Ralph Hasenhuttl spoke to the press following his side’s late loss to Cardiff City in the Premier League.
Southampton equalised in the 90th minute, before conceding just two minutes after taking them on level points with 18th-placed Burnley.
Hasenhuttl was honest in his review and full of emotion as expected from the defensive horror show his team conducted late on.
Lost for words
The Austrian admitted he was ‘struggling to find the right words’ to describe his feelings following his teams’ defeat but was clear on his fury over Cardiff’s winner.
“Cardiff shot three times on our goal and we conceded two goals, with this approach we have no chance to stay in the Premier League. If you don’t stop giving goals away like that, the way we gave four points away this week, it'll take a lot of work to remove the stone in our way now.”
The Saints have sunk to 17th and level on points with Burnley who take on Brighton later on Saturday evening. Despite their unconvincing display, Hasenhuttl explained that his players wanting to win the way wasn’t enough.
“I think they [Southampton players] wanted to win the game, even if you want to do that, you have to stay focused and think. It’s stupid [how we conceded] it’s absolutely horrible, I've never seen anything like how we gave the second goal away.”
A timely break
With two weeks out of action before heading to the Emirates to face Arsenal, Hasenhuttl admitted his focus in training will be predominantly defensive and explained how Saints’ mistakes changed the game.
“That’s the focus for training next week. The atmosphere changed in three minutes, we were happy we could keep them at distance and then it changed, it was a disaster and we have to sleep on it because at the moment it feels horrible. Tomorrow it may feel worse.”
With three months left to save Southampton’s life in the Premier League, Hasenhuttl explained how the mentality of his side hasn’t changed, but mistakes can’t continue to override the Saints’ will to win.
“It’s nothing new for us knowing we have to fight for the last game, we could have made a step forward today, it’s always possible in the Premier League to lose games, but it was the way we lost it which was the worst way. We had the mentality and we were fighting, what we did today was something we can never do it again.”