Season Preview: Koeman plays joker but steers for calmer waters

Article by e-Southampton's Sam Wilkes

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It’s a magical time which comes but once a year.

You can’t sleep, you dream of amazing things happening the next day, of getting together with friends and family and celebrating shared bonds and appreciation for life.

It is the return of league football. Hallelujah.

Just a few short months ago, Saints fans were riding high as they finished their best Premier League season ever.

But after a soap opera of a summer of which Hollyoaks:After Dark would’ve been proud, supporters have been left wondering exactly what might happen in the 38 games to come.

Well I am here to conclusively say…I have no idea either.

The season begins away at Liverpool in what will surely be a casual, low-key affair – a chance for travelling fans to show their appreciation for a true Saints legend.

There is nothing else of intrigue within that game that suggests Sky why have chosen it for the early kick off.

Except maybe the issue of the money-grabbing, one-season wonder who has joined his head at Anfield in the vain search of success whilst more likely, since the departure of Suarez, is the slow decline to the Europa League places they belong.

The game is also the first match where Southampton will potentially be able to field all of their 7 (seven) new signings.

Pelle, Long, Tadic, Taider, Bertrand, Gardos and Forster are all in line for Premier League debuts in the famous red and white stripes.

Ronald Koeman is living out the dreams of every Football Manager player. Sell your crown jewels for nearly £100m then pay off any debt and build a new team in your own image.

His greatest challenge is getting the team to gel. Part of the reason for the success of recent years was a core of players who played for each other and embraced the “Southampton Way”.

While the players that have come in may not have the same Premier League pedigree, Long and Bertrand aside, they are all highly thought of from their respective leagues.

If Koeman can build a siege mentality, play on the media bias and talk of meltdown, maybe he can create a fortress at St Mary’s and a team that plays for each other once again.

The second problem that the new manager faces is goals.

The defence looks sure enough with experienced full-backs, a newly committed Fonte as captain and an England international likely to be number one goalkeeper. Florin Gardos comes highly rated as a ball-playing defender and certainly fills me with much more confidence than Maya Yoshida and Jos Hooiveld.

Up front, Graziano Pelle had a terrific scoring record in the Netherlands but also failed badly when in Italy.

Dusan Tadic comes with an incredible reputation with goals and assists aplenty in the Eredivisie but looked ineffectual in the pre-season friendly against Bayer Leverkusen.

New signing Shane Long is a hard-worker and has scored goals everywhere he has played but is by no means prolific.

There are a couple of disputes and contract negotiations with current players and likely to be more signings too.

If RoKo can make them tick, I am very excited by the season in store. Even if he has rescued a drifting club from “disaster”, I am very happy. The club is debt free and about to enter a new era.

Thanks to those players and managers who got us back to where we belong but now is the second Koeman of the Saints.

(sorry)

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