Claude Puel has spoken that he is happy with the depth of the Saints squad after the closure of the transfer window, but is he right to be so optimistic ?

Speaking on the club's official media channels Claude Puel has spoken about the depth of his squad.

"I think now we have a good squad to play every three days and to build a good collective together,”

"It's exciting, with the Europa League coming. It's important now to think for the game against Arsenal, which is for important for us, and then after it is the Europa League, which is exciting.

“It's important to keep good emotion and good values in every game — the Europa League and also Premier League. It's important to be consistent and to give a good performance every time.

“It's interesting for the squad to learn to play every three days. It is the first time for many players of the squad, and it will be important to keep a good personality, good quality and to be consistent every time. The squad and the players must learn to play every three days, which is not easy.”

Now of course he would say that, it's his job to do so and every manager has to try and instill confidence in their squad, even if deep down they suspect that they are falling short in some departments, well everyone except David Moyes !

But the big question is is he right ?

In the goalkeeping department, he is undoubtedly right, in Fraser Forster he has the best English keeper in the Premier League and Alex McCarthy is an able back up with the third choice Stuart Taylor probably a better third option than most have at that stage of the pecking order.

But it is in defence that we are lacking true quality depth, the first choice back four of Cedric, Fonte, Van Dijk & Bertrand is very strong and I would add to that Matt Targett who has shown so far this season that he is maturing with every game he plays in, but after those five it is rather short on quality proven options.

Ar right back we looked set with Jeremy Pied who looked a player, but he if he is lucky might be fit for the final few weeks of the season, then we have Cuco Martina who although it could be said was adequate in the final weeks of last season, showed a positional sense that could easily have cost us a lot more than it did, the way he was exposed at home to Liverpool was evidence of that.

The only other options would be either playing Yoshida or the untried but highly rated Yann Valery, the young Frenchman who will turn 18 in February might just be the best option.

In the centre of defence we are woefully short of cover, Yoshida is the best option here, but he has shown time and time again that although he can play well for 88 minutes of a game, he usually always has one horrendous error in him and if we want to succeed then he is not the man.

Cuco Martina can also play here, but after that it's Jack Stephens who has yet to show that he will make the breakthrough at this level.

Finally there is Florin Gardos, he seems to have disappeared with another injury and no real news of how long he will be out, however he has now not played in something like 19 months so cannot be relied on.

That is the bad news out of the way, in midfield we have a plethora of options and not only that but most of those options can adapt to several positions, for the central trio we have Davis, JWP, Hojbjerg, Clasie, Romeu & Reed that gives us some great options, perhaps we are lacking the sheer brute physical presence that Wanyama gave, but we are better served with skill and mobility and all of these six are able to adapt.

For wide options we are again blessed, Tadic and Boufal can play wide as can Nathan Redmond, the former two can also play as a number 10 with Redmond also able to play up front.

Likewise Jay Rodriguez and Shane Long can also play out wide or as central strikers, indeed Charlie Austin is just about the only player who you can pigeonhole into one position.

So when so many were demanding that we sign a striker in the window, I was not as bothered as some, of course I would like to see a squad with stronger options, but I think the reality is that the players we have got are more than adequate and the new signings have the potential to be better than those two that left, you also have to remember that Charlie Austin was signed as Pelle's replacement, so Saints forward thinking has got some of the fans on the club's back, if Austin had not been signed last January but on deadline day now, the perspective of the fans might be quite different.

Saints have two players in Austin and Rodriguez that have scored over 15 goals in a Premier League season, add Shane Long and that is over 40 goals a season in total, add Tadic's 7 and the fact that Nathan Redmond scored 6 for Norwich in a side that was failing and things are not as gloomy as some would have you believe and then there is Sofiane Boufal.

The only issue I can see is the fitness of Austin and Rodriguez, if they are fit then there is no problem, but the real issue is playing them in the system, I would contend that between them they can adapt, players are not built for systems they are built to play football and it is rare that a player plays through his career for several clubs that all play exactly the same way and system.

Then there are the youngsters who could make the breakthrough, Jake Hesketh looked good a couple of years ago when he made a fleeting appearance and could be ready to start to push for a breakthrough, as could the aforementioned Valery, likewise Sam McQueen showed that his future might lie at left back, but of course he has two good players in the queue in front of him there.

