Ronald Koeman: ‘Southampton defender Virgil van Dijk will get better’

The horrific injury suffered by Luke Shaw two weeks ago brought unanimous sympathy from the football world, including his former club Southampton.

“In my opinion he was the best player on the pitch, and that’s all the credit”, Koeman was quoted as saying by the British media.

It was Koeman’s first season in England and, with hindsight, the Dutchman admits that perhaps his team were not as prepared as they should have been playing against lower-league opposition away from home.

With form and a clinical edge in front of goal often spoken about this season, the gaffer went on to say that he felt we were now showing signs of being back to our best as we aren’t having to create tons of chances before we put one away.

“I think we saw that today, we looked comfortable with that back four, so it was a great day for us”. “It was a big difference”. “The expectations are different, people expect more from the beginning of last season, that is normal and sometimes we are maybe struggling with that expectation with new players”.

“Of course, normally, it is a possibility to take one of the strikers from the under-21s, but they played on Monday for 90 minutes”.

Van Dijk made 114 appearances for Celtic, scoring 15 goals. But everyone has been helping me which makes it a lot easier. “Virgil is strong, he’s quick, he’s good in the air”.

Southampton manager Ronald Koeman has told the Daily Echo that Ryan Bertrand was the best player on the pitch against Swansea City.

Bertrand has missed the entirety of the Premier League season to date, but his comeback performance highlighted just how much the side have missed him. It’s been an fantastic move for me and the feeling I have right now is very good.

“We’re bitterly disappointed”, said Gylfi Sigurdsson, scorer of Swansea’s late consolation goal from the penalty spot.