Russell Martin will be hoping to see a vast improvement from his Southampton side after the international break as the club seek their first points of the new Premier League season.
Russell Martin‘s first taste of the Premier League as a manager has so far yielded three defeats from three, with Southampton conceding five and scoring just once in that time.
1-0 losses to Newcastle United and Nottingham Forest were followed by a 3-1 defeat away at Brentford last time out in what was a really concerning display.
Martin is a manager who wants his side to build through the thirds, with his philosophy centred around possession and control.
However, Southampton have so far been unable to execute this in the Premier League and have already been punished on multiple occasions when making mistakes playing out from the back.
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Francis Benali tells Russell Martin Southampton must be more ‘pragmatic’
Martin is a principled manager who has insisted on multiple occasions that he is willing to live and die by his style of play.
The Saints boss did show in the play-off triumph last season that he is willing to make tweaks and compromises if necessary, though.
That is exactly what Southampton legend Francis Benali believes is required to improve the club’s fortunes, as he explained in his Daily Echo column: “Of the five goals Southampton have conceded this season, four have come from mistakes – but I think we all expected these errors to come.
“They come with the territory of the way we play and we know what the Premier League is like. More often than not errors are punished.
“I think the players, and Russell himself, are finding their feet in the Premier League. It is frustrating when you undo your hard work with mistakes, but that is part of football.”
Benali went on to add: “We are not going to throw the philosophy out the window – doing that after three games would be wrong, and Russell has stated he will not do that.
“We do, however, need to be a bit more pragmatic. We need to eliminate the scenarios where we could make a mistake.
“That comes down to decision-making. There is a lot of talk about bravery, but there is no point in being brave if you are making the wrong decision.”
Southampton fans will hope Martin has used international break to put things right
As Benali has said, Martin will not overhaul the playing style that has got him to the Premier League in just five years as a manager.
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However, Benali and the Southampton faithful will be hoping that Martin is spending the international break hard at work with his players to find a solution to their error-ridden start to the season.
Whether this sees a tweak to the style that sees the Saints take less risks as they did in the play-offs last season or is merely looking to perfect what they have been attempting to do so far will be interesting to see.
A change of shape and personnel are both very possible in the first game back against Manchester United on Saturday, with Martin surely considering a return to the 4-3-3 formation which he favoured for much of the last campaign.
With a crucial run of games coming up that include fixtures against Ipswich Town, Leicester City and Everton, Southampton need to quickly find a way to pick up points in the Premier League.