Mark Hughes disappointed with Southampton's intensity against Chelsea
Sunday 7 October 2018 19:31, UK
Mark Hughes conceded Southampton were second best against Chelsea and admitted he was disappointed with his team's performance.
Ross Barkley played a starring role as Chelsea kept up their exciting start to the Premier League season with a 3-0 win at St Mary's.
Southampton have now taken just 15 points from their last 20 league games, which is the lowest amount of any team in the Premier League, and Hughes thought his side could have done more.
"I was disappointed with the way we played," he said.
"We didn't really affect them as readily as we talked about, in terms of being on the front foot, having intensity to our play and making sure we made it difficult for them.
"We were too passive in the opening period and that's why I had to make a change at half-time.
"We worked on triggers to our pressing, but we didn't really instigate them, and as a consequence they had easy possession and we found it really difficult to get out to the ball.
"The only time we could put pressure on them was on the edge of our box, which clearly was unsustainable, and we needed to do something about that.
"Unfortunately, they were able to get in front, and at that point you sensed they could manage the game quite comfortably and look to play on the counter-attack, which is perfect for them given the talent they have."
Hughes was slightly irked with Chelsea's second goal, which came from a free-kick that ended with Barkley tapping in from close range.
It looked like David Luiz had blocked Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg that allowed Olivier Giroud to get free and he crossed for Barkley to score.
Hughes felt the referee missed the infringement.
"The second goal was a foul," he said.
"It's very similar to the goal they scored against Newcastle - they make a block. We highlighted that before the game, that's what they work on. David Luiz blocks the guy on the end of the wall so he can't mark the runner.
"We was supposed to react to that when the ball comes across our penalty area but that's the part I'm disappointed with because we knew it was happening. Clearly it was a foul and should have been called up but that's not the reason we got beat. It's a mistake but maybe it flags it up to other teams to show what Chelsea do."
