Ronald Koeman asks Jose Mourinho and Chelsea to adopt Arsenal's attacking style of play

Southampton manager Ronald Koeman believes Jose Mourinho should model his tactics on Arsenal's attacking style of play. The Dutchman, who recently (3 October) masterminded a convincing 3-1 win over the Blues at Stamford Bridge, says Chelsea should emulate Arsene Wenger's team and continue to attack once they take the lead. He was citing the Gunners' 3-0 demolition of Manchester United the following day (4 October).

The Premier League champions took the lead through a Willian free-kick in the 10th minute, but let the Saints back into the game just before the end of the first-half, when Steven Davis scored the equaliser; Saido Mane and Graziano Pelle wrapped up three points after the break.

The former Feyenoord manager believes that had Chelsea continued to attack rather than defend their one-goal lead, the outcome could have been different. "Chelsea prefer to defend when attacking is also an option. Mourinho always chooses to defend. Even if his team goes 1-0 up, they would rather defend their lead than try to score more goals," Koeman is quoted as saying by the Mirror.

"Yet Arsenal can kill an opponent. That is why their victory against Manchester United was so impressive. Attacking-wise, they completely destroyed United. For 20 minutes, they played the most fantastic football, while Chelsea do the opposite thing," explained the Dutchman. "By defending, Chelsea give their opponent a chance to come back in the game. It was a shame that Mourinho was putting attention on the referee after we beat them."

Mourinho was quick to criticise the referee after he had rightly denied Radamel Falcao a penalty in the first-half. The Southampton manager disagreed with his counterpart's approach, while admitting that his team were also denied similar opportunities. "He wanted to have a penalty in the first half. But, in the first half at Stamford Bridge, Southampton should have had two penalties," he added.