Jordan Henderson's verdict on Southampton defeat
Jordan Henderson cited a slow start and wasteful finishing as the main contributing factors behind Liverpool’s 1-0 loss to Southampton.
Danny Ings’ early strike saw the Reds defeated at St Mary’s Stadium on Monday night, with the visitors unable to force their way to a leveller amid a determined defensive display from the hosts.
Henderson discussed the game in an interview with Sky Sports. Read on for the captain’s post-match thoughts…
On how the game ‘got away’ from Liverpool…
The start didn’t help. We’re starting slow in games and it’s not us. We’re probably saying that a few too many times at the minute so that doesn’t help. Second-half performance I thought was very good, but we don’t score again. In the last two games we’ve had some good chances and haven’t put the ball in the back of the net, so that’s another issue. I’d say they were the two main things.
On whether he can identify why the Reds started slowly…
No, because we knew they would come out fast. We knew we needed a quick start but for whatever reason… sloppy passes, causing one or two free-kicks, and you get punished in this league.
On how he saw a route back into the game during a more purposeful second-half display…
Just keep going. Keep pushing, try to find that equaliser. But unfortunately we couldn’t do that. I thought we created some good chances still and maybe should have scored to get the equaliser, and probably deserved it in the second half, but unfortunately couldn’t do so.
On the champions’ recent form…
We’re frustrated, disappointed, but that happens in football. It’s how you deal with it is the main thing, so we’ve got an FA Cup game against [Aston] Villa and then in the league we’ve got [Manchester] United so we need to react quickly and bounce back quickly because the last few games, in terms of results, haven’t been good enough.