Premier League 2019/20: 8 Big Takeaways From Gameweek One
5. Are Southampton In Trouble?
In the 2016-17 Premier League season, Southampton had an incredible campaign, finishing in 8th spot. Since then however, things have just gone downhill. Over the last two seasons, the Saints have survived relegation to the Championship by a total of nine points, finishing in 17th and 16th place respectively.
The club has a history of selling their top players to bigger clubs, and making poor decisions when it comes to managers. After the days of Mauricio Pochettino and Ronald Koeman, the club have been managed by Claude Puel, Mauricio Pellegrino, and Mark Hughes, before current boss and Ralph Hasenhuttl, none of which lasted long or inspired an improvement in fortunes.
The latter certainly has his work cut out for him to make the Saints a good team again. One of the biggest successes was not only keeping hold of Nathan Redmond this summer, but signing him to a new contract. While this certainly boosted the team, it did not translate onto the pitch against Burnley as they were destroyed 3-0 by the Clarets.
After such a slow start, it is imperative the Saints turn their form around as soon as possible before falling behind the rest of the league, but with Liverpool and Man Utd visiting St. Mary’s before the end of August, this will be a big ask for Hasenhuttl's boys.