Ralph Hasenhuttl Admits Southampton 'Must Be Better' After Poor Start

Southampton manager Ralph Hasenhuttl has admitted his team 'must be better' before their trip to Burnley this weekend.

After an impressive end to last season, Southampton were tipped by many pundits to enjoy a successful campaign. However, the Saints have lost their first two league matches and exited the Carabao Cup to Brentford.

Ahead of Saturday's trip to Turf Moor, Hasenhuttl said to the club's official website: “We are a little bit critical when we watch our performance because we know the level that we have shown at the end of last season.”

Southampton's most recent reverse was last weekend's 5-2 collapse at home to Tottenham, and the Saints boss wasn't happy with both his team's style of play and their capitulation after half time.

“We are not that happy to see us playing – even in the first half (against Tottenham), when we definitely didn’t play bad, was still not the way we can play. We can still be calmer and more efficient in our game with the ball. 

“In the second half, there was a good start but after a big chance for us we conceded the second goal in a much too easy way and then we stopped defending. This is something I haven’t seen for a long time. We suddenly lost our way completely and mentally were not strong enough to fight back. 

“This is impossible and definitely something we criticised this week. For us, it’s a clear message to do it better and show up".

Southampton will not face any respite on Saturday. Their opponents Burnley are unbeaten in their last seven meetings with the Saints and Turf Moor is a venue no team in the division relishes visiting.
Hasenhuttl acknowledged this, saying: “We have to show that we are better than we have shown in the first two games. To win there (Turf Moor) is not easy, but we will try.”

After this game, Southampton will host West Brom before the October international break. The need for points will quickly become imperative to avoid a repeat of last season's struggles.