On the one hand, he scored. On the other hand, it was against Aston Villa and Shane Long should have had a hat-trick.
The Southampton striker scored the opening goal of the game when Saints travelled to Villa Park on Saturday and he set up his side’s second and third goal but Long was still upset with himself after the final whistle.
Long, who is hitting his stride at the perfect time ahead of the Republic of Ireland’s Euro 2016 campaign, now has nine Premier League goals this season but the perfectionist in him prompted him to apologise to Southampton manager Ronald Koeman following the game.
“In general of course positive because he (Long) is working hard, he is doing well and creating a lot of problems to the defenders,” Koeman told the Southern Daily Echo.
“He apologised himself after the game that he wasn’t scoring more goals than one.
“That’s I think a good mentality because he had some good chances to score.
“He apologised to the manager. That’s good.
“He knows by himself he had more opportunities to score goals. That’s what I like.
“I never complain to a player who is working hard and doing everything.
“It’s part of the job missing chances.”
