Adam Blackmore tells Russell Martin how to fix Southampton defence after Brentford loss
Southampton has dropped its first three Premier League games of the season, and Russell Martin is having trouble finding the winning formula at the highest level.
The most recent of those losses occurred on Saturday as Southampton fell to Brentford 3-1 at the Gtech Community Stadium, moving them up to 19th in the Premier League heading into the first international break of the new season.
Russell Martin’s team scored their first league goal of the season, which was the only true bright spot of the match; nonetheless, Yukinari Sugawara’s goal in the 95th minute came much too late to change the outcome.
Defensive errors have been a defining characteristic of Southampton’s season thus far; Martin has spent the most of the team’s time as a back three.
1-0 defeats against Newcastle United and Nottingham Forest preceded the 3-1 defeat at Brentford and the most frustrating thing for Martin is that the goals conceded have been largely of Southampton’s own doing.
Adam Blackmore tells Russell Martin change he must make to Southampton defence
Martin, who had mostly used a 4-3-3 in the Championship the previous season, surprised everyone by switching to a 3-5-2 right before the play-offs.
The two lineups helped Southampton win promotion through the play-offs, and the manager of the Saints has decided to start with a 3-5-2 formation for each of the team’s three Premier League games this year.
Taylor Harwood-Bellis, Jan Bednarek, and club captain Jack Stephens have been selected as the starting three at centre back as a result.
Nevertheless, journalist and BBC Solent commentator Adam Blackmore has outlined his suggestions for strengthening the Saints’ defence after three straight losses.
“For me, Taylor Harwood-Bellis – you paid £20 million for the England under-21 captain – he put a couple of threaded balls through in the first-half, he’s got that in his locker, he had a couple of bad moments, yes, would he have been the one you sacrificed to go to a back four?” Blackmore questioned former Saint Jo Tessem on the BBC Sounds program Going Home with Adam and Jo.
In response, Blackmore stated, “I would have taken Jack Stephens off.” Bednarek and Harwood-Bellis were the duo that played together a lot in the Championship the previous season when the Saints were at their finest, not because I don’t like Jack Stephens.
Thus, I would place Harwood-Bellis on the right and Bednarek on the left.
Martin must select his preferred Southampton defensive duo.
From Southampton’s opening three league games, it has been quite clear that they have had difficulty using the 3-5-2 formation.
Days prior to the Brentford loss, Southampton showed far more natural form as they set up in a 4-3-3 Carabao Cup victory over Cardiff City, despite playing with a completely different starting lineup against inferior opponents.
Martin now has to make a crucial choice regarding his ideal centre defence duo.
The team’s captain, Stephens, was someone Martin was eager to include in the starting lineup after he missed a significant amount of play in the first part of the previous campaign.
Even though Harwood-Bellis and Bednarek established a strong combination during a stretch in which Southampton went 25 games without a loss, the centre back was forced to fill a variety of duties as his boss attempted to force him into the squad.
Although all three of the centre backs have had difficulties thus far this season, it seems like Martin needs to settle on a starting lineup and stick with it if he wants his team to improve defensively.
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