It’s very early in the season but already there are signs that Russell Martin and Southampton are on the path to relegation. After three losses in three Premier League matches, five goals conceded and just one scored in added-time, the writing has been pre-daubed across St Mary’s.
None of this is helped by three of those goals stemming from defensive errors playing out from the back and another from a long throw.
As was the case with Vincent Kompany’s Burnley side last season, the issue is one of execution rather than idealism. Almost every goal Southampton have conceded this season was avoidable – the issue is learning how to avoid them.
Comparisons between Martin and Kompany are obvious but lazy, labelling two coaches who prefer possession-based play a la Pep Guardiola either naive or arrogant.
Now Bayern Munich boss, Kompany was accused of sticking to his principles in an act of naked self-advertisement while en route to 19th in the Premier League. One post under his farewell statement from Turf Moor called his time there a “failed experiment/ vanity project”. Another criticised his “naivety and stubbornness”.
Yet this just isn’t based in reality. Why would repeatedly losing matches, especially in such a tepid fashion as Burnley did, reflect well on him?
This wasn’t so much selfishness as a well-intentioned if occasionally misplaced belief that the most overwhelmingly successful tactical model in modern football may also work in Lancashire. Kompany continued playing his way for the same reason he started doing so – because he believes it’s the best way to win.
To give up on possession football would be to give up on what makes Martin good at his job and certainly doom himself to unemployment and Southampton to relegation. As Martin said to The Guardian, “Winning ugly every now and then is fine, but you don’t get away with it for long”.
Above Martin’s desk there’s a Guardiola quote which reads: “When we win, the game model seems good and is not questioned. But bear in mind, we won’t always win. Then doubts will come.
“That is the moment when we will have to trust the model more than ever because the temptation to move away from it will be very strong.”
Yet as Rodri recently stressed in his Players’ Tribune article, Guardiola “is always evolving before the game around him can evolve”.
Martin can learn from this too – the benefit of intelligent adaptation, of protecting weaknesses and accentuating strengths within a possession-dominated structure. There is clearly a need for tactical alterations at Southampton, but this doesn’t mean switching his attacking philosophy for a 4-4-2.
One obvious change would be a return to the 4-3-3 Martin largely utilised during his side’s 25-game unbeaten run last season, only switching to the 3-5-2 from this season for the play-offs. That shift was successful, but sticking with it hasn’t been.
And it’s worth mentioning that Southampton’s struggles are not solely problems of Martin’s making, but systemic issues triggered by the gulf between the Premier League and the Championship. All three promoted sides were relegated last season and bookies predict the same will happen in 2024-25. Even after a £100m summer outlay, the odds are not in his favour.
But despite these incomings, Southampton are not looking at a squad overhaul to the extent Kompany negotiated at Burnley last summer – only three starters from the 3-1 defeat to Brentford were new.
And of those, Aaron Ramsdale is an instant upgrade on Alex McCarthy and the injured Gavin Bazunu, Yukinari Sugawara scored and appears a shrewd wing-back addition while Ben Brereton Diaz is a talented attacker.
While the scepticism over signing Cameron Archer and Brereton Diaz – the forward line which contributed to a league-low 35 goals for Sheffield United last season – is understandable, they are both capable of more than they have demonstrated in the Premier League so far.
Adam Lallana, Ryan Fraser and Charlie Taylor may not move the needle in terms of performance but they will provide vital experience to an inexperienced squad and relative novice head coach.
Unlike Kompany’s Burnley, Martin’s Southampton have dominated possession in every Premier League match they’ve played, at least demonstrating the fundamentals are in place. They had six shots on target against Brentford and three big chances against 10-man Newcastle, a match they were unlucky to lose and would have had massive mood-boosting impact.
And as the Scot said on Thursday, slow starts have been a hallmark of his teams, at MK Dons and Swansea before Southampton.
“In five years or five seasons as a manager, it’s been that way every single season,” he said.
“It takes a bit of time. By the time they get into gear and into flow, they always get better as the season goes on. We have a lot of players who have joined that we have to mix.”
That mixing will have to start soon, with Manchester United visiting St Mary’s on Saturday. Given Erik ten Hag’s well-documented failings this season, Martin has to view this as an opportunity to rebuild his and his side’s image and start their season in earnest.
Southampton may well still get relegated, but it won’t be because Martin made his team pass out from the back. It’s time to adapt, not give in.
from Football - inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/Uwxuiqa
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