Adelaide United coach Carl Veart says his side was too passive and not hungry enough in Monday night’s disappointing loss to Macarthur.
The Reds led 3-2 with less than ten minutes to go but conceded two goals in two minutes to go down 4-3 at Campbelltown Stadium.
Despite going into the half time break two-all, Veart described the first 45 minutes as the worst his side had played all season.
While he was pleased with the response after the break, he said there was a lack of focus and too much inconsistency from his side and it cost the Reds three points.
Speaking after the game, Veart said his side would reflect on the performance but quickly turn its attention to taking on Brisbane at home on Sunday.
Carl Veart on his initial reflection of the loss:
“Very disappointed. It was just that we were too passive most of the night defensively, and even a little bit when we had the ball. We had some good moments at times but overall, the game was just far too inconsistent and we made far too many errors.
“Defensively, we were turning balls over and not defending, you know, the way we want to defend. We just made it very difficult for ourselves all night.
“We spoke we spoke about how we want to play we just didn’t execute it tonight. We didn’t move the ball quick enough. We didn’t play with any tempo. And when you play against Macarthur, they want all the tempo taken out of the game and we just allowed them to sort of control the main parts in the game.”
Carl Veart on what his side was lacking defensively during the game:
“It’s believing. At times tonight we were good for, you know, 5-10 minute spells and then just very poor for large periods of it. And it’s a focus and a concentration and a desperation. Macarthur players were more desperate and hungry to win.
“It’s something we’re going to have to sit back and you know, have a good reflection on this. You don’t want to jump too much. We’re disappointed. I’m sure the players are very disappointed as well, because that’s not who they are, what they showed tonight.”
Carl Veart on whether his side has taken any issue with having a second game shifted to accommodate an opponent playing in Asia:
“No, not at all. As I think I’ve said before, it’s important that we, as A-League clubs support clubs that are playing in Asia. We need them to have success for the league so we have to do what’s right.”
Carl Veart on Giusseppe Bovalina scoring his first A-League goal:
“Giuseppe is a young player that’s come through our youth team. And he’s got the opportunities this season. He’s working hard and he’s learning his role. So I’m happy for him to get a goal but I think he would be more happy if he’d had three points.”
Carl Veart on how disappointed he was in the first half performance:
“I wasn’t very happy at half-time and I say that first 45 minutes is probably the worst 45 minutes of the season. It was even worse than what we put up against Sydney so the boys responded well, but you know, 10-15 minutes is not good enough. They have to play for the whole half. And we knew if we played the way we did for that first 10-15 minutes and kept working for the whole half, we would have had a lot better result for ourselves.”
Carl Veart on whether there is anything he had learned to take into the return match against Macarthur in just over a month:
“No, that’s too far away for us. We’ll move on to you know, we’ve got Brisbane home on Sunday. They’re doing very well this season and we’ve got to make sure we get back to our best.”
