Southampton manager Mauricio Pochettino is keen to let his home grown talented youngsters shine in the Premier League campaign, with the Argentine looking at his youngsters as an alternative to January transfer activity in January.
Southampton made several high profile, high priced signings in the summer, which included the likes of Victor Wanyama from Celtic, French defender Dejan Lovern, and Roma striker Danny Osvaldo, to name a few, as the Saints looked to push on in the Premier League.
And Pochettino’s and chairman Nicola Cortese plan is starting to take shape, with the Saints sitting pretty in fifth position in the Premier League table, after just two defeats all season, things are looking good on the south coast.
Southampton have had success this year through the performances of England trio Ricky Lambert, Adam Lallana, and Jay Rodriguez, who have all impressed for both club and country so far this season, aswell as England Under 21 players such as talented full back Luke Shaw, Nathanial Clyne and England hopefull James Ward- Prowse, these players have been one of the reason’s why the Saints are in such a lofty league position.
Pochettino has also stated that he will include acadamy graduates, such as promising playmaker Lloyd Isgrove in his future League squad’s, as Saints want to dip into a famed academy which has seen the likes of Theo Walcott, Alex Oxlade- Chamberlain, Luke Shaw, James Ward-Prowse and Gareth Bale roll of the production line and in Bale’s case, go onto be the most expensive player in the world.
The Southampton boss stated to the Echo newspaper…..
“We have a lot of young players coming from the academy that are pushing really hard.
“They are making a case for being in the senior team. Players like Sam Gallagher and Harry Reed, very exciting players.
“So, in that sense, we are not worried about the depth of our squad because we have a lot of young players that guarantee us a very good future in the immediate future.
“We are covered in that sense, so we are not worried.”
Gallagher and Reed were both unused substitutes during Saturday’s 2-0 defeat to Arsenal, and Pochettino believes the pair will have benefitted greatly from their involvement at Emirates Stadium.
He added: “It’s very important for them to actually be part of the team and be on the bench.
“It’s very important as well that they slowly progress and slowly get into the first team.
“It’s also very important that they learn the atmosphere of the Premier League, of the senior side, and it’s very important overall for the future.”
The future certainly looks bright for the Saints as they go marching into their next game, which is away at Chelsea.
By Ben Reardon
@BenReardon1
