Russell Martin and Daniel Farke had very contrasting moods on the touchline of Wembley at the end of last season. Farke was left despondent after his Leeds side were beaten in the playoff final by Martin’s Southampton side. Leeds became the first side since Sunderland in 1998 not to earn promotion despite scoring 90 or more points in a Championship side. The world was at the Southampton manager’s feet while Farke was left to plan for another season in the Championship.
However, Martin’s stint as a Premier League manager didn’t even reach Christmas. Southampton sacked him on Sunday night after the Saints were hammered 5-0 at home by an inconsistent Tottenham side.
Southampton are rooted to the bottom of the Premier League table on five points after 16 games and have already lost 13 league games this season. They are odds on favourite to get relegated back to the Championship and Martin’s successor will face an uphill task in the upcoming months.
The 38-year-old is considered a talented young manager who impressed at MK Dons and Swansea City before Southampton appointed him as their new manager last year.
The Saints made a bad start under Martin last season but fought their way back to finish in the playoff spots and then beat a good Leeds side to win promotion back to the Premier League.
However, his inexperience at the top level came to the fore in the Premier League and his refusal to tweak his system to suit the enhanced quality his team faced in the top flight ultimately proved to be his downfall.
A newly promoted manager can’t afford to be this stubborn and Daniel Farke knows this
Leeds sit second in the Championship standings are one of the strongest favourites to earn automatic promotion to the Premier League this season.
The Whites hope to play in the top flight next season and Daniel Farke is likely to be in charge of ensuring that their stay in the Premier League is not brief.
The German must learn from the mistakes he committed when he was in the Premier League with Norwich and look at the errors Martin made at Southampton this season.
Unless something drastic happens, Martin condemned Southampton to relegation from the top flight before he left the club and the damage has been done.
The 38-year-old is a talented young manager who is known for the attacking football his teams play. However, everyone knew that they need some tweaks to their tactics as Southampton players would come up against better players in every area of the pitch.
But Martin stuck to his principles and while Southampton have played some nice football and have averaged close to 53 percent possession in every game, they paid for their lack of quality in both defence and attack.
The Saints lack the forwards to score regularly as they have managed to net just eleven goals despite averaging more than 9 shots per game. Their defenders have been exposed against superior forward lines in the Premier League and conceding more than 16 shots per game was never going to be sustainable.
The Southampton manager opted to play a cavalier style of football despite not having the personnel at both ends of the pitch to execute his plans.
They have been the worst team in the top flight this season despite looking easy on the eye. However, there are no points in looking good and just one win in 16 league games is a testament to Martin’s naivety since getting back to the top flight.
Russell Martin is a red herring for the Leeds manager
While Leeds are far from certain to get promoted and last season taught the fans not to look too far ahead, the Whites are major contenders and they could look at Southampton as a case-study for what not to do if they reach the top-flight.
Daniel Farke’s record in the Premier League is not encouraging for anyone who wants to have confidence in him. The German got Norwich promoted twice and they were immediately relegated back to the Championship in the next season.
Norwich stuck with Daniel Farke after the first relegation but the second time they got promoted, Norwich lost 15 games in a row and the German was dismissed following their first league win that season against Brentford.
The current Leeds boss was also accused of trying to play eye-catching football over ensuring that his teams were hard to beat against better quality teams in the Premier League.
Leeds are expected to stick with Farke if they get promoted and he definitely deserves one more crack at the Premier League. However, he can’t afford to repeat the same mistakes.
His own experience and Martin’s time at Southampton should teach the Leeds boss that if he sticks to his attacking principles, Leeds will get regularly exposed in the top flight.
Farke needs to learn to marry his principles with hard-nosed pragmatism to ensure Leeds’ stay in the Premier League would last longer than one season at least.
Yes, Marcelo Bielsa didn’t compromise with his ethos in the Premier League but one thing everyone will agree is that not everyone is Bielsa.
