Southampton head coach Russell Martin says his team won against Leeds United using a different game plan than their typical complex, high-possession style.
The Saints took the lead twice at Elland Road on Saturday afternoon and maintained their position to return all three points to the south coast. While the points scored on the day had no bearing on Southampton’s, or Leeds’, final Championship table position, Martin and his players’ approach could cause problems for the Whites by the end of the month, if the two teams meet again in the play-off final at Wembley Stadium.
Leeds face Daniel Farke’s former club Norwich City in a two-legged semi-final, while Martin’s side faces Carlos Corberan’s West Bromwich Albion. Southampton has a perfect record versus the other three teams in the play-off picture.
“We attempted something a little different. It has worked fairly well. We now have something up our sleeve if we want it; it may not be effective or valuable to us [against] West Brom], but it was worth attempting something today and it worked to suit the opponents,” Martin told reporters after his team’s victory over Leeds.
“We made an educated prediction about how we expected the opposition would press.
“Today because of the space that opened up we got there [Leeds’ box] quite quickly,” he went on to say.
Farke’s rebuttal was that Leeds needed to go for it if they were to have a chance of automatic promotion and may have abandoned their defensive solidity to close down Southampton in their own third with scores of white shirts, which resulted in Leeds’ equaliser as Sam Byram turned over possession deep in the Saints’ half before feeding Willy Gnonto, whose low cross eventually found scorer Joel Piroe.
Martin hinted that he anticipated this strategy and adopted a more vertical style, allowing Southampton to go forward with pace and directness, particularly in the first half.
The Saints’ coach also confessed that he was compelled to replace full-back Ryan Manning at half-time because the summer signing was at risk of receiving a second yellow card and missing the opening leg of Southampton’s play-off against the Baggies.
“We had some adjustments planned. One at halftime that wasn’t intended or enforced since Ryan had a yellow card and the crowd was on the referee’s back, as was their bench, and rightfully so. I would probably be the same. So it wasn’t worth risking Ryan in the second half when he was on a tightrope.
“It’s going to be intense, and there will be no days off for a week or two, save for a little respite tomorrow, and then they’ll train like beasts this week. They have to be ready to go like beasts for another two weeks, hopefully three weeks,” Martin said of his team’s schedule for the rest of the month.
