With the 2016/17 Premier League less than a week away, Adrian Clarke assesses the five managers who are making their debuts in the competition, looking at their philosophy and what’s on their “To Do list”.
Claude Puel
Southampton, who open the season at home to Watford on 13 August, should be great to watch this season. Their new head coach arrives with a reputation for producing fast-paced, attractive, passing football, with an onus on allowing the players to express themselves in possession.
The Frenchman is likely to do this within a 4-4-2 framework, the diamond system most prevalently used in their pre-season friendlies.
Keeping the ball is important to Puel. On his arrival at St Mary’s, he said: "I like my team to play good football with a good philosophy of technique. It's important to keep the ball and make the opponent run. It can give a good structure and organisation for the team."
This is a marked change from his predecessor, Ronald Koeman, who liked his players to mix up their approach.
Ranked 11th in the overall possession stats last season (49.3%) and 11th in the number of short passes they attempted per match (355), we should probably expect longer bouts of keep-ball from Saints in 2016/17. This may ease the load on their defensive players.
When working miracles with Nice, taking them from 17th to 4th in Ligue 1 in three seasons, the 54-year-old also encouraged an energetic pressing game.
PL sprints in 2015/16
| Rank | Club | Season sprints |
| 1 | Spurs | 20,241 |
| 2 | Liverpool | 20,393 |
| 3 | AFC Bournemouth | 20,227 |
| 4 | Arsenal | 20,183 |
| 14 | Southampton | 18,363 |
PL recoveries in 2015/16
| Rank | Club | Recoveries in opposition half |
| 1 | Man Utd | 579 |
| 2 | Man City | 558 |
| 3 | Spurs | 546 |
| 4 | Chelsea | 537 |
| 8 | Southampton | 514 |
As soon as possession is relinquished, where possible, Puel prefers his forwards and midfielders to hunt ferociously in packs high up the pitch, turning the ball over in dangerous areas.
This aspect of his philosophy is another mild departure from their style of last season.
With a manager who places a higher emphasis on workrate and quick recovery of the ball, the numbers in the tables above will rise significantly.
Losing quality players this summer, such as Sadio Mane, Graziano Pelle and Victor Wanyama, will make it tough for Puel to retain the high standards they set last season, but he arrives with an excellent track record.
You will see the Saints playing with purpose and perhaps greater individual freedom this term.
