Southampton manager Russell Martin says he takes responsibility for the goals that his side conceded during their 3-2 defeat to Liverpool.
Due to the 38-year-old insisting on his side playing out the back, Southampton have often found themselves being caught out by opposition and conceding goals as a consequence.
They were punished for that exact issue by Liverpool at St Mary’s on Sunday, in addition to mistakes from goalkeeper Alex McCarthy and defender Yukinari Sugawara.
He said: “I think my overriding feeling at the minute is the frustration and disappointment that the goals we concede are so poor. The quality of goals we conceded were so bad. I asked the guys to play quickly and forward 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 and have spent a while there. We need to take the sting out of the game and manage that.
“That is on me because I’ve asked them to do that and I need to make it even clearer on when and where to do that. The first goal, panic sets in, and we should probably go off the pitch at that point.
“We could talk all day about the goals, but we had some good moments. The lads have to keep going. We have such a young team on the pitch. We are a team that is learning and growing, and the only way they are going to learn is by having moments like that. It’s about trying to get through it and understanding why they make the decisions they make. I ask them to play that way, so I take responsibility for that.”
McCarthy. 34, started his first Premier League game in goal for Southampton since August, deputising for Aaron Ramsdale who is set for a spell on the sidelines after undergoing surgery on a suspected fractured finger earlier this month.
When asked about how Southampton can mitigate the defensive errors that have hampered their season, Martin said: “I haven’t made it clear enough that if we are having a moment defending the final third then we shouldn’t (play out from the back), so I will have to clarify it even further and give them more detail.
“But it is also about feeling on the pitch and managing moments on the pitch.”
Southampton are bottom of the Premier League having, won lost ten of their 12 league games, and conceding 24 league goals, the second most in the division.
They are next in action against Brighton and Hove Albion on Friday.
(Robin Jones/Getty Images)