Up front though Saints will be hopeful that Ryan Seager might push for a place and Olufela Olamola is touted as the next big thing.

It is hard to see these five becoming regulars, but with so many games in the pipeline they could be useful in the cup competitions.

So overall I think that Claude Puel is right to be optimistic, of course we would all like to have seen another player or two coming in, but the reality is that the only position we really desperately needed a quality acquisition was in the centre of defence, that is my one worry.

Quality and quantity wise, central defence aside we have in the main at least two players able to play each position and that is good to have.

The issues are not of squad quality, but of adapting to a new system of play, as I have said players can adapt, but it does take time and the Euro championships meant Claude Puel had little time to actually bed in the system with his first choice players.

But the three games so far did not see a Saints side in disarray, it saw a side who could keep possession, but lacked that cutting edge, indeed we have apparently only been beaten in the shots total y Liverpool in the opening three games, the issue is not one of making chances but of taking those chances, the forwards have not yet got their shooting boots on, but when they do it could change a few peoples minds about this system.

It is all about perception, two years ago people perceived Ronald Koeman to be the right man as they had heard of him, they perceive Claude Puel to be a potential disaster because they haven't heard of him, despite the fact that in terms of experience and doing the type of job that Saints want, Puel is perhaps a better fit than Koeman who had tended to manage at bigger clubs rather than the poorer ones.

The fans perceive Puel to have got off to a bad start, despite the fact it is no worse than Koeman's opening two seasons and better than Pochetino's first games in charge after succeeding Nigel Adkins.

So all Claude Puel can ask of the supporters is to give him a little time, it is not beneficial to anybody to get on his back after only three games, supporters can inspire a team to great things, Saints fans did that at the end of both of the last two seasons, but they can also drag a team down and hinder it's progress.

We do not want to do the latter, surely we all want our team to succeed and have another great season, that may not neccessarily mean e finish sixth again, but that would have been a hard ask even if Koeman stayed, perhaps he knew that and wanted to get out whilst his stock was high, but success will be another top ten finish and that should be our aim along with a good tilt at one of the cups.

Photo: Action Images

Bettwsresident added 10:08 - Sep 3 Another option for CB is Bertrand who showed he can play there last season. I also hope Jack stephens get a few games this year.
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stokeysaint10 added 10:41 - Sep 3 I think you're painting a very rosy picture here. I agree we need another CB, but you pass over the problems in midfield and up front far too lightly. Our midfield looks very light without some muscle in there. If we're playing a diamond we'll be overrun by teams playing a 4-2-3-1 anyway, let alone those playing 3 in the middle. Not signing Imbulla last season, or even Gueye who ended up at Everton is going to hurt us. Then up front you're counting on full seasons from J-Rod and Austin which just isn't realistic. Again Stoke beat us to the punch buying Bony who would've been a great replacement for Pellè. Unless the academy players start showing a lot more than they did on the Holland tour very quickly, we're light on quality, numbers and strength right down the spine of the team, and around evens to finish bottom half looks the bet of the season. What all this says about Puel unfortunately is that he might be a bit of a company man. For all his faults I can't imagine Koeman coming out and saying he was happy after a window like this one. Hope I'm proved wrong, but can't share in the blind optimism shown here

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SanMarco added 11:14 - Sep 3 "The only issue I can see is the fitness of Austin and Rodriguez". Perfectly reasonable to argue it is the only issue as in "The only issue I have with my health is that my leg has just fallen off". I feel however that this issue is a very big issue, and allied with the defensive concerns mean a lot of 1-0s will become 0-1s. The 20m 'profit' on the transfer business will soon evaporate in lost attendance/league placings etc if we sink down the table.

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aceofthebase added 11:15 - Sep 3 Who is dropped from the team so that Boufal can play. You also ignore the fact that Cedric cannot defend for toffees (tho I wish RK had wanted him} A very optomistic view, nothing wrong with that. I wish we all knew what our best starting eleven are, we can't play everyone and two half good players do not make one good player.
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the_saint added 11:20 - Sep 3 I agree with stokeysaint think we should of at least got a c/b and a target man up front,but Transfer window is now done and we need to get behind puel and our team to be our 13 man
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highfield49 added 12:09 - Sep 3 Well, amongst the doom and gloom, I'm prepared to give the current squad at least the opportunity to get out on the pitch for a few games to see how things pan out. Some of the money paid by our competitors for very ordinary players lends me to think that their supporters will soon be singing "what a waste of money". I really cannot see the point of chucking money at players who have already proved to be not good enough at this level. Our south coast neighbours are now apparently £20m in debt and paying £80k a week to a player Arsenal don't want around their club. At least we can afford to bring in players in during the next window, ok maybe too late to win the league, qualify for Europe or possibly collect a trophy but for me that is a better prospect than administration or receivership. Short memories and inflated ambition are great but can anyone on here really imagine football without the mighty Saints to support?

