Southampton Football Formation

Lineup (4-3-3)

Southampton is one of those teams that have had a mixed bag of success over the years; with relegations, promotions and some top half finishes in the PL. The teams they had under Atkinson and then Pochettino were certainly some of the most impressive sides over recent years. Additional to that they produce some great youths and quite simply deserve their place in this league. It was one of the hardest teams to make as there was some tough competition in some areas of the field and creating the right balance was more important to me than simply having the best in. There were many choices for keeper, but I felt Forster was just a cut above the others. The CB's proved to be a very successful partnership during their time together so that was the easiest part of the team to create. I opted for 2 attacking wingbacks that can push forward and cause problems at the other end of the pitch. In the midfield I wanted Le Tissier to be the main attacking threat, not only because of his goal scoring but I felt his intelligence on the pitch would create some great link up with Lambert up front. Ward-Prowse is a very competent defensive midfielder but with the attacking fullbacks I felt he needed some support, hence Lallana. The idea of Adam being there is that he can have some nice link up with the midfield and attack, drifting forward when covered, but also he could hold the centre with W-P and free up the attacking line. Walcott and Mane I feel would cause all kinds of problems out wide, stretching defences whilst also being able to cut inside and contribute goals. If Shaw or Clyne come forward there is a chance for the overlap and some good wing action, freeing up space for Le Tis and Lambert in the middle. Just some of the honourable mentions are Boruc, Jones, Bertrand, Bridge, Rodriguez, Oxlade (who I desperately wanted in but opted for Lallana), Ings, Redmond and Beatie. The captain will be Lovren, as I feel he could command from the back - plus he is knownfor his many languages and strong relationships with players. The obvious manager for me would be Poch, but as I gave him so Spurs I opted for Koeman. Adkins just missed out as I feel Koeman has the potential to take the further.