“This is not about one name”- Ruben Selles on starting Paul Onuachu in Southampton’s last games

Paul Onuachu led the Jupiler Pro League with 16 goals while playing for KRC Genk

Southampton manager, Ruben Selles, has fired back on starting Nigerian International, Paul Onuachu, in Saint’s last English Premier League games.

Onuachu joined Southampton in the January transfer window after leaving KRC Genk. However, he has only appeared as a starter in three matches overall.

The Super Eagles forward, who had a strong track record of scoring goals for Genk, has drawn criticism from the supporters for not getting the start. Selles, though, has attacked his detractors, claiming that his strategies have no regard for what others think.

One of the reasons the team recruited him was, so he could lead the side back to winning ways. The Nigerian star was on fire in Belgium before his 18 million euro transfer to England, netting 16 goals in 19 Jupiler Pro League outings.

However, according to Fbref, the former Midtjylland player has only started three of his eight games for the Hampshire-based club. The supporters believe that if he plays more for the squad, he can use his goal-scoring skills to help the side escape relegation.

Selles, though, did not seem to be sold on the idea of starting the Nigerian at Southampton’s pre-game press conference before the match against Arsenal, arguing that the Premier League cannot be compared to the Nigerian’s playing environment since it was a different one.

“I don’t make my line-up or tactics to do with what anyone else thinks. We need to be competitive in the game until we can score the goal. It is not about one number nine. I understand that some players have scored goals in different environments, but this is a different challenge for all of us and all of them. So the solution is not to put one, two or three strikers [on the pitch], it’s about putting people in situations. This is not about one name.” he said, as quoted by Hampshirelive.

Southampton, who are four points from safety and is at the bottom end of the Premier League rankings, would have more important things to worry about when they travelled to play Arsenal.