Kyle Walker-Peters believes instability caused by an influx of new signings contributed significantly to relegated Southampton’s season of struggle.
Saints have spent the majority of a dismal campaign in the Premier League drop zone and were finally condemned to the Sky Bet Championship by Saturday’s 2-0 loss to Fulham.
The division’s bottom side recruited 15 players across the last two transfer windows, while current boss Ruben Selles is the third man in charge this term following the sackings of Ralph Hasenhuttl and Nathan Jones.
England defender Walker-Peters admits individuals have under-performed but feels background upheaval has not helped the club’s predicament.
“No it hasn’t,” said the 26-year-old. “Being 100 per cent honest, that has been really tough for everyone.
“When I first came here it was a smaller squad, a tight-knit squad and sometimes when there is a lot of change it makes things hard.
“On the pitch we haven’t been good enough, we haven’t done our jobs well enough and ultimately that is why we’re getting relegated.”
Defeat to the Cottagers was Southampton’s 24th in the top flight during a dismal season which has brought just six wins and only 31 goals, with 66 conceded.
Victories over Chelsea and Leicester in Selles’ first three games after replacing Jones sparked hope of survival but were followed by a paltry three points from the next 33 available.
“We haven’t scored enough goals, we haven’t stopped enough goals and ultimately if you’re not good enough in both boxes then it’s hard to win games,” said Walker-Peters.
“That has been the story of our season.”
Dropping into the Championship is likely to spark a player exodus at St Mary’s, with Walker-Peters one of those expected to attract interest.
The full-back, who made his international debut last year, was tight-lipped about his own future ahead of matches against Brighton and Liverpool.
He anticipates the club will attempt to build around the raft of young talent they are able to retain as they prepare for life in the second tier.
“There are still two more games so that is my main focus – try and make those results positive and see what happens after there,” he said.
“I’m not looking too much into my future yet.
“I always see myself in a Southampton shirt, I love the club. I enjoy being here so we’ll see what happens.”
Asked how the club bounce back, he replied: “It is not for me to say, the club have their own ideas and they will want to bounce back asap.
“They’ll try and keep everyone they can and everyone they want to keep and try and bounce back from there.”
Fulham require three points from games against Crystal Palace and Manchester United to surpass the club’s record Premier League tally of 53 following success on the south coast.
Cottagers midfielder Harrison Reed, who began his career at Southampton, said: “That is massive for us as a group of players and the staff.
“That is what we are aiming for, and pushing each day to achieve that.
“We have planned this season and we have put our stamp on it from the first game really.
“It’s nice to be in the position we are, winning games of football and with the fans behind us.”
Asked about his former club, Reed, who suffered relegation with Fulham in 2021, said: “It’s been a tough season. We’ve been there.
“You need to get your head down and focus and win some football matches next year and I am sure they will come back stronger.”
Russell Martin hails Southampton’s ‘most complete’ performance against Stoke
Russell Martin hopes Southampton can kick their Sky Bet Championship campaign on again after putting a bad run of form behind them with a 1-0 win over Stoke.
Stuart Armstrong’s first-half free-kick proved the difference at the bet365 Stadium as Saints secured back-to-back victories, while the Potters slipped to their fifth loss in seven Championship games.
The victory in the Potteries followed a 3-1 triumph versus Leeds last Saturday and the successive wins came after a four-game losing run, with Martin hoping their toughest moment of the season has been and gone.
“I think it’s been two of our best performances, tonight I think was probably our best one, our most complete one,” he said.
“I feel like we should have scored a couple more goals and we limited them to very little really, although they threw everything at us in the end.
“To follow up the effort it took on Saturday to come here and such a tough place, a good team with a really excellent manager, to come here and do what we did, I’m really proud of the boys.
“They’re playing for each other, they’re playing for us and the last two games will hopefully come at the end of the toughest moment we’ll have together.
“I think every team has a tough period and ours has come early on after a good start and playing against a really difficult fixture schedule.
“We found a bit of rhythm now and hopefully we can maintain that.”
Alex Neil, while proud of Stoke’s efforts, voiced frustration at key refereeing decisions including Josh Laurent’s foul on Armstrong for the winning free-kick and Nathan Lowe being bundled over by Jan Bednarek after the break which he felt was a penalty.
He said: “I think all you ever ask your team to do and individual players is to give everything they’ve got and I thought we got that.
“I don’t think we can have any complaints in terms of the efforts of the players.
“We got undone by one moment of quality where the ball ends up in the top corner.
