Lewis Dunk Brighton
Posted in2021-2022-Season Daily News

#PLStories- Brighton captain Lewis Dunk praises end of season points flurry with big wins #BHAFC

May 25, 2022
ALBION captain Lewis Dunkhas praised the club for a good finish to the season. The Seagulls beat West Ham United on the final matchday of the Premier League campaign, confirming their place in the top half of the table. This was made positive after a solid run of form which saw the club collect 17 points from their last eight games, including wins against Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United. The season will go into the record books of the club as the best ever and Dunk is hoping for even better next season. He said: “It’s been amazing. It has been a long old season with a lot of ups and downs but to finish it in the way we did has been unbelievable. “As a club we wanted to get into the top ten, and to accomplish it is brilliant – but we have to go again next year and try and do even better. “You have got to have ambition but the Premier League can be hard, as we found out a few weeks ago. “The international break in March came at a good time for us. We worked hard and finished the season incredibly strongly.” The good run of form followed a seven game winless run in which Albion's only point came in a draw against Norwich. Dunk said: “We stuck together in the dressing room and that was the result, a really strong finish. “We have come a long way as a club and I’ve been lucky to be on the whole journey from Withdean to the new stadium but we want more.”
Ralph Hasenhuttl
Posted in2020-2021-Season Daily News

#PLStories- #RalphHasenhuttl says Saints’ slump in form a reality check for everybody #SAINTSFC

May 24, 2021
RALPH Hasenhuttl insisted Saints’ slump in form towards the end of the campaign provided a “clear reality check for everybody”. The St Mary’s side were left to contemplate a 15th-placed Premier League finish, having been top of the Premier League when they beat Newcastle back in November. A 43-point haul for the campaign is four places and nine points below where Saints finished last season – an 11th-placed return with 52 points in total. Asked whether some of his players’ performances meant they had played their way out of his plans for the summer, Hasenhuttl replied: “Yeah, a clear reality check for everybody and I can tell you the next season will not be the easiest in the league.” Saints signed off for the summer with a 3-0 defeat to West Ham at London Stadium. The Hampshire outfit were by far second best and undone by a Pablo Fornals brace, as well as a late goal from Declan Rice. Hasenhuttl added: “Congrats to West Ham. They deserved to win and we saw the difference between these two teams. “Between box to box we were on one level but in and around the box they were in position one - this was the big difference. “This is the reason why we play Europa League and we are safe in the league and that is it.”
Ralph Hasenhuttl
Posted in2020-2021-Season Daily News

#PLStories- #RalphHasenhuttl on disaster defending by Saints #SAINTSFC

May 24, 2021
MANAGER Ralph Hasenhuttl described Saints’ first goal conceded at West Ham as “absolutely a disaster” as they slumped to a wretched 3-0 reverse. Victory over the Irons at London Stadium would have put Saints 12th at the end of the 2020-21 campaign. But a double from Pablo Fornals and a late strike from Declan Rice ensure the St Mary’s side were left to settle for 15th spot. Saints had chances with the game goalless against the Irons, with Kyle Walker-Peters twice getting forward to work keeper Lukasz Fabianski. But Fornals’s first breakthrough particularly irked Hasenhuttl, with Jarrod Bowen allowed to waltz into the box and strike at goal in the build-up. “The first one was absolutely a disaster how we defend,” said the Austrian boss. “When you don’t run with your player in the box, what can you say? “I think it’s not interesting to speak about individuals. We are 15th in the table – this is where we should be. Our whole performance is not enough. “To play one half of a good season is not enough when you want to end higher in the table.” Only relegated West Bromwich Albion have conceded more goals than Saints in the Premier League this season. Hasenhuttl’s men have shipped 68 goals in total, at an average of more than 1.7 per game. Victory ensured David Moyes’s Irons booked their place to play Europa League football next season.