Russell Martin: Frustrated Yet Hopeful for Southampton’s Young Squad Growth

Liverpool moved eight points clear at the top of the Premier League as Mohamed Salah scored twice to help them come from behind at St Mary’s. The determined Saints briefly led after goals from Adam Armstrong and Mateus Fernandes cancelled out Dominik Szoboszlai’s first-half strike. But all three Liverpool strikes came from Saints mistakes to leave Martin's charges languishing at the bottom of the table and four points behind 19th. "My overriding feeling is just frustration and disappointment at the goals we concede," said Martin, knowing Saints must now break records to survive. Saints have four points from their first 12 Premier League matches (Image: Stuart Martin) "It's so poor. We're playing against a team with such quality and if they produce a moment of magic or score a brilliant team goal, you can accept it a bit more. "The quality of the goals we concede is so bad, so bad. I felt that I enjoyed the performance, we looked like a threat and much better than we did at Wolves. "We defended really well in big numbers a lot of the time, playing against the best team in the league and limiting them to shots from outside the box. "I asked the guys to play quickly as much as we could and then it's the wrong time to do that because Liverpool have so many players in our final third. "We need to take the sting out of the game but that's on me because I've asked them to do that and I need to make it even clearer when and where to do that. "Panic sets in and we mishit a clearance. It should probably go off the pitch. With the second goal, Alex McCarthy hasn't played a lot of games at the moment. "I thought he made some really good saves. For the third, Yukinari Sugawara, bless him, I don't think he moves his arm towards the ball. Ramsdale waits to console McCarthy as he leaves the pitch. Really hard to see how Saints come back from this when it just keeps happening. Dibling and Fernandes are incredible players though. And really enjoyed Onuachu.#SaintsFC pic.twitter.com/e0kvL1HCeu — Alfie House (@AlfieHouseEcho) November 24, 2024 "We can talk all day about the goals but we had some really good moments and most come from playing and taking the ball. The lads just have to keep on going." Saints have taken the lead in each of their last four home league games but won just one, while they are yet to claim any points from behind this season. "We have such a young team on the pitch, on the whole, we have a team that's growing and learning," explained Martin. "The only way they are going to learn is by having moments like that, trying to get through it and understanding why they make the decisions they make. "I ask them to play quick, so I take responsibility for that. The rest is just isolated moments and we should make more of some of the stuff that we have. "But it's not like a lack of competing or a lack of desire. I think the players who were here in the Premier League last time felt very differently to the feeling of this. "When you look at our games, the guys feel they are so close - but we have to eradicate those moments to give ourselves any chance."