CLAUDE Puel insists he will not just be focusing on the threat of West Ham’s targetman Andy Carroll tomorrow at St Mary’s.
The towering 6ft4inch striker has netted three in as many games in the Premier League, but Puel is looking to strangle the Hammers’ service to their focal point striker.
He said: “It’s always important not to just win a duel. It’s important to make a strong work around the duels with good cover, with good recovery together.
“It’s not just about one player in duels. It must be a collective answer.
“The most important thing is to keep the ball.
“If we keep the ball, they cannot play long or make crosses.”
Puel knows he’ll be a handful for his centre-backs.
“It’s difficult to take him,” he said. “We know his quality. It’s important to win duels, but with a good presence around the second ball.
“We must always be together to defend with good cover.
“This team (West Ham) have come back well on the table. It’s a good opponent in confidence. We will have to do a strong game on Saturday.”
Jay Rodriguez and James Ward-Prowse are expected to be fit again after ankle injuries, while new £14.5m striker signing Manolo Gabbiadini is ready to come into the squad.
“I don’t know for the moment if he can start or come on in the second half,” he said about the 25-year-old, who Saints bought from Napoli on transfer deadline day.
“We will see, but I think it’s a good fit. He doesn’t play since two weeks ago, but he can train, he can do the training sessions with Napoli. We will see if he can start or not.”
Southampton defender Van Dijk will miss their EFL Cup showdown with Manchester United at the end of the month due to the ankle injury he suffered against Leicester last month. But defiant boss Claude Puel insists his side can still win the cup despite the loss of their star man and captain. Puel said: “We cannot suffer. We are unlucky but it is important to consider the other players and to find a good solution.
“It is not possible to replace a player like Virgil, not possible to replace his quality and leadership” “It is not possible to replace a player like Virgil, not possible to replace his quality and leadership but all the players around can give more spirit. “We can give a good answer without Virgil. We showed that in the semi-final against Liverpool. “It is important to compensate for his quality by giving more responsibility to the other players. We can do this because we have experienced internationals.” Puel says the absence of captain van Dijk will give his team-mates even more motivation to end Saints’ 41-year wait for a major trophy.
The Frenchman added: “For the injured players like Charlie Austin and Virgil it would be a fantastic reward. “It is important to win this final for them and for all the squad.” Puel is considering shifting England left back Ryan Berttrand into Van Dijk’s place in the centre of defence against West Ham tomorrow.
CLAUDE Puel does not regret allowing Jose Fonte to leave Saints in last month’s transfer window.
Fonte will return to St Mary’s with West Ham tomorrow, for the first time since his £8m January move to the London Stadium.
Saints have been left short in numbers at centre-back since the 33-year-old’s departure and Virgil van Dijk’s injury.
Puel, however, does not lament letting the Portuguese international go without a suitable replacement ready to come in, and hopes he’s given a good reception by the home crowd tomorrow.
“We cannot regret [letting him go] because at the moment when Jose left Southampton it was a good moment for him,” Puel explained.
“It’s important to see forward. I hope he can come back with good support from the fans just at the beginning of the game. After that it should be support for the team.
“He did fantastic work for many years [at Saints]. He was an important player. His position was difficult since the beginning of the season. It was important to find a solution for Jose and the club.”
Puel admitted that Saints tried to bring in another centre-back in the transfer window, but an ideal replacement was not forthcoming, leaving Maya Yoshida, youngster Jack Stephens and Florin Gardos, who has only recently returned from two years sidelined, as the only central options.
“We worked to replace Jose and after we are unlucky with the injury of Virgil,” he said. “It was a priority and we worked hard but without finding a solution.
Keeping an unhappy player was not an option for Puel.
“It’s different because Jose was not just a player leaving the club. It was a captain. It was an important player,” he said.
“It was a deal with the club to study the possibility to find other solutions for a last contract.
“All this was not an obligation, but keeping a player that is unhappy is difficult.
“I think it’s difficult because always for a problem on the team and squad and I think it was important to leave him to study other opportunities.
“We cannot have regret with this.”
The St Mary’s chief sympathises with Fonte over his exit.
Fonte, who signed for Saints from Crystal Palace in January 2010, agitated for a move after he rejected pay rises and contract extensions, and Puel “understands” why the long-serving defender wanted to leave and explained why Saints weren’t going to stand in his way.
“It’s difficult. We cannot just analyse the situation about this moment,” he said. “It was the last opportunity for a last contract for Jose.
“There was no possibility to find an agreement [at Saints]. I understand the player because it’s the last contract and he wanted a big contract.
“I also understand the position for the club, for the future of the club. It was the best position for both parties.”
