Southampton At Middlesbrough The Preview Friday, 22nd Sep 2023 10:27 Saints travel to the North East to take on Middlesbrough and on the face of it they are on a hiding to nothing whatever the result, if they win it is only Boro, a team rock bottom of the division and if they lose it is against Boro a team rock bottom ! Three weeks ago everything appeared to be going well for Southampton, they had started the season well despite all the transfer issues both in and out and with the transfer window closed could now really start to crack on with the job of getting promotion. But here we are three games and three defeats later and things don't look quite so rosy. However there is an old adage in football and that is good teams don't become bad ones overnight and for that matter vice versa, although Luton Town fans might disagree with that one, our former manager Nathan Jones at this time last year had enjoyed an average start to the season, from the first 7 games they had just won to give them a grand total of 9 points.
After 5 games Burnley had just 6 points, after 7 that had risen to 12, indeed after a dozen games were played Burnley it had risen to 19 points, but they had still not got their act together. What does this prove ? Well firstly the Championship with a 46 game season is more than the Premier League a marathon and not a sprint, inevitably the teams that get automatic promotion often do not start well, they build up a head of steam as the season goes on. Some will now scream at their computers that we did start well, we are now tailing off, but I would counter that in many respects and with so many ins & outs in August, we didn't really get going till September when we actually knew what our squad would be. Russell Martin set the scene before the season, he said it would be difficult early on and that it would take time to get our system right, but we would get it right.
On Tuesday defeat to Ipswich was a blow, but although we were beaten we had taken a step forward, we had stemmed the flow of goals into our own net, of course Ipswich had chances, but in the main we dealt with them. Good teams build from the back and by the end of the game a back four had emerged that could perhaps be a foundation, perhaps it won't be, but I am at least prepared to give them a chance to show it is. No team should be written off only 7 games into a 46 game season, especially one that although in 13th place, is still only 2 points off a play off spot. So the scene is set for Saints to show that they have learnt some lessons, that Russell Martin, whom I am not saying hasn't made any mistakes in his selections, can now start to move us forward. The rot set in in the North East at Sunderland, it would be highly satisfying if we started the revival up there again this time at Middlesbrough.
But if we are to do that there is a lot of hard work to do, we are a side without confidence, on Tuesday the players felt the weight of the crowd, but up at Boro they won't have that weight on their shoulders, they can play without fear of the groans at mis placed passes. But this is the time that Russell Martin needs to show not only the fans but the players themselves that he is the man to take us forward, the truth is whether we the fans like it or not is that the owners decided he is the man to take us forward, they opted for a brand of football when they did so and they now have to stay with the courage of their convictions in giving him the chance to get it right. Likewise Martin is not a man to veer from his path, unlike Nathan Jones and Ruben Selles he believes in the way he likes his teams to play and he will stick to it,and unlike the aforementioned twosome, he hs to be given a fair crack of the whip. So what does Martin need to do at the Riverside on Saturday, I think he needs to do this.
In goal Gavin Bazunu, he has his critics, but he is a good keeper who has been thrown to the wolves by his defence on numerous occasions, but he can play the ball with his feet and that is key, he is a better keeper than some would have you believe, when the defence is sorted we will see a strong keeper emerge. The full backs get some stick for their defensive abilities, but in this formation they are not full backs but wing backs, they are going to get caught up field, what the issue is, is not their pushing forward but our inability to cover them. So in the centre of defence Jan Bednarek's return will be welcome, he is not a man to storm up the field or to try and play passes that are a little above his pay grade, he will hopefully bring a little steel at the back and some hoof at times. Taylor Harwood Bellis can play football and he will benefit from being in a stable back four as he was at Burnley last season.
It is the midfield that we need to sort out, if the full backs push on we need a holding two, that on Saturday should be Ryan Charles and usually Flynn Downes, but assuming he is still out then it is Will Smallbone. They have to sit and hold and cover the centre of defence with only one of them pushing forward at any one time to support attacks. In front of them Joe Aribo is not the man, Charly Alcatraz may well be, a free role behind the strikers may see him flourish. But being away from home perhaps Stuart Armstrong may also be an option although these days he doesn't seem to be able to play 90 minutes.
That leaves us with two central strikers, Adam Armstrong and Che Adams. Alternatively we could for a more conventional 4-4-2 with Alcatraz, Sulemana or Edozie supplementing the front two. One thing we do have is plenty of options, if we go for my original formation that would leave Sulemana, Edozie, Fraser, Holgate, Stuart Armstrong, Aribo, Amo-Ameyaw & Sekou Mara on the bench, although that is top heavy with attacking players so I would expect James Bree to come in for one of the last two.
This is one of those potential pivotal moments in a season, one when we see our team put in a performance and prove the doubters wrong, yes it could also be another defeat, but if it is we lick our wounds and go again. The last thing we needed after the debacles against Sunderland & Leicester was a home game, so I think this will suit us well, yes Boro will be looking to get their first win of the season and yes it always seem to be games like this that we stick to our script and not ours, but we have nothing to fear other than the fear that we have given ourselves. Ipswich felt like a horrible defeat, but it was the situation of being three defeats in a row that made it feel a lot worse than it was, I am not trying to make out we were playing well against the Tractor Boys, but we matched them for long periods and they are a side just a point off the top.
We were fragile and they were full of confidence and at the top of their game, our job was firstly not to leak goals and secondly to score them in that order. That being the case we took small steps forward, steadied the ship and we can now start to move forward again, anyone who expected us to win well against Ipswich after the previous two games was being a little optimistic. Football managers build teams slowly but surely and it might not seem like it but on Tuesday we did move forward, not in terms of points but in terms of starting to regain confidence and put two bad defeats behind us, now we have to move forward again at Middlesbrough. Photo: Action Images Please report offensive, libellous or inappropriate posts by using the links provided.
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