Southampton boss Ronald Koeman praises organisation after Swansea win
Saturday 13 February 2016 18:22, UK
Southampton boss Ronald Koeman praised the attitude and organisation of his team as they beat Swansea 1-0 at the Liberty Stadium.
The victory - courtesy of a Shane Long header - was the Saints' fifth in six games, a run during which they have not conceded a goal.
Koeman insists there is no big secret to Southampton's excellent defensive record of late, simply putting it down to organisation and pressing.
"The key is having good organisation and I mention always defending starts in front," he said. "You need good pressing, you need good midfielders doing pressing on the midfield.
"Of course, we changed the system and that gives the boys a little bit more sureness behind and the comeback of Fraser Forster has been a big boost to the team."
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The Dutchman felt his side deserved the three points in south Wales having created the better chances in a game lacking in goalmouth action for the most part.
"It was a difficult game. I thought Swansea were strong today, full of belief for a good result but it's not easy to beat Southampton," Koeman added.
"Again today, a clean sheet and I thought we had the best chances in the game. Already in the first half we had one chance from Shane Long and the second one he scored. A great win, a great attitude from the players and another clean sheet. It's fantastic."
The win lifts Southampton into the top six and Koeman insists that the target for his players now is to ensure they finish the season there.
"We hope [we can finish in the top six]. We showed a lot last season to finish in seventh position and our ambition is always to do better than the last year," he explained.
"We know it will be very difficult but at the moment everything is going well, the players are full of confidence and belief and that is the most important thing."
"We'd like to continue, we'd like to have a strong finish this season. It's going well at the moment and now we have a break and we have time to prepare for the next one, Chelsea at home. That's a great game to play. [We reached] 40 points today and it's very successful, again, for Southampton this season."
