Martin explains why he made formation change and benched five strikers

Martin insisted a lack of fight and togetherness rather than the changes were responsible for the heavy loss at Vitality Stadium.

The boss had appeared to settle on a 4-2-3-1 formation in promising performances at home against Manchester United before opting to switch.

Martin set up his team with four in midfield, two wingers and no natural number nine, shifting the position of players such as Tyler Dibling.

The Daily Echo asked Martin why he chose to make the change despite perceived progress in the club's last two outings. 

He responded: "Because of the way Bournemouth are. You change and tweak but get accused of not adapting all the time. We adapted because of the opposition.

I’m no tactico but I worry Russell Martin is trying so hard to find a winning formula that he’s betraying one of his own fundamentals.

He says his sides are best when they have total understanding and feeling with teammates. Can they when it’s changing every week?#SaintsFC

— Alfie House (@AlfieHouseEcho) October 1, 2024

"In the first 10 minutes, we showed why. We could hurt them with certain bits and honestly, I'll look back and if I picked the wrong team, that's on me.

"I obviously did. But whatever team I picked and whatever formation we played, if we show that spirit and that attitude it really, really doesn't matter."

While no recognised strikers were starting the match, Martin listed five amongst the nine-man bench which featured one defender and two midfielders.

Asked about this decision, with Martin bringing on Cameron Archer, Ross Stewart and Ben Brereton Diaz, he said: "We wanted an aggressive bench.

"We need to win and to score more goals. We haven't scored enough goals. I mean, that was pretty self-explanatory."