Ronald Koeman has stressed the importance of getting a win on Sunday as Saints visit Watford.
Saints travel to Vicarage Road on the back of just one point from the opening two games after a well
earned draw at Newcastle. Followed by a disappointing home display against Everton in a 3-0 loss.
Ronald Koeman spoke to saintsfc in the build up to Sunday’s fixture.
Koeman said “of course after
the defeat against Everton, we need a win. We know that. A win gives confidence
to the players.”
Due to Europa League commitments the schedule is a little bit different for the players this season
but the players know this is something that will take time to get used to.
The Dutchman then went on to look back on last season and noticed the similarities his side were presented with at this stage last season.
“A little bit of difference
was that last season the West Ham game was the last one before international
duty. That’s not the same this year because we still play on Europa League game
and Norwich at home.” He said.
Even though Saints have only had two days to prepare for the away trip, Koeman has made his team well aware of the job in hand on Sunday afternoon.
“Some players have some
kicks from Thursday, but we won’t do a lot on Friday”, he continued saying.
“You can’t do a lot because they have to recover. We will give them good treatment
to recuperate.
“Saturday we will have the
last session to prepare for the game on Sunday, but we know what we like to do
and we know how we like to play. That’s the most important.”
Saints last won away from home in the league when they beat QPR 1-0 on the 7 February. But they visit a side in Watford who are still unbeaten after two draws in their opening two games since
their return to the top flight.
Their manager Quique Sanchez Flores joined in the summer and has led Atletico Madrid to European glory in previous years.
But is looking forward to coming up against Ronald Koeman who he has come up against from his playing days in Spain.
“I respect the career of
Ronald Koeman, the player and the coach. I play a lot of times in Spain against
him when he was playing Barcelona and I was with Valencia and Real Madrid.
“For me, it’s a good
experience to play against Ronald Koeman. I just check how the work of Koeman
is now. That’s the most important for me.” He added.
The two sides haven’t played each other in the Premier League since the 1999-2000 season, where Saints lost at Vicarage Road but won 2-0 at home.
Southampton did do the double against Watford in the Championship in 2012, with the matches ending 3-0 and 4-0 to the Saints.
As it stands, Watford are defensively better than Southampton as they are currently top of the
interceptions table with 58. Whereas the Saints have gone
eight Premier League games without a clean sheet conceding more than once in
seven of those fixtures.
Predicted line up:
Stekelenburg, Soares, Fonte, Yoshida, Targett, Ward-Prowse, Wanyama, Tadic,
Mane, Long, Pelle
