Player Focus: Why Pablo Osvaldo Would Be An Astute Acquisition For Southampton
Southampton are spending big this summer. After securing their top flight status last season, the south coast club have already moved to strengthen defensively, bringing in Dejan Lovren and Victor Wanyama from Olympique Lyonnais and Celtic, respectively, as the club aim to improve on their 14th-placed finish and assemble a squad capable of progression.
Manager Mauricio Pochettino brought in a new system following his appointment back in January, with a high pressing game integrated quickly. Securing memorable home wins over Manchester City, Chelsea and Liverpool highlighted the workings of the Argentine as teams struggled to find their rhythm, ultimately succumbing to defeat. However, a failure to win their last six games of the season points to fatigue kicking in and a need for further reinforcement.
It isn’t just in midfield and defence that Saints have been aiming strengthen, though, with the club linked with a host of big name strikers to lead the frontline. Leandro Damiao was mooted with a possible switch, but with Napoli aiming to bring in the burly Brazilian to compensate for the imminent loss of Edinson Cavani - the Uruguayan having joined Paris Saint-Germain - the top-striking target appears to now be AS Roma’s Pablo Osvaldo.
A monumental PR gaffe from the club, in which the hierarchy had hoped the current team would alienate the 27-year-old to help speed up his exit, was expected to see Saints launch a summer raid for the Argentina-born Italy international. While it remains to be seen whether Saints will make a substantial bid for Osvaldo this summer, Pochettino’s supposed interest in a striker will remain between now and the close of the transfer window.
With an average WhoScored.com rating of 7.08, Osvaldo was far from unimpressive for Roma last season. He netted 16 times for the club - five of which were headers - and helped himself to 2 assists as i Giallorossi finished 6th in Serie A, narrowly missing out on European football, having also lost to rivals Lazio in the Coppa Italia final. With a lack of continental action, it’s expected that Rudi Garcia will look to make changes throughout the squad and regardless of being the club’s top scorer last term, Osvaldo may even depart before the new season kicks off.
His attitude has, at times, been called into question, with supporters apprehensive about his unpredictability off the pitch. On the pitch, however, he would make an astute acquisition for Southampton. Top scorer Rickie Lambert (15) may have impressed in his debut Premier League campaign, but in scoring just once in his last seven games of the season - the 1-1 draw with Stoke City on the final day of the season - it’s evident that another goalscorer is needed.
This is perhaps more pertinent considering Jason Puncheon and Jay Rodriguez (6) were the next highest goalscorers for the club. While only Fulham (50) scored more goals than Saints (49) of all clubs to finish in the bottom half of the Premier League table, another striker would certainly boost their chances of doing even better next season.
However, while scoring goals is a much-needed trait for a new striker, the ability to win possession in the attacking third has also proven important under Pochettino. It’s this dimension of Saints’ game that has seen them win a number of admirers since the Argentine took charge of the south coast club and it’s crucial that any striker that comes in be capable of doing similar in his new role.
Lambert and Rodriguez started up front most often for Saints last season and it’s likely Osvaldo's presence could mean the pairing drop into deeper positions in the starting XI. However, should that be the case, Osvaldo will have to improve on his ability to win possession in the attacking third. The Italian won possession in the attacking third of the pitch just 11 times over the course of last season, an average of once every 210.6 minutes. Comparatively, Lambert won possession in the attacking third 17 times - once every 184.2 minutes - and Rodriguez 16 times - once every 136.25 minutes and it's this facet that is viewed as a cornerstone of Pochettino's gameplan, an area of which Osvaldo would evidently need to improve upon if he's to make a name for himself with Southampton, should he arrive.
Yet, when it comes to his prolificacy in front of goal, the Roma striker would only improve Saints’ current strikeforce. His shot accuracy of 37.4% may fall below that of top goalscorer Lambert (44.7%), while remaining better than that of Rodriguez (36%), but Osvaldo’s conversion rate of 17.6% stands him in better stead than both the 31-year-old (16%) and Rodriguez (6.74%).
That being said, Osvaldo’s (40.9%) conversion rate of clear-cut chances drops below that of Lambert (56.25%) and Rodriguez (46.15%), with the striker at times prone to missing guilt-edged chances for Roma last season. Regardless, with Saints keen to strengthen over the summer, Osvaldo would still bolster their attack line, with Osvaldo scoring five headed goals for Roma last year - Lambert and Rodriguez netted four between them for Saints - offering a further striking option to Pochettino. It’s evident that he knows where the back of the net is and with the Serie A side supposedly eager to sell before the season kicks off once again, a move to the St. Mary’s Stadium remains a possibility.
What increases the likelihood of a deal being completed is that Osvaldo and Pochettino worked together during their time with Espanyol, a period of which it can be argued brought out the best in the striker, netted 20 goals in 44 La Liga appearances. If Osvaldo can replicate that form once again, he could prove an astute signing for Saints, especially if he can adopt to the system currently being ingrained at the club.
