Dusan Tadic issues damning Southampton verdict, Ralph Hasenhuttl should take heed

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The 30-year-old, who left the Saints for Ajax last summer, feels things at the Premier League club have been on a downward trajectory.

Dusan Tadic has issued a damning verdict about what he feels is a continuing deterioration in Southampton’s ranks which began when he was at the club.

The 30-year-old winger, who left the Saints for Ajax last summer, enjoyed four years at St Mary’s Stadium, making 162 appearances, scoring 24 goals and claiming 35 assists (Transfermarkt) after becoming Ronald Koeman’s first signing in 2014.

In Tadic’s first season, Southampton finished seventh, and the club went one better in 2015-16, claiming sixth place, but after a slight drop in ranking – eighth in 2016-17 – things went south for the club, only just finishing 17th last term.

This year, the Saints are once again fighting for their Premier League status and, after 27 fixtures played, they sit 18th in the table, despite an initial revival under Ralph Hasenhuttl following his December arrival.

Southampton have now picked up just two points from their last four games, after previously taking 13 points from seven games, and alarm bells are ringing around the club once again, with Tadic’s comments likely to cause even more concern amongst the fanbase and possibly even Hasenhuttl.

“In Southampton, for the first two years, we had a great team with Koeman and we had very good seasons,” Tadic told Andy van der Meyde’s YouTube channel. “We finished number six and number seven, which is the best in the history of the club and we had very good players.

“Then after that, in the third and fourth year, we were getting worse and worse. We sold a lot of players and, after that, it was difficult. We finished number eight in the third year, but it wasn’t the same feeling. When you are there when it was the best, and after when it’s not so good, you feel a little bit like you need to go and I was also tired from the Premier League.”

Southampton return to action on Wednesday night in a relegation six-pointer against Fulham at St Mary’s, after which they will come up against Manchester United away and at home to Tottenham Hotspur.