How the other side sees it: Southampton (H) - starring Vestergaard, Bertrand and very bad vibes
Answering the questions: Southampton fan Jake Hughes
On a scale of 'Leicester City' to '10', what are the vibes around Southampton right now?
I don't think Southampton are far off Leicester in that scale. Being kind, the fanbase is split on our manager Ralph Hasenhuttl. There are still some serious issues with our squad, with up to 10 players reportedly put up for sale, but no bids have come in for them which says everything you need to know. It was nice to see Southampton claw back a point against Leeds on Saturday, but that papers over the cracks... Saints were second best for 70 minutes in that game.
There are plenty of new faces at Saints, many of them young and relatively unknown in England. What's the lowdown on them so far?
Romeo Lavia, who we signed from Manchester City, looks the real deal and is only 18. He is already a starter for us and looks one of the cooler heads in our midfield. Gavin Bazunu, another City signing, has also looked pretty good despite shipping six goals in two games. As for Sekou Mara, everything you read says he's raw and one for the future rather than now, but he made all the difference as a substitute against Leeds. Hopefully he starts this weekend.
Beyond JWP free-kicks, what's the area of your team we should fear the most?
It's hard to pinpoint where our real threat is, barring James Ward-Prowse free-kicks as you say. Leicester are renowned for being defensively poor from set-pieces in general, and JWP is rather handy with those – but Saints at the moment have the horrible combination of a shaky defence and toothless attack. In our current state, I wouldn't fear Southampton if I was a fan of the opposition.
Terrific: a 2-1 defeat incoming, then. Where else are you struggling right now?
Our defensive problems have been a long-term issue. The individuals aren't up to par, but there’s a lot of talk about them not being coached well in that department as well. As for the attack, Saints only have Leicester lad Che Adams and Adam Armstrong as recognised, supposedly first-team-ready strikers. That's a problem.
Ryan Bertrand has had a bizarrely disastrous time at the club so far – part illness, part COVID, part being rubbish. Anything you can tell us that suggests he might be useful eventually?
Bertrand was always a pillar of consistency for Southampton, so it's been bizarre to see his lack of success for Leicester from the outside looking in. In fairness, it looked like performances started to dwindle towards the end of his time at Saints, so I'm guessing that bad luck with illnesses has accelerated the downward turn. I hope he turns it around for his sake, though.
And finally... fancy having Jannik Vestergaard back?
No, we're good thanks.
