{"id":14804,"date":"2017-08-02T15:30:31","date_gmt":"2017-08-02T14:30:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thehighertempopress.com\/?p=14804"},"modified":"2017-08-02T09:41:55","modified_gmt":"2017-08-02T08:41:55","slug":"southampton-black-box-part-7","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thehighertempopress.com\/2017\/08\/southampton-black-box-part-7\/","title":{"rendered":"Southampton’s Black Box Part 7"},"content":{"rendered":"

Welcome back to \u2018Southampton\u2019s Black Box\u2019: a story focused on the <\/em>organised success of the club known for their\u00a0over-achievement. As the title implies, the save will be highlighting and representing the recruitment strategy by Southampton. I will be compiling a large database of players in the game to assist me in my FM17 successes, as well as your own. Enjoy!<\/em><\/p>\n

Back in Part 6 we saw my Southampton side falter in the Premier League, but managed to recover to a 10th\u00a0<\/sup>placed position by the end of January and a nearly perfect Europa League Group Stage. The EFL Cup was not a priority and, thus, our Fourth Round exit wasn\u2019t particularly concerning and our youthful players had so far achieved a Fifth Round birth in the FA Cup. Let\u2019s take a look at how the Saints finished up the 2016\/2017 season.<\/p>\n

Premier League<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\"Southampton<\/p>\n

A strong finish to the 2016 campaign helped our club climb from the depths of a relegation fight to a decent mid-table position. Strong wins over West Ham and Bournemouth, flanked by losses to Arsenal and Crystal Palace, meant that our position in 10th<\/sup> was secured even more. Not-quite-disappointing results against Burnley and Spurs were followed by wins over Manchester United and Swansea: results that pushed us on to stay undefeated in April and May.<\/p>\n

Jay Rodriguez\u2019s added time winner against Liverpool on Match Day 37 meant we climbed above Chelsea into 7th<\/sup> and had a chance at Europa League qualification on the final day. However, a disappointing away draw against Middlesbrough designated us to 8th<\/sup> place in the final Premier League table: a position that I\u2019m certainly not disappointed with considering our horrid beginning to the season.<\/p>\n

\"Southampton\"<\/p>\n

\"Southampton\"<\/p>\n

Europa League<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Ukrainian giants Dynamo Kyiv was found waiting for us as we entered through the gates into the Europa Knockout Rounds: a tough test, no doubt. We travelled to Eastern Europe with confidence though, and our 3-3 exhilarating away result was certainly positive. The Blue-Whites couldn\u2019t handle the task back at St. Mary\u2019s and we ran out 4-0 winners, 7-3 on aggregate. Nathan Redmond\u2019s hat trick captured the winger\u2019s resurgence after a disappointing start to the season in Southampton\u2019s attack.<\/p>\n

Celta Vigo awaited in the Round of 16. A 2-0 home defeat in Leg 1 represented the disparity in quality between the two sides though, and we couldn\u2019t recover in Spain and fell to a 3-1 (5-1 aggregate) defeat. A lack of a deep run in the competition is particularly disappointing because of how well we played in our group and the first round, but Vigo were simply more talented than us on both days. I\u2019m furthermore frustrated because we won\u2019t be playing continental football next season, so 2018\/2019 is the next time we\u2019ll get to show our hand against other European sides.<\/p>\n

\"Southampton\"<\/p>\n

FA Cup<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The Cambridge and Oxford United wins were straightforward to kick off our FA Cup campaign; a tie against Leeds United, on the other hand, was clearly tougher than our players expected. I started a lot of youth players but we only managed a draw at home. The replay away in Leeds didn\u2019t go to plan either, and the Championship side ground\u00a0out a 1-0 win. Not what I expected from such an important competition, but to be fair I didn\u2019t start my first 11 and was more focused on Premier League results.<\/p>\n

\"Southampton\"<\/p>\n

Youth Intake<\/strong><\/h2>\n

My first ever youth intake at an English club went very well, if I do say so myself. Southampton certainly has the staff, facilities, and reputation to attract the country\u2019s top talent; two of these talents look like future first team stars.<\/p>\n

