Gertjan Verbeek was left to rue Adelaide United’s errors after conceding five goals against Western Sydney Wanderers.
The Reds lost 5-2 at Bankwest Stadium on Friday night with Verbeek bemoaning the number of defensive mistakes his side committed.
While Verbeek praised some of Adelaide’s attacking football, he claimed it was difficult to win any game after defending so poorly.
“The way we defended and also the opponent gave a lot of space away and we used that very well,” Verbeek said in the post-match press conference.
“So the problem wasn’t when we had the ball because we had a lot of chances and scored two goals and were still leading 2-1.
“But when you make such mistakes it could’ve been 4-4 or 5-5 at half-time and that’s what you mean by entertainment.
“But as a trainer you are not happy with the way we defend and you are behind 4-2.
“But when you see the game it’s still possible to win the game and we tried in the second-half, it was less entertaining because they let us have the ball and the tempo was going down.
“They dropped a little and you have to be very secure and high tempo and get a lot of crosses into box but we were unlucky.”
Riley McGree and Ben Halloran were both on target as United led 2-1 after falling behind before the Wanderers struck three more times before the break.
Verbeek admitted the discrepancy between the team’s best and worst was too sizeable and somewhat confusing to understand.
The Dutchman also acknowledged that when they are firing on all cylinders they can beat anyone in the competition.
“I think today there were some very good things in the way we played football,” he explained.
“If you see how we made the combinations, our runs and how we created our chances and made our goals that’s I think a good quality.
“But you don’t always have the ball and you have to defend and today we had a strategy that wasn’t helping us and next time when we discuss about the strategy I’ll have a different opinion.”
Adelaide United face Melbourne Victory in Round 21 of the Hyundai A-League 2019/20 season on Saturday, 29 February at Marvel Stadium. Kick-off is at 7.00pm ACDT. Live and Exclusive on Fox Sports, Kayo Sports and the My Football Live App.
