They are making progress: the important Southampton player has left….

Southampton are England’s best footballer with a great run, all thanks to Russell Martin

With so many quality players in the Premier League, including Kyle Walker-Peters, Che Adams and Jan Bednarek, Russell Martin has the luxury of picking a star-studded squad every week.

 

The Saints may field a team that is too good for the second division, but that means they also have a wealth of top talent on their bench. In modern times, substitutes are more important than ever.

With games being longer this season and managers able to make five changes in a league match, players coming off the bench are having an incredible impact.

Southampton, who are aiming for automatic promotion, have seen loan deals lead to some lifesaving measures.

Ryan Fraser, who is currently out with an injury, came off the bench with four goals and one assist, closely followed by Joe Rothwell, who joined in January.

Currently on loan at Bournemouth, the 29-year-old made two substitute appearances, scoring twice in wins against Huddersfield Town and Sunderland.

Without the impact of the substitutions, Saints would have moved further away from the top of the division, but instead they are now nine points behind second-placed Leicester City, with two games in hand to close the gap. It has become. According to Opta analysts, Southampton are tied at the top of the table for goals scored (28) with promotion rivals Ipswich Town.

Martin is comparable to Kieran McKenna in his clever use of substitutions. Management decisions are difficult to balance, but the Saints manager was perfect when it came to timing his changes perfectly.

Managers often come under scrutiny from fans for sending off certain players, but Martin’s late decision gave his team every chance of automatic promotion. In October’s 2-1 win over Hull City, he came off the bench to score the winning goal, and in February’s game against Huddersfield, Rothwell came on for Will Smallbone and scored the second goal to get the team back into the game. decided.

Moments like this can make all the difference, especially when competing for promotions. And if Southampton secure promotion to the Premier League, fans will be grateful for Martin’s timely replacement.