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4 hours ago
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Ivan Juric’s appointment was supposed to make Southampton a more solid team. His predecessor, Russell Martin, implemented a possession-based style of football that worked wonders as the club made an immediate return to the Premier League last season.
However, his approach did not fare so well in the top flight. Martin was relieved of his duties last month following a 5-0 home defeat by Tottenham. Southampton conceded in the opening minute and things only got worse. They were bottom of the table with just five points from 16 games; it’s now six from 21.
A 0-0 draw at Fulham followed under the caretaker Simon Rusk and, while Saints have looked a bit tighter at the back, Juric has overseen four successive league defeats. Southampton showed real endeavour at Old Trafford on Thursday night, holding a 1-0 lead until the 82nd minute, but their eventual 3-1 defeat to Manchester United leaves them rooted to the foot of the table, 10 points off safety.
When the club appointed Juric just before Christmas, they said he would provide “the grit and determination needed to improve results”. Making Southampton a tougher team to break down is proving a difficult task. They performed admirably at Old Trafford, and only lost matches to West Ham and Crystal Palace by a single goal, but their 5-0 humbling by Brentford suggests the team are yet to turn a corner.
In truth, it’s been a miserable top-flight return for Saints. They have lost more league games (17) than they have scored goals (13). Their goal difference of -34 is by far the worst in the division. They have only won once in the league – at home to Everton in November. And they have conceded 47 goals. The playoff triumph over Leeds last May feels a very, very long time ago.
Worryingly, they are making things easy for opponents. The players are so used to Martin’s style of play that they are struggling to eradicate mistakes and lose the soft underbelly that has dogged them all season. You would think a team at the bottom of the league would be throwing themselves into challenges, but their return of 16.5 tackles per game is just the 16th best in the league. They only rank ninth highest for interceptions and ninth highest for clearances. There is an inability to be in the right place at the right time to alleviate pressure on the goal. Unsurprisingly, they are conceding more shots per game (18.6) than any other side in the league.
Even when they do put in a shift, as at Old Trafford, they are still liable to give away a goal. Taylor Harwood-Bellis’s mistake for Diallo’s hat-trick goal was the 16th error Saints have committed leading to an opposition goal, more than any other team this season. Basic errors combined with Juric’s struggles to implement his ideas mean things could get worse before they get better.
The fixture list is not pleasant reading for Southampton. They travel to high-flying Nottingham Forest on Sunday before welcoming in-form Newcastle to St Mary’s next weekend. Lose both games and there will be real concerns that Saints could replace Derby County as the Premier League’s worst-ever side. The Rams famously collected just 11 points in the 2007-08 season – they had one more point than Saints after 21 matches in that infamous campaign. At present, Juric’s side are averaging just 0.29 points per game, the same return Derby averaged in that ill-fated season. Lose to Forest and Newcastle in the coming weeks, and that drops to 0.26.
So, is there any hope for Saints? Crucially, they do have one of the most impressive teenagers in the country in Tyler Dibling leading the charge. Juric also has experience of exceeding expectations; his Verona side finished ninth in Serie A in the 2019-20 season despite having one of the smallest budgets in the league. In attack, they are underperforming against their expected goals haul of 25.02 by 13.02, the biggest underperformance in the Premier League this season.
If Juric can correct the team’s issues in the final third, they should start to see an improvement in results. Beyond looming meetings with Forest and Newcastle, Saints kick off February with a trip to fellow promoted side Ipswich before hosting fellow south coast sides Bournemouth and Brighton, all of which are must-win.
The problem remains, though, that the decision to sack Martin came too late.
The board wanted to stick with the manager who earned promotion, but they had ample opportunities to part ways with the 39-year-old, and Juric has been left with too big a mountain to climb.
We could yet see a 17-year record fall.
