A blunt assessment.
Southampton’s new manager Nathan Jones has spoken honestly about Gavin Bazunu’s form, after yet another disappointing game in goal.
Southampton lost 3-1 at home to Brighton in Jones’ first Premier League game in charge at St. Mary’s, and it was arguably Bazunu’s worst performance since making it to the Premier League.
Bazunu definitely should have done better for the first goal of the game, as Adam Lallana’s weak effort somehow found its way to the back of the net.
The other two goals were far from goalkeeping errors, but the Ireland international may look back on them and feel like he could have done better to stop at least one of them.
Speaking after the game, Jones refused to criticise Bazunu (who is still just 20 years of age), and instead insisted that he is “a fantastic prospect”.
Nathan Jones on Gavin Bazunu’s form
He said: “Gav’s a fantastic prospect, he’s had one or two difficult moments recently but he’s a fantastic keeper. I’m not going to come here and chastise him.”
In a related topic, Jones did confirm that Bazunu’s competition Alex McCarthy did miss the game against Brighton through injury.
He said: “Alex rolled his ankle the other day in training and this means he is unavailable, so there are not the choices I’d like. But I’m not going to come in and chastise Gav, he made a really good save (versus Brighton) and one or two good saves at Liverpool.
“Gav’s a fantastic keeper, it’s just putting everything together for him.”
At this point, it wouldn’t come as a surprise to see Bazunu face a spell on the bench, but it is important to remember that he has now made over 100 appearances at the age of 20, and the career he has ahead of him is still an excellent one.
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