Adam Armstrong is one of a number of Southampton players who have struggled to impress since the club earned promotion to the Premier League.
Southampton are yet to get their first league win since returning to the top flight after a year-long exodus.
Russell Martin did at least take his first point as a Premier League manager as Southampton drew with Ipswich Town on Saturday but the fact the Tractor Boys equalised in the 95th-minute made it feel more like a defeat.
The starting XI Martin sent out against Ipswich had a very different feel to the one that started the first two games of the season as it included nine summer signings; although Taylor Harwood-Bellis, Flynn Downes and Ryan Fraser were all at the club on loan last campaign.
In the first two matches in the Premier League, nine of the starting XI were at the club last season but Martin has had to put sentiment to one side as he looks to keep Southampton in the top flight.
Darren Bent questions Adam Armstrong’s ability to perform for Southampton in Premier League
One Saints player who has fallen victim to Martin’s ruthless streak is Adam Armstrong.
The striker has been at the club since 2021 but really came into his own in the Championship last season, scoring 24 goals – including the play-off final winner – and providing 13 assists.
Armstrong also captained the side on multiple occasions last season with Jack Stephens sidelined for much of the first half of the campaign.
The concern was always whether Armstrong could deliver in the top flight having scored four Premier League goals in two seasons at the Saints before relegation and he is yet to get off the mark in 2024/25.
Now out of the side, Darren Bent delivered his verdict on Armstrong on TalkSPORT on Tuesday afternoon (4:41pm), as he said: “He is a good finisher. You watch his finishes. But he gets really apprehensive in the Premier League.
“He needs to go on a run. I like Adam Armstrong.
“It’s unfair, but it’s almost like one of those strikers, right, where whoever gets relegated from the Premier League this season, sign him because he would score the goals to get them back up. Do you know what I mean?”
It is hard to disagree with Bent’s assessment given Southampton signed Armstrong off the back of a strong Championship season and now his only good season at the club has come in the second tier.
It may be harsh but perhaps Armstrong is simply not capable of making the step up to the very top level and it is difficult to see how he gets back into Martin’s side.
After being dropped against Manchester United, Armstrong was handed a chance to play centre-forward in the Carabao Cup tie against Everton in the next match but was anonymous as he failed to make any impact on the game.
With Ross Stewart building up his fitness and Cameron Archer currently the starting centre-forward, as well as Tyler Dibling excelling in the right wing position Armstrong played much of last season, it may be a while before the former Blackburn Rovers man gets another start in the league.
Southampton finally claimed their first Premier League point of the season on Saturday as Russell Martin’s side drew 1-1 with Ipswich Town.
The draw will have felt like a defeat for Russell Martin and his Southampton players given Ipswich equalised from a deflected Sam Morsy strike on 95 minutes.
Southampton had led from the 5th-minute as Tyler Dibling netted his first senior goal after a precise pass from Adam Lallana that saw two players at opposite ends of their careers combine.
Cameron Archer in particular was guilty of squandering opportunities to extend the Saints’ lead before Ipswich’s late strike following a corner left St Mary’s deflated.
Ben Foster thinks lack of goals will cost Southampton in Premier League
Dibling’s goal was just Southampton’s second in the Premier League this season, with right-back Yukinari Sugawara scoring the other.
That is a concern for Martin, particularly given none of his strikers have scored and Southampton have conceded nine goals in their five league matches so far.
Former Watford goalkeeper Ben Foster spoke on the game in the latest episode of his Fozcast podcast after co-host Tom Ochoa said: “Southampton are going to go down because they don’t take their chances, do they?”
Foster responded with his blunt verdict, saying: “No, they don’t.
“But it’s always going to be the way isn’t it? For a newly promoted team…goals.
“Scoring goals gets you safe, it’s as simple as that.”
Foster did add that he felt Martin’s side were unfortunate not to take all three points on Saturday, saying: “I feel for Southampton here to be perfectly honest because they’ve done really well in this game [v Ipswich].
“They’ve got to the 95th-minute of the game and it was a horrible, horrible deflection that robbed them of three points really.”
Southampton must start converting chances against Bournemouth
Next up for Southampton is a huge match against fellow south coast dwellers Bournemouth on Monday night.
Martin will be keen to build on the first point of the campaign against Ipswich, especially as the Saints face both Arsenal and Manchester City in the three games that follow the trip to the Cherries.
Earlier in the season Southampton were struggling to create chances but against Ipswich they created four big chances so it is now time for the forwards to step up.
Archer looks like a player who desperately needs a goal, with his penalty miss against Manchester United clearly impacting his confidence but he is not alone as Ben Brereton Diaz and Adam Armstrong have also both struggled to make their mark.
Bournemouth have won just one league game so far this season and have conceded eight goals – one less than Southampton – so Martin will hope his forwards can capitalise on Monday night.
