Russell Martin made a statement with his Southampton starting line-up against Manchester United as he left out a number of the players who played a big part in promotion last season.
Taylor Harwood-Bellis, Joe Aribo, Will Smallbone and Adam Armstrong all came out of the side to be replaced by Lesley Ugochukwu, Mateus Fernandes, Tyler Dibling and Cameron Archer.
Russell Martin also changed the formation from the 3-5-2 Southampton have started each league game so far this season to the 4-3-3 he largely favoured last campaign.
Ultimately, this was unsuccessful despite a bright start as Archer’s penalty miss on 33 minutes undid Southampton’s good work before they found themselves behind two minutes later to a Matthijs De Ligt goal.
This was followed by a Marcus Rashford strike minutes later, before a 96th-minute Alejandro Garnacho goal and Jack Stephens red card meant Southampton finished the day 3-0 losers and without their captain for the next three games.
- READ MORE: Southampton boss Russell Martin shares what ‘annoyed’ him most about Jack Stephens red card
Yukinari Sugawara praises Southampton youngster Tyler Dibling
Despite the defeat meaning Southampton are still without a Premier League point this season there were still positives to take from Saturday’s game.
Martin’s change of shape worked well in the first-half and the Saints looked far more threatening than they have so far this season up until Archer’s penalty miss turned the tide of the game.
However, the main cause for optimism was the performance of 18-year-old Dibling on his first Premier League start as he looked at home at the top level and won the penalty with a neat turn of pace to beat Diogo Dalot before being brought down.
Yukinari Sugawara was again bright too and shared the right side with Dibling before speaking on the youngster post-match.
As reported by journalist George Rees-Julian on X, when asked about Dibling’s growth this season Sugawara responded: “I can’t believe he is 18.
“He’s going to be one of the best players in the Premier League. He still has some things to work on. I really enjoy playing with him.”
Russell Martin must keep Dibling in Southampton side
Dalot is a very experienced player for both Manchester United and Portugal and yet Dibling caused him all sorts of problems in the first-half on Saturday.
The youngster’s influence wained as the game went on but a lot of this was due to the complete drop-off in performance levels of Southampton collectively after Archer’s penalty miss.
Martin has been cautious with Dibling so far given his age, but the 18-year-old’s performance against United showed he is ready to make an impact for Southampton in the top flight.
Not only that, but such was Dibling’s display that he actually looks as though he could be the different-maker in a struggling Saints side.