When a manager’s first reflection on a result is a criticism of a refereeing decision, it’s usually an indication that they are under immense pressure, something is seriously wrong internally, or both.
Therefore, it is not a smart sign for Southampton that manager Ivan Jurić made the decision to first criticize the referee for Saints’ 2-1 loss to Crystal Palace.
The Croatian coach was convinced his goalkeeper, Aaron Ramsdale, was fouled by Eagle’s forward Jean-Philippe Mateta as he attempted to reach a corner headed into the net by Trevoh Chalobah.
However, the referee disagreed, and his video assistant backed up his decision to award the goal.
“I thought that it’s really difficult for the goalkeeper doing his job if somebody is pushing him, and for me it’s clearly a foul,” Jurić complained in the aftermath.
Overall, the manager tried to take advantage of the positives.
“I think we started very well. I think the first half was tough. I think we played much better second half, dominated in the middle. I think the team is competing. We are really bad in set pieces the last two games, and this is what’s the biggest problem is.
“I think in the first half they played the long ball in Mateta and then they tried to win the second ball and they did better than us in the first half, and the moment we got into that situation because the game was who would win the second ball.
The Challenge for Jurić is that his Southampton team is harassed through the same challenges that torment outgoing president Russell Martin two games in his mandate. They play but, too frequently, they end losers.
“I think we are competitive, we are a serious team and we are doing many things,” said the new coach.
“Now we have a few days to paint to be better. What I need to replace is that a little is missing to get results.
“As the opposite of West Ham, like today, we have to do it in the moments, like the urgency to win, to have more urgency to win in the very important moments of the game.
“It’s not easy to prepare this game in practice one day because one day of rest, one day you’re preparing. Now, we will have a few more days to prepare better. “
On this issue, Jurić has a point. Not only has he just arrived in England, but the packed festive fixture list leaves him little time on the training pitch to work with the players.
With more time, you can simply things on the southern coast.
But the brutal thing is that today, Southampton is on track to be the worst team in Premier League history.
Southampton’s score is worse than Derby County’s in the 2007-08 season, when the Rams controlled just 11 points, the lowest in the competition.
By winning a single game, the East Midlanders managed a goal of -69.
The indicator of being concerned for Southampton is that at the same level as this notoriously bad campaign, Derby had seven problems on the board, one more than the Saints currently.
The county’s functionality is much worse than the Hampshire team, they kicked many more goals.
But the fact is that all signs point to relegation as a near certainty.
When examining the records stretching back 122 years, only five teams have had six points or fewer at this stage in an English top-flight season and went on to be relegated.
If you prefer a more fashionable assessment of Southampton’s disastrous situation, the corporate OPTA supercomputer of statistics provides 0. 7% of survival.
However, Southampton’s nightmare season is simply bad news for football enthusiasts on the English south coast.
Their inability to compete comes after a year in the league in which the club is one of the standout teams.
This raises a challenge for the maximum expansive game in England, since it is a traced example.
The teams that explode the lower leagues compete on the most sensible flight.
As I pointed out, when the Saints were promoted, their warning goes back to the Premier League some other example of erosion without stopping the festival in the championship.
The financial disparity between the Premier League and the lower division has made it almost necessary to promote teams that have not played on the top flight in the last three years and are therefore eligible for the one-off parachute payments that relegated teams receive.
Southampton returned to the most sensible department along Leicester City, who also returned to the first attempt, and defeated Leeds United, also requested a quick return, in the last of the qualifiers to get there.
This year, Leeds is one of the division groups, a largely followed through Burnley and Sheffield United, who, according to you, point to fast comments.
The excellence of those two groups is all about the festival because, like Southampton, the pair seemed extraordinarily underpar in previous Premier League campaigns.
If this evil is remedied, the festival in the world’s oldest and best-supported football pyramid risks disappearing completely. This would be bad news for everyone interested in English football.
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