Jose Fonte has questioned the depth of the squad and suggested that we need to spend in the January transfer window, but is he right and what positions do we not have depth in ?

Jose Fonte thinks Saints lack options and has urged Ronald Koeman to go into the transfer market in January.

“Obviously it’s hard for the team to get the right players in January but I’m sure they (the club) will be looking to add some quality,” he said.

“Any team in this league will try and look and try and add some quality for January. It’s always been like that.

“I don’t think it’s going to be any different with Ronald and the board.

“We’re going to try and get some more quality. It’s simple as that.”

“If you don’t keep up you see very clearly that you start dropping. We need to keep up,” he said.

Koeman, who said earlier in the season he was happy with the squad options, has said that Saints will not be in the market in January, although that could be a smokescreen.

“I’m not disagreeing with the manager,” said Fonte. “Who am I to disagree with the manager?

“He has his opinion and we have to agree that if he’s confident of course, he has to feel confident in his players.

“But if you saw the Liverpool bench the other night with Benteke, Firmino — all these guys [on the bench].

“There’s £25m in players - that’s like £100m on the bench.

“What I’m saying is that, although we have quality, other teams have possible higher in that aspect on the bench for solutions to change the game.

“But we have trust in our players and we’re going to try and make it work with the quality that we have.

“You can’t be too optimistic that to think you’re going to win the league because it’s very difficult.

“Other teams have more potential than us.”

When asked why Saints’ form has taken a nose dive, Fonte said: “Maybe we don’t have the depth that other teams have. That’s a factor.

“We have to play with what we have and what we have is good. It’s good enough, but like I said if you’re hard to beat and start keeping clean-sheets, we give ourselves a great chance to win games.

“That’s what we’re going to try and do — be really hard to beat.”

So is Jose Fonte right ?

He makes some good points, but to compare what Liverpool had on the bench to what we have is not fair on either the club or the manager, Liverpool have far larger resources and income than Saints and although in the past two seasons they have fared little better than us they still remain a big draw to quality players.

Saints do have their best ever Premier League squad that cannot be denied and in that respect it has a depth that none but the so called big clubs have. Of course any squad can use more players, but it is difficult to see where the addition of extra players can truly add depth and where we can get better quality than those we have at present.

So Saints nose dive in form I do not think is down to a lack of depth it is down to individual's not playing to their potential and a failure to use that depth to its full potential.

Taking the Liverpool game out of the equation as it was a freak result and is now of no concern as we are out of the cup, that leaves three Premier League games without a win, prior to that we were going well and second in the current form table and there was no talk of lack of depth then.

Fonte and his defence have to take their proportion of the blame for this and we need to look at the individual errors that cost us dearly, against Stoke, their goal came when the player was allowed to run unchecked and put the ball in, against Man City again our defending was awful and the way we allowed the Villa corner to cross the goal area was again schoolboyish.

So if Koeman does hit the transfer market then the defence is the first area that needs to be looked at.

Going forward Saints have plenty of options, they have five attacking options in the side, however with one of them Jay Rodriguez out till the end of January it has reduced them down.

But if Ronald Koeman has one fault it is that he hasn't used these options to the full in the Premier league, Shane Long has an excellent scoring record this season when played, but has not been played enough and Juanmi has barely been used, that is why it was slightly baffling that it was Juanmi who came on first against Villa and not Long.

The one area that Saints could do with quality is perhaps the centre of the park where we have plenty of options, but no true playmaker, James Ward Prowse has been touted for this role, but seems unable to step up to that next level, our options now are to consider using Tadic more centrally or to sign someone.

So Fonte is wrong when h complains of a lack of depth or quality, it is there, the last three league games have caught us out, but there is nothing wrong with the squad in general, a couple of good wins would see us back on track, indeed a late winner against Villa would have shot us up to 6th only 3 points behind Tottenham Hotspur, if that had happened then would we be whinging so much then, I would say no, we would be looking onwards and upwards.

So perhaps Jose Fonte would be better to look at the players we have putting things right themselves, rather than suggesting some of his colleagues need replacing.

Photo: Action Images

dirk_doone added 10:12 - Dec 7 Yes, he is right, especially now that it appears Rodriguez is not coming back. A few of the cheap players brought in last summer simply aren't up to the job. Hopefully, we will strengthen the squad in January.
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IWOZTHERE added 10:50 - Dec 7 I applaud your consistency over our position but think you are wrong. We are superficially in a good position but our 'team spirit' and confidence appears to be as fragile as I've known it for a long time. We also have a tough run of games coming up. The fact that Ron doesn't appear to know our best team and has been 'chopping and changing rather implies that those who've come in just aren't good enough and this HAS been aired since the start of the season.As for 'IF we'd won against Villa'.....IF we hadn't beaten Chelsea or If my aunt had balls she'd be my uncle(credit elsewhere)that's rubbish If we can't find anybody better than those we've got then fair enough, but I'd like to see a couple come in if only to freshen things up.

