Rangnick reacts to Saints draw

The Reds led through Jadon Sancho's 21st-minute goal and had our tails up, only to be pegged back by Che Adams's equaliser, after being given several warning signs by the visitors.

Although the home side had the ball in the net a couple of times, through Paul Pogba and Cristiano Ronaldo, the efforts were quickly ruled out and Harry Maguire's late header, that forced a diving save out of Fraser Forster, was the closest we came to a winner.

Rangnick spoke to MUTV and BT Sport after the game and, as always, provided an honest take on the encounter...

SIMILAR STORY

"Unfortunately, again, it was very similar to the last couple of games. Very good first half, very good first half-hour. We did all the things we intended to do with the counter-attacks, with the deep runs. [It was] exactly that way we created the goal and prepared the goal. It was a great goal, in all aspects of the goal. But then we stopped doing that. Even at the end of the first half, we didn’t do those things anymore.

"And then in the second half, we also lost a bit of shape in the first 20 minutes. We were struggling to defend against them and exactly that happened in transition when they scored their goal. In the last 20 minutes, we had enough opportunities, big chances to score again. The expected-goals ratio was in our favour clearly but, in the end, we didn’t get the result we wanted to.”

EXPLOITING GAPS

“Yes. As I said, we did exactly what we intended and what we told the team to do. Not play into their pressing zones but play behind them, making use of the space behind their back four and this is exactly what we did when we scored the goal.”

WHY DOES THE INTENSITY DROP?

"Well, on the one hand, we also have to respect the other team. Southampton played well, they played with the same intensity and tactical approach that they did against Tottenham, so this is not an easy team to play against. But yes, again, we lost a little bit of composure, we made some wrong decisions, sometimes under pressure, sometimes not under pressure. This is where we have to get better, whenever we prepare the team for the next possible game. As I said in the last four or five games, we started extremely well, we had an excellent half-hour again today but, in the end, it’s about playing that way for more than just one half.”

HALF-TIME MESSAGE

"Of course. We told them exactly that, that we have to be aggressive, that we have to be compact, that we shouldn’t give them any space where they could move into and play their transitional football. That’s exactly what we told them, obviously. In the end, it’s a different thing to perform like that on the pitch.”

LOSING LEADS

“Yes, in all of those games [Aston Villa, Burnley, today] we were 1-0 or 2-0 up and we gave away six points in those three games. This can happen once but it shouldn’t happen three times and, with four points more, we would speak in a different way right now. But, again, it’s what we have to get better at and become more lethal, more decisive and more convinced that we shouldn’t give away points like those today.”

SEAGULLS UP NEXT

"We have to look ahead, we have to look forward and do it better on Tuesday against Brighton.”