Southampton manager, Ruben Selles has attempted to justify his rejection of January signings such as Paul Onuachu as “we thought we would be more dynamic” with the forwards chosen.
Nigerian international Onuachu – who cost the club £18m to sign from Genk with 16 league goals to his name this season – was left out of the squad for the 1-0 defeat to AFC Bournemouth.
Those close to the 28 year old are understandably furious at his lack of involvement, with Onuachu playing just 328 league minutes and not starting since February.
Selles said: “We had Che Adams and Sekou Mara. We thought because Che Adams is as good as any striker in the air, also Sekou.
“I don’t think there’s a difference between them and Paul Onuachu. We thought we’d be more dynamic, we can attack with the spaces better in the box. So, it was a tactical decision.”
Quizzed on whether the board have simply signed bad players in the January window, Selles told the Daily Echo: “I will not evaluate the squad, I have a big squad with 30 or 31 players in the squad and we always talk about the players who are not there.
“If today, we start with other players we will have conversations about the players who are out. A lot of players are out of the squad, it is not for me to evaluate the quality of it, I just have to work with the big squad.
“We have this conversation every week because there are a lot of options. Today we started with Arma because he is training well and giving us consistency in some positions. We can defend any decision with any parameters but the reality is we will always talk about the players not in the squad.”
Credit: thenationonlineng.net
