How have Ronald Koeman’s additions to the Southampton squad fared?

Former boss and fan favourite Mauricio Pochettino departed St. Mary’s on 14 March 2014 after a successful stint at Southampton.

During his 18 months with the club, he managed to lead it to its highest Premier League finishing position of eighth.

In June 2014, Ronald Koeman was announced as the replacement to the Argentine, signing a three-year deal with the club. The Dutchman had an illustrious playing career starring in Dutch football, as well as for Spanish giants Barcelona, and had spent the majority of his coaching career in the Netherlands. This led some to raise questions as to whether Koeman was the best for the job, wondering if he was suited to the pressures of an ambitious club playing in one of the world’s top leagues.

Koeman saw some of the star players of his inherited squad move on either before he got there or shortly into his tenure at the club. The manager was faced with losing the likes of youngsters Luke Shaw and Calum Chambers, to Manchester United and Arsenal respectively, and more experienced campaigners Dejan Lovren, Rickie Lambert and even club captain Adam Lallana to Liverpool.

The positive from this exodus of players was that Koeman had some funds to play with and some positions to fill with players of his choosing. Given the task, Koeman signed Sadio Mané, Shane Long, Dusan Tadić, Florin Gardos and Graziano Pellè, while also loaning in Toby Alderweireld, Ryan Bertrand (who he later signed), Filip Djuricic, and Eljero Elia.

Let’s review how these players have performed in the league.

Signings

Sadio Mané – A regular in Koeman’s squad throughout the season, Mané has looked comfortable making the transition to English football and with seven goals and two assists to his name, he has been a consistent contributor.

Shane Long – Coming in and out of the starting lineup during the season, the Irishman’s performances have not been good enough to secure a regular start. Long has scored three and has three assists.

Dusan Tadić – Favoured by Koeman as a wide partner for Mané, Tadić has been getting less game time recently and has not played a full 90 minutes since the start of February. He has scored four goals, has seven assists and has put in a whopping 176 crosses, an average of more than 5.5 a game.

Florin Gardos – With Alderweireld and now Maya Yoshida ahead of him in the pecking order, the Romanian centre-back has been restricted to 11 appearances, playing 90 minutes just three times.

Graziano Pellè – The Italian set the league alight in the early stages with six goals in his first eight games but had a much leaner middle portion of the season, only returning to goalscoring form in the past few weeks. The 28-year-old has not missed a Premier League game this season to date and has now scored 11, including three braces, and assisted two.

Loanees

Toby Alderweireld – Not much needs be said about the Belgian who has starred for the Saints. Partnering skipper José Fonte in the centre of defence, he helped maintain the best defensive record in the league. Recently demonstrating competency when pushing up into defensive midfield, the man on loan from Atletico Madrid has been one of the EPL’s better performers this season.

Ryan Bertrand – An adequate replacement for starlet Luke Shaw, Bertrand impressed enough during his first months on loan to convince Koeman to sign him on a four-year deal. Going forward, the full-back has crossed the ball 114 times this season, averaging 3.68 a game and has two goals and assists for the 2014-15 season.

Filip Djuricic – The 23-year-old Serbian, on loan from Benfica, only joined Southampton in February and has done nothing impressive in six appearances.

Eljero Elia – Loaned in from Werder Bremen in January, it is unknown whether the move will be made permanent. So far, the winger has scored twice and made 13 appearances for the club.

Though none of the players brought in could be said to have taken the Premier League by storm, most would agree that they performed to expectation and filled the gaps left by the off-season departures.

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With persistent rumours about the futures of Nathaniel Clyne, Morgan Schneiderlin and Victor Wanyama, Koeman may again have to demonstrate his judgement in signing players and in restructuring his starting lineup.

The Dutch manager has furthered the rise of Southampton in recent times and the club now looks certain to finish in a record high Premier League position come season’s end, solidifying Koeman’s credentials as the perfect man for Southampton going forward.