Ipswich Town head to fellow newly-promoted side Southampton this weekend. Alex Jones takes a closer look at the Saints.
Bouncing straight back
Southampton’s relegation to the Championship didn’t come as a huge shock. Although they featured in the Europa League and the Carabao Cup final as recently as 2016/17, they showed a noticeable drop off after that. Over the course of the next six seasons, their highest finish was 11th, and they were regularly finishing just outside the bottom three.
In 2022/23, they finally dropped down, finishing bottom of the Premier League. Ralph Hasenhüttl, Nathan Jones and Ruben Sellés had all been sacked within a matter of months. Russell Martin was brought in as the man to take them forward.
Despite his fairly underwhelming record in terms of tangible success at MK Dons and Swansea City, there were high hopes for the 38-year-old. However, he came under pressure this time last year, having lost four games in a row in September 2023.
A 25-match unbeaten run saw him turn things around, and for a while, it looked like a top-two finish was within reach. In the end, they fell just short, with another blip towards the end of the campaign derailing their momentum. That meant that they finished fourth, three points behind Leeds United in third and nine points behind second-place Ipswich.
Their season continued with the play-offs, easing past West Brom over two legs with a 3-1 win on aggregate. Then, in the final at Wembley, Adam Armstrong’s strike against Leeds saw them make an immediate return to the top flight, giving Martin the first promotion of his managerial career.
Busy summer
When it comes to summer signings, Southampton were among the busiest in the Premier League, bringing in 17 players for their first team squad and a few more for their Under-21s.
They needed to balance their budget before spending, however, selling Romain Perraud (Real Betis), Lyanco (Atlético Mineiro) and Duje Ćaleta-Car (Lyon), who all spent last season out on loan. Later in the window, Sékou Mara, who bagged three goals and two assists in the Championship last season, was moved to Strasbourg, while ex-Juventus loanee Carlos Alcaraz was snapped up by Flamengo.
That allowed the spending to begin, with Taylor Harwood-Bellis’ loan from Manchester City becoming permanent. The same happened to West Ham’s Flynn Downes a few weeks later, while Adam Lallana was brought back to the club from Brighton & Hove Albion.
Experienced defender Charlie Taylor signed from Burnley, with young centre-backs Ronnie Edwards and Nathan Wood signing from Peterborough United and Swansea City respectively. AZ Alkmaar’s Yukinari Sugawara completed the defensive unit.
Ben Brereton Diaz and Cameron Archer, who both spent last season at relegated Sheffield United, were signed from Villarreal and Aston Villa respectively. However the biggest deals came right at the end of the summer, starting off with talented midfielder Matheus Fernandes, who joined from Sporting CP. Just over a week later, England international Aaron Ramsdale was brought in from Arsenal on a permanent deal.
Over all, the Saints had a net spend of around £65 million, which they really needed to get their squad up to Premier League level. It remains to be seen whether they’ve done that.
Tough start
Southampton were, unsurprisingly, among the pre-season favourites for relegation before a ball was kicked. Despite an impressive summer of recruitment, Martin’s lack of experience and extreme style of play were flagged as major concerns. Some of those fears were eased in a 1-0 defeat at 10-man Newcastle United on opening day, a game that the visitors dominated without finding the back of the net.
Their subsequent 1-0 home defeat to Nottingham Forest raised alarm bells, with Morgan Gibbs-White’s second-half goal sealing the points. A big 5-3 Carabao Cup win at Cardiff City should’ve given them the confidence to kick on, but they were comfortably beaten 3-1 by Brentford just a few days later.
Their search for a first league points dragged into their home game against Manchester United, and an early penalty gave them the chance to set the tone, but Archer missed from the spot, allowing Erik ten Hag’s side to capitalise and secure a routine 3-0 win at St. Mary’s.
It means that, heading into the game against Ipswich, they occupy 19th place in the league with no points and just one goal to their name. Their recent Carabao Cup win at Everton, which was decided on penalties, may be seen as a chance to get their season up and running, but some supporters are already beginning to run out of patience with Martin.
The ex-Norwich City defender has a desire to always play out from the back and dominate possession, which has received significant criticism from fans and pundits. However, he’s adamant that he won't change the style of play.
A star in the making
If there’s one positive from the season so far, it has to be Tyler Dibling, who would’ve been about 10 years old when Southampton were playing European football and competing at the top of the Premier League. Now he’s on the pitch and hoping to get them back to that point.
The versatile midfielder played local non-league in Devon before being snapped up by the Saints. He spent time at the academy systems of Exeter City and Chelsea but ultimately ended up back at St. Mary’s, where he signed his first professional contract in February 2023.
He was used sparingly in the Championship last season, making his league debut for the club back in January. Martin was highly impressed by his performances in pre-season, however, giving him 20 minutes off the bench against Newcastle.
He starred in the Carabao Cup win at Cardiff, bagging two assists, and was subsequently named in the starting lineup for the first time after a few more cameos, lining up Man United a few weeks later.
Playing off the right, he was arguably the Saints’ star man for his 63 minutes on the pitch, giving Diogo Dalot a torrid time. The 18-year-old has been one of the surprise packages of the campaign so far and will look to carry his form into the coming weeks and months. According to TalkSPORT, Southampton are already facing a battle to keep him.
Team news
Southampton’s squad depth is impressive. In fact, with the numbers they’ve got, the group arguably too big. Martin has spoken about having to make ruthless decisions, with some of his summer signings yet to feature at all this season. There’s seemingly some frustration and disappointment brewing behind the scenes, and that’ll need to be managed to keep everyone happy with their game time.
There is, however, an opportunity for someone to step in at the heart of defence. Captain Jack Stephens was handed a straight red card for a nasty tackle on Alejandro Garnacho in the defeat to Man United and has subsequently been charged with misconduct for alleged ‘abusive/insulting words’ to match officials. That could see his initial three-match suspension extended as a result.
Martin isn’t short for options at centre-back, but Harwood-Bellis seems the obvious candidate to move into the team and partner Jan Bednarek. It seems unlikely that Wood or Edwards would be thrown in, while Armel Bella-Kotchap is clearly not in the manager’s plans.
Other than that, the team probably won’t change that much. Gavin Bazunu (Achilles) hasn’t been registered in the Saints’ Premier League squad while Kamaldeen Sulemana (ankle), who saw a late move to Ajax collapse, is also ruled out.
One player to keep an eye on is Brereton Diaz, who arrived on the South Coast with high expectations following an impressive stint at Sheffield United where he scored six goals in 14 games for a struggling side. However, he holds an unwanted of playing the most Premier League games without a win (18). His confidence will be low after a humiliating international break, where he was substituted in the first half of Chile’s defeat to Bolivia, and Martin clearly has a job on his hands to get him back to his best.
Possible XI: 4-2-3-1: Ramsdale; Sugawara, Harwood-Bellis, Bednarek, Walker-Peters; Downes, Ugochukwu; Dibling, Fernandes, Brereton Diaz; Archer
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