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Archersclose added 12:10 - Sep 3 Nick is doing his best to talk us up and i genuinely hope he is right. For me there is no doubting JayRods ability. If he stays fit and he gets close to where he was two years ago then that'd be brilliant. Likewise if Austin stays fit then he could well score lots of goals for us but the fitness of these players is what concerns most fans NOT their ability. Like other Saints fans, I feel the squad is to light to handle the amount of games we will face. We will pick up injuries and that's where the problems will multiply. We could well see youngsters thrown in to make up the numbers, this may or may not work if it does then brilliant but if it doesn't the club will receive a lot of criticism from its own supporters. Finally, the signals being sent out by the club in not strengthening adequately concerns the fans BUT I wonder what those players who have signed long term deals feel now. I wonder if they feel let down? Would they have signed longer deals if they knew what the club would do in the transfer window ? Then of course apart from the size of the squad we still have Puels system. If after another 3 or 4 games we still don't look like we are getting to grips with it will we stick to it? Are all of the other teams within the club switching to this system from the 4-2-3-1? There is a huge potential for a bumpy ride this season.

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truthfulsaint added 12:21 - Sep 3 The only things we lacked in our first 3 games are fitness ( behind by 2-3 games and that wouldn't have mattered had we had Mane. Good news is Boufal is better. He makes Mane look one dimensional. The goals will flow this season. Boufal is usually marked by 2-3 players in France and they can't stop him. Teams park the bus in the penalty area and he draw 5 or 6 players he's that good on the ball. He has a focus & determination of a champion and the lad is hungry. I've watched our youngsters smash Liverpool reserves 4-0, ManU reserves were beaten 2-0 at a controlled canter. We are in for a great season. We've never had a better squad. Time to get behind the team.

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truthfulsaint added 12:26 - Sep 3 @ Archersclose Jrod has proven anything, he had a good ten games or so before he was injured, his goals were all similar and to be honest those kind of runs can be easily dealt with. I hope he has got what it takes but I see him as a sub at best and inferior to the other striking opinions.
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highfield49 added 12:59 - Sep 3 Just goes to show what it's like not having Saints to watch at the weekend, certainly plenty of time for me to speculate about squad strengths and weaknesses. Having done so I'd rather have our squad than that of Stoke, Watford, Sunderland, Swansea, Burnley, West Brom, Middlesborough, Hull, Everton and Bournemouth. I'd probably add West Ham, Liverpool and Palace to that list as well, depending on how their signings play over the next few weeks. All of the above are going to have to cover injuries, suspensions and loss of form, as are we, so maybe optimism is called for? The teams I haven't mentioned are the ones fighting for titles and of those Leicester are, in my opinion, the only side with similar circumstances and support to ours, who have spent their money well. We cannot compete with Man City, Man Utd, Arsenal, and Chelsea to attract the top players and possibly never will unless the apathetic non and part time supporters can be brought on board to fill a 45,000 plus stadium. And that's a bigger dream than buying Gareth Bale and Messi as far as I'm concerned.

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helpineedsomebody added 13:11 - Sep 3 hi nick the proof is in the pudding lets see in the next 7 games & see where we are lets hope its not all mouth & no trousers
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Scrooge added 14:42 - Sep 3 Nick you know if it is from the club's official media channels it is something akin to 1984's 'Newspeak'; propaganda for the Ministries of Oceania's masses.
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DPeps added 16:49 - Sep 3 On Yoshida and Martina - this quality of player is the best we're likely to get for the squad role we can offer them, the wage we pay, and the transfer fee we're willing to pay. In other words, if a club wants genuine strength in depth then it has to pay more than we're willing to. Fans who applaud the fact that we have such a low wage bill can't then criticise these players for not being good enough. You get what you pay for. This isn't a dig at either player, by the way. I think both are decent. In the case of yoshida - yes he makes mistakes but he also gets a lot of goals for a CB

