Despite present difficulties, a journalist admits to the Southampton star

Despite present difficulties, a journalist admits to the Southampton star

Jones expressed sympathy for Bazunu and defended him despite the Saints’ recent defensive struggles.

 Southampton’s poor defensive start to the season is a major concern. Journalist Dean Jones feels sorry for goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu, who has faced criticism despite the team’s overall struggles. Southampton have other goalkeeping options in Joe Lumley and Alex McCarthy, but Bazunu’s talent and potential make him worth retaining faith in, although he must perform well to retain his starting spot.

 

Journalist Dean Jones has admitted that he feels sorry for Southampton goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu following the Saints’ poor start to the campaign defensively, speaking to Give Me Sport.

Although Russell Martin’s side have won a respectable 10 points from 15 in their opening five league games, the fact they conceded a total of nine goals in two of these games will come as a real concern.

They have also failed to keep a clean sheet in their six competitive matches this term, conceding three times against League Two team Gillingham, four times against Norwich City in a 4-4 draw at St Mary’s and five against Sunderland just before the international break.

Unfortunately, the Saints weren’t able to score just as many goals as the Black Cats that day with the former suffering a humiliating 5-0 defeat at the Stadium of Light.

If they fail to tighten up their defence, they can forget their dream of getting back to the Premier League at the first time of asking, because their attackers can’t step up to the plate every week to bail them out.

What did Dean Jones say about Gavin Bazunu?

Despite how highly rated Bazunu was when he made the permanent move from Manchester City, he has faced some criticism during his time at St Mary’s, with his spell at the club so far coinciding with a pretty poor period for the south-coast side with the Saints recently being relegated.

But Jones feels sorry for the Republic of Ireland international and launched a defence of the shot-stopper, he said: “I do feel sorry for him. He’s not the first goalkeeper to make mistakes and he’s also not the first goalkeeper to be spotlighted for errors at a moment when everything else around him is not going well either.

 

“There aren’t many goalkeepers that come out well when you’re in a team that’s been in pretty much disarray for the best part of this calendar year, and are conceding so many chances.

“Yeah, there might be times he could make some saves, but how does he keep confidence high? How does he keep making saves when so much is being asked of him?”

What other goalkeeping options do Southampton have?

The Saints have two other main options at their disposal.

Joe Lumley, pictured above, is one of those options with the keeper joining following the expiration of his contract at Middlesbrough. He did well on loan at Reading last season.

Alex McCarthy is the other option at Martin’s disposal and he could be a real asset considering the amount of experience that he has under his belt.

Should Southampton retain their faith in Gavin Bazunu?

Considering Bazunu is a talented player who could be worth a huge amount in the future, the Saints should be looking to maintain their faith in him for as long as possible.

If he does make quite a few mistakes though and is the clear weak link of the team, then Martin needs to make a change in the goalkeeping department.

From his time at Swansea, we know that Martin isn’t afraid to make tough decisions and this is why Bazunu’s starting spot between the sticks isn’t guaranteed.

If he can improve though, he could either remain a starter for the Saints or potentially be sold for a considerable amount in the future.

For both the player and the Saints’ sake, you hope he can shine this season.