Ralph’s in need of home comfort
ARTETA AIMS TO CONVINCE STARS HE’S THE RIGHT MAN FOR THE JOB
RALPH HASENHUTTL has called for patience from Southampton fans as he bids to make St Mary’s feel like home again.
The Saints boss has seen his side register back-to-back away wins at Aston Villa and at Chelsea to go three points clear of the danger zone.
Just as important as the breathing space is the huge boost in confidence generated.
But that improvement will be put to the test again when they host in-form Crystal Palace today.
After Thursday’s impressive 2-0 win at Chelsea Saints have now won four out of their last six, with Hasenhuttl surviving an early-season 9-0 hammering at home to Leicester in a remarkable show of faith from the board.
The Austrian is now asking for the same patience from the fans, who have seen only two home league wins all season.
Hasenhuttl said: “Our away fans are the best example of how to support us.
“In our own stadium we must be more committed. It’s a difficult game at home but we must bring our game to St Mary’s.
“The next step must be to be brave, to say, ‘We have nothing to lose, we have something to win’.
“There’s a reason we have less patience at home. It’s because we lost a lot of games there and were always on the back foot.
“Away from home, we almost always score the first goal – this is a different behaviour.
“But in the end it’s about 90 minutes, to stick to the game plan.
“Against a team like Palace, a team very good defensively, extremely dangerous in counter attacks, we must have patience.”
MIKEL ARTETA is not concerned about winning over the fans at his first home game in charge of Arsenal.
Because he has a big enough winning over the players.
There were definite signs of improvement in his opening game at Bournemouth, a 1-1 Boxing Day draw in which his team showed some of the passion and commitment missing from recent performances.
It was not enough to end a run of just one win in 14 games, with a derby against Chelsea next on the agenda tomorrow.
Arteta accepts there has been too much negativity at home games but insists that addressing the problem cannot be his immediate priority.
He said: “First I need to convince the players.
“Then, if I can convince the players, afterwards we can convince the fans. I think it’s very, very important in my job.
“We play them. At for task the end of the day, they’re expecting a lot from us.
“We have to give them enjoyment, we have to make their lives better and when we win it will be better because they will be happier.
“It’s our responsibility and we have to do everything we can to achieve that. Hopefully we can change it.”
Arteta knows that with the supporters onside, the Emirates can be a powerful weapon for the Gunners.
The Spaniard added: “I think energy is everything, in life, in football and in sports.
“If we are able to generate this, it will give us a lift.
“I was really pleased with how the fans treated the players at Bournemouth and I was happy that the players went to see the fans after the game as well because we need that connection.
“Slowly, we need to build that back to where it was. It’s going to be very powerful for us to use that.”
At least with the game scheduled for tomorrow, Arteta has an extra day to complete his preparations. But he (below) is taking no comfort from the fact that Chelsea have lost five of their last seven league matches.
He said: “I know they lost at home again against Southampton but they are a terrific team and so it will be a really good test for us.
“What I want now is to review the Bournemouth game, go through the individual and collective issues that we had, the positives and negatives, to try to convince the players that if they do more of this, they will be more comfortable in the game. Then we’ll be closer to winning football games.”