Jurić: I want us to be aggressive and to press more
Southampton’s new Men’s First Team Manager, Ivan Jurić, has given an insight into the philosophy fans can expect to see from his side and explained how he is excited to be taking charge of his first game at St Mary’s.
Jurić signed an 18-month contract with the club and sets about the task of trying to lift Saints off the bottom of the Premier League and towards safety.
The coming weeks will be important in pursuing of that goal, as the busy Christmas period takes place, including Jurić’s first home match, which comes on Boxing Day against West Ham.
“It's important that we get some points and then with the work we can do it much better,” said Jurić. “My hope is next game and the other games before the new year we are doing well, take the points and then we have a chance to stay in the Premier League.
“I was already watching all the games and I saw that the atmosphere is wonderful and Boxing Day will be something special for me.
“It's important to immediately be connected with the fans. I want an aggressive team and I think that fans of Southampton will like that.”
Jurić added he is hopeful that his approach can help turn results in Saints’ favour, while also speaking of his excitement at getting to work with the players.
“In the last few days I watched lots of games on Southampton to see what problems there is and tried to understand the situation,” he said.
“It's a really bad situation in this moment, but I'm very optimistic because I saw a team that can do it better and I will try to improve the team.
“I will try to be much more aggressive, to do much more pressing and try to be quick and change mentality, and this is my idea of football.
“I’m very excited. I see lots of games of Southampton of this year and I'm very excited to know the players. I will start to work immediately, try to put new things in place. I expect there will be players that understand immediately what I want.”
