When Saints signed Steven Caulker on loan it looked to be the case of signing a player who had the experience required to break into the Saints team on a regular basis but he seems to have disappeared
Steven Caulker is a very experienced Premier League defender having been virtually ever present for both Cardiff and QPR in the past two seasons, indeed he was linked with a permanent move to Saints last summer before moving from Cardiff to QPR.
So it was no surprise that he arrived at the club back in July on loan, however after starting in all 3 Europa League games after his arrival, he has been strangely absent in the Premier league, his only appearance being in the goalless draw at Watford where he had a decent game.
He has been on the bench for 3 of the other 5 games, however he was nowhere to be seen in the squad to face Manchester United on Sunday, not making the bench for that one.
The strange thing though is that whilst he is not playing he has been replaced by Yoshida who to be blunt has been found wanting as several of the goals we have conceded in the Premier including the back pass that gifted United their second goal and changed the game.
Without wishing to make this a piece criticising Yoshida the fact of the matter is that in his three years at the club he has proved himself an able deputy at times, but frankly no more than that, there is something clearly up if Yoshida is starting games and Caulker an England International with 118 Premier League games to his name at the age of 23 cnnot even get on the bench.
I can understand to a degree why Yoshida was played on Sunday as he was at right back and more mobile than Caulker, but when it comes to playing in the centre of defence surely Caulker has more chance of being the future than Yoshida.
Why Caulker has been overlooked is uncertain whether it is purely a playing issue and Ronald Koeman just doesn't rate him or whether the issue is off the field is uncertain, but it is strange that Saints would do so much to lure a player to the club when he could have gone elsewhere in the Premier League and got a regular game and then ignore him so drastically.
After the Watford game it looked like he might be about to stake a claim for a first team spot, but for the following Premier game against Norwich he was dropped and Yoshida back in.
Yes in between those two games he started in the Europa League against Denmark but even there he was substituted despite looking our best chance of grabbing the vital goal to get us back in the tie from set pieces.
So it seems that Steven Caulker's days at the club are numbered if he is the fourth choice central defender after Fonte,Van Dijk and Yoshida.