Thursday 3 December 2015 12:50, UK
Southampton boss Ronald Koeman blasted his side's defending after suffering a 6-1 home defeat in the Capital one Cup quarter-final against Liverpool.
Koeman's team made the perfect start at St Mary's with Sadio Mane opening the scoring after just 41 seconds but from that moment it all went wrong for the hosts as the visitors hit six without reply.
And while Koeman took some of the responsibility for the thrashing, the Dutchman slammed his defensive show as they suffered their worst home defeat for 56 years.
"It was not the result we expected," Koeman told Sky Sports. "I think it was a great start in the game but if you make mistakes defensively like we did in the first half against real top quality like Liverpool then you can lose.
"The second half is my responsibility. I changed the system. I took the risk to play three at the back and that's my responsibility but if you go one up and then at half-time it's 1-3 then it's not good.
"If you analyse Liverpool's first goal, it's a throw-in and if you see how easy they played from the throw-in to score, that's not good and it can't happen at this level.
"I'm disappointed with the way we defended and defence starts from the front. The performance of the whole team defensively was not good."
Despite the heavy defeat, Koeman still found time to praise Liverpool, who reached the Capital one Cup semi-finals for the second straight season.
"First of all they have a great energy," Koeman said. "Secondly,they have individual qualities throughout the team and they are very strong.
"We gave them space and opportunities and you know if you give players like Sturridge that space then he will kill you."
