Southampton Need to Offer Graziano Pelle Support to Return to Goalscoring Form
After an exceptional start to life in the Premier League, Graziano Pelle has cut an isolated figure in Southampton's front line of late and struggled to perform. It is manager Ronald Koeman's task to provide the striker with support to return to goalscoring form.
Pelle's slump has seen the Saints record their first loss in the league in six games in Sunday's 3-0 defeat at home to Manchester City.
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In that game, Pelle made just 36 touches of the ball, the least of any player to complete the full 90 minutes and six fewer than team-mate Morgan Schneiderlin (who was withdrawn with an injury at half-time).
Struggling as a lone striker, Pelle needs support.
In order to recapture the performances that have hallmarked their season so far, Southampton need to help Pelle and nurture his goalscoring touch.
Early Form
On Pelle's signing for Southampton in July, Koeman told SaintsFC.co.uk: "I had Graziano in my team for my last two years at Feyenoord. He scored a lot of goals—more than 50 in two seasons—and they brought a lot of points to the club."
Koeman continued, pertinently stating: "Goals mean points, and we needed a good player in that position after Rickie Lambert left."
As such, the onus was on Pelle to hit the ground running in the Premier League, and luckily for Koeman, the striker hit three goals in his first five games.
Impressive on his debut against Liverpool, Pelle's aerial prowess was a potent threat.
Pelle also showcased his technical ability with a magnificent effort in the 2-1 home victory over Queens Park Rangers—which BBC Sport pundits Mark Chapman, Jason Roberts and Kevin Kilbane discussed as a possible "goal of the season" contender.
"#Golazo de media chilena del italiano Graziano Pellè en la victoria del Sothampton vs QPR por #PremierLeague. https://t.co/Zng3YwRKgO
— Fútbol Puro ⚽ (@FutboIPuro) September 30, 2014"
This run culminated in Southampton's 8-0 mauling of Sunderland at home, where Pelle scored twice (including a lovely sweeping finish after great work by Dusan Tadic).
That brace set Pelle's league record to six goals in eight games.
After the game, Pelle told SaintsFC.co.uk: "It was an amazing day...I would have liked to score a hat-trick, but it was most important for me to score. I will do my best to score more again in the next game."
Slump
Unfortunately, however, Pelle has suffered a dip in form since that victory and has failed to score in Southampton's last five games.
Mike Cox of Metro wrote that Pelle has recently "cut a forlorn figure upfront. He’s a man [who] needs better service, something that Tadic isn’t giving him at the moment."
Tadic is another player to have suffered a downturn in form of late, but pinning the failures of the striker on the Serbian playmaker alone is unjust. Koeman will need to find other solutions rather than rely on the pair alone.
Unfortunately, in terms of personnel at this juncture, Pelle is the only viable option for Southampton's lone-striker system.
Adopting this bulky spearhead blueprint from previous managers Nigel Adkins and Mauricio Pochettino—who utilised now-Liverpool man Rickie Lambert to such devastating effect—Koeman has seen similar success.
However, while Lambert rarely fell in form, Pelle has suffered.
This is a similar situation to the one that Arsene Wenger faced with Olivier Giroud last season.
ESPN.co.uk outlined how the striker dipped in form after playing "21 games in 89 days," resulting in Giroud failing to score in four games, quoting team-mate Laurent Koscielny.
Koscielny highlighted how Giroud was "playing game after game and hasn't had a rest, so maybe he's feeling a bit of fatigue."
Pelle could be suffering the same fatigue, having played in all but 10 minutes of Southampton's Premier League campaign so far (as well as featuring prominently in the Capital One Cup and for Antonio Conte's Italy squad).
Wenger addressed Giroud's situation by signing strikers Danny Welbeck and Alexis Sanchez in the summer, and Koeman spoke about the upcoming January transfer window in his press conference on Monday ahead of the Saints' clash with Arsenal in the Premier League.
One player recently linked was Burnley striker Danny Ings, per the Daily Mirror. Meanwhile, Lambert was reportedly interesting Koeman in a loan move, per the Daily Express, before he hit form for Liverpool.
The latter would be an ideal short-term solution, but Southampton may be better off waiting for the return of the currently injured Jay Rodriguez.
Shane Long
Prior to January, however, Southampton will need to focus on Pelle as their lone striker—and this means providing the Italian with support.
The likes of Tadic and Sadio Mane have excelled in the wide areas this season, and with the overlapping runs of Nathaniel Clyne and Ryan Bertrand, they have provided Pelle with some exceptional service.
However, Pelle will often need the supporting runs and build-up play offered by a second striker, and having joined the No. 19 at St. Mary's this summer, Shane Long can be the perfect foil in that role (or just behind the striker).
So far this season, when deployed alongside Long, Pelle has scored seven goals in eight games.
He has scored just once for the Saints when Long hasn't featured (and another after the No. 7 was withdrawn to the substitutes' bench).
Long's movement, pace and the blossoming partnership he enjoys with Pelle all help to bring the best out of Southampton's top goalscorer.
Furthermore, as a late substitute in the Saints' 2-0 victory over Leicester City in November, Long scored both goals, with his first coming after some fine hold-up play from Pelle.
The pair clearly thrive when working in tandem.
For their form to pick up and to reaffirm their grip on the Premier League's top four, Southampton need Graziano Pelle to hit goalscoring form again. With the support players such as Dusan Tadic, Sadio Mane and, in particular, Shane Long, Ronald Koeman has the right options to do this.
Statistics via WhoScored.com.
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