“I think certainly if you look at the foul that they get for their goal and you look at the foul in the box, if you’re going to compare both in terms of contact.
“I think if you look at the two directives at the start of the season, one was based around soft contact for fouls and not buying into soft contact, which I thought for the first foul was really soft, and the other was was timewasting, and I didn’t think any of the directives this evening were carried out well enough in terms of the game at all.”
Rob Edwards disappointed not to take anything from Burnley clash
Luton boss Rob Edwards could not hide his disappointment following Burnley’s late winner, admitting his side should have got more from the game.
Jacob Bruun Larsen’s stunning strike made it 2-1 just one minute after Elijah Adebayo had drawn the Hatters level as the Clarets snatched a first win of the Premier League season.
Edwards said the result hurt after Luton had got off the mark with a 2-1 win at Everton on Saturday.
“I’m obviously really disappointed with the result, we’re down, flat and hurting because of the manner of it (the loss),” Edwards said.
“We pushed, we had set-pieces, we went forward in numbers and were brave, aggressive and didn’t allow them the control they wanted.
“But we come away with nothing and that hurts.
“The lads gave everything. The fans were clapping at the end and if they’re doing that then we’re doing the right things, but everybody will be disappointed because we should have taken something from the game.”
Luton were left to rue missed chances, having taken just one of 18 attempts.
And Edwards admitted his side, who have scored six goals in seven matches, are struggling to find the back of the net.
“We had big chances and openings, so if we weren’t doing that I’d be more worried. But we did create and I think there are positives and we’re going in the right direction,” he added.
“It’s the hardest part of football, scoring a goal, we have to keep arriving, trying to create the chances, be there with good numbers, keep working on technique, which we can practice in training.
“But other than that it’s down to the players to find a way to put it in.
“I thought we pretty much dominated the second half.
“We’ve had 15 shots inside the box tonight and only scored one. That’s proving to be the difficult thing for us at the moment.”
Vincent Kompany was delighted after his side “battled” in the second half to pick up points on the road.
He said: “It was a complete performance in the first half and in the second half it was a battle and we showed character. From our defenders to our midfielders, coming in for second balls.
“Those who know us from the Championship will know we enjoy these type of games as well and it’s not something we shy away from.”
Bayern Munich complete comeback victory at Copenhagen
Bayern Munich came from behind to secure a 2-1 win over Copenhagen in the Champions League at Parken Stadium.
A shock was on the cards in Denmark when Lukas Lerager opened the scoring for Copenhagen 10 minutes after the break, but Munich were on level terms through Jamal Musiala’s clever strike from outside the area.
The decisive moment of the game came with 83 minutes on the clock when Mathys Tel lashed home from inside the box to break Copenhagen hearts and deny them a point.
The hosts had the first chance of the game through Mohamed Elyounoussi, but his effort from inside the area was well saved by Sven Ulreich.
Munich enjoyed the lion’s share of possession through the early stages before Elyounoussi had another chance for the home side – this time his header went straight into the gloves of Bayern goalkeeper.
Bayern came close to an opener themselves on the half-hour mark, but Joshua Kimmich’s drilled shot from outside the area flew marginally over the crossbar.
It took 45 minutes for the the visitors to register their first shot on target when Leroy Sane found space outside the area, but his whipped left-footed strike was comfortably held by Kamil Grabara.
The visitors went in search of the first goal early in the second half when Kimmich decided to have another go from range, but he was denied by Grabara again.
Much to the surprise of many, the home side opened the scoring in the 55th minute. Viktor Claesson jinked past two defenders before his initial goalbound effort was blocked, only for the ball to fall to Lerager who flashed home from inside the area.
Bayern instantly tried to shift the momentum to avoid defeat and almost got their equaliser eight minutes later, but Konrad Laimer’s header went marginally wide of a post.
Two minutes later, Thomas Tuchel’s side levelled in superb fashion through Musiala’s 67th-minute strike. The forward shifted the ball from left to right before he let fly from just outside the area and into the bottom right corner.
Munich pushed for a winner but Sane’s effort from a tight angle did not test Grabara in the home goal. Copenhagen did not want to settle for the solitary point either and could have regained their advantage, but Elyounoussi’s shot flew just wide of the target.
With seven minutes left on the clock, Bayern turned the game on its head after some fantastic work from Thomas Muller. He opened up the space for Tel, who blasted high into the net from 10 yards to make it two wins from their opening two Champions League games in Group A.
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