Ronald Koeman hails Southampton's strikers after crushing win

Ronald Koeman was pleased his Southampton team did not take their foot off the gas against MK Dons.

Ronald Koeman was pleased his Southampton team did not take their foot off the gas against MK Dons.

Jay Rodriguez, Sadio Mane and Shane Long all netted twice as Saints humiliated the Milton Keynes club, inflicting the biggest defeat of their short history.

Rodriguez's goals were his first domestically in almost 18 months, having only recently returned from a lengthy lay-off with a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament.

He netted for the first time since his comeback against Danish outfit Midtjylland in the Europa League last month but his efforts on Wednesday night were his first strikes in English competition since a Premier League double against Newcastle on March 29, 2014.

The 26-year-old's brace, his second from the penalty spot, came either side of Mane's double while Long grabbed his two later in the second half.

Koeman said: "The final result is very pleasing and I think we showed from the first minute to the last second the great spirit in the team.

''We had a good start and two fast goals gave us the confidence and total domination in the game but after half-time the message to the players was to continue what we did in the first half and try to score more goals and keep a clean sheet.

''I am very pleased because usually in this competition the results are close, it is usually 1-0 or 2-1.''

All of Koeman's strikers got their names on the score-sheet but the Dutchman did not want to single out any specific players for praise.

"The whole team worked well - the defenders, the midfielder and the strikers. They all had the right spirit, so it is not fair to pick people out, but goals do strikers good so that is pleasing also."

MK Dons boss Karl Robinson admitted he was in awe of Saints at times.

''That is a team who wants to win the competition, their hunger and desire was phenomenal,'' said Robinson. ''I found myself applauding some of their football at times.

"In my time working at that level at Liverpool and Blackburn that was as cohesive a display as I have ever seen.

"We are a little embarrassed and upset, I admit. But they are a very good side and hopefully me and my players can learn something from this game."

Jose Fonte: Southampton players must take responsibility for Europa League exit

Jose Fonte insists Southampton's players must accept responsibility for their European exit – even if manager Ronald Koeman preferred to point the finger at the officials.

Jose Fonte insists Southampton's players must accept responsibility for their European exit – even if manager Ronald Koeman preferred to point the finger at the officials.
A 1-0 defeat to FC Midtjylland in Denmark on Thursday night was enough to send Saints packing out of the Europa League at the play-off stage, with former Celtic striker Morten Rasmussen scoring the only goal of the game.
Southampton had a number of chances in the early stages but could not get an all-important away goal, with Koeman infuriated after the game as he felt his side were denied a clear second-half penalty.
That followed the Dutchman's angst after a 1-1 draw at St Mary's in the first leg where Steven Caulker saw a goal ruled out for a foul in the build-up.
Koeman said he was left disappointed by the officials, whom he felt missed 'easy' decisions across the tie and focused on them rather than criticising his own players.
But his captain did not toe the party line and Fonte, who saw an early diving header cleared off the line, was quick to hold his hands up when asked for his reaction to Southampton's exit.
"We weren't at our best and we weren't good enough," he said.
"Credit to them, they stuck to their game plan and executed it well. We have ourselves to blame. We need to show our face, accept the mistakes and understand that there is another day tomorrow.
"I feel sorry for the fans, but no-one is more disappointed than us. We worked hard last season to be in the Europa League and to be playing European football, but it didn't happen.
"I thought that we had more quality than them – and on a couple of different nights we could have easily beaten them, but the fact is that we didn't so we can only blame ourselves for that."
Southampton will now refocus on their stuttering domestic form having taken two points from their opening three Premier League fixtures.
Newly-promoted Norwich are the visitors to the south coast on Sunday and Fonte knows the Canaries will be hoping to take advantage of any European hangover and urged the fans to stay with the team.
"We have a big challenge ahead on Sunday in the league," he added.
"The Premier League is hard and we need to move on. That's our focus now.
"We need to pick ourselves up. Obviously it's hard, with this disappointment, to move on, but there's no alternative.
"When we go back to the training ground, it's time to focus completely on getting the three points against Norwich. I just want to ask the supporters to be behind us like they always are because we need them more than ever.
"We're lacking a little bit of confidence so we need a little bit of a boost on Sunday from the St Mary's crowd to make it a fortress like it was last year."
One positive for Koeman ahead of the visit of Norwich is the hope that both Victor Wanyama and Sadio Mane will be fit to play some part after both missed the tie in Denmark.

Southampton boss Ronald Koeman questions officials after European exit

Ronald Koeman refused to blame his players and instead pointed the finger at the officials as he saw his Southampton side crash out of Europe after a 1-0 defeat in Denmark on Thursday night.

