Claude Puel rotated the team over the past two games and this could be vital as they look to battle on four fronts this season.

If Saints are to try and compete in all four competitions that they are involved in then the key factor will be how Claude Puel uses his squad, in the past two games he has done so very well making changes against Sparta but still having more than enough quality in the side to overcome the Czech Republic team.

On Sunday he went back to a line up a little nearer what he would probably consider his strongest and the fact that several players were fresh from having played little or no involvement in the Europa league game meant that there was no fall out from playing games in quick succession.

Now only three days after the Swansea game Saints are in action again as they take on Crystal Palace in the League Cup or EFL Cup as it is now called, a name change that means many are confused with Saints also being involved at U21 level in the EFL Trophy.

So it looks like Puel will once again rotate the team but hopefully like on last Thursday he will still put out a side strong enough to win the game.

At the back it is likely that both Cuco Martina and Yoshida will return as well as Matt Targett and none of them let us down against Sparta Prague, in the midfield we also have plenty of options although up front with uncertainty over Jay Rodriguez injury problem and Soufiane Boufal probably still a week or so from being ready to take part in a game, we may be a bit stretched.

But Saints fans will hope that the manager will take this evening seriously, because you may be surprised to learn that many Premer League managers don't !

But the League Cup offers most clubs outside of the big six their best chance of a trophy and in doing so a place in the Europa League.

No matter who had been the manager at St Mary's this season and even if we had kept all of those players that had left, we would still have had a big task to replicate last season's sixth position, so qualifying for Europe again next season will be a very tough ask through the League.

Some of the clubs are beginning to wake up to the fact that the domestic cups offer a great opportunity to qualify for Europe and certainly Liverpool or Chelsea would have loved to have won the League Cup last season and been in the Europa League than face a year without European competition.

Therefore Claude Puel should rotate his squad for this one, but he should, like the game against Sparta Prague, use that rotation very carefully and avoid playing too many youth players if he can, a route that we followed a few years ago and which saw several early exits from the competition.

Ronald Koeman took it a bit more seriously in his time here, although strangely last night he rotated his side and paid the penalty by losing to Norwich City, something he may come to regret later in the season.

Saints have a tough season, currently we are fighting on all four fronts, but it is a fine line that we will walk, it could mean that we take the season to a climatic end as we did last season or at least keep our interests alive till the latter part, but conversely by the first week in January we could be out of three cup competitions.

So it is vital we take tonight seriously and look to proceed onwards, we have a big squad compared to most clubs in the competition barring the big six, so we are better equipped to cope with the strains, lets look to keep marching on.

Photo: Action Images

highfield49 added 10:15 - Sep 21 I'd like to, and in fact do, agree with you Nick but I posted similarly on Watt View the other day and scored -2 for my comments. Maybe it was because I suggested giving VVD an evening off? As far as I and many others are concerned he is the key player we need to keep fit and avoid suspension this season. Having Jose and Yoshi paired up again in central defence may not be ideal but it's got to happen at some point this year and tonight is as good a time as any with the games coming thick and fast.

2

pintsizedsaint added 10:27 - Sep 21 Highfield - Its the bloody voting buttons! I went to give you a thumbs up but it's so fiddly on the iPhone. What you said made sense.
1

highfield49 added 16:08 - Sep 21 Thanks pintsized, I'm not too bothered about negative votes but I really thought my comment made sense. However, although everyone is entitled to disagree with a posting I can now rest assured that every vote I get in future is indeed a thumbs up and the fiddly phone buttons account for every negative! Cheers and thanks again for your response.
0

Blogs 31 bloggers

Southampton Polls