Southampton manager Russell Martin criticised his side’s inability to defend effectively after the Saints’ Championship promotion hopes effectively ended with a 5-0 loss at Leicester City.
The South Coast side had slim hopes of achieving automatic promotion back to the Premier League at the first time of asking as they headed to the King Power on Tuesday evening. However, a 5-0 defeat leaves the Saints six points off the automatic promotion places, with an inferior goal difference to second-placed Ipswich Town.
Southampton conceded after just 25 minutes, as Abdul Fatawu curled under Alex McCarthy. Generally, the Saints remained in the contest and dominated possession, with 66.2%, but conceded four goals in the final 28 minutes.
The visitors struggled to generate quality chances and ended the game with no shots on target, compared to Leicester’s six, as reported by Whoscored. However, Southampton’s defending at the opposite end left Martin particularly frustrated.
In his post-match comments, as reported by the Southampton Daily Echo, Martin didn’t hold back in a brutally honest assessment of his team’s performance. The 38-year-old said he was generally pleased with his side’s approach for the opening 60 minutes, as he felt they were still in the contest.
But Martin slammed the Saints defending in the closing half an hour, which he believes is a long-term issue that led to the eventual capitulation against Leicester.
“We’re not ruthless enough in their final third. When we get there, we got there so many times, played through the press, but nowhere near ruthless enough. We have to score a perfect goal, which is crazy because we scored the most goals in the league before tonight.
“But then we have a fundamental problem at the back when we go 2-0 down. I did not like what I saw from our team one bit at 2-0 down.
“Not one bit. Self-preservation, don’t want to add value to your teammates, look around, body language, throw your arms up in the air.”
Writer’s View
Martin went all in on his criticism of his player’s performance at Leicester, highlighting several areas where Southampton under-performed. However, his verdict on the Saints’ openness at the back was particularly relevant, considering the South Coast outfit have conceded the joint most goals in the top half of the Championship this season (61).
This defensive frailty ultimately cost Southampton their late chance at breaking into the Championship’s top two. Prior to the Leicester defeat, warning signs were clear in the 2-1 loss at Cardiff, where Southampton allowed eight shots on goal and conceded twice (recorded by Whoscored) as the Saints gave up their 1-0 lead – an area Martin will look to address with the play-offs looming.
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