RONALD KOEMAN BELIEVES his Southampton team were the architects of their own downfall in Monday’s 2-1 Premier League defeat to Manchester United.
Robin van Persie was the beneficiary of some generous Southampton defending at St Mary’s, scoring a goal in each half to extend United’s winning run to five matches.
Southampton were on top for large periods of the clash, with Graziano Pelle scoring his 10th goal of the season to equalise following Van Persie’s opener, but they slumped to their third loss in nine days after the Dutchman reinstated United’s lead in the 71st minute.
“We did everything, we created chances. But we also did mistakes,” Koeman told reporters.
“Maybe they [United] did more mistakes than we did but they have players who handle those kind of mistakes and that was the difference today.
“At this level detail makes the difference in football. You can talk about who deserved it, who played offensively, who pressed, but everything is s*** because we lost.
“I said to my players, we did not lose against Man United tonight; we lost by ourselves.”
Despite their recent slump, Southampton remain fifth in the Premier League and Koeman is committed to the style of play that has brought the Saints success over recent months.
“I like to see my team playing football in the way that we’ve started this season,” he added.
“If we lose or we win, that’s our way of playing because I believe in that way of playing even now when we’ve lost the last three games.
“(Manchester) City were the much better team but we deserved more against Arsenal, we deserve much more tonight but we did mistakes.
“If you give players like Van Persie those kind of mistakes, he will punish you – he will punish you for sure.”
