On today's evidence right midfield and in particular central midfield are areas of concern. Surman did not sparkle in central midfield and debutant Lallana offered little on the right in a nervous debut for the 18 year old. Even when Wright came on to partner the tough tackling Viafara, Saints still struggled to get their passing game going.
The problem is that Wright is not the playmaker Saints need alongside Viafara and Saints should not be playing with two holding midfielders at home. This problem is particularly exacerbated when the mercurial talents of Belmadi are missing. In theory the as yet off the pace Sarmiento was brought in to do that job and of course Licka is still unfit.
Saints would benefit from an experienced playmaker, such as Idiakez to run the game by keeping possession and threading passes through to the frontmen. Indeed it is a great shame that Darren Potter has turned up on loan at Wolves as Saints could have greatly benefited from his own brand of midfield 'wizardry'.
As it is, Saints have only a few days until the transfer window closes at the end of the month to add some much needed bit and guile to our misfiring midfield, as on today's form this was no league winning midfield.