Ronald Koeman refused to blame his players and instead pointed the finger at the officials as he saw his Southampton side crash out of Europe after a 1-0 defeat in Denmark on Thursday night.
A first-half strike from Morten Rasmussen was enough to send FC Midtjylland into Friday's draw for the Europa League group stages, with Southampton's own continental adventure ending prematurely after just four matches.
Koeman was already unhappy having seen a Steven Caulker header chalked off in the first leg as FC Midtjylland left St Mary's with a 1-1 draw and he again questioned the decision not to award his side a penalty as they chased the tie in the MCH Arena.
James Ward-Prowse was furiously appealing for a penalty after claiming his free-kick came off an arm in the Midtjylland wall, with his manager not shying away from offering a scathing opinion on the officiating across the tie, which ended 2-1 on aggregate.
"I have to say, and it's critical to both referees in both games, if you analyse both games, we had more chances," he said.
"We scored a normal goal last week and if you watch television and you see the free kick of Ward-Prowse - it's a penalty. So easy. But if you don't see it that still makes it more complex, more difficult.
"Then the final result, the final result of last week, is totally different (if the decisions are correct). Congratulations to Midtjylland. They play well, they play out of a good organisation and they scored today and we didn't.
"It's two mistakes. It's one penalty and one goal and it's a big influence on the result. It's different reasons. One of the reason was the referee of today because it's a penalty. Last week it's a normal goal but we did a mistake and they scored a 1-1.
"Not all (blame) goes to the referee, that's too easy, but a part of our disappointment and the final result is also by the referee."
Koeman conceded his side lacked a creative edge and insisted Sadio Mane, a transfer target for Manchester United, did not come off the bench as he did not want to take a chance on the Senegal international's hip injury.
"We had the experience about last week it's difficult because they defend well," he added.
"One of the qualities of them is aggressive winning second balls and then you need to be more creative.
"I think Dusan (Tadic) came in the game and he makes the difference but in the process not lucky enough. Every ball fell to one of them.
"Sadio wasn't 100 per cent and I didn't take the risk because it's the start of the season. It's not everything today."
Jay Rodriguez was at fault in the build-up to Rasmussen's decisive goal as he conceded possession on the edge of his own box to allow the former Celtic forward to turn Jose Fonte and fire past Maarten Stekelenburg to score with his side's first decent chance of the game.
When asked how disappointed he was with their European exit, Koeman replied: "Very, because if you don't create chances the disappointment is a little bit different.
"I think we start well the game, we dominate the game, we had some good chances in the beginning and one mistake, one chance, very clinical 1-0.
"But congratulations to Midtjylland. They play well, they play out of a good organisation and they scored today and we didn't."

Southampton boss Ronald Koeman frustrated by time-wasting from FC Midtjylland

Ronald Koeman was left irritated by perceived time-wasting by FC Midtjylland as the Danish champions held his Southampton side to a draw in their Europa League play-off at St Mary's.

Ronald Koeman was left irritated by perceived time-wasting by FC Midtjylland as the Danish champions held his Southampton side to a draw in their Europa League play-off at St Mary's.

The visitors took the lead on the stroke of half-time through former Saints trainee Tim Sparv  before Jay Rodriguez levelled from the penalty spot for his first goal in almost 17 months to earn a 1-1 draw.

Southampton now travel to Herning next Thursday needing a positive result to reach the Europa League group stages and, whilst he was not completely happy with his own team, Koeman pinpointed theatrics and time-wasting from Midtjylland as a bone of contention.

"I'm a little bit disappointed about the final result because 1-1 at home is not the best result that you like to have," he said

"I have a lot of irritation about wasting time because, in my opinion, if it is the last five minutes I can understand it but it was more than that.

"You need a referee to protect the team who likes to play football and who likes to play with rhythm in the game.

"He did it but the yellow card came after 88 minutes and that is easy. If you do it after one minute everyone knows you need to play football. They had good organisation and played a good game but we still have a possibility to win next week."

Midtjylland coach Jess Thorup said he was aware of Koeman's grievance, but did not agree with the Dutchman's comments.

"Every time we had set-pieces he was yelling and shouting at the referee," he said.

"I wouldn't say it was a tactic for us but we need some players to get into the defence and get back into the penalty area and it takes time. It wasn't a tactic."

Southampton thought they had levelled before Rodriguez's penalty only for Steven Caulker to controversially have his headed effort chalked off for a foul in the build-up – with Koeman certain it was the wrong call.

"It was a normal goal," he said.

"We were unlucky - in my opinion it is a normal goal but we know referees in Europe see that slightly differently than in the Premier League.

"It was a normal goal but we had good pressing in the second, it is not the best we have shown but we made four, five or six big chances."

