Former Southampton captain addresses key area which manager Russell Martin should improve

The foundation for Southampton's successful promotion from the Championship was built on manager Russell Martin's possession based style of football. Martin would implement a tactical setup that included the defenders starting the build up play to assist the midfielder and the wingers to create good goalscoring opportunities. While this approach worked wonders in the Championship, it has resulted in the Saints conceding fifteen goals from the first seven Premier League matches.

Unlike Championship teams, Premier League sides are successfully implementing high-pressing tactics to win the ball possession in Southampton's half and then score a lot of goals. Moreover, top quality sides such as Manchester United, Arsenal and Newcastle United are good at marking forwards and often display impressive work ethic while defending, which has resulted in Southampton's goalscoring struggles while going forward. These factors have led Martin to constantly make changes in the starting lineup, and give chances to a lot of players in an attempt to find a great balance between the attack and defence.

Former Southampton captain addresses key area which manager Russell Martin should improve

However, former Southampton captain Jason Dodd isn't impressed by changing line-ups constantly, and believes it to be another reason for Southampton's inconsistent Premier League performances. The former Saints left-back played 16 seasons at the St. Mary's Stadium and with his wealth of Premier League experience, expressed his opining about Martin's lineup changes, saying,

"The worrying thing is from my point of view, I’m still not so sure the manager really knows what his best XI is.

In the Premier League you can’t be gifting goals to the opposition, because they’re that clinical and we’re under pressure again. It does worry me."

- Jason Dodd

While Dodd highlighted the importance of finding a perfect lineup balance in the beginning of the season, there have been a lot of squad changes in the summer transfer window, thus, it's taking longer for Martin to pick up a best starting lineup. Several positions such as left-wing and central midfield still needs to be addressed, and Martin should evaluate the best squad options for these two key areas. Also, players such as Cameron Archer, Tyler Dibling and Taylor Harwood-Bellis have been consistent performers in the recent matches and Southampton will again rely on them to spark more creativity in the attack and have more defensive solidity throughout the season.

Meanwhile, it remains to be seen whether some Southampton stars can find a great form in the international matches to become regular mainstays in Russell Martin's side.