His manager Claude Puel has insisted he will come good but the 22-year-old needs to start delivering soon and the EFL Cup would be the perfect time
One thing has been missing from Southampton’s rise over recent years and this season would be a fine time to change that. The club have won promotions and plaudits since 2011, playing their way stylishly from League One to the upper reaches of the Premier League while becoming a model of shrewd development, but they have yet to garnish that progress with major silverware. An EFL Cup triumph this season would put that right – and soften fears their progress is stalling.
Victory in the 2010 Johnstone’s Paint Trophy, a competition for lower league teams, was lovely and confirmed Southampton were on the way back but winning the EFL Cup this season would be cherished much more by a club that have not won a major trophy since the 1976 FA Cup. When Claude Puel picks his team for Wednesday’s semi-final first leg against Liverpool, he must do so with the conviction that the competition has become Southampton’s priority for this season.
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