Why Southampton should move towards a goal scoring approach

Last season, Southampton were playing in the Championship and they used to take several wins in the league stage with their passing and possession based tactical approach. In this tactical setup, the Saints relied on their defenders to start the build up play from the defence and make several key passes in the opponent's half to find more space and options in the midfield to create a goal scoring chance. This approach was successful as Southampton gained promotion to the Premier League by winning the Championship playoffs. 

Now, they are in the Premier League and this same tactical setup isn't working well. In the first three matches, Southampton have conceded five goals and most of them have come from defensive mistakes and misplaced passes in their own half. Coming up against quality Premier League forwards, the centre backs have to defend well and simultaneously think about making a balanced pass in the midfield as well. 

Why Southampton should move towards a goal scoring approach

First of all, Southampton don't have a good ball playing centre back in their squad which has resulted in giving away possession several times near the edge of the box. Also, the midfield also needs to help the team while defending, in order to keep more clean sheets and create more chances by winning the ball quickly. After facing three defeats, manager Russell Martin should try implementing a different tactical setup which focuses more on creating goal scoring chances rather than having more possession in the match. 

Last season, Vincent Kompany's Burnley also played with a possession based approach throughout the season despite not having quality playmakers in their squad. As a result, they were relegated from the Premier League and are playing in the Championship trying to secure promotion. On the other hand, Brentford aren't good at having more ball possession, however, their build up play inside the final third is impressive which has helped them score a lot of goals in the Premier League. 

Hence, Southampton need to focus more on creating big chances for their attack, which will help them stay in the Premier League. Now, it remains to be seen if manager Russell Martin makes some changes to the tactics and the lineup to improve Southampton's performance this season.