Last season was one of mixed emotions for Southampton football club as even though they ended the season in a record-breaking 6th place, it resulted in them selling quite a few key players and their manager leaving for a new challenge.
Last season was one of mixed emotions for Southampton football club as even though they ended the season in a record-breaking 6th place, it resulted in them selling quite a few key players and their manager leaving for a new challenge. This is a theme which Southampton fans have become a custom to over recent years. For example, the departure of the likes of Mauricio Pochettino, Adam Lallana and Dejan Lovren. I plan to change this and build a side capable of challenging for top four then potentially the league title.
Overall Southampton doesn't have a huge amount of history with their biggest success coming in an FA Cup victory in 1976. The facilities at Southampton are of a very good standard and is something which I plan to take full advantage of.
Clubs current situation:
Starting transfer budget- £31 million
Starting wage budget - £1,489,483 p/w
Division - Premier League
Board Expectations - Top half, reach the Fifth Round of the FA Cup and reach the Quarter Final of the Europa League.
Founded - 1885
Stadium - St. Mary's Stadium, 32,505 all-seater
Goals for the save:
- Develop young, homegrown players into the first team
- Assert Domestic Dominance
- Win the Champions League
- Achieve a top half finish in the Premier League
- Be competitive in cup competitions
The Southampton squad is of a good quality and should be good enough to secure a top half finish and maybe push for European qualification. But I am planning to bring in more squad depth to be able to compete in all four competitions this season.The key players in the side are Virgil van Dijk, Steven Davis, Nathan Redmond and Ryan Bertrand.
Within the club there are a few bright prospects which I plan to develop and use within the first team for many seasons to come:
Tactics:
I have decided to deploy a 4-3-2-1 tactic which I have created myself.
The tactic which I have built aims to use width as its main outlet as I want the players to exploit the flanks and look for the overlap, this is due to the good crossing attributes that my squad possesses. The midfield diamond will be crucial as they will be the key to linking the defence and the attack, whilst also helping retain possession. The tactic will tell the players to close down the opposition when they have possession of the ball, this is because I prefer my team to be aggressive and determined to win the ball back. This tactic could easily change before the start of the season as it needs to be tested in my pre-season fixtures.
Next Time
I hope you enjoyed my first instalment of the FM17 Southampton save. I plan to provide updates every in-game month which will tell you about how I have got on in the matches, any changes behind the scenes and who has been the player of the month. Any suggestions or improvements please comment.
