I don’t envy Koeman! New Southampton boss warned he faces impossible task

Chris Perry believes Ronald Koeman faces a near impossible task trying to rebuild Southampton.

Koeman has seen a host of Saints stars depart this summer after taking over from Mauricio Pochettino in the St Mary’s hotseat.

Adam Lallana, Rickie Lambert, Dejan Lovren, Luke Shaw and Calum Chambers have all moved on, while Morgan Schneiderlin and Jay Rodriguez are expected to join former boss Pochettino at Tottenham.

The remarkable fire sale has understandably left supporters feeling seriously concerned, and former Saints star Perry shares their fears.

Southampton finished eighth in the Premier League last season, but Perry claims Koeman will need to work miracles with a new-look squad if they are to finish anywhere near the top ten this term.

Speaking on The Sports Bar, he said: “Undoubtedly, Southampton have a fantastic academy and have great belief they will bring players through to replace those players. The amount of experience they have lost through the team, in Lovren, Lallana, Lambert and Shaw is going to be very hard to replace though.

“I know they have brought in a couple of players from the Dutch top division that obviously Ronald Koeman knows, but are they going to be of the quality to replace those players? I don’t think they are. So, you have got to be looking further down the table at where they are going to finish next season.

“If you look at Spurs last season, they brought in nine new players and struggled to integrate them all into a side. They never really clicked throughout the whole season. Ronald Koeman has got three weeks to try and put a side together that is going to be facing Liverpool. I don’t envy his task at all.

“He is coming into a new club, he has got a completely unsettled side, and he has going to have seven or eight new players he has to integrate into the team. I think it is going to be very tough for him.”