Ivan Juric criticised for retaining Russell Martin-like Premier League attitude | OneFootball

Ivan Juric has been labelled as a rigid Southampton manager, a designation that Russell Martin previously held among the Saints.

In football, it's quite acceptable that two managers may not have the same ideas. In fact, it happens so frequently that sometimes teams look like a level apart from their former self with minimal modifications.

Knowing this, it's hard to believe how come Southampton shortlisted Ivan Juric as their head coach who resembled Russell Martin in many ways. Looking at lineups and player preferences, it doesn't make sense but their tactics often go hand in hand no matter even if they lead to defeats.

A biggest evidence is their obsession towards fielding an inexperienced back-five. Despite allowing wide spaces to opponents with a naive defensive approach neither Russell learnt the lesson nor Juric decided to replace that weakness.

The latter even talked about changing the game plan but the biggest noticeable difference was making more lineup errors.

Townsend advises Southampton to find a shrewd manager

Consequently, the Croatian saw his appeal decline rapidly among the Saints. Now, fan favourite Andy Townsend has recommended the Saints to avoid repeating a similar hiring mistake.

Townsend's idea is pretty much agreeable but connecting the dots to bring such a tactician isn't easy. Further, Ivan Juric also arrived at St. Mary's with an accomplished relegation-escaping profile but remains on track to add a relegated tag to his name.

Hence, Southampton needs to get the better of both player and coaching recruitments to find some sort of consistency in their next Premier League journey. Whether they will implement this ideology quickly remains to be seen.