Russell Martin saw Southampton make 14 first-team signings this summer to help with his task of keeping the club in the Premier League.
Southampton have not made great strides towards achieving that target after five league matches, with the point taken against Ipswich Town on Saturday Russell Martin‘s first as a Premier League manager.
Martin was keen to keep the core of the Southampton team that got promoted together at the start of the campaign but rang the changes after three straight league defeats against Manchester United.
There were again changes last time out, as Southampton’s summer arrivals have now become more of a feature of the starting XI with Martin knowing something had to change.
The likes of Yukinari Sugawara, Adam Lallana and Mateus Fernandes have all impressed since arriving in the summer, but it has not worked out for all the new signings so far.
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Cameron Archer and Ben Brereton Diaz yet to score for Southampton in Premier League
One of the areas Martin knew needed addressing this summer was up front.
Southampton saw Che Adams leave following the end of his contract in June, whilst the club made the decision to cash in on Sekou Mara this summer.
This left the Saints with just Adam Armstrong and Ross Stewart as strikers – with the latter only just returning from injury – so the club saw fit to bring in Cameron Archer and Ben Brereton Diaz from Aston Villa and Villarreal respectively.
Both forwards played together at Sheffield United last season, with Archer scoring four goals in 29 Premier League matches and Brereton Diaz scoring six in 14 after arriving on loan in January.
Neither has scored a league goal since signing in the summer, with Archer missing a penalty against Manchester United and Brereton Diaz looking bereft of confidence.
Archer did score a brace against Cardiff City in the Carabao Cup but squandered a couple of big opportunities against Ipswich on Saturday.
Chris Sutton delivers verdict on Southampton striker signings
The positive for Archer is that he is getting chances and he was perhaps a little unfortunate to hit the post from a narrow angle after rounding the Ipswich goalkeeper in the last game.
Brereton Diaz, on the other hand, has not looked like scoring at all in the league and was recently withdrawn in the first-half for Chile on international duty due to his poor performance.
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Chris Sutton has been speaking on both players on BBC Sounds’ Monday Night Club, where he firstly said on Archer: “Cameron Archer missed the penalty, didn’t he against Manchester United? You felt that that was a huge moment in Southampton’s season.
“I know they ended up losing comfortably in the end, but the chance to take the lead…
“A striker who has gone there, really needs to prove himself at Premier League level wouldn’t have done him a lot of good.”
The former Blackburn Rovers striker then added on Brereton Diaz: “I think we all think Brereton Diaz can nick a goal, but can he nick it at the top level?”
Sutton’s question is a valid one and, given Southampton have scored just two league goals so far this season, Martin needs his strikers to start to deliver or it could be a very long season.