Player Review 2015/16 ! Cuco Martina Friday, 20th May 2016 11:55 As we went into the Christmas period it looked like Cuco Martina's time at the club might be very short lived, however he came back with a bang. When Cuco Martina signed a two year deal last summer it looked very much like the idea was to flesh out the squad for the Europa League campaign and plug the gaps in the early weeks as Saints waited to sign Virgil Van Dijk and get Ryan Bertrand back from injury. As went into the Xmas period that looked to be the case, with Van Dijk signed, Bertrand back and Soares looking the part in the right back spot when Saints played Arsenal on Boxing Day, Martina had not got onto the pitch in any competition for over 3 months, indeed most weeks he did not even make the bench. So when Soares was injured before the game against Arsenal it was a surprise that Martina was selected rather than Yoshida or Caulker, Ronald Koeman's faith was rewarded with a stunning goal in a 4-0 victory for Saints, however in the next game away at West Ham Martina was found wanting for one of the goals and as sonn as Soares was fit he was dropped. At this point you would not have been surprised to see him leave the club in the January transfer window, but Caulker leaving meant that he was needed to stay. However his brief appearances did mean that he was back in the reckoning and on the bench most games, however he spent another two months without getting on the pitch till March when suddenly out of nowhere he was restored to the side and two games aside when Soares returned there he would stay. Initially he was nothing special in this his third coming, indeed at half time against Liverpool and Saints 2-0 down you would have to point the finger at him for his positioning for both goals, Ronald Koeman seemed to think so dropping him for the next game. But he was soon restored to the side and played all but one of the remaining games, in the final half dozen games he seemed to have found his feet and did not play badly, but going forward he was not in the class of Soares and although he would get in good positions his crossing was usually not up to standard. But he played his part in the run in to sixth place and for that his ratings have gone up a little. What the future holds for him at Saints I'm unsure, he clearly is not the answer at right back long term and if Soares is leaving then I would expect Saints to look elsewhere, with another Europa League campaign coming up, hopefully longer than the last, I think he will stay to give Saints options, but that is all. Overall I would say first half of the season a 5/10, his last six games 7/10 so overall I would give him 6.5/10 for his contribution to Saints season. Photo: Action Images Please report offensive, libellous or inappropriate posts by using the links provided.
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