Maya Yoshida almost secured a dramatic late win as he hit the post deep into stoppage time but it was Rodriguez's first goal since March 2014 that keeps Saints in the tie.

And the England international was delighted to get back on the scoresheet after battling back from a career-threatening knee injury.

'I wanted to bring us back into the game," he told BT Sport.

"The reaction of the crowd was lovely, that was the sort of thing I've been waiting for ever since I've been out injured. Now I just want to go on and get as many goals as I can. I'm sure we can go there next week and get the win.

"We're disappointed we had the chances to win the game but we didn't take them. We were a lot better in the second half."

Koeman was also happy to see Rodriguez back on the scoresheet and insists the best is yet to come from the former Burnley forward.

"You see that Jay is more close to being 100 per cent and be back to the player he was," he said.

"He needs game time and sessions and it is good. I think it was his best performance until now and that is normal. He will be the Jay he was with some more time and he will get minutes to be that player he was. We need that kind of quality player."

Southampton FC bid for Europa League qualification

Southampton are looking to take the upper hand in their Europa League play-off round tie against FC Midtjylland on Thursday at St Mary's.

Southampton are looking to take the upper hand in their Europa League play-off round tie against FC Midtjylland on Thursday at St Mary's.
The Saints, playing in European competition for the first time in 12 years, host the Danish champions in the first leg before travelling to Denmark next week for the return fixture.
"It's important that we try to score goals at home on Thursday and keep the zero to take into the second leg," Southampton defender Cuco Martina said on saintsfc.co.uk. "We want to experience more things in Europe, so we need to win this battle to make sure we are in the group stages."
Ronald Koeman's side can join English clubs Liverpool and Tottenham in the group stages of the competition if they get past the Danes.
Also on Thursday, Athletic Bilbao, who stunned Barcelona 5-1 on aggregate to lift the Spanish Super Cup on Monday , travel to Slovakia to face Zilina.
Borussia Dortmund have yet to lose on Norweggian soil and are away to FC Odd.
Four-time European champions Ajax will attempt to hit back from their elimination in the third qualifying round stage of the Champions League at the hands of Rapid Vienna when they take on Jablonec of the Czech Republic in Amsterdam.
Rabotnicki are at home to Rubin Kazan and will become the first team from FYR Macedonia to reach the group stage of a European competition if they beat the Russian outfit over two legs.
Dutch side AZ Alkmaar face Romanian opposition for the first time when they play at Astra Giurgiu.
Kazakh outfit Kairat Almaty will square off against Bordeaux in France.
It is Turkey versus Greece when Fenerbahce play at Atromitos Athinon while Panathinaikos host Azerbaijan side FC Qabala.
Belenenses are in Austria to face Altach.
In other games, Steaua Bucharest host Rosenborg, Ukraine's Zarya Luhansk face visiting Legia Warsaw, Vojvodina Novi Sad travel to Viktoria Plzen and St Etiene go to Modolva to face Milsami Orhei.
Swiss side Young Boys are at home to Qarabag (Azerbaijan), Norwegian outfit Molde host Standard Liege (Belgium), PAOK Salonika take on Danish side Brondby, Lech Poznan (Poland) hosts Hungarians Videoton, Salzburg travel to Belarus to face Dinamo Minsk and the Czech Republic's Liberec meet Hajduk Split.
FK Krasnodar (Russia) are at home against HJK Helsinki (Finland) and Sparta Prague (Czech) visit FC Thun (Switzerland).
The return legs will be played on August 27.

Southampton handed FC Midtjylland tie in Europa League

Southampton have been drawn against Danish champions FC Midtjylland in the final play-off round of the Europa League.

Southampton have been drawn against Danish champions FC Midtjylland in the final play-off round of the Europa League.

The Saints are enjoying their first European campaign for 12 years and reached this stage of the competition with a 5-0 aggregate victory over Dutch side Vitesse Arnhem, Graziano Pelle and Sadio Mane scoring in a 2-0 second-leg win in Holland on Thursday night.

FC Midtjylland dropped into the Europa League following their Champions League defeat on the away goal rule to Cypriot side APOEL.

The tie represents new ground for Southampton as the Saints have never previously met Danish opposition in their eight European campaigns.

Ronald Koeman's side will have home advantage in the first leg at St Mary's on August 20 with the return in Denmark a week later, and the winner will go through to the group stages which start in September.

West Ham's Romanian conquerors Astra Giurgiu, who eliminated Inverness Caledonian Thistle in the previous round, were drawn against Dutch side AZ. Kazakh side Kairat Almaty, who knocked out Aberdeen in the third qualifying round, will play Bordeaux of France.