Southampton cannot afford to rely on one player if they are to stay in the Premier League this season, but Paul Scholes fears this will be the case for Russell Martin’s side.
Southampton achieved an instant return to the Premier League by beating Leeds United in the Championship play-off final having finished fourth in the regular season.
The jump from the second to the top tier is huge in England – especially for a team that did not finish in the automatic promotion spots – so Russell Martin has his work cut out in his efforts to avoid relegation this season.
Eight first-team signings have been made to help with that, with Taylor Harwood-Bellis and Flynn Downes both making last season’s loan deals permanent and Ben Brereton Diaz joining the attack.
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However, Paul Scholes fears this is not enough to prevent them being overly reliant on last season’s top scorer.
Paul Scholes thinks Southampton will be too reliant on Adam Armstrong for Premier League goals
Adam Armstrong scored 24 goals last season, including the strike that fired the Saints back to the Premier League at Wembley.
To add to this, the 27-year-old also provided 13 assists for his team-mates in what was a stellar individual campaign.
However, history suggests Armstrong will struggle to replicate his goalscoring exploits in the Premier League given he scored just four top flight goals in two seasons before Southampton were relegated.
This is a cause for concern according to Scholes, who explained on The Overlap’s Fan Debate: “The big worry I have about Southampton is the goals they’re going to score. You mention Adam Armstrong, I always think the teams that come up, if they can score goals, it gives you a real chance.
“That’s why I’ve got half a fancy for Ipswich, because I really think they’ll score goals. They play brilliant attacking football, they throw balls into the box.
“I think you’re [Southampton] going to have to rely on Adam Armstrong.”
Can Armstrong prove he is capable of scoring Premier League goals for Southampton?
There are two key differences between the Armstrong that struggled in the top flight previously and the current version of the striker that should give Saints fans hope he can enjoy more success this time around.
The first is that Armstrong now has the complete trust of his manager, with Martin backing the striker and reaping the rewards last season.
This was not the case after his £15 million arrival from Blackburn Rovers in 2021, with no manager giving Armstrong a prolonged run in the team prior to Martin’s arrival.
The other reason is that Armstrong thrived predominantly in a wide position last season, where he was allowed to drift infield to pick up space and ghost into the box.
This saw the former Newcastle United man flourish with less pressure on him to be the focal point of the attack actually resulting in a far better goal return.
Southampton fans will still want additions that ease the burden on Armstrong this season, but will maintain hope the striker can sustain his success in front of goal.