With Fonte returning with the Hammers tomorrow, Puel revealed that he only has respect for his former player.
He said: “Jose is a professional player. I think it was difficult for him because he was unhappy. It was difficult for the squad and for his partners as well. If we are not happy we cannot give the maximum. It’s not possible.
“I respect Jose and his work at Southampton and his quality. I don’t have a problem with this.
“It’s important to respect the man, the player and all his work at Southampton.
“ I think all the fans respect Jose and his work and give him fantastic support when he comes back on Saturday. I know also the fans want a result, a good win for us, for their team.”
SAINTS will turn to left-back Ryan Bertrand to solve their centre-half crisis after skipper Virgil van Dijk was ruled out for up to three months.
Boss Claude Puel admitted that, with Van Dijk out injured until April – and Saints having failed to find a replacement centre-back in the January transfer window, Bertrand can offer a solution in defence.
Bertrand proved on several occasions to be a very capable central defender under Ronald Koeman as part of a back five last season, which has clearly inspired Puel ahead of Saints’ home match against West Ham tomorrow.
The St Mary’s chief has been working hard on the training ground to find the answer to his centre-back problems, and now considers the England international to be an ideal fit – although not as part of a five-man defence.
“It’s always difficult, but I don’t like to suffer in a situation like this,” he said. “We work on the training ground and we find a solution to give the squad possibilities, solidity and opportunities. We will seek to develop other players.
“The former trainer [Ronald Koeman] found the solution with Bertrand at centre-back. It’s a possibility also for us. We will see for the next game.”
With academy graduate Sam McQueen a capable reserve at left-back, Puel reckons that he can add Bertrand to his meagrely stocked stable of centre-backs, alongside Maya Yoshida, Jack Stephens and Florin Gardos.
“Bertrand played one game with two centre-backs and six with three defenders,” Puel said, referring to last season.
“I think he can have a good service and good possibility with this.
“We’ve got to study the different possibilities, of course, because I said it’s not possible to suffer.
He added: “Bertrand can play and give service also in this position [at centre-back].
“He played many games at centre-back last season and we will see with players like Stephens, Gardos and Bertrand. They are all possibilities.”
Saints have been waiting nervously for the results of numerous assessments on their defensive colossus Van Dijk, who will now miss the League Cup final at Wembley later this month.
“Van Dijk will stay not available for many weeks … two or three months,” said Puel.
"I don’t know how many games he stays out for, but it’s an important problem.
“It’s difficult for us. We are unlucky with Virgil because he was important for the group and defence, with his quality and his leadership also.”
Puel believes that Van Dijk, who has been the subject of interest from a number of clubs during the transfer window, will not have played his last game for Saints.
“No, it’s not the reality,” he said. "It’s an important player for us. It’s an injury that’s difficult for us.
“But it’s just speculation. It’s always our captain, but he’s not available for the moment. I cannot consider that it’s his last game.”
Saints tried to bring in a new centre-back before the end of the transfer window, but couldn’t get a deal done in time.
“We studied a lot of solutions and possibilities, but we could not find a good opportunity,” Puel said.
"It was strong work on all these January days, but without success to find another possibility.
“We now continue this work because I think it’s important to give a solution and to find other possibility.”
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Southampton Football Club and Saints Foundation will deliver a number of initiatives and activities across the year as part of the campaign, starting with this week’s Show Racism the Red Card event for local primary school children at St Mary’s.
Saints captain Steven Davis attended the event at the stadium on Thursday, talking to schoolchildren about the importance of equality and inclusion within football.
The campaign will officially launch at Saturday’s game against West Ham United, with the players warming up in ‘One March’ t-shirts, a campaign flag being placed next to the Premier League flag as the players walk out the tunnel, and a special matchday magazine that highlights the campaign’s work.
Toby Steele, Finance Director at Southampton Football Club and chair of the club’s Equality Group, commented: “We’re very pleased to be launching the ‘One March’ campaign, which brings together all of the great work that we have been doing around equality and diversity.
"We were delighted to be awarded with the Premier League Preliminary Level Equality Standard for our work in this area last year, and are now working towards achieving the Intermediate Level Standard within the next 18 months.
“We’re committed to promoting and keeping Southampton Football Club as a welcoming environment for all, be that fans, visitors, players or staff, and hope that ‘One March’ will help us do just that.”
The club takes a zero-tolerance approach towards all forms of discrimination, and as such, if you see, hear or are subjected to discriminatory abuse, please report it to your nearest steward, or call or email the Supporter Relations Team on 02380 711980 or via supporterrelations@saintsfc.co.uk.
