Southampton's Martin repeats biggest mistake at AFC Bournemouth

Off the back of a painful 3-1 defeat at AFC Bournemouth, in which they were barely spared total embarrassment, they now visit Arsenal this weekend.

With just one point from six matches, it is the joint-worst start to a league season in the club's history - along with 1998/99, in which they survived.

It should not be forgotten what Saints achieved under Martin last campaign, going a club-record 22 games unbeaten in the modern league system.

Adam Armstrong's goal at Wembley to condemn Leeds United to another season in the Championship spared Saints from potential financial disaster.

But it is a new season and Saints are only held off the bottom of the Premier League table by Wolves, who've somehow managed a worse goal difference.

Saints have been unlucky in a few of those six matches but ultimately, for what happened at Vitality Stadium, Martin has to take full responsibility.

He flirted around that by frankly saying "It's on me," before launching a scathing assessment of the mentality of his players. 

Saints sit second-bottom in the Premier League after six matches (Image: PA)

"Coming off the pitch at the end, I thank them for running and fighting in the second half. I don't think you should ever thank them for that," he said.

He is not wrong. His players switch off for the first goal. They are outfought and outclassed for the second. The third is embarrassing defending.

But it was a puzzling team selection from the very start and it felt like everyone in the stadium could see that but Martin, whose opinion rules supreme.

Tyler Dibling has been one of the few really bright shining lights this season and he ran ragged his last two opponents, Man United and Ipswich Town.

Rather than give him exactly the same instructions under which he has thrived, out on the right, Martin opted to completely change his role.

The 18 year old was tasked with leading the strikerless line, alongside Mateus Fernandes, and managed one touch in the opposition box all night.

The other player that has impressed is Adam Lallana, who appears to have been benched for fitness reasons - although Martin lost his cool over that question.

When asked if he was fit to start the match, he responded: "Do you want to go through every player and we'll talk about the selection?

"If he was fit and firing and ready to play after his performance against Ipswich, I think he would have played. Do you agree?"

The pressure appeared to be getting to the boss, managing for the first time at the Premier League level in his sixth season in the hot seat.

Martin named a bench with five strikers, despite listing none in his starting team. Wantaway Paul Onuachu was among those for the first time this year.

He told us Saints need to "score more goals", that he wanted to be "more aggressive" and that this bench was "self-explanatory."

Taylor Harwood-Bellis is the club's joint-top scorer with two (Image: PA)

But it does not explain then why he started with none. And in the seventh game of the Premier League season, we are heading for more changes at Arsenal.

Martin labelled Joe Aribo and Ross Stewart as outstanding and said some of the substitutes that came on should have been starting the match.

Some of last season's core coming back in, like Aribo, who had an excellent pre-season, is fine, but we are in October with no idea what the best team is.

Saints have started in four different formations in six league matches and Martin has made nine outfield changes in the last three games.

"I think it is about feeling, trusting each other and understanding you know exactly what you're going to get from your mate every single game," Martin recently told us.

"If you know that two players play really well together in a certain way and it works, and you can see it on the training pitch, then it's really important."

In the example of Dibling, he and Yukinari Sugawara appeared to know exactly what they got from each other before this match - why change?

Saints seemed to have a system that worked against Man United and Ipswich. Partnerships that combined. They had been unlucky. It was madness to switch.

Maxwel Cornet went from being an unused sub last time out to starting. Cameron Archer benched. Ryan Fraser is starting league matches with no pre-season.

Kyle Walker-Peters, indisputably the club's most talented player, was left rotting on the bench unused for the second successive match.

Martin is being asked to work with a squad that is far too big and with too many players left unhappy or out of the reckoning altogether.

Martin's biggest strength at Saints has been courage, clarity and direction. Right now, he and the players seem to lack it. But they can still find it.

This season is only the third time in English football history in which five teams have failed to win one of their first six top flight matches.

One win could lift Saints out of the relegation zone but Martin needs to work out what he believes is his best team and let them gel on the pitch. 

Stick with a system that works and the personnel who worked in it. They are up against the best, they are going to lose more games.

But he is asking his team to play in a way that is scary in this division. Overcomplicating it will surely only make matters worse.