Ivan Juric blames ‘naïve’ mentality for late Southampton collapse at Manchester United - 'We were like innocent kids'
Published 17/01/2025 at 00:12 GMT
Southampton head coach Ivan Juric blamed his team's 3-1 loss to Manchester United on their mentality in the final 15 minutes of the game at Old Trafford, branding his players as "innocent kids" as they let a 1-0 lead slip with 12 minutes to go. A hat-trick from Amad Diallo was enough to condemn The Saints to yet another loss as they languish at the bottom of the table.
‘We were like innocent kids’ - Juric slams Southampton ‘naive’ collapse at Old Trafford
Video credit: TNT Sports
Southampton manager Ivan Juric said that his side's mentality in the final 15 minutes of the game cost them three points against Manchester United.
United scored three goals, courtesy of Amad Diallo, in 12 minutes to walk away with three points.
An own goal from Manuel Ugarte gave Southampton a 1-0 lead in the 43rd minute at Old Trafford, and if not for Andre Onana's goalkeeping, the visitors would have likely added at least one more.
Amad then exploded in the last 12 minutes of the game to score a hat-trick and save United from a defeat to the club at the bottom of the table.
"I think we did 75 minutes playing really good, playing much better than Man United," Juric told TNT Sports. "Then in the last 20 minutes, we were like innocent kids, not good mentality.
"To win this game, you cannot play 75 minutes. And then 15 minutes you have to be more malicious, a little more evil to win the game."
"It is not physicality, there's a moment when you're down, but you have to earn some fouls, some free throws, losing the time, being much more clever. There's a lot of situations where we're naive.
"Until the end we have to play like this. In my opinion, we have to work even more on the training to not go down in the last 15 minutes. It was a really good performance here and we have to continue to 90 minutes."
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Highlights: Amad rescues Man Utd with dramatic late hat-trick over Saints
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Southampton have not won since a 1-0 victory against Everton at the start of November, leading to Juric's installation in December following the sacking of Russell Martin.
Aside from a 5-0 loss to Brentford at the beginning of the year, Southampton have showed subtle signs of improvement under Juric, even if they still languish at the bottom of the table.
For 80 minutes, they were largely the better side at Old Trafford, and came close to walking away with an immense win.
"We are playing a good game, and we are sorry for our fans and angry because we didn't do good things in the last 15 minutes," the Croatian coach added.
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Amorim claims Man Utd ‘lacked control’ not ‘enthusiasm’ in Saints win
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"We did everything good, we had lots of chances to score more goals, but like I said, we did a really good game until 75.
"We have to use everything for the next game. I want the same performance against Nottingham [Forest] and to begin with that type of mentality to win games."
The Saints travel to third-placed Nottingham Forest on Sunday, where their hosts will be buoyed and confident after a 1-1 draw against league leaders Liverpool.
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