Southampton midfielder, Adam Lallana, believes that the occasion got the better of his side, in their 1-0 defeat against http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Liverpool-c39809 at Anfield on Saturday.
The visitors failed to exert any kind of pressure on Brendan Rodgers’ men, despite conceding just a single goal. The Reds charged forward time and again, peppering the Southampton goals with multitude shots and enjoyed bulk of the possession.
Despite putting up a more convincing show in the second period, Adkins’ unit never really threatened to get back into the match, and were consigned to their ninth defeat of the season.
The loss kept the Hampshire based club pitted in the relegation zone after 15 matches. However, they are just a single point behind the 17th ranked Sunderland.
It was also Southampton’s first loss in 5 matches.
Nonetheless, while speaking to the reporters after the game, Lallana lamented his side’s poor showing in the first half.
The English International was of the opinion that they failed to handle the occasion of playing against one of the biggest clubs in Europe, and took a lot of time before getting into their stride.
Anyhow, he could not help but praise their Saturday opponents, insisting that there was very little the Saints could do against a performance of that calibre.
“It took us a while to settle. We weren't our usual selves. But second half we were a lot better, and while it was 1-0 anything could happen. We wanted to stay in the game to the death,” he told the reporters in an interview.
“We’re disappointed the way we went about our first-half performance – whether we showed them a bit too much respect or we just didn’t believe in our own ability as much as we should have done.”
The Premier League’s newcomers have got a massive task in hand of surviving in the English top-flight. Their defence, in particular, has been fragile, having already shipped 32 goals in the campaign – more than any other team in the competition.
However, the skipper claimed that his side were headed in the right direction, and wants them to secure maximum points out of their home fixtures.
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