Russell Martin on Southampton mistakes in 3-2 Liverpool defeat

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Russell Martin on Southampton mistakes in 3-2 Liverpool defeat  24/11/2024  St Mary's stadium, Southampton, UK

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00:00How do you start and stop when everyone's already down?

00:21Yeah, I think that's my riding feeling at the minute. It's the frustration, disappointment

00:25at the goals we conceded. It's just so poor. We're playing against a team with such quality

00:29and if they produce a moment of magic or score a brilliant team goal, you can maybe

00:35accept it a little bit more, but the quality of the goals we conceded is so bad, so bad.

00:41I felt so much that I enjoyed the performance. We looked a fret, much better than we did

00:46at Wolves in terms of the final third and the attacking threat that we had. Defending

00:49really well, big numbers a lot of the time, planning it's the best team in the league.

00:53Limited them to a lot of shots from outside the box. But yeah, I asked the guys to play

00:59quickly as much as we could and forward as much as we could and then it's the wrong time

01:04to do that because Liverpool have so many players in our final third, they've spent

01:06a while there. Then we need to take the sting out of the game and manage that, but that's

01:11on me. I've asked them to do that and I need to make it even clearer when and where to

01:14do that, the first goal. Then just panic sets in, miss it at clearance and probably should

01:20have gone off the pitch at that point. Then the second goal, it's the thing we spoke about

01:26a lot, about protecting the space with Salah and the lads did really well on the whole.

01:30Obviously Al hasn't played a lot of games at the moment, but I thought he made some

01:35really good saves, did some really good stuff. Then the third one, I don't think he moves

01:39his arm towards the ball, but his arm's in a position where it hits his body and it hits

01:42his... So it is like, yeah, we talk all day about the goals. We had some really good moments

01:48and most of our good moments come from playing and taking the ball and having courage to

01:52play through and do it. The lads just have to keep on going.

01:56My first thought when that third goal went in was just how difficult it's going to be

02:01for you and for the players and the guys who made mistakes to keep going when you perform

02:05the way you do, but it sort of keeps happening.

02:07Yeah, we have such a young team on the pitch, on the whole. We have a team that's growing

02:12and learning and the only way it is that I'm going to learn is having moments like that

02:17and trying to get through it and understand why they make the decision they make. As I

02:21said, it's my... I ask them to play quick, so I take responsibility for that. Yeah, the

02:27rest is like just isolated moments, aren't they? We should make more of some of the stuff

02:33that we have, but it's not like a lack of competing, a lack of desire, willingness to

02:39run for each other. I think the players that were here in the Premier League last time

02:42feel very differently about this, the feeling of this, and they really, even in there, even

02:48after the game against the... We played Man City away, Arsenal away, Liverpool at home,

02:52the guys feel they're so close and we have to eradicate their moments to give ourselves

02:55any chance.

02:56Missing Jan Vendrede, there were a lot of things you could have done with your team.

02:59You ended up bringing Flynn back, Brian Fraser on the left. Talk me through why you did that

03:02and how you got him back.

03:04Flynn's played there for us at Swansea a bit. He ends up building up there a lot as well

03:08and he has real pace to defend the transition. So, against Salah, when there was going to

03:11be space behind and Gakpo on the other side. So, I thought he actually did quite well on

03:17the whole. He missed his one clearance and he gets punished in the Premier League. So,

03:20I'm sure that will get looked at, that decision, but I actually thought he played really, really

03:23well and he stepped forward with the ball a few times and reads the game really well.

03:27And also, it's about relationships. We spoke about this a lot. Him and Taylor and Jack

03:30have played together a lot and usually he's in front of them, but they've played together

03:33a lot. Wiman gives us an attacking threat. He actually re-swaps sides. I think it helped

03:37us and Kyle went on the left and he went on the right and they give us that flexibility.

03:41Yuki's been away on international duty, travelled a lot and then he came back and

03:46trained one day with us. So, we worked in a different shape. So, then to chuck him in

03:50and do that after one game, one day's training would have been a bit unfair on him, I think.

03:55So, we tried to have as many attacking players on the pitch as we could.

03:58To have Sky on the radar, you probably should have had a penalty.

04:00We should have. We should have, 100%. We should have had a penalty of Adam Armstrong. I think,

04:04like, I don't know. I'm sure I don't really... I think it's pointless having another chap.

