Martin: Huge day for learning
Russell Martin is determined to make sure Southampton’s visit to Sunderland is the worst day of Saints’ season, saying lessons must be learned from the 5-0 defeat.
The manager saw his side fall 2-0 behind inside seven minutes at the Stadium of Light, which “killed any game plan”.
Despite applying plenty of pressure for the remainder of the first half, Saints conceded again shortly before the interval and immediately after it, effectively ending the contest at 4-0 after 48 minutes.
The result and performance led Martin to apologise to the travelling Saints fans, who still sang for their team at the end of the game.
“My thoughts are when you concede two soft early goals like that, it makes the day very, very difficult for you,” he reflected.
“Then you have a choice to roll your sleeves up and really fight, and we did – we conceded two and then for 20 minutes it was probably our best spell of the whole game.
“Then we conceded a really soft third goal and it changes the whole dynamic, and Sunderland can sit back and wait for their moments to counter.
“It’s difficult for us to then risk the ball with players, so the start of the game has really killed any game plan, any momentum or positivity that the players would’ve felt.
“We’ve conceded far too many goals already this season, and we’ve got away with it the last couple of weeks. I’ve said to you I’ve not been really content and happy with the performances – some bits of it amazing, some bits of it we need to work a lot on.
“Defending the final third, we worked on it so much this week, and then we give away two soft goals like that. We didn’t show enough willingness to fight, to win, Sunderland came out of every duel with the ball.
“The fifth goal summed us up – the guy turns three times in the final third and not one bit of contact from one of our players. I’m pretty sure if that was in the other half, a Sunderland player would’ve made contact with one of ours.
“That’s the difference today, and it’ll be a huge day for learning and for us to make sure that it’s the worst day we all have together this season, because we can’t get away with having that mentality, especially here when you concede two early goals.
“I’m really disappointed. The fans were amazing, even at the end. I’m not just saying that – the way they stayed with the group, and it’s a long way to go. I’m really sorry for them. I’m really, really sorry.
“It’s really hurt, it should hurt, and now we have to use that hurt as fuel to learn, move forward and make sure we improve.”
