Could Southampton have won the league?

[DVG7]

GK: Forster
RB: Clyne
CB Alderweireld
CB Van Dijk
LB Shaw

CM: Wanyama
CM Oxlaide Chamberlain
CM Lallana

RW Bale
CF Long
LW Mane

How well would they have done if they stuck together?

 

[Fussball13251]

Yeah but you also need the right manager. With klopp or somebody like that... yes. Edit: Challenging I meant. But they always hire managers like Mark Hughes.

But with mark Hughes, for example, they wold still be fighting 10, then sacked the following season because they are hovering just about relegation.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/46091577

However, they have struggled again this season and, across his spell, have won just three of their 22 league games.

Why his management always crumbles like that. Players must not like his coaching style. Like the layers want him sacked cos he's sh*it or something. He gets every team relegated.

 

[adexkola]

Maybe

With that level of talent they would have got someone better than Long up front

But football is fair

 

[Offside]

If this hypothetical world also means J Rod didn't get injured, then yes absolutely. Put Tadic in for Lallana.

 

[DVG7]

Yeah but you also need the right manager. With klopp or somebody like that... yes

let’s assume they kept Pochettino too...

 

[Nickosaur]

GK: Forster
RB: Clyne
CB Alderweireld
CB Van Dijk
LB Shaw

CM: Wanyama
CM Oxlaide Chamberlain
CM Lallana

RW Bale
CF Long
LW Man

How well would they have done if they stuck together?

Why on earth have you used Long instead of Pelle? edit - or Ings???

 

[Buchan]

Unsure. A weak midfield and lack of a top-class centre-forward would hamper them, I reckon. Definitely good enough for top 4, though.

 

[Skills]

By the time, the rest of them got up to a great level there was no way they could ever have afforded to keep Bale. His wage alone would've been more than the rest of them put together at some point.

 

[DVG7]

Maybe

With that level of talent they would have got someone better than Long up front

But football is fair

Long has been at Southampton for 18 seasons and has 19 player of the year awards. He is to that club what Christ the redeemer is to rio de janiero

 

[VorZakone]

Nope.

 

[Paul_Scholes18]

Hard to know, but they have had some top quality players around.
It is like asking what we could have done undre Moyes with Ronaldo plus Bale.
Very hard to tell.

 

[RedCurry]

If we’re only counting players at their peak, maybe Pelle would get ahead of Long. He seemed like a beast for a couple of seasons.

 

[L1nk]

Real Madrid had one of the best teams in the world at one point, and with Queiroz as their manager they didn't win it. Managers are as important as the players on the team and I don't think they would have even with all those players

 

[Cutch]

Tadic for Long and it starts to get interesting

 

[izec]

With a good manager, yes, they could have. But the scenario is a bit weird, since neither peaked at the club and you never know how their careers would go.

 

[charlenefan]

GK: Forster
RB: Clyne
CB Alderweireld
CB Van Dijk
LB Shaw

CM: Wanyama
CM Oxlaide Chamberlain
CM Lallana

RW Bale
CF Long
LW Mane

How well would they have done if they stuck together?

Stuck together suggests that group of players were ever together, did even 2 of them play together?

 

[Lay]

Is Long the best striker they've had recently or something?

 

[fps]

GK: Forster
RB: Clyne
CB Alderweireld
CB Van Dijk
LB Shaw

CM: Wanyama
CM Oxlaide Chamberlain
CM Lallana

RW Bale
CF Long
LW Mane

How well would they have done if they stuck together?

In which season?

 

[DVG7]

In which season?

last season or this

 

[Amerifan]

By the time, the rest of them got up to a great level there was no way they could ever have afforded to keep Bale. His wage alone would've been more than the rest of them put together at some point.

This. They couldn’t afford to keep all those players. But if they could have, yes, most seasons they could challenge.

 

[fps]

last season or this

A lot of posters will point to injuries but of course there’s no guarantee of them if they didn’t move, nor that they become the players they do. Midfield a bit light but if that’s the squad they’d have been regular CL or close for a bit. This season or last, assuming they have doubles of the ones who went to Liverpool etc they’re top 3 I’d say.

 

[giorno]

last season or this

Nope.

In 15/16, yes

 

[Invictus]

Is Long the best striker they've had recently or something?

Long definitely seems to be the weakest link in attack. With the likes of Bale and Mané out wide, Tadić could be a seamless fit as a False 9 (though you could argue that he doesn't qualify because he started flourishing in that capacity at Ajax under Ten Hag). Structurally, there's not much between what Southampton could hypothetically field and the template Klopp employs at Liverpool — Mané, Oxlade Chamberlain and Lallana have all at least done well at various points under him, Bale is in his natural habitat as a right sided forward, and Tadić would emulate Firmino...

