Southampton made it two wins from two in pre-season as they beat Bordeaux 3-2 in Spain on Wednesday morning.
Having seen his Southampton side beat Eastleigh 7-1 on Friday, Russell Martin watched on as the Saints maintained their 100% record this summer with a win over French club Bordeaux.
Southampton have been stepping up their preparations for the Premier League with the week-long training camp in Spain that will also see them face Ligue 1 side Montpellier on Saturday.
The ten outfield players that started the game were given 60 minutes, with the players that played the last half-an-hour expected to get an hour on Saturday.
- READ MORE: Why Armel Bella-Kotchap and Ross Stewart are missing from Southampton’s pre-season training camp
The goals were scored by academy duo Tyler Dibling and Sam Amo-Ameyaw, as well as Sekou Mara.
Here’s three things we learned from Southampton’s second showing of pre-season.
Southampton must keep Tyler Dibling and Sam Amo-Ameyaw this season
Following an impressive display from 18-year-old duo Dibling and Amo-Ameyaw against Eastleigh – the former coming into the side late to replace Adam Lallana – both were handed starts against Bordeaux.
- READ MORE: Southampton star Adam Lallana issues fitness update after missing pre-season clash v Eastleigh
After their performances on Friday, Martin claimed whether they would stay around the first-team next season or be sent on loan is in their hands and both really helped their chances against Bordeaux on Wednesday.
Dibling is an attacking midfielder who loves to drive with the ball and he did this with great success throughout his 60 minutes.
Early in the game the youngster saw a header saved before firing a deflected strike past the Bordeaux ‘keeper to put the Saints 1-0 up.
It was his fellow 18-year-old that put Southampton back in front after Bordeaux had equalised, with Amo-Ameyaw working himself some space on the edge of the box before curling into the far corner with a lovely finish.
The more both players play this summer, the more it looks like Martin must have them involved with the first-team this season.
Mateusz Lis not ready to be Southampton number one
With Gavin Bazunu set to miss a large chunk of the new season with an Achilles injury and Alex McCarthy not at the same level in terms of distribution, there has been a clamour from the Southampton fanbase for Mateusz Lis to be given a chance.
Lis signed for the club in 2022 but is yet to make a competitive appearance.
However, the 27-year-old goalkeeper enjoyed an impressive season on loan helping Southampton’s sister-club Goztepe secure promotion whilst keeping 20 clean sheets in the league.
After 45 minutes against Eastleigh, Lis was given 90 minutes to stake his claim against Bordeaux but looked shaky after a decent start.
The Polish ‘keeper showed neat footwork on a couple of occasions early on as he calmly played his way out despite being under pressure.
However, he rushed out on 40 minutes to try and beat an onrushing Bordeaux forward to the ball far from his goal and missed, leaving an open net which was fortunately not found.
Late on in the game he had a couple of moments where he kept the ball out of the net but looked unconventional in doing so, with one ball slipping thorough his grasp but luckily going over the bar.
This was a real opportunity for Lis to show Martin he could be his first-choice goalkeeper and it is one you would have to say he did not take.
- READ MORE: Russell Martin says Southampton decision will be ‘dictated’ by one thing in summer transfer hint
Russell Martin keen for Southampton full-backs to invert this season
Martin had his work cut out last pre-season as he attempted to overhaul the playing style to his possession-dominant approach.
This came with some teething problems and Southampton struggled in the early weeks of the season to get the balance right between the work they did on the ball and how they reacted when it was lost.
This saw Martin give up on the tactic of inverting his full-backs into central midfield, which coincided with a significant upturn in form that saw the Saints go on a recored-breaking 25-game unbeaten run.
However, from the showing against Bordeaux it looks as though this is a tactic Martin is keen to re-visit this summer, with Ryan Manning in particular constantly stepping into a central midfield position.
It worked well against the third tier French opposition – who are set to be relegated despite a mid-table Ligue 2 finish due to financial issues – but fans will be concerned about how it translates to the Premier League.