Jamie Carragher explains Southampton's struggles in the Premier League

In the third match against Brentford in an away fixture, the home side scored twice in the 3-1 win due to Southampton's defensive mistakes. On both the first two goals, the Saints attempted to play out from the back and created a chance going forward with the build up play, however, made two misplaced passes which resulted in two goals conceded and an another defeat. Brentford started the match with their high-pressing tactical setup and their front three often tried winning possession near the box which proved to be successful as they took the three points from the match.

On the third goal, the Saints defence didn't mark Brentford forward Wissa, who found the back of the net as well. Therefore, manager Russell Martin's tactics of playing out from the back isn't implemented well by Southampton. Now, former Liverpool defender and Premier League analyst, Jamie Carragher has explained Southampton's tactics, saying,

Jamie Carragher explains Southampton's struggles in the Premier League

"My frustration with this is, and I've seen it a little bit at Southampton at the start of this season, once you are out you need to get it forward.

What a lot of teams do now is they go man for man. It's a great opportunity for you to score if a team is playing out. If you win it there, you've got a great chance of scoring."

- Jamie Carragher

Now, if Southampton want to continue implementing these tactics, the forwards should also track back while the team is defending. Currently, the defence doesn't have a great ball playing centre back, thus, they struggle to quickly advance the ball forward while also doing their defensive tasks. This season, teams are using the man marking tactics against Southampton where their forwards and midfielders try to win the ball possession in the Saints half and try to create huge chances.

Therefore, manager Russell Martin needs to make some improvements to his tactical setup in order to start taking points this season. After the first three matchdays, Southampton are nineteenth in the Premier League above bottom placed Everton only on goal difference. In the next match, Southampton will face Manchester United in a massive home fixture where the Saints need to take some points to get a good momentum in order to avoid relegation this season.