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Southampton has faced a challenging period under interim manager Simon Rusk, with the team experiencing a mix of results. Despite recent losses, including a 3-0 defeat to Aston Villa and a narrow 2-1 loss to Fulham, Rusk remains optimistic about the team’s defensive progress. The Saints have shown improvement in reducing the number of big chances conceded, a key focus for Rusk and his coaching staff.
Simon Rusk said: “There were always going to be some not good results. But when you inherit a team with seven games to go at the bottom of the league, it would be wrong to think we are going to go and win five games. There was going to be some difficult times. We aspired to create a good environment for the players to perform in and be a difficult team to beat. Over the last four games, the data suggests that we’ve gone from conceding three big chances a game to just over one and a half. That’s a massive gain. As a coaching team, and the players, we felt that we needed to address that, and we’ve worked hard to do that. We knew that the players were struggling to keep the back line tight so we wanted to keep the chances that we were conceding down to a minimum. We wanted to influence that and we’ve done that really well. And the data would suggest that. We should have potentially had a win at West Ham. We were very close to getting a very good point against Fulham. We were nil-nil for large parts of the game against a very good Aston Villa team. Last Saturday we had a bad day. Last Saturday we had a bad day and we all conceded that. But if you actually look as a whole, you know, I’m really confident and pleased with the environment and the way we’re working every day. The standards we’re putting on the player. I think as a team, I aspired to make us harder to beat and we’ve done that. We’ve done that well. On Saturday, we, maybe moved away from what we have been going into these games for whatever reason and we all have to own that. But overall, with three games to go, as much as we were disappointed last week, I do believe there’s a lot that we can be pleased with too.”
Rusk’s tenure has been marked by a clear focus on defensive solidity. The team has managed to reduce the average number of big chances conceded per game, a testament to the hard work put in by both the coaching staff and players. Despite a disappointing performance against Leicester City, where Southampton lost 2-0, Rusk remains confident in the team’s overall progress.
The Saints have shown resilience, holding strong against tough opponents like Aston Villa and nearly securing points against Fulham and West Ham. Rusk’s emphasis on creating a positive environment and setting high standards for the players has been a cornerstone of his strategy. With three games remaining in the season, Rusk believes there is still much to be optimistic about as the team continues to build on its defensive improvements.