\"Matt
Matt Leggitt<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Matt Leggitt<\/strong>: The 15-year-old centre-back is physically imposing at 6\u20195\u201d with great natural fitness and decent technical and mental attributes. I can certainly see him as our future ball-playing defender, as his passing, technique, vision, and \u2018first seven\u2019 (aggression through determination) mental attributes are all solid. I\u2019ll get him working with an experienced tutor and Leggitt will hopefully be dominating in the Under-19\u2019s in no time.<\/p>\n

\"Matthew
Matthew Keen<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Matthew Keen<\/strong>: Wow, this kid looks awesome. The young striker has all of the necessary attributes to be a solid defensive forward already (18 natural fitness, 16 teamwork, 15 work rate), but I have bigger plans. Keen has the base attributes, mentality, and potential to be an insane complete forward: the team\u2019s driving force in attack. The striker\u2019s physicals will improve vastly due to his natural fitness, and the only attributes less than 7 are not essential to a forward player. Don\u2019t be surprised if he even gets a cup appearance next year.<\/p>\n

Season Wrap-Up<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Virgil van Dijk is no doubt our greatest player currently. My assistant has upgraded his ability to 4.5 stars and he achieved an average rating of 7.41 across all competitions, a team high. The Dutchman hasn\u2019t even hit his prime, so I will be likely battered with\u00a0transfer offers this summer. Will we let him go? It\u2019s too soon to speculate, but I\u2019m definitely preparing to replace him. \u2018Wunderkind\u2019 defender Ja\u00efro Riedewald was brought in for this reason anyway, and he\u2019s the next player I\u2019m going to highlight.<\/p>\n

Riedewald was amazing in our first season for a new signing, achieving the \u2018Signing of the Year\u2019 award. I\u2019ll admit that the transfer fee for the 20-year-old from Ajax was on the expensive side, but Southampton\u2019s largest transfer ever is certainly not a bust. Riedewald was ever-present on the left of van Dijk, basically forcing Maya Yoshida out of the lineup within weeks of his arrival. I found that our results improved against sides of all ability when we had the two Dutch defenders deployed as ball-playing defenders, allowing us to retain as much possession as possible.<\/p>\n

\"Southampton\"<\/p>\n

The striker situation at the club is an interesting one. Manolo Gabbiadini was our top scorer with 16 goals across all competitions and, being a new signing, was given the benefit of the doubt when he underperformed. That being said, Charlie Austin was great when he got the chance and will certainly be given more game time next season. Shane Long wants to be sold this summer; at 30-years-old, I will probably end up granting his wish. Finally, Jay Rodriguez was one of our best players, but I feel more comfortable with him out on the left side cutting in. Who do you think should be the Saints\u2019 first choice striker?<\/p>\n

The midfield was\u00a0interesting too. Oriol Romeu definitely underperformed in a deep-lying playmaker\/ball-winning midfielder role, but his attributes suggest that I should keep giving him more chances. Jordy Clasie was by far the best performer throughout the season, and James Ward-Prowse wasn\u2019t too far behind. Pierre-Emile H\u00f8jbjerg was another underperformer, but the Dane has some awesome attributes and is still young. That being said\u2026<\/p>\n

\"Will<\/p>\n

A new signing will be joining Southampton at the start of next season. Get excited.<\/p>\n

In other news, St. Mary\u2019s Stadium is getting an expansion! This, along with the plans to improve our Youth Facilities and Training Facilities shows just how ambitious I am for Southampton and that the board has a similar perspective.<\/p>\n

\"St.<\/p>\n

A superb domestic end to the 2016\/2017 campaign gives me great hope for the future of Southampton and I am definitely excited to get on with the summer transfers in Part 8. As always, to ask questions or give me any (much-appreciated) advice, comment below this article or contact me on Twitter, @adiek22. Have a great day!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Welcome back to \u2018Southampton\u2019s Black Box\u2019: a story focused on the organised success of the club known for their\u00a0over-achievement. As the title implies, the save will be highlighting and representing the recruitment strategy by Southampton. I will be compiling a large database of players in the game to assist me in my FM17 successes, as […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":102,"featured_media":12033,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[103,90],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nSouthampton's Black Box Part 7 - The Higher Tempo Press<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Southampton suffered a poor beginning to the 2016\/17 season. 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