The Dutchman rued his side’s slow start which saw them trail 2-0 at half-time thanks to a Joel Ward own goal and a Steve Mounie header, and he was disappointed his side didn’t show their qualities until it was too late.
Speaking in his post-match press conference, De Boer talked about:
The disappointing defeat: “It is a very false start for everybody. Nobody expected it and it’s a very hard lessons for everyone – the staff and the players. At the highest level in football, matches will be decided on details and I think we lost the game in 15 minutes. We started well but after 10 minutes we made the wrong choices and we were pulled back, and from there they were the team that had the most opportunities.”
Trying to come back into the game: “After 50 minutes we began to do exactly what we were supposed to do, and then we had control of the game again and created chances. Just before it went to 3-0 we were very close to making it 2-1, and if we had done that then I would have been confident that we would have got a point.
“We have to understand that the game doesn’t last 75 minutes – it’s maybe 95 or 98. If in those 50 minutes you don’t do what the game asks for you to do, you get punished and were punished hard by Huddersfield. Compliments to them; we knew they’d play like this and at the end when you win 3-0 you deserve it.”
Positives and negatives: “We started quite well and had a couple of dangerous moments on our left side, but after that they pressed us and we had to make the right decisions, and we didn’t do that. It looks that they had more aggression but after 50 minutes I think we showed we also had some, but when you’re 2-0 it’s very hard against an organised team to get back in the game.”
Being surprised by Huddersfield: “We analysed them and they showed exactly what they did last season and in the friendlies they played, so there was no surprise. We didn’t do what we should have done, and they punished us at the right times.
“Sometimes you can escape from that but we didn’t. If you get a quick goal then the crowd get behind you and you get energy, but being 2-0 down is a big blow for everyone at that moment.”