Saints V Norwich City The Preview Saturday, 7th Jan 2017 10:40 Claude Puel has gambled with his rotation policy and now just as he needs to put out a strong side and get the season back on track he finds himself with injury problems. There can be no doubt in most Saints fans minds that the issues we are having of late are down to the manager's rotation policy and this looks set to continue at Carrow Road as Saints take on Norwich City. But Claude Puel needs to get a result in this one, even if it means risking a few players before the game against Liverpool. Put bluntly the constant rotation has upset our team spirit and momentum and we need to get that back ahead of Wednesday evening or at least some of it. Puel will be decimated at the back with Cedric Soares already ruled out with the injury picked up at Everton and Puel claiming Ryan Bertrand is still out with a mysterious illness that kept him out of the Everton game although did not stop him being named on the bench. A look at the dfence that finished the game at Everton should make it unsurprising that we capitulated so easily in the final 17 minutes of the game and we need to avoid that again. But Puel has further issues in that Jose Fonte is at odds with the club and he needs him on Saturday, the Frenchman needs to realise that the success of Saints is build from the back, yet he has tinkered constantly with that formula, although I will point out that his hands have been sometimes tied and the issues with Fonte have not helped that situation and are not of the managers making. So by all means rotate the squad, but you can't do that without a solid back line and we havent had that of late and hence the collapses. So for this one Puel needs Fonte and Van Dijk in the centre, Martina at right back or even Yoshida and McQueen at left, this is probably the best he can do, but if he leaves out either Fonte or VVW for Yoshida, then we have a recipe for disaster. In midfield he has Davis, Romeu, Ward Prowse, Clasie & Hojbjerg, five players for three positions, rotating here should not be an issue. For the front line Tadic has not played a lot of late so should be fresh, Redmond likewise missed half of the minutes of the Xmas games through getting sent off and suspended and willbe out to show his previous club that he made the right move and then you can slot in either Long or Rodriguez. Puel should still have options to rest a player or two and still put out a strong side. If we throw in too many kids then we are asking for trouble, the likes of Josh Sims need to develope at a steady pace and get their confidence up in strong winning sides, if we throw out a team of kids and they get beat, it will do nothing for their confidence and reputations, it will set them back not enhance their experience and that is not even taking into account the toxic atmosphere it will create around the club. This is a big game for Claude Puel, during the rest of January he has five games, perhaps six if he wins this one that will make him or break him at this club, by the end of the month he could stand with his reputation restored and the club in a Wembley final for the first time in 38 years or he could find himself beyond the point of no return. This is not a game that he should be gambling on, he did a lot of gambling in the final six weeks of 2016 and he did not win much, now is the time for back to basics and men doing men's jobs. Photo: Action Images Please report offensive, libellous or inappropriate posts by using the links provided.
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