Koeman – What to expect?

Southampton face Aston Villa at St.Mary’s tonight in the Capital One Cup and Saints boss Ronald Koeman has said that it is very difficult to know what to expect given that Aston Villa are currently without a manager.

Tim Sherwood was let go by Aston Villa earlier this week and Kevin MacDonald has assumed the role of interim boss for the time being. This means that it is very hard for Ronald Koeman and his team to know what to expect from Aston Villa, who may find a new lease of life with a new man in charge.

It is a fantastic chance for Southampton to reach the quarter-finals of the Capital One Cup, due to the fact that they are at St.Mary’s and up against a Aston Villa side that have been in poor form recently, losing their manager may not help as well.

Speaking in the build-up to tonight’s game, Ronald Koeman said this:

It’s difficult because we show the players some clips about the last two games that they played and the last one against Swansea at home.

That’s all we can do because if they make changes in the way how they play or the system, we will see on Wednesday.

That means we have to be prepared for everything and that starts with ourselves.

Normally (a change of manager) gives always a reaction to the team. Players who aren’t involved in the last few weeks maybe will get a chance under the new manager.

That’s possible, but we know every game is difficult.

While Ronald Koeman is wary of the threat Villa pose, he is also raring to go and have a cup run this season with the Saints.

It’s a different competition and everybody knows we take it seriously.

Of course it’s a little bit difficult to know what we can expect from Aston Villa, because they change their manager.

But we have to prepare ourselves in the best way we can. That’s to start strong and win the game.

There was a great spirit from the lads in the session on Tuesday. I think we are ready for it.