Player Focus: Tadić Transfer a Strong Start as Saints Look to Rebuild
Transition is a word too often banded about by teams that are effectively performing below par. One side that perhaps will be in for such a period more than most is Southampton, though to suggest Saints have done anything but exceed expectations would be wide of the mark.
It's the rapid acceleration of a club that found itself stranded in League One that has brought about such a need for change. Nigel Adkins first deserves great credit for taking the club from England's third to first tier, with many suggesting that his sacking was a disgrace at the time. The job that he did was not long forgotten following Mauricio Pochettino's impact on the side, guiding the team to their highest ever Premier League finish (8th) last season.
The Argentine's success led to interest from Tottenham this summer, and he duly made the move to the capital, clearly feeling that the side would be stripped of its prized parts. Success attracts attention at every possible level, but notably to the key players that have brought about such positive results. The sale of Luke Shaw and Adam Lallana seemed somewhat inevitable, even if a switch to boyhood club Liverpool for Rickie Lambert caught some off guard. All were crucial to Southampton’s playing style, and it may not end there. Dejan Lovren and Morgan Schneiderlin's futures at the club look particularly precarious.
The man tasked with picking up the pieces, so to speak, is Ronald Koeman, whose appointment in itself was somewhat of a coup for the club. The former Oranje legend has been at the helm of each of the power players in Dutch football and is expected to take his pick of the bunch from the Eredivisie in a bid to replace Southampton's departed. It's a tact that is not without its risks given the difference not only in quality but also style between the two leagues, though he seems to have made a decent start.
Dušan Tadić has penned a 4-year contract with the club, becoming Koeman's first recruit in a restructuring of the club. In truth it's likely to be a direct swap in personnel rather than any drastic rethink. Tadić is certainly a player comparable to Adam Lallana. The outbound Saints skipper started in as many as 7 different positions for the club last season, predominantly across the line behind a lone front man (Lambert). Tadić was deployed in 6 in comparison, all of which match up to Lallana's playing positions.
It's obvious, yet important to emphasise the aforementioned gap in class between the Premier League and Eredivisie when comparing across the competitions, but Tadić's statistics from last season will rightly encourage. Like Lallana, the Serbian often plays wide but looks to drift infield and find pockets of space, happy to receive the ball in tight situations. When he does so he has the vision to pick out a teammate with a slide rule pass or shift the ball between his feet to open up goalscoring opportunities for himself.
In turn his contribution in terms of both goals and assists was exceptional last season. He netted 16 times and assisted a further 14 goals for his Twente teammates. While the leaderboard in the Eredivisie in terms of the scoring charts is often astronomical, it's arguably more impressive to weigh in with so many assists for others, and while he is a set piece specialist, 10 of the goals that Tadić set up last season came from open play. Lallana's respective tallies of 9 goals and 6 assists were impressive at a higher level, but Tadić is clearly capable, including from the spot. With 7 penalties scored from 7 attempts, the loss of Rickie Lambert could also have been eased with one fell, and extremely wise, swoop.
Regardless of how you rate the Dutch top-flight, the 25-year-old's number of league leading statistics last season were remarkable. The playmaker not only registered the most assists in total and from open play but also played the most accurate through balls (16), made the most key passes in total (133) - as well as from open play (100) - created the most clear-cut scoring opportunities (31), attempted the most passes in the opposition half (1667) and delivered the most crosses (284).
It's the latter of those statistics that most sets him apart from the player he will likely replace. Tadić looks to get balls into the box often, happy to hug the touchline as well as pick up positions in support of the striker. When excluding crosses last season only one player delivered more accurate crosses into the box (44) in the Dutch top-flight. It's perhaps little surprise then that Southampton are also heavily linked to the one Eredivisie player that earned a higher WhoScored rating last season (7.80) to replace target man Rickie Lambert.
A player in whom Ronald Koeman holds a great deal of faith, Graziano Pellè is strongly tipped to become signing number two at St. Mary's. When the former Barcelona midfielder brought in the Italian to replace John Guidetti - who became a fan favourite in a season-long loan spell with Feyenoord - eyebrows were raised. Pellè was a striker who, at 26 at the time, had reached double figures for goals just once in his career - in Serie B - and had failed in what is deemed the striker's playground of European football under the same stewardship with AZ.
Pellè would score 50 goals from 57 league appearances, initially on loan at the club, to earn the adoration of the Feyenoord fans. Many even rushed to the barbers to emulate his slick, side-swept haircut. It should be mentioned that he is tall, dark and devilishly handsome, but it's his height that's of interest here, and his threat in the air to be more precise.
No player had more headed attempts at goal (38) in Eredivisie last season than the Feyenoord forward, and no player scored more headed goals in turn, with 9 of an impressive tally of 23 coming via the Italian's head. The temptation for Koeman to match Tadić's creative ability, particularly from wing play situations, with Pellè's impressive 18-yard box finishing is understandable. The latter has improved his all-round hold-up play no end over the past two seasons, with Lambert particularly effective at bringing others into the game, averaging a highly impressive 2 key passes per game last season.
There will of course be fears that neither will be able to replicate their goals and assist tallies in the Premier League next season but in all honesty they don't have to. It's unrealistic to suggest that they'd carry such figures into England's top-flight but when you consider that between them Lallana and Lambert registered 38 goals and assists combined compared to Tadić and Pellè's 29, there's considerable room for a drop.
Do you think Tadić will be able to effectively make the transition into the Premier League? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below