As regards the primary “could Southampton have won the league” discussion, I'm tempted to say no, they would probably peak at Tottenham's level in terms of being good but not quite good enough when all is said and done. Qualitatively, the forward line and central defensive pairing is fabulous — but the midfield doesn't seem to be strong enough to come up trumps in a rigorous title challenge, and the fullback spots leave a bit to be desired too. Consistent Top 3-4 under an appropriately competent manager, like Pochettino — if he is also retained, would be within the realms of possibility, though — with maybe a perfect storm year of them launching a proper, but ultimately unsustainable, title bid.

 

[Renegade]

Bale left 13 seasons ago for god sake.

 

[Tel074]

Long has been at Southampton for 18 seasons and has 19 player of the year awards. He is to that club what Christ the redeemer is to rio de janiero

Never a truer word spoken ..amen

 

[SilentWitness]

I think that you could probably do this for most clubs right now and they'd be able to win the league with the right manager and set of circumstances.

Pickford/Howard - Coleman - Stones - Mina - Digne/Baines - Gomes - Gueye - Barkley - Deulofeu - Lukaku - Richarlison

I reckon Barkley would have developed better with us but that midfield and attack is delicious. Only weak spots are CB and GK but we could easily outscore teams. That's just off the top of my head too so I could probably think of a stronger defensive duo but based on talent of the team and where their potential should have gone I think this is about right.

I was wanting to start a thread about how outside of world class players I don't think that in terms of players there are top class or poor players, it's almost always down to a tactical system/manager which makes it so hard to judge how good someone actually is but it's really hard to phrase it.

 

[Amar__]

No, because they would have kept Lovren too and they would leak goals all the time.

 

[Bojan11]

Bale was gone a decade before that team came about.

 

[bosnian_red]

Not even close... Even assuming all of those players were in their peaks at the same time, it wouldn't be enough. Midfield has nobody who knows how to pass the ball to start with, and the fullbacks are shit going forward so can't make up for the midfielders. Mediocre goalkeeper. Mediocre striker. With the right manager they'd be fighting for top 4 like many teams have over the years. Nothing more.

 

[quackattack]

GK:
RB:
CB
CB
LB

CM:
CM
CM

RW
CF Le Tissier
LW

This team could...

 

[DON’T PANIC ™]

Tadic for Long and it starts to get interesting

Le Tissier for Long and it starts to become plausible!

 

[DVG7]

Long definitely seems to be the weakest link in attack. With the likes of Bale and Mané out wide, Tadić could be a seamless fit as a False 9 (though you could argue that he doesn't qualify because he started flourishing in that capacity at Ajax under Ten Hag). Structurally, there's not much between what Southampton could hypothetically field and the template Klopp employs at Liverpool — Mané, Oxlade Chamberlain and Lallana have all at least done well at various points under him, Bale is in his natural habitat as a right sided forward, and Tadić would emulate Firmino...


As regards the primary “could Southampton have won the league” discussion, I'm tempted to say no, they would probably peak at Tottenham's level in terms of being good but not quite good enough when all is said and done. Qualitatively, the forward line and central defensive pairing is fabulous — but the midfield doesn't seem to be strong enough to come up trumps in a rigorous title challenge, and the fullback spots leave a bit to be desired too. Consistent Top 3-4 under an appropriately competent manager, like Pochettino — if he is also retained, would be within the realms of possibility, though — with maybe a perfect storm year of them launching a proper, but ultimately unsustainable, title bid.

I did consider Tadic in the false 9 role, and if we consider Bale and Mane at their best, then it’s a great front 3.

With that lineup, you would also have to consider the opposition teams minus those players. Who would Liverpool have got instead of Van Dijk and mane for example? Would they be as strong as they are now?

Wanyama was excellent at Southampton, and in this team I think that midfield could work, given the composure on the ball from the two centre backs, and Shaw’s strengths defensively. I would say that Clyne is actually the weak link ahead of Long, as I always felt he was a bit overhyped. Also, Long made it in the side thanks to his pace and the hypothesis that he would have prospered alongside an emerging world class attacker in mane and an established PL great in Bale.

 

[Ludens the Red]

Shane Long

 

[FootballHQ]

Would've seriously challenged for top 4.

They actually weren't too far off in 13/14 and 14/15 from memory and that was just after they sold many of those mentioned in the OP.

Edit: It's easy to deride him now but Schnderlein was a fantastic box to box midfielder for them aswell.

 

[Tarrou]

I think any decent team with Bale in it could've won the league the year Leicester did, with the right manager of course