee at Stevenage is folly, you have to get the men in to do a man's job.
But this is only the tip of the iceberg, the balance of the squad is far from right, up front we have plenty of options, likewise in the centre of midfield, but in other areas we dont have the cover, especially out wide and in the centre of defence, last season was last season, its done and dusted, we need to progress.
I predict that if Saints dont bring in at least one central defender and a winger, preferably two in each position, then not on,ly will it be a season of struggle, but supporters will start to question the transfer policy and that can only lead to unrest.
Lets be blunt, the Premier league is a tight division, three results can be the difference between relegation and mid table its that tight in the bottom third, we have already lost ground to Wigan, we cant afford any more slip ups.
Some will point to our plethora of forwards and optimistically point out that we will outscore sides, the blunt truth is that unless those forwards get the service then they wont score goals, our new formation relies on one man up front and getting the ball to him and supporting him quickly on the break, we havent got the players to do that at the moment, unless we get in at least one of those wide players then there is a case for reverting back to what we know with a solid 4-4-2 formation.
With a little over a day left of the transfer window, its going to be crucial, of course there is the option of loan signings but by the time that window opens we might be a long way behind and the tone for the season set, as I said three months ago Saints have the bais of a good squad, the problem is that the signings made so far have all been in areas that it wasnt critical to strengthen in, we now need to make those signings