Recruitment Analysis 2019/20: Southampton’s winter transfer window

As many of us fans celebrating the festive season, it also marks the start of an extensive football period that sees many football matches taking place across England over the course of two weeks. For several Premier League teams, they pay extensive attention to this period as it might become the key period to determine where they will finish at the end of the season. For some, this might be one of the toughest periods with many of the big names ready to take on them for the points. Nonetheless, many clubs will find themselves relieved after this period as the winter transfer window is edging closer.

Many players have been scouted, analysed and added to the clubs’ shortlists and they are ready to make the move. Southampton have been one of the most active clubs during this period as they are paying close attention to several names on the market. Generally speaking, they have had an average first half to the season as they find themselves battling out to stay in this division. There are times where they rise up the table and there are few moments where they drop down to the drop zone. But with the appointment of a new director of football in Matt Crocker, Ralph Hasenhüttl and his team are ready to sign a few names with the hope of changing the club’s fortune.

In this recruitment analysis, using tactical analysis, we will provide an analysis of the potential signings that Southampton can make during the winter window. Meanwhile, using statistics, we will answer the question of how will the names being linked with the club fit Hasenhüttl’s tactics.

Marin Pongračić – Red Bull Salzburg

One of the major positions that Southampton need to bolster during the winter transfer window is centre-back. Amid the fact that they have five players who can play in that position, they haven’t lived up to the expectations that Hasenhüttl is expecting them to. This forces the Austrian manager to dip his hands into the market to look for a centre-back who can become a reliable option for him over the second period of the season.

And it is best going back to Hasenhüttl’s home country to look for a name that has been thriving for Red Bull Salzburg in the recent seasons. Marin Pongračić moved to Austria in 2017 even before the move of his fellow countryman Duje Ćaleta-Car to Marseille. He stepped into Marco Rose’s lineup without having any problems and formed a strong connection with André Ramalho in the season after that saw Salzburg completed the domestic double.

In the role of a ball-playing defender, he can become a vital part in Hasenhüttl’s tactics since his tactic relies heavily on playing out from the back. Statistically speaking, he registers the most number of passes per 90 minutes compared to Southampton’s main three centre-backs (Jack Stephens, Jannik Vestergaard and Jan Bednarek) with 63.87 passes per 90 minutes although he involves in the least matches compared to the trio (seven matches played this season).

He also reaches the highest passing accurate percentage with 87.12% while Bednarek has 86.97% to his name, Vestergaard has 84.83% and Stephens has 77.36%. This allows him to step into Hasenhüttl’s 4-2-2-2 formation and occupy his preferred role alongside Bednarek. They will become a decent force at the back and they can start attacks using their passes, which will reduce Southampton’s build-up time significantly.

One of the traits that can be seen from Pongračić is he usually dribbles up the pitch with the ball. This is also the field where the Croatian centre-back leads in terms of stats with 2.58 dribbles while Southampton’s trio all have under 1 dribble to their names. As he brings the ball out of defence, he can make long passes towards the advanced players up front, similar to the shot below. This will give the South Coast-based side another decent attacking option to choose from as they can capitalise Pongračić’s long passes to feed the ball towards the likes of Danny Ings or Ché Adams, who will sit on the shoulder of defenders.

Pongračić has developed good pace to help him in driving forward with the ball and combines with his composure and confident mentality, he doesn’t hesitate to dribble with the ball forward in order to reduce the team’s build-up time. Surprisingly, he also has a few technical moves under his belt to help him bypassing the pressure from the opponent’s players.

The shot below demon