Three ways Southampton have worsened under Claude Puel this season

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Failure to replace departing players

Partially linked to the previous point, but Southampton seemingly haven’t adequately replaced the summer’s outgoing players.

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Perhaps it was linked to a degree of complacency, as for the last three (at least) seasons, Southampton have lost key players in the summer, but always bounced back.

While there is no need to push panic buttons just yet, there is an air of regression at St.Mary’s this season, and one gets the impression the likes of Victor Wanyama, Saido Mane and Graziano Pelle are being greatly missed.

For what it’s worth, I feel Nathan Redmond will grow into a very useful Premier League player, as will Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, but they are not yet the finished articles, and Southampton will struggle until they are.

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