Martin: We need to do more with the ball
Russell Martin was left frustrated that his Southampton side could not turn their dominance of possession into chances after falling to a 2-0 defeat at Wolves.
Saints fell behind inside two minutes at Molineux, but responded impressively in the first half by pinning the home team back, and should have at least been on level terms by half time.
Instead Saints conceded again two minutes into the second period and struggled to threaten the Wolves goal after that, despite having 71 per cent of the ball across the 90 minutes.
“We gifted them a goal at the start, which is really frustrating, they haven’t had to earn it,” Martin reflected.
“Then actually we responded really well. If I said to the guys before the game we would have that much of the ball in their half, in their final third, before the game, limit the home team to eight shots on your goal, I would expect us to get something out of the game. We don’t, which is not good enough.
“We need to do more with the ball. To have that much of it in the Premier League is not a given, and we shouldn’t take that for granted. To have so much of it in their half and their final third is not a given, it’s hard to do, but then you need to make it happen – you need to do something with it, and we didn’t do enough with it.”
The manager was also left feeling aggrieved by two major decisions in the match. Ryan Manning had the ball in the net in the 12th minute only for the goal to be ruled out by a controversial VAR decision, while Cameron Archer appeared to be fouled in the lead up to Wolves’ second.
“It's not the reason we lose, but we’re on the receiving end of two really tough decisions that changed the game,” Martin added, before dissecting the disallowed Manning strike that denied the Irishman his first goal for the club.
“I think their defender manages it really well. I don’t think he plays the ball, he tries to get his leg across Mateus. If he tries to play the ball and then Mateus affects him, then I think it’s a foul. The fact that he hasn’t tried to play the ball, I think it’s just normal contact – actually I’d probably ask for a penalty in that instance, because he puts his leg across Mateus and the ball’s the other side of him. I think it’s an interesting decision.”
Aaron Ramsdale was booked for protesting after Wolves’ second goal was allowed to stand despite Craig Dawson’s challenge on Archer.
“It took the energy out of the team, it took the fight out of the team for 10 or 15 minutes, which was probably the most disappointing thing today,” Martin said.
“Then the guys that came on wrestled that back, but when Paul and Ben are on the pitch as two strikers we need to cross the ball more – that’s about understanding the game. We need to create more and make it harder than we did.”
