Gertjan Verbeek believes Adelaide United’s 2-1 loss to Melbourne City was probably a fair result from an overall assessment.
Verbeek went on to praise his young side for maintaining the belief to still get something out of the game after trailing by two goals.
Jamie Maclaren’s first-half brace proved a deficit to substantial to overcome despite Riley McGree breathing life back into the contest for the Reds with a goal on 67 minutes.
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“If you look at the chances we had the possibility,” Verbeek admitted in the post-match press conference.
“But overall I think Melbourne City was a little bit better than us.
“And I think we were only half as good as we can be, so we have to improve ourselves and look at ourselves to get a better result.
“Because we made too many mistakes and that’s giving a good opponent, good opportunities and they used two of them.”
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The Dutchman commended his players for their endeavour in trying to salvage something from the clash and dealing with the adversity they faced in the lead up and during the game.
“I know you’re still in the game at 2-0,” he said.
“That’s what I told the guys in the second-half.
“We had a lot of problems last week with injured players and this morning with Ben (Halloran) also sick.
“So we had to improvise and at half-time the youngster Yared (Abetew) also had an injury in his ankle, so we have to move again.
“And I can only give the team a compliment that they still believed in a good result and went for it until the end.”
The Reds’ attention now turns to their FFA Cup Final 2019 at Coopers Stadium against City on Wednesday night.
Verbeek said with both coaches knowing each other’s philosophies it will be up to who executes their game plan better, before stating having the home crowd behind them will be advantageous.
“We hope that we can use the situation that we’re playing at home,” he continued.
“I hope that there are a lot of people there. Last year there was 14,000 and it’s a good environment and we’re playing at home so that’s an advantage.
“And today we could of, with a little bit of luck, won this game but we didn’t and we have no points and we have to prepare them now for Wednesday.”
Adelaide United host Melbourne City in the FFA Cup Final 2019 on Wednesday 23 October at Coopers Stadium. Kick-off is at 7.00pm ACST. Gates open at 5.30pm.
