{"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 <\/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 <\/p>\n <\/p>\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 <\/p>\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 <\/p>\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>\nPremier League<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Europa League<\/strong><\/h2>\n
FA Cup<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Youth Intake<\/strong><\/h2>\n