Southampton boss, Russell Martin, has heaped praise on Sheffield Wednesday after their defeat on the south coast.
Sheffield Wednesday’s high spirits were crushed on Saturday as they were thrashed 4-0 by Southampton.
The Owls headed into the game off the back of three wins in all competitions, but they were coming up against a newly-relegated side who hadn’t lost since September.
Danny Rohl mixed up his team selection, and was questioned as to why he decided to bring back Bambo Diaby and push Di’Shon Bernard into midfield.
His tactical decisions clearly didn’t pay off though, with a number of defensive mistakes contributing to a demolition at St Mary’s Stadium.
Southampton ran riot all over the park, having over double The Owls’ shots, as well as enjoying a whopping 71% possession in the Championship clash.
Rohl’s side had only three corners, 77% pass accuracy and 294 passes, and have now given QPR the opportunity to leapfrog them into today’s meeting with Watford.
Despite a day to forget for Sheffield Wednesday, Russell Martin was quick to praise the visitors.
Speaking after the game, the Southampton boss said: “We did have two or three moments in the game that we shouldn’t do and a big moment scared us into life at the start of the game… I am proud of the lads for being brave and working it out. Sheffield Wednesday were relentless and they came to be so aggressive.
“We prepared for that and I thought the guys were brilliant. The players are really in flow, they run relentlessly for each other and press so well. Wednesday tried to play today and we stole the ball so many times and looked like a real threat on the regain.”
Is it something to be concerned about?
Sheffield Wednesday have been very much on the up since the start of December, but it was a very disappointing performance today.
While The Owls were at fault for much of the defeat, there is no denying the gulf between the two sides that the players couldn’t really do much about.
According to transfermarkt, the market value of Southampton’s starting line-up this weekend is worth around £101 million, with forwards Adam Armstrong and Che Adams costing a combined total of £30m.
Meanwhile, Sheffield Wednesday’s line-up is worth only £5m – cheaper than most of Southampton’s players individually. In fact, only three of The Owls’ players are worth seven figures, and they only own one of them (Di’Shon Bernard, Ike Ugbo and James Beadle).
It was a very tough day for the Yorkshire outfit, but one that they can definitely grow from and push on.