After a promising start to their first Championship season in almost a decade, the Saints had dropped four games in a row coming into a battle with an in-form Leeds side.
The Whites were unbeaten in six league games and had not conceded in four. They were heavy favorites in the contest between two recently relegated teams.
They got off to a flying start after only a few minutes when Adam Armstrong expertly clipped in from Kyle Walker-Peters’ reverse pass.
Leeds were two down when Kamaldeen Sulemana ran down the right flank and waited for Will Smallbone to send a cut-back, which the midfielder tucked home off the far post.
Leeds were three down by halftime when Southampton striker Armstrong added his second, twisting and turning inside the area before reaching the far corner.
Leeds responded when centre-back Pascal Struijk finished like a center-forward, grabbing the ball from the air and swiveling to fire home. However, it would only serve as a temporary consolation.
Leeds is ninth, and Southampton is tenth, with the same number of points as they enter another midweek round of games against QPR and Stoke City, respectively.
Former England international midfielder Carlton Palmer reacts to the game, believing Russell Martin made a brilliant decision in using attacking-midfielder Carlos Alcaraz.
“Russell Martin made an inspired move playing Alcaraz, restoring him to the team as a number-nine against Leeds,” he revealed exclusively to Football League World.
“Martin explained in the post-game press conference that Alcaraz trained really well last week and that he felt he needed to accommodate him in the side in some way.
“It was a stroke of genius, knowing that Alcaraz is an intelligent footballer, knowing that he’s an attacking player and deploying him further up the park as a centre-forward.”He’s not particularly powerful defensively, but he didn’t expose them. It helps him to play to his strengths and get into positions to damage opponents higher up the field.”That’s precisely what he did, and the Southampton manager made a wise decision to get his team back on track.
What are your thoughts on Russell Martin’s Southampton tactics?
Southampton needed something to get them out of their funk. They had struggled to build up the ball from the back without making individual errors, but Leeds’ lethargic press proved too easy to play through, and they were able to routinely get the ball into dangerous areas.
Martin’s side commanded the tempo and opportunities, and Alcaraz’s movement helped open up openings for Kamaldeen Sulemana and Adam Armstrong to consistently go in behind.
Leeds improved after halftime, but the game was already over. Given how he opened up the game, we might see more of Alcaraz in a false-nine or out-and-out center-forward role in the future. In terms of sheer technical ability, he is a superb operator who deserves more game time than he has received, whether in center midfield or on the attacking line.
They lacked the cutting edge and the capacity to create consistently repeating opportunities in the past, but not this time. Martin will be looking to build on his victory and demonstrate more consistency in the final third, with Alcaraz perhaps at the center of it.
