This article is part of Football League World’s ‘The Verdict’ series, which provides personal opinions from the FLW writers regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…
Despite having made a decent start to life back in the Championship, in recent weeks, Southampton have begun to struggle.
The Saints had won three and drawn one of their first four league games, but they were dealt a harsh reality check when they lost 5-0 at Sunderland earlier this month. Since then, they have dropped their last four league games.
Carlos Alcaraz, an exciting young talent, has been benched by Russell Martin as a result of recent tactical changes.
Alcaraz has been forced to sit on the bench after starting three of the Saints’ first four league games. For the first time, he was not used as a substitute in Saturday’s loss to Boro.
After the game, Martin gave BBC Radio Solent an explanation for his absence, saying, “I see the players every day.” Charly is a young man who speaks the language poorly, if at all, so keep that in mind when you ask people to play a certain way.”
“There are certain things he knows he needs to improve on, and we are asking him to play on a highly structured team.
“I told Gilly that although I would face backlash for not bringing him on, it really comes down to who you can trust at the time.
“You either fully commit to the team or you don’t. Charly really ought to move over to that side right now.
“He’s been going through a tough moment. He has lost both of his closest group friends, Lyanco and Willy (Caballero).
“He’s a young man who is miles away from his home and he’s had some difficult news about his dad.
“He’s got all of that going on which people don’t see and don’t understand.
“We will help him through it and at some point he will be on the pitch for us and he will be fantastic, but now is not the right time while the team is struggling
Should Russell Martin consider starting Carlos Alcaraz again?
Despite those comments, though, arguably, bringing in an attacking spark like Alcaraz could help turn things around.
With that said, below, some of our FLW writers have offered their thoughts on whether Alcaraz should be brought back in to the side.
On the one hand, Russell Martin sees his players day in day out at the training ground.
With that said, if he does not feel it is the time to put Alcaraz back into the starting XI, then you are inclined to agree with his assessment.
However, on the other hand, with Southampton continuing to struggle, I do believe that having exciting talents like Alcaraz in the line-up can energise those around the player, and potentially help Southampton if they do continue to be defeated.
In that sense, putting Alcaraz back into the starting line up is certainly something to consider.
At the very least, I would be using Carlos Alcarrom the bench. At this level, he is far too good to be left as an unused substitute.
Given what Russell Martin has said regarding Carlos Alcaraz’s situation off the pitch at the club, it’s no major surprise to see the player not feature all too much of late.
It’s sometimes easy to forget that he is just 20 and it’ll take time for him to adapt to new methods, certainly ones that are as extreme as Russell Martin’s.
Nonetheless, when Martin and Alcaraz feel the time is right, he’s a guaranteed starter in my eyes.
He was one of the Saints’ shining lights in what was a dismal campaign in the Premier League last time out, with his energy and dynamism standing out in the top-flight.
Ultimately, it’s been a slow start for the Saints this term and particularly new Saints central midfielder Flynn Downes so there is certainly an avenue to see more of Alcaraz in the coming weeks.
He offers something different to the likes of Smallbone, Downes and Charles and could end up being a secret weapon for Martin this term.