Jose Fonte says he has no problem with returning to Southampton and is ready to go back to St Mary’s on Saturday despite a nightmare West Ham debut.
Fonte swapped the south coast for east London in an £8million deal last month.
But Manchester City soured his first game on Wednesday night — the centre back conceding a penalty in a 4-0 home humbling.
Saints are up next and Fonte says the work will start straight away to make up for that at his former club.
‘No problem. I am ready,’ the 33-year-old said. 'When the team has a bad day it is difficult for everyone, not only me.
'It is not a problem for me as I am still breathing and I am prepared to put the work in and come good. I am looking forward to the next one to recover as I want to win.
'It is not what I want (losing) but I am prepared to put the work in, prepared to work and improve so we need to focus and improve.
'What can we can say? We lost when we are at home. No one likes it. The fans are disappointed and we apologise and we want to put it right for them.
‘They deserve everything and all our sacrifices and that is what we are going to do and that is what we are going to do that.’
West Ham and Southampton are stuck together in 11th and 12th, on 28 and 27 points respectively, in the Premier League.
Hammers manager Slaven Bilic is confident he can get his team back firing in time for the second part of this week’s league double-header.
‘It’s another heavy defeat for us, not the first one, but after every one we’ve had we’ve bounced back,’ Bilic said. ‘We have to do that again now.’
SAINTS captain Virgil van Dijk will be sidelined for up to three months through injury, according to Claude Puel.
Van Dijk injured his ankle in the 3-0 Premier League win over Leicester City at St Mary’s two weeks ago, but may not play again until April.
Saints have been waiting nervously for the results of numerous assessments on their key defender, who will now miss the League Cup final at Wembley later this month.
“Van Dijk will stay not available for many weeks … two or three months,” said Puel.
"I don’t know how many games he stays out for, but it’s an important problem.
“It’s difficult for us. We are unlucky with Virgil because he was important for the group and defence with his quality and his leadership also.”
Puel believes that Van Dijk, who has been the subject of interest from a number of clubs during the transfer window, will not have played his last game for Saints.
“No, it’s not the reality,” he said. "It’s an important player for us. It’s an injury that’s difficult for us.
“But it’s just speculation. It’s always our captain, but he’s not available for the moment. I cannot consider that it’s his last game.”
Saints tried to bring in a new centre-back before the end of the transfer window, but couldn’t get a deal done in time.
“We studied a lot of solutions and possibilities, but we could not find a good opportunity,” Puel said.
"It was strong work on all these January days, but without success to find another possibility.
“We now continue this work because I think it’s important to give a solution and to find other possibility.”
I feel compelled to post my thoughts regarding the current situation of our great club.
I am neither a happy clapper nor a persistent pessimist.
I am a lifelong (50 years) fan, born and raised in Southampton, and hopefully a realist, though obviously my judgement can be swayed by my bias and passion towards the team.
I see the glass as half full in life, and that includes my club.
Regardless of our opinion and outlook, every one of us is a passionate fan.
As a nine-year old I was lucky enough to witness the great 1976 Cup Final in person, was at Wembley for the League Cup Final in 1979 and the FA Cup Final in Cardiff.
I was at The Dell when we won promotion back to Division 1 against Spurs and was a season ticket holder in the early 80s during the McMenemy era.
I flew over to Milan for the game this year but will sadly not be able to make it for the final this month.
The club has been to hell and back and I am forever grateful to the Liebherr family for rescuing the club I love and then restoring it to its rightful place.
I recall a certain Rupert Lowe speaking so very arrogantly about how we would not be a club scrapping against relegation.
Well, I also came home for the game against Man Utd and witnessed in person our relegation from the top flight.
Some comments made recently by Les Reed have alarmed me.
Now I happen to believe he has done a fine job since Nicola Cortese left the club.
It’s hard to argue with the results and, as they say, the league table doesn’t lie, so as frustrated as we all become at times, I’m willing to give him the benefit of the doubt – to a point.
I’m concerned, however, that in his recent interview he spoke with an arrogance (some may call it confidence) whilst almost belittling Leicester City.
He mentioned we are a club with ambition to be “the best of the rest” and that we have basically accomplished it, while Leicester’s achievement last season was less desirable because they are in a relegation fight this season.
I would like to point out to Mr. Reed that while Leicester may be in a relegation scrap, their fans will forever cherish the triumph of last season.
To this day I get a lump in my throat whenever I see the Bobby Stokes goal replayed.
If Leicester go down, their fans will always have last season to remember.
To suggest we are far from a relegation fight is silly and reminds me of Lowe in a way that I’m not comfortable with.
