It Hasn’t been easy on my hair
RALPH HASENHUTTL is aiming to down Arsenal again today after picking up his first ever Premier League win against the Gunners – before he went grey!
Hasenhuttl admitted to being “emotional” after a late winner from Charlie Austin saw his Saints side beat Arsenal 3-2 in December 2018.
The Austrian joked: ‘’I had no grey hair back then! I remember this game very well. We had an unbelievable home game.
“I remember saying after the game that we did everything right and still needed a lot of luck to win.
“Immediately I could feel how strong this league was and how strong the opponents were, because it showed you can do everything right and still concede two goals.”
Asked where that victory ranks in his fouryear tenure, Hasenhuttl said: ‘’The first win is always important because it creates a relationship.
“I spoke at the beginning about long and short-term success for a new manager. Short-term success is relatively easy.
“The harder thing is to then have a long-term run with results.
“I knew at the time that this was a tough challenge to get off the bottom because we were 18th or 19th in the table and we knew there was a long way to go to stay in the league.”
Hasenhuttl comes into the game still facing a fight to keep his job, despite Wednesday’s 1-0 win at Bournemouth.
Saints’ hopes of toppling the Premier League leaders have not been helped by injuries to key duo Romeo Lavia and Kyle Walker-Peters.
Arsenal, on the other hand, have lost only one game in all competitions.
Hasenhuttl added: ‘’Arsenal have a very young group with lots of potential and a very good mixture.
“Their manager, Mikel Arteta, is very driven with all the attributes to be a successful manager.”