Wes Burns issues damning claim on Russ Martin’s Southampton style

Ipswich defeated St. Mary’s 1-0, although Wes Burns was unimpressed with Russell Martin’s brand of game.

Ipswich Town winger Wes Burns has criticized Russell Martin’s approach to the game, claiming that there is a “misconception” about teams that play with a lot of possession.

Despite having 59 percent of the ball and making almost 200 more passes than the Tractor Boys, Southampton went behind last night due to winger Omari Hutchinson’s goal, and the East Anglian side held on for over an hour to go eight points clear of the relegated Saints and move 3rd in the table.

Only Leicester City and Preston North End are ahead of them, with the top three already creating a sizeable gap between themselves and the rest of the division, which is to the amusement of Burns, who couldn’t help but gleefully smile after a sturdy performance helped his side take all three points.

What has Wes Burns said about Russell Martin?

Burns said that it was ‘quite easy’ to see where Southampton were going to pass the ball, adding to the ‘misconception’ that possession means everything.

The Wales international said to the East Anglian Times: “There’s a misconception where, when a team has a lot of possession, it feels like we’re under the cosh.

“It’s very different when you’re out there. We have such a strong, disciplined shape, so we knew exactly what they were going to do before they were doing it. It was easy to read where their passes were going, and you saw a lot of the time that they were kicking balls away, off the field or straight to us, because we’re shutting angles that we know they want to play.

“For us to come away from home, back-to-back on Saturday and now tonight, and grind out 1-0 wins, it’s a sign of a good team. We came here tonight and stuck to our principles and stuck to our disciplined shape. We knew that we could hurt them if we shut up shop, and that was the end result.

“Their manager has been at MK Dons, Swansea and now Southampton, so we knew that the structures and the ways that they play would be very similar. They’re a very possession-based team, you’ve got full-backs rolling into midfield. We knew that blocking the middle and not letting any passes through would be key tonight.

“We tried to make sure that everything went down the sides and we could defend from there. I think we did that for the whole game. When you keep clean sheets and you’ve got the quality that we have up front, you’ll always have a chance of winning.”

Why is Russell Martin being criticised for his recent performances at Southampton?

It’s easy to see why the Saints are in turmoil. Their only three wins have all come in the form of 2-1 victories – with those triumphs being in the 87th, 93rd, and 64th minutes of games against Sheffield Wednesday, Plymouth Argyle and QPR respectively.

Those are all teams who are expected to be in the bottom half of the table – and against teams who are battling for a top-half spot, it makes for even worse reading. Four goals shipped against Norwich was only somewhat saved from embarrassment with four goals of their own, whilst a 4-1 defeat to Leicester and a 5-0 defeat to Sunderland has left the club wobbling in recent weeks.

As such, they have the worst defence in the league with 17 goals conceded in just seven games. It’s clear where Martin needs to address his side if they are to fix their problems.

If they don’t address the gaping hole in their side, it could well be that they wave goodbye to a Premier League return at the first attempt.