da cassino online： Southampton needed a striker.
da brdice： With Shane Long unable to hit a barn door with a banjo and Manolo Gabbiadini well and truly off form, Saints were in trouble. And if it weren’t for a comeback victory over the bottom club West Brom, they’d be in even bigger trouble.
A victory makes their place in the table look a lot better, however. They are still only two points off the relegation zone, but also only a point away from 11th. That’s how tight the bottom half is, and it also shows that small margins will make big differences between now and the end of the season.
Perhaps that’s why they’ve invested so much in Guido Carrillo.
The former Monaco man is a physical presence, and if you think that Saints needed pace up front, perhaps the fact that Nathan Redmond and Sofiane Boufal can play off a target man will do the trick instead.
That’s what we saw against West Brom.
When you’re in a relegation battle, perhaps the style of football doesn’t really matter so much, but although Carrillo is more than just a big man, he certainly brings that to the table.
Fashioning three shots for himself shows he’s not shy to have a go, especially on his debut, but of his 30 touches, he was only able to complete 12 passes all game, with just a 60% completion rate.
On the other hand, that might be because quite a few of his touches were when the ball was at a difficult height: Carrillo won seven aerial duels and pretty much made himself a nuisance all game, something that will bode well going forward. As will his contribution at the back, making a clearance to help out his defenders, too.
Perhaps this means that Carrillo won’t be overly prolific in front of goal. He might be a threat in the air, but his main role might well be to play the target man, physically holding the ball up and bringing others into play. If he can do that, though, Saints might well be able to get the best out of the tricky, pacey players who the Argentine might have buzzing around either side of him.