Southampton’s tough start to life in the Premier League continued with a 3-1 loss away at Brentford to continue Russell Martin’s search for his first points as a top flight manager.
Having lost 1-0 to both Newcastle United and Nottingham Forest in the league already this season, Southampton went to Brentford hopeful of turning things around.
Russell Martin was boosted by a positive Transfer Deadline Day in which Aaron Ramsdale, Ryan Fraser and Maxwel Cornet all arrived at Southampton on Friday.
Ramsdale was signed in time to make his Saints debut against Brentford but was powerless to prevent the Bees scoring three times as they punished Southampton mistakes when playing out from the back.
This has been a feature of Southampton’s performances already this season and Martin needs to find a way to stop his team making these costly errors so frequently.
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Danny Murphy says Southampton ‘not good enough’ to play Russell Martin way
Martin is clear on his principles and his possession-focused approach can be a divisive one.
When it works it is a sight to behold, but the insistence on playing out from the back means that when Southampton make mistakes they are often punished; particularly in the Premier League.
Brentford’s high-press made it extremely difficult for the Saints on Saturday and a brace from Bryan Mbeumo and goal from Yoane Wissa saw Thomas Frank’s side comfortable winners despite a late Yukinari Sugawara consolation strike.
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Danny Murphy was on punditry duty on Match of the Day on Saturday night, where he delivered his verdict on Southampton’s style before comparing the club to Burnley who tried to play a similar way and were relegated with a whimper last season.
Murphy said: “They are not good enough to do that consistently week in week out and stay in the division. They will have the same fate as Burnley if they carry on persisting with this every week.”
Martin must find way to minimise Southampton mistakes
Despite earning promotion via the play-offs, Southampton were not perfect when implementing Martin’s style last season.
The difference is that they were not punished as frequently and had the quality to atone for the errors and still win the game.
The Premier League is a different beast, where the best players in the world only need one chance to make you pay.
Martin will not make huge changes to the way Southampton play, but he must make tweaks to ensure the number of mistakes the Saints make is reduced.
Otherwise Murphy is right, they simply won’t stay in the division.