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SaintNick added 11:21 - Dec 7 But we did beat chelsea etc, so where would we strengthen, what position would be under threat
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SaintJez added 11:23 - Dec 7 It's a difficult one really. Saints are full of players with obvious talent but very little ruthless efficiency. Tadic, for example, clearly has good feet but how often under no pressure does he fail to deliver an effective final pass or make a decent cross. I could say the same about Mane even though he's our most obvious threat. Pelle too.. a good centre forward but if a ball is squared to him 10 yards out, can any of us say we honestly EXPECT him to strike it cleanly and score? J Rod (when fit) and Long can also easily be accused of the same. No idea about Juanmi really but what I have seen hasn't impressed. Ramirez? need I go on!... On occasion, it all comes together and we will smash teams. We are good enough to do that - make no bones about it, we are a decent side with some fine talents. It's just that ruthlessness we lack and what makes good players, great. That ability to regular convert a good opening into a chance and a good chance into a goal. We just don't do it often enough. Would new players help? I don't know. I find it hard to believe we could attract more talented players than those we have today. we just need to work in training on those players regaining composure in final third and executing their skills

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SaintNick added 11:25 - Dec 7 I would also add that the likes of Long who were used last season to great effect are not being used this, so its not all a question of signing sub standard replacements, this time a year ago people were moaning about Mane, moaning about Pelle, moaning about Long even saying Wanyama wasnt that good, I think we need to take a reality check, yes we could do with a player or two, every squad could, but who would we realistically get in who would improve the squad

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bstokesaint added 13:07 - Dec 7 I'd argue that players aren't playing to their potential more than anything and that confidence is at a low. However there are some glaringly obvious gaps. Keeper - Stekelenberg is adequate cover, but is no Fraser Forster. We will continue to leak in this area until the big man returns, although I can't see us diving into the market. The Dutchman will remain unopposed and just continue being average. Defence - We need to decide if Cedric is the man who has the manager's backing. There is certainly no natural cover and Cuco M seems to be a waste of money. We definitely lack quality back-up in defence. Yoshida is definitely better than Caulker. Midfield - Lots of chopping and changing and Ron doesn't seem to know his best midfield is. It would be nice to have a midfielder who score goals and deliver consistent set pieces. We're supposed to have one of those, but JWP still has much to do. Upfront - With Jay Rod out, I'd definitely argue we could do worse than sign a natural goalscorer. Not always an easy thing, especially in January, but there is huge pressure on Mane right now. Pelle and Long aren't natural goalscorers and Juanmi seems to be a long-term prospect (provided he doesn't call time on the situation). Saturday we were just crying out for someone who could finish. If we had a Vardy we could have won by 4 or 5.

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SaintBrock added 13:59 - Dec 7 If only we had infinite resources and FFP allowed us to spend them Jose!
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BoondockSaint added 14:10 - Dec 7 I wouldn't mind a couple more players with less talent, but more toughness, who are not afraid of stepping into the players of big teams. I can't believe Ralph who is a hockey man hasn't got a couple of goons on the squad (Tiger Williams not Bluebottle) who's job it is to just ride the opposition's star all game. Get a yellow? swap out one for the other for the rest of the game and continue.. Look at the losses of the big teams this year-they didn't get beat by talent, it was muscle and force of will. Remember the old hockey axiom: You have to be able to beat them in the alley before you can beat them on the ice (pitch).

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RogerToye added 15:37 - Dec 7 Pelle needs pushing (silly yellow) Charlie austin for more than cover.. cedric is ok but we need strong cover for him when he bombs up the field and RB cover when he doesn't play is not yoshida or culver leaner that from Everton and Liverpool. depth we have better depth then ever. its just for elope and were are not in that arena having failed at first hurdle with attitude issues. Clasie and Junmai need a season to bed so don't expect to much from them till halfway through the season. discipline and desire, also not over cooking things.. especially Wanyama who seems to want to be in everything maybe to raise his profile. i was always a jack cork fan in that position alas we have what we have and we still master possession just need to vary play going forward to come through the middle attacking central midfield. it will come

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IWOZTHERE added 16:59 - Dec 7 Nick, I think we have enough up front to trouble anyone, just not functioning, because of slow build-up. Midfield is a nightmare with VW apparently playing for a move and Clasie not convincing. I'd play Romeu before either of them and if VW goes, look for an attacking midfielder rather than 'like for like'. The one thing I'm sure about is that we need a specialist full back to rotate with Soares depending on the opposition. I sense that he is 'getting there', but as with Clasie, he needs more time. With the players we've got now, I reckon we'd be better off with a more defensive set up to steady the ship for a while. A bit more route one and fewer chances, but there would be more space and we have the forwards to take advantage.

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IWOZTHERE added 17:17 - Dec 7 P.S. I forgot... And/or, a winger so Mane can play in the middle.
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