Eckert: We need to be more robust
Tonda Eckert feels his Southampton side need to be more resilient and more robust after seeing West Ham rack up four goals at St Mary’s on a night to forget in the Carabao Cup.
The head coach was encouraged by the way Saints started the second round tie, taking an early lead through Leo Scienza and showing plenty of intensity in the first half.
But 19-year-old Josh Ajala levelled the scores shortly before half time and then scored again soon after the interval, before experienced substitutes Taty Castellanos and Jarrod Bowen took the game away from the hosts, leading Eckert to demand more from his players.
“I actually think we started the game quite well, I think we played a very good first half,” he said.
“We had chances to go 2-0 up, but then we concede on a corner after 40 minutes, and from then on never found a way back into the game.
“We know that we have work to do, I think that has been clear over the last games. There are some positives to take away, but obviously four goals is way too much.
“I think structure-wise we have been doing things very well, especially in the first half, but it’s [a lack of] resilience in certain moments.
“We will not have a game where every phase of the game goes in your favour. We need to become more robust.
“We have a chance to show that on Saturday. It’s a big one for us, so we need to make sure that we have a response ready on Saturday.”
