Southampton are not making it easy for themselves

Many thought that Liverpool’s trip to a Southampton side rooted to the bottom of the Premier League table would’ve ended in a cricket score on Sunday. The Reds, current leaders of England’s top division and prior to this weekend five points clear at the summit ahead of Manchester City, have been emphatic this term under summer signing Arne Slot. They have tasted defeat just once this season in all competitions – a shock 1-0 loss at home to Nottingham Forest back in mid-September – and sit proudly ahead of the rest in both the league and Europe. 

Heading into Sunday’s encounter on the south coast, Liverpool had won four games on the spin. Southampton, by stark contrast, have won just one Premier League game all season. So after Dominic Szoboszlai put the visitors ahead on the half hour mark, the only real surprise from many was: what had taken them so long? The floodgates were predicted to open and a riot anticipated to occur at St Mary’s. What actually unfolded was anything but. 

Russell Martin’s men fought back and responded with two quick goals either side of the interval, and looked as though they might cause an upset to the league leaders whilst earning a win that at this point in time must feel harder to obtain than a droplet of unicorn blood. History has a way of repeating itself though, especially in the world of elite level football. More so when lessons continually go unlearned. 

Southampton have been guilty of making the same mistakes over and over again during the first third of this frenetic campaign and Russell Martin is still a relatively inexperienced manager, his teeth still being cut on the Premier League’s jagged edges. 

Adjustment was always going to be intensely difficult for a team who at times blew the Championship away last season with their dynamic style of football, but now find themselves as small fishes in a vast ocean rather than great white sharks in a much smaller pond, so time had to be afforded to them to get things right. With 12 games down and just four points obtained, though, Southampton’s uphill battle is just growing steeper by the week and salvation already seems not only improbable but practically impossible. 

Sunday’s defeat is not a season-defining result for Southampton. It is a game they were never expected to win and the fact that they felt Liverpool’s collar is merely a bonus. If nothing else, it has helped minorly improve their goal difference – although that is still an eye sore. The manner in which they keep unfolding is of most concern, with Martin’s staunch belief in playing out from defence backfiring more often than it is succeeding. 

There is no problem in a manager having a set belief system in the way his team should operate, especially if it is easy on the eye and reminiscent of how most of us believe the game should be played. But when does one mistake become one too many? It is almost impossible to gauge where this Southampton team is concerned as the same problems seem to be arising every time they step foot on the pitch.

Saints have committed at least three more errors leading to opposition goals (8) than any other team in the Premier League this season. They also lead by a wide margin in errors resulting in opposition shots (20), with no other team surpassing 11.

They are already nearing the highest totals for the entire 2023-24 Premier League season in both categories: errors leading to goals (Brentford, 10) and errors leading to shots (Chelsea and Tottenham, 24), source: theanalyst.com. Additionally, many of Southampton’s mistakes are occurring dangerously close to their own goal, often leading to them conceding. 

Source: theanalyst.com

Szoboszlai’s opener was a disasterclass from a Southampton perspective. A catalogue of errors – which would not have been out of place on a Sunday morning at Hackney Marshes – saw goalkeeper Alex McCarthy feed Mateus Fernandes to the lions by rolling it out to the Portuguese midfielder, despite him being pressed by several ravenous red shirts. Fernandes then, presumably panicked by the whole situation and devoid of any ideas on how to escape it, failed to control the ball before managing to just about execute a wayward pass towards his own goal, where Flynn Downes’ attempted clearance transformed itself into an inch-perfect assist for Liverpool’s Hungarian playmaker to curl a beautiful effort into the corner of the net. 

These errors born out of hopeful patterns of play are not necessarily the players fault, at least not fully. They have a way of playing and when it is executed well it looks brilliant – we saw the same happen with Vincent Kompany’s Burnley last season. When things go wrong, though, they do so catastrophically. 

In the Championship, teams can get away with an occasional risky pass as they attempt to slalom their way from back to front in no more than six passes, and it is more of a surprise if the opposing team capitalises and scores. In the Premier League, it is deemed a shock if a player misses a chance he has been served up on a platter – especially when the big boys are in action. It is a ruthless and unforgiving league. That is what also makes it the best in the world. 

Martin has done a brilliant job at Southampton, earning promotion from the Championship during his first full season in charge of the club last term. He is a talented young manager with a clear identity, but with just four points from 12 games, a return to the second tier at this stage feels like it is a foregone conclusion. At times, they are their own worst enemy and perhaps a change of tact is required before things become really perilous.

Five points is an achievable gap to close in a relegation battle. Any greater, you can’t help but feel Southampton’s card is marked.