Southampton Calls For More Improvement On 26-Year-Old Despite ‘Impressive’ Ipswich Display

Instead, Russell Martin had to settle for the one point against fellow newly-promoted Ipswich Town, with Southampton at least getting off the mark for the season with the draw at St Mary’s.It was a perfect start for Southampton as 18-year-old sensation Tyler Dibling scored his first senior goal to put the home side ahead after just five minutes.

The youngster’s goal was assisted by a player at the other end of their career as 36-year-old Adam Lallana threaded a perfect ball through to Dibling in his first league start since returning to Southampton this summer.

Southampton could have made sure of the win with Cameron Archer missing big chances to extend the lead, before Morsy’s strike saw Ipswich’s late pressure finally pay dividends.

Aaron Ramsdale must improve distribution despite strong performance for Southampton vs Ipswich Town

In truth, Southampton could very well have conceded much earlier had it not been for a number of fine saves from £25 million Deadline Day signing Aaron Ramsdale.

Rasmsdale showed great athleticism to produce saves from the likes of Sammie Szmodics and George Hirst and his display was labelled ‘impressive’ by the Daily Echo as they scored his performance an eight out of ten.

However, one concerning statistic is that Ramsdale completed just 53% of his passes against Ipswich according to Sofascore, with 18 successful passes out of 34 attempted.

Given one of the main reasons Martin considered an upgrade on Alex McCarthy necessary this summer was his shortcomings with the ball at his feet, this is someehat concerning for Southampton’s possession-based style.

Ramsdale still learning Russell Martin’s Southampton tactics

In terms of shot-stopping, Ramsdale is a huge upgrade on Southampton’s other goalkeepers; even when Gavin Bazunu eventually returns from his Achilles injury.

Against Ipswich, the 26-year-old made five saves, was successful on both occasions when coming out his goal to sweep and made one high claim.

However, Martin’s style is very particular, with his goalkeeper key to how the team builds up.

READ MORE: Aaron Ramsdale shares intriguing insight into how Russell Martin wants Southampton to play

Ramsdale is clearly still getting to grips with this and nothing highlights this better than the fact the England International played 19 long balls on Saturday.

This is not in line with the Martin playbook and it is easy to see why when you consider only five of the long balls found their target.

With so much of Southampton’s summer budget spent on Ramsdale, this is something that needs to improve drastically in the coming weeks if Martin is to see his approach bring success.