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saintinexile added 18:11 - Sep 3 'right to be satisfied with the depth'? probably not given Europa commitments and need for a good midfielder and target man. We'll see though
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SaintBrock added 19:31 - Sep 3 To answer your question, Nick what choice does he have? His reputation will survive or perish on this alone and there is nothing (sod all) he can do about it. Of course one ps going to be resolute when entering the lion's den... no worries, I can deal with this. After all. there is always the odd chance that the lions won't like French cuisine!
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SaintBrock added 19:35 - Sep 3 San Marco, loved your comment :-) Reminds me to ask why it is every time you walk into a GP's surgery they will say "How are you?"
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legineloc added 08:58 - Sep 4 The problem as I see it is we will have a long season, the extra games playing in Europe bring extra stains to the team, yes the midfield is strong in numbers & ability, but it's the defence & attaching parts that I worry about, Teams that are in our mini league (6-11 positions) have done good business Stoke Bony Martin Indi both would have done a good job for us, man city are playing most of their players wages who are on loan, Martin Indi can play both as a CB or LB maybe we could have got him on loan with a view to a Permanent deal, the problem I see in getting people in Jan is that if they take 4-8 weeks to settle in than that might too late, it's all to much of a gamble for me, but have my fingers that I am wrong

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saintmark1976 added 09:41 - Sep 4 It all rather depends on how you define satisfied. Satisfied to be able to improve on last seasons league position? Not the faintest chance. Satisfied to finish mid table? Maybe. Satisfied to avoid relegation? I expect so. Satisfied to win a cup? I doubt it as we don't appear to take these games seriously anymore.
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ExiledSupporter added 12:26 - Sep 4 There are two fundamental questions that you customarily fail to address, Nick. The first concerns the practicability of the diamond system in the EPL, where the majority of teams play (and are used to) a 4-2-3-1 system. Do we have the right balance of players and their styles . Surely we have tended to buy players whose skill set matched the requirements of this sytem The second is what has happened to the much praised system of ensuring all the youth sides played the 4-2-3-1 system to ensure an orderly and efficient progress of youth talent to senior status (as Archers Close, and other before, has referred to above. Well said!). Have we abandoned it and all teams are now playing a diamond formation (will this change again if Puel's preferred system doesn't proper), is it still being played at the youth levels but not at first team (if so what sense does that make) etc. If it was such a good way to play (validated by results in the last three years) why recruit a manager who clearly was going to play it differently and as a consequence seems to accept that we will play less of a pressing game up front than his last two predecessors. Where is the consistency of our planing, doesn't this just throw up the inconsistency of the club's thinking and the foolishness of prompting Koeman's departure because of our perceived lack of ambition ie. our selling policy and practice of only financing purchases from transfer income. I'm not prejudging the diamond system, I'm trying to understand how it will work with the players we have available. Given that one player (presumably either Tadic or Boufal will play No10 (correct me if I am wrong, please) and that Romeu is the most physical player and the best suited to the defensive midfield role (here I take issue with the suggestion that Hojbjerg was recruited as a replacement for Wanyama - I think that was always the intention behind recruiting Romeu last season in expectation that VW would leave this summer (good planning); in my mind, in terms of his style of play, Hojbjerg was consciously, a Schneiderlein style of replacement. So given that we are only deploying four midfielders who will be the first choices, today it seems clear that these will be Boufal (at 10), Tadic at left midfield, Hojbjerg at right midfield and Romeu at defensive midfield with all the rest ie. Davis (one of our most consistent players), Clasie (underrated qualities but perhaps not physically strong enough for this league, let alone a 4 man midfield likely to be outnumbered regularly), Ward-Prowse (perplexingly enigmatic), Reed (understudy to Romeu, I hope) on the bench, sometimes. Some good players, but I'm far from convinced that this will be strong enough in this league. Here's hoping, wanting to be an optimist but rationally much less confident than Nick without even considering the defensive and attack frailties that are apparent to most of us.

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DPeps added 13:41 - Sep 4 Great post exiled, totally agree. Nothing against the diamond per se but the 4-2-3-1 fits our squad much better. An attacking midfield 3 of Tadic, Boufal and Redmond is the best use of our midfield talents. Romeu and Hojbjerg behind, and then we don't have to cobble together a 2-man strike force out of our limited striking options.
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