Marco Kurz felt his side failed to replicate the intensity they exhibited against Melbourne Victory in their loss to Sydney FC.
Adelaide United went down 2-1 to the Sky Blues at Jubilee Stadium on Sunday, snapping a four-match unbeaten streak.
Siem de Jong opened the scoring in spectacular fashion with a free-kick. But it was the decision to initially award the foul which raised questions.
Kurz intimated Nikola Mileusnić won the ball cleanly in his sliding tackle on Milos Ninkovic.
However, the German stated that Adelaide should never have been at this position with the bigger mistake not clearing their lines seconds earlier.
“Before the game we said let’s start with the same confidence with the same intensity as we did against Victory – I think we didn’t,” Kurz said in the post-match press conference.
“We didn’t start well early in the game, the first goal after a free-kick we can clear the ball very easily.
“We decided to play and in the end the (Mileusnić’s) tackle for me was a good tackle but the mistake before was a big mistake and the free-kick was brilliant from Sydney.
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“Then after we had two or three good moments with Ken (Ilsò) in the box.”
Despite the defeat, Kurz felt his side are making progress and heading in the right direction.
“After a loss a coach is not happy,” he said.
“I think today we can be better and then have the chance to pick up the points but with 19 points, we’re on a good way, we’re on a good track.
“Also don’t forget that we won the final and that means that we’ve a couple of more games in the legs, but we’re on a good track.”
Adelaide United face Western Sydney Wanderers in Round 14 of the Hyundai A-League 2018/19 season on Friday, 18 January at ANZ Stadium. Kick-off is at 7.20pm ACDT. Live on Fox Sports, and streamed on the My Football Live App.
