Jurić: Lessons must be learned from relegation

Saints’ fate was confirmed by a 3-1 defeat at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium this afternoon, but Jurić took heart from the reaction of the travelling fans at full time.

The Saints players were applauded by the 3,000 away supporters who yet again sold out the club’s allocation on the road, and Jurić feels that connection is crucial to the club’s future.

“We know it’s a tough moment, a bad moment,” the manager reflected. “But in another way I think the future of Southampton will be great, with the fans.

“We are relegated but they have showed a lot to their club, to the players they have, and I think it has to be really motivating for everybody to create something really good – much stronger than we created this year.

“I arrived from another world – Italy, Spain, Croatia – it’s completely the other mentality. It’s something great, respect. Our fans, all this season, a bad season, they were exceptional.

“We are disappointed. It has to be a big school for everything – for us, for me, for the players, for the club – to see what we did wrong.

“What went wrong? Did we give everything that we can in this one year, or can we do some things better? It has to be a big school for everybody.”

Trailing 2-0 at the interval, Jurić was encouraged by Saints’ second-half display, as his team kept pushing for a route back into the contest and pulled a goal back through Mateus Fernandes before Spurs’ very late third.

“In the first half when we played more of a low block then you have other types of problem,” he said. “They (Spurs) cannot create big chances but they create lots of situations, like set-pieces, and if you are physically not strong you suffer.

“Second half was the football I like. We pressed much more, we controlled the game, created chances, scored the goal. Second half I think was really good.

“I don’t want to be the worst team in Premier League history. This is our goal; from the next match, we have to prepare this.”