Our last 10 league games read as follows – LWDWLLLLWL.
That equates to a total of 10 points, and 10 games is a point a game for more than a quarter of the season.
Put four of those together and you get 40 points.
What is most alarming to me is that in those 10 games we have only played one team in the top six, a 4-1 drubbing against Spurs.
In January we sold our captain to West Ham (Les Reed claimed we only sell our players to CL teams and teams with CL ambition) and have lost VVD to injury.
No replacements were brought in, even though we were told Fonte wouldn’t be sold without being replaced.
Maya Yoshida hasn’t put a foot wrong since coming back in and Jack Stephens deserves tremendous credit for the way he has gone about things.
However, without VVD, I can’t see us having a way to stop Andy Carroll on Saturday.
Jose Mourinho is no mug, and I expect him to target our centre backs with the arial threat of Ibrahimovic and Fellaini in the final if VVD is unable to play.
There’s not much Puel can do about it at this point and I feel sorry for him.
However, as a club we had enough experimenting under Rupert Lowe.
The rotation policy has, in my opinion, failed.
We are the club with the most players unavailable through injury.
During Christmas we played four and lost four.
I know we have played more games than anyone else, but we knew that was a possibility going in. If rotating the players is so effective at protecting players, then why are we the club with the most players on the treatment table?
We have seen some great football, none more so than the two Liverpool games recently.
We have also been bored to tears and left wondering what on earth the tactics were for a number of games.
Perhaps those have been the manager’s biggest frustrations too, I’m not sure.
I will continue to watch every game we play and will back the team unconditionally.
I would just like to see a little bit of urgency from the club regarding the recent league form.
I pay a fair bit to watch the games here and am happy to do so.
I fear the season ticket holders are paying large sums of hard earned money to watch the team and the club risks alienating some of them if they are not careful.
Selling your best players each year is one thing, and provided they are replaced with similar talent the club will be forgiven, but once the paying public is no longer entertained I believe more and more empty seats will appear.
Being confident is one thing – being over confident will often lead to your own demise.
Please take note, Les Reed and Ralph Krueger.
This isn’t North American hockey where a bad season carries no consequences.
VIRGIL van Dijk says he’ll be back “fitter and stronger” after he was ruled out for up to three months through injury.
Claude Puel revealed earlier the extent of the Dutchman’s injury >>>
Van Dijk has taken to social media to reassure fans.
Gutted to be injured and not be able to help the boys over the next few weeks but I can promise you all I’ll be working hard in the gym and will be back fitter and stronger thanks for all of your support
Italian news outlet Calciomercato claim the Serie A heavyweights are set to snap up the defender who is available on a free transfer. Caceres was heavily linked with a move to the Premier League earlier in the season.
Chelsea were keeping tabs on him as they looked to bolster their defensive options. And it’s suggested West Brom, Southampton, Sunderland and Swansea were also weighing up swoops for the Uruguayan. However, the experienced star now looks set for a move to the San Siro.
Blues boss Antonio Conte signed him in 2012 during his stint in the Juventus hot seat. Caceres initially joined Juventus on loan in 2009 from Barcelona and again in 2012 from Sevilla before making the move permanent. He’s been without a club since leaving the Old Lady in the summer.
SAINTS join Europe’s elite clubs in receiving compensation for the use of the club’s players at Euro 2016.
Joining the continent’s finest like Juventus, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid and Manchester United in the top ten of recipients for cash, Saints will receive nearly £1.8m from European football’s governing body, UEFA.
That total has been calculated for the use of players from St Mary’s during qualifiers and then the finals in France last summer, which saw current Saints man Cedric Soares and recently departed captain Jose Fonte win the competition with Portugal.
The total amount comes to £1,788,985.91, which sees Saints given the tenth most of all the clubs in Europe and sixth most of all Premier League clubs.
During Euro 2016, much was made of the club teams that had the most players at the competition.
Juventus, Liverpool and Tottenham had the most players at Euro 2016 and these three sides top the Euro 2016 payments table.
Jurgen Klopp’s side lead the way for English clubs, with just under 3.4 million euros earned, while Spurs netted more than 3 million euros.
Manchester United are the fourth side from the Premier League, collecting just under 3 million euros, while Arsenal come in fifth with just under 2.5 million euros.
Saints come in sixth, earning themselves just shy of 2.1 million euros.
UEFA are paying compensation to clubs for the number of days their players appear at international tournaments as well as qualifiers.
A fixed amount is given for a qualifying match per match, while at the tournament the amount is broken down into fixed amounts per player per day – starting 14 days before the first match of the respective national team and finishing the day after the national team’s last match in the final tournament.
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