Whilst some Saints supporters are claiming that the club have failed to recruit better quality to replace the departed strikers, no one is complaining that the loss of Victor Wanyama has been a problem.
When Victor Wanyama left for Tottenham Hotspur there was initially some concern amongst the Saints support that he would be hard to replace, the worry was not as widespread as that concerning the striking issue due to the fact that the general consensus was that although Wanyama had been a massive presence in the side when he wanted to perform, that apart from the end of the season he had mainly been out of the side through suspension or sulking and when you took out the three games he had departed early from with a red card being waived in his face, his contribution to the season was a lot less significant than it should have been.
But none the less he was a player that needed replacing and for all his qualities PIerre Emile Hojbjerg looked a different type of player than Wanyama, however despite being linked with several Wanyama type players, the season loomed without one being landed.
But up stepped a replacement from within the ranks, personally I always rated Oriol Romeu and it grated on me that despite some impressive displays in deputising for the Kenyan when he was indisposed due to suspension, when Wanyama returned he was straight back into the team at the expense of Romeu.
I found this very unfair and i fel it stank a bit of treating the Kenyan with kid gloves in the hope that he would sign a new deal.
This season though Romeu has been indispensable to the side, he does not have the physical presence of Wanyama, but what he lacks in muscle he more than makes up for in mobility, ball control, passing and a reading of the game that our former player did not have.
Indeed in the Ugly Inside player ratings this season Romeu has been man of the match on 2 of the 7 Premier League fixtures including the last game at Leicester where his dynamic style got Saints out of trouble on more than one occasion, when Virgil Van Dijk made his first error for Saints in living memory and dropped the ball short it was Romeu who got back and got in a tackle that prevented the Leicester player getting in a clear shot, it was Romeu again who blocked the follow up and Romeu again blocking the follow up to the follow up.
Whilst Wanyama was an immense player it is hard to imagine him reading the game and being mobile enough to make three challenges of this nature in such a short period.
But that has been Romeu's game all season, he has protected the back four and is perhaps the main reason that we have kept six successive clean sheets and why we allow our opponents so few opportunities on goal that are not of our own making through defensive errors.
In fact one of our two defeats came at Old Trafford when Romeu was forced off injured after 12 minutes, meaning of the six goals conceded in all competitions this season, Romeu was not on the pitch for two of them, add to that of the other four, two were penalties and it perhaps is no coincidence that we have conceded only two goals from open play with him on the pitch.
Of course there are others who have played a good part in our defensive record, but it cannot be denied that Romeu is a player who this season has stepped up to the plate and proved his worth, that is emphasised by the fact that there are few who would complain this team is any the weaker for the departure of Wanyama.
Hopefully Romeu will keep his good form going, if he does then he along with Virgil Van Dijk will be the main contenders for player of the year this season.