“How do you sum up that match, do you feel you deserved to take something from it?”
“No.”
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Ralph Hasenhuttl gave a very honest verdict of his side’s performance as Southampton were beaten for a fifth straight Premier League match.
Their latest setback saw them on a the wrong side of a 3-2 scoreline against Newcastle in an enthralling contest at St James’ Park.
There were some positives to take with Takumi Minamino scoring on his Saints debut – the Liverpool loanee firing into the roof of the net on 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, captain James Ward-Prowse scored a stunning free-kick early in the second half which set up a Grandstand finish.
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However, the home side were reduced to ten men on 50 minutes when Jeff Hendrick received his second bookable offence.
They then went down to nine when Fabian Schar was stretchered off with a knee injury. Steve Bruce was unable to replace him having already used his three substitutes.
But the thing that disappointed Hasenhuttl the most was the way Southampton conceded. Newcastle’s second saw the ball come off Jan Bednarek before going in, while their third came after errors by Alex McCarthy and Ryan Bertrand.
Saints have slipped down to twelfth in the table and Hasenhuttl called on his players to show they’re not just a team ‘that wants to be good.’
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He said: “The way we conceded is far too easy. It’s not the way you can defend in the Premier League.
“It’s always difficult to come back. We scored twice, had a few chances, but when you defend like this it’s hard to get points, it’s so simple.
“You can speak about having one or two more men but it’s not easy to score when you defend well.
“We need to find the reset button and find the behaviours that we showed earlier in the season. I knew it was a tough moment now after the last game but when you start like we did then it’s always immediately the main problem, every chance was a goal and it was too easy.
“We must fight back to the way we were playing before, the Premier League is a long season. To be consistent over 38 games is the difference between a good team and a team that wants to be good.”
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