New Signings – Fantasy Premier League 2016/17. Southampton
It has been another summer of turmoil down on the South coast as once more Southampton have lost a number of their key assets. Liverpool clearly felt that they did not have enough ex-Southampton players in their ranks so decided to shell out a reported £34m on Sadio Mane. Spurs splashed out £11m on midfield enforcer Victor Wanyama, while Graziano Pelle has buggered off to China where he will earn a reported £260k per week. The world has officially gone mad! However perhaps the biggest loss will be manager Ronald Koeman who has taken over the reins at Goodison Park. Koeman has been replaced by Frenchman Claude Puel who has spent the past 4 seasons in charge of Ligue 1 side Nice, and prior to that he had spells in charge of Lyon, Lille and Monaco. Over the years he has developed a reputation for developing youngsters and playing an attractive brand of football. This should see him fit in well at Southampton. Although he has big shoes to fill as Koeman had built on the work of Mauricio Pochettino. What he have seen in recent years is that Southampton typically spend their money wisely and judging from their latest two signings they have once more spent wisely.
For Southampton’s pre-season games, line-ups and general musings here is their link on the Pre-season hub we have created Southampton Pre-season info
Nathan Redmond (£6.0m)
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After three years at Carrow Road Redmond decided to leave Norwich after they were relegated for the second time in three seasons. Redmond clearly wasn’t bought by Puel as his appointment was confirmed after the purchase of Redmond, although he has apparently been a long-term target for the Southampton hierarchy and we’ve seen how successful they have been over the years. The 22 year old will undoubtedly be seen as a direct replacement for Sadio Mane, but is he good enough to do so? Last season Mane scored 11 and assisted six while Redmond managed just six goals and three assists. Such basis stats are not always the best means to compare two players and some of the underlying stats suggest that Redmond can replace Mane. He created more chances per 90 minutes than Mane did. Surrounded by better quality players we must assume that more of these chances will now be scored! He’s certainly not the goalscorer that Mane is, he’s only managed to find the back of the net on 18 occasions in 174 league appearances. Although he did get his Saints career off to a flyer yesterday with two goals. Against… Zwolle. I would certainly expect him to pick up more fantasy points than in previous season but whether or not he’s worth considering will be determined by his price.
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Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg (£4.5m)
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Just as many will view Redmond as a replacement for Mane they are likely to see Hojbjerg as a replacement for Wanyama. He is a defensive midfielder by trade but can just as easily play as a box-to-box midfielder. The 20 year-old has long been seen as one of Europe’s hottest properties and when he moved to Bayern back in 2013 many expected him to kick onto the next level under Pep Guardiola. Unfortunately it didn’t work out at the German club as he was kept out of the team by Kroos, Thiago and Schweinsteiger. Frustrated by a lack of game time he joined Augsburg on loan in January 2015 helping them to qualify for the Europa League where his tireless running and positivity going forward played an important role. He spent last season on loan at Schalke but struggled to cement his place in the side. What can we expect from him at Southampton? Assuming Puel adopts a 4-2-3-1 formation I would expect Hojbjerg to play as part of a two man holding midfield. He should have the physical strength to adapt to life in the Premier League and I expect Puel will work with him on the training ground to encourage him to get forward on a regular basis. Is he likely to be a fantasy asset? For now I would take a wait and see approach.
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Fixture Tracker – the first 6 games
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Matt that is what I was thinking about firmino I had him in my team second half of season he got me loads of points.
When that message comes up when logging in go into the advanced setting and you can trust it there.
Yeah he was on fire at the end of last season and after watching the preseason games so far this season the link play between him, Couthino and Mane is very good.
Ah right okay I’ll give it a go now and see what happens. Cheers
That worked cheers no1 that option wasn’t there when I last went into the advanced screen haha
do I have to do that every time now?
No I haven’t had to so you should be OK now .
Cheers No1. That’s going to make things much easier
Glad I can help.
Can I get everyone’s thoughts on man City this season, I’m thinking that silva will be excellent value for money at only 9mil he should be the main focal point for the team and he should play though the middle with pep at the helm he could be fantasy gold.
Hey no1. I think City are going to be top dogs this year. Aguero and De Bruyne would be my shouts for the top City options fantasy wise. Right behind them would be Silva. I can see him being instrumental once again provided he can stay fit.
Yeah I am surprised I have not seen him in more teams. Guess he did not have a good year by his standards but he did miss a lot of games
Thought i best get started. Would like De Bruyne in there somehow.
Can’t see Kante getting much points. I like it on the whole but I’d change Kante, Ali and Funos Mori ( not guaranteed to start). I do like the rest though
Evening elle. I think Kant will disappoint, cant see him getting any more than three points on a good week so i’d fiddle someone else in there. Unsure on Coutinho too as he’s usually average but gets the odd massive score. Cant be certain on Mori / Gabriel game time either but that can be assessed as preseason plods along.
Evening NiN/Smash, hows this looking ? Will have to look at the 2 WBA/Watford players for a better 4th mid and bench.
Yeah it’s better. I just think KDB or Mahrez will have to go to upgrade Fletcher. I don’t feel you can go in with Watson and Fletcher. Or you could just downgrade one of the defenders/keeper
Better i think, mate. Maybe De Bruyne –> Silva / Nolito though. That opens up a lot for other positions i think.
Hows this NiN/Smash ?
Hey Elle nice team mate but I would switch Williams to Taylor to either upgrade Parades or to make Cabaye, Townsend.
Lookin good
Yeah I like that. Much better pretty strong all over
Hows this NiN/Smash/MattX or Matt or X ?
Much the same really. I do slightly favour Townsend over Cabaye but at the same time Williams is a whoer for the bps. Personal preference there i think. I like both!
Yeah I prefer Townsend and Taylor but like Nin said really not much in it
What they said
Help? Lol. Lalana an option? Eriksen vs. Ali?
I prefer Erikson. On set pieces. We don’t know how Ali will play this season. He’s not cheap any more. Lallana will be bench I expect
O.K. Thanks. Sucks with lalana.
Yeah but Coutinho, Firminho, wijnaldum, mane will be all ahead of him. Probably Milner as well
I have my doubts about Cazorla and Lallana getting starts, there’s fierce competition for those place at Arsenal and Liverpool. I’d also want a big heavier forward line, kinda the reason i rarely ever go 3-5-2 – just cant ever really make it worth while.
Latest draft. Are there any good options in midfield at 5.5?
Hey Smash I was about to suggest Ibe until I seen your team
Rest looks good but I would change Gab, his fixtures aren’t the best so maybe change Gab to Williams and Taylor to McAuley?
Hey Smasher. Again, i’m not sure on Gabriel but we can judge that through preseason i suppose. The rest looks good to me, solid setup. As for 5.5’s there are a handful but not that many really…
Ibe / Gradel
Gudmundsson
Ward-Prowse
Feghouli
Those seem the most obvious ones to me anyway.
Thanks guys. KDB might be the fall guy. I have had Shaw instead of Gabriel. I’m tempted by Fabregas and Coutinho instead. I think Gabriel must be nailed now Merts is out for ages