Southampton defender Maya Yoshida has slammed his team’s lack of consistency and underlined it as the reason why the Saints can’t compete with the likes of Manchester United for the top spots in the league.
Southampton were narrow losers at the weekend when they faced the Red Devils, with Romelu Lukaku’s singular goal all that separated the two sides, but Yoshida has called for more from his team (quotes via The Mirror):
We have to be more consistent, not sometimes win, sometimes lose. If we continue to play like this we can have more chances
There is nothing much different between the top teams – If we want to step up more we have to be better, more consistent. I believe we can do it
Southampton are yet to record back-to-back wins so far this season and currently sit in 11th place in the Premier League — and could end Monday in 12th place if Arsenal manage any kind of result against West Bromwich Albion on Monday Night Football.
The last time Southampton managed back-to-back wins was in April; they beat Crystal Palace 3-1 and West Brom 1-0 before going on a five-game winless streak towards the end of the season.
Yoshida discussed that poor end to the season as well as the weekend’s loss to Manchester United:
Since the end of the season we couldn’t score enough, that’s the problem I think. We have to be more clinical for sure but defensively I think we did much better [against United last weekend] than last season. So the way we are going is not wrong I think
They (United) had a few chances – maybe two chances and they score. That is the kind of the difference between Southampton and Manchester United but if we can play like this against teams in the top, hopefully we can step up against the teams in the middle
Southampton’s next game is away to Stoke City on Saturday afternoon.
