Southampton manager Ronald Koeman has suggested that Louis van Gaals formation hampered Manchester United during the Saints 1-0 victory at Old Trafford on Sunday The Red Devils did not have a single shot on target - although Juan Mata did miss two gilt-edged chances - as the visitors picked up their first win on United turf since 1988 thanks to Dusan Tadics second-half goal. The hosts lined up with three central defenders, including returning midfielder Daley Blind, and struggled to create goalscoring opportunities for the most part, something which Koeman appears to have pinpointed and predicted. You know that they have difficulties to build up with three centre-backs, the Southampton boss told reporters of his old adversarys line-up. [In] the second half we pressed them better than the first. They have a lot of qualities from the midfield to the attack, fantastic players, so you need really good players to stop that. Koeman also insists that he is not surprised that his side picked up three points, adding: We know we have a strong team and that was important in the end of December. We got a point against Chelsea and the three points against Arsenal. That makes belief in the players. It is what you need if you are not a big club: belief in the players, not afraid of the name or the stadium. We learned that. I am not surprised we won today. We have organisation. We have 11 clean sheets in 21 games. If we keep the spirit and the organisation, we can keep in front in the table. Eljero Elia, who joined the Saints on loan from Werder Bremen in December, made his debut on Sunday before making way for Tadic and Koeman was pleased with his contribution. Yeah, you know he didnt play for a long time and hes not a player for 90 minutes, the manager observed. He needs minutes to get the rhythm of the game. It was a good option for [the United game], hes a fast player who can play one against one. I think he did well for an hour. Little by little he will come back with his performance. I am sure it is a good signing for us.
Posted on: Mon, 12 Jan 2015 23:36:00 +0000
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