04:09I really like Hard Web and I don't know

04:14what they will say. So, it's gone to VAR for a check

04:18and I think if the goalkeeper comes out and it's at 2-1 at that point, Adam Armstrong is trying to

04:23play the ball, the goalie comes out and misses the ball and then affects Armour's run. So,

04:27makes contact with Adam. So, I think at that point it's a foul, regardless of what defenders

04:31are around because he makes contact and misses the ball. So, by my definition, I think,

04:36my definition of the laws of football, I think that's a foul. It gets given as a handball against

04:40Armour after the contact, the foul. Bradley's pulling Armour, Armour's pulling him a bit,

04:44so that's like six to one, half a dozen the other, but the ball misses,

04:49Kelleher misses the ball. It's the other side of him when Armour, he makes contact with Adam

04:53Armstrong's legs. So, in my understanding of the game, it's a penalty.

04:57He's had his shirt pulled at the same time.

04:58Mm.

04:59A positive for him as you came into the team.

05:00He was great, yeah. He probably deserved to start before now. The way he's trained,

05:04he's been so good. And he was really good. So, I hope his injury is nothing too serious

05:10and it's just a bit of fatigue, but I thought he played really, really well.

05:12And Armour, is he OK?

05:14I think he will be a bit worse than Paul's, so we'll have to assess that. He's a bit worried

05:17about it. So, yeah, to lose Yanni and Aaron and then Paul and Adam as well on the pitch

05:23is frustrating.

05:25It's how Steve's got now. If you want to survive, you need to break records. No team's ever

05:29lost 10 of their first 12. Can you do that?

05:32Yeah, the team broke all sorts of records last year. So, we're going to have to do it again.

05:37Have you spoken after the game against Arsenal in Manchester City and had a good talk about

05:41Alan Glashow's performance and putting in big performances? Are you worried that the

05:45team can't replicate that against teams that are further down the table? Is that a mentality

05:49thing or is it the way the other teams play?

05:52No, I think we have to. The game's different. Sometimes when we play against other teams,

05:57we're trying to attack a low block like we did at Wolves and there's lots of bodies to

06:00defend. Every game in the Premier League looks different because the opposition you're

06:04facing tactically looks different. So, yeah, we have another one to prepare for on Friday

06:09now, which is really exciting for us away from home. The players just have to keep giving

06:13us what they're giving us. We're so close. We're so competitive and the season has been

06:17defined on moments that have been really critical and big and we could be in such a different

06:22position. I think that's the frustration everyone feels. But we had no choice but to keep working,

06:27stick together. We knew the season was going to be tough at the start.

06:30It's not like a surprise to anyone that we're fighting at the moment. But I think it feels

06:35worse because some of the goals we've conceded and the timing of some of them as well. But,

06:41yeah, the objective hasn't changed and the players' willingness to work and run hasn't

06:47changed. So, as long as they stick with that, they'll be fine.

06:49Have you got any concerns about their confidence to keep doing what they're doing?

06:52I think they've shown moments of real confidence today against the best team in the league.

06:56So, my job is to try and keep them in that place, to keep believing in what they're doing,

06:59to keep playing with courage and feeling and not let fear overtake them. It's my job with them.

07:06Because we have such a young team, some really outstanding young players that are going to play

07:09in this league and beyond for a very long time if they get it right and they stay in

07:13the right environment. So, yeah, it's an exciting challenge for us.

07:17I feel like I asked you about them in the game and perhaps you just alluded to them there,

07:20but Tyler and Matty again today. So much quality for such young lads in big moments in the game.

07:27Yeah, they're really talented. I think they have to play in a certain team in a certain way right

07:36now at their age to flourish and to show what they can do. If you put them in a different team

07:42that are fighting down the bottom, maybe they look very different or they're maybe not playing

07:45because their skill set is not suited to that. Their skill set is taking the ball and being brave

07:48and taking it in tight areas and beating their player. They're getting better and better all

07:52the time. So we have to just keep giving them time, keep working. They have an amazing mentality,

07:56both of them, attitude. And eventually, at some point, they will keep growing with us or they'll

08:03be allowed to grow the club and the club will benefit hugely from that.

08:09Martyn, just on that, you took responsibility there for the mistakes that the team was making,

08:15but how do you mitigate? I mean, it looked like for the first goal he's not looking

08:19when he passes that ball and it's heads down. How do you mitigate those errors?

08:23Obviously not made it clear enough that if we've had a moment defending the final third for that

08:27long that we shouldn't. So I've asked them to play quick. So I just have to clarify even further

08:31and give them even more detail, but also about feeling on the pitch, about managing the moments

08:36and managing the feeling on the pitch. How do you iron out those basic mistakes?

08:39Work. Work and conversation. All good. Cheers.

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