Adelaide United Women were very much “second best” in their loss to Western Sydney Wanderers, according to Head Coach Ivan Karlović.
The Reds fell to their second successive loss going down 4-1 at Marden Sports Complex in Round 12 of the Westfield W-League 2018/19 on Saturday.
Karlović lamented his team’s lacklustre performance and felt his side simply had a bad day at the office.
“We were second best all day and deserved what we go out of the game,” Karlović told reporters after the game.
“So you can’t expect to get a result with poor skill errors, no intensity and no real desire.
“It was just one of those days where we just unfortunately had too many players that didn’t turn up.”
Veronica Latsko netted her ninth goal in 10 games to draw Adelaide level before half-time after a sluggish start by the Reds.
They conceded just two minutes into the game and could have been down by more had it not been for some wasteful finishing by the Wanderers.
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Karlović believed the Reds never showed the same desperation as WSW and warned his team must adapt when the onus is on them to control the match – something which is a new challenge.
“I think going a goal down very early on in the game didn’t help,” he said.
“And they get their tail up and they just had hunger and they’re a side that hasn’t had a win all year so they’re desperate for a win.
“Unless you match that desperation you’re always going to be second best.
“I just didn’t think we matched that, we came across last week against Canberra, a side looking to save their season and this week we’re looking at a side that’s trying to get their first win of the year.
“They’re different challenges for us because we’re coming up against a side that’s dropping off and giving us a lot of the ball.
“So we have to start to make the play a little bit more and look to keep the ball moving quickly and look to find the little spaces.
“But I thought at times we forced it too much today because they just had a lot of numbers behind the ball and played into their hands.”
Adelaide remain one point outside the top four but if they win their remaining two home matches it should be enough to guarantee a maiden finals appearance.
Karlović was philosophical in his response about whether the team had the resilience to overcome a frustrating afternoon .
“… It was just one of those days we have to move on from it,” he said.
“The season has been fantastic so far, we’ve got two games I think if we can get two wins out of that I dare say we should be in the finals.
“So it’s not doom and gloom but it’s just a poor day at the office and we haven’t had too many of those and in life you have that.
“They’ll bounce back from today it’s just a bump in the road for us and we move on to next week and look to get three points at home.”
Adelaide United Women host Newcastle Jets in Round 13 of the Westfield W-League 2018/19 season on Friday, 25 January at Marden Sports Complex. Kick-off is at 7.00pm ACDT.
