A dejected Mickael Tavares said Sydney FC saved their worst performance since he’s been at the club for Grand Final day.
The Sky Blues were swept aside by a rampant Melbourne Victory who deservedly won the Grand Final 3-0 to claim their first Championship trophy since 2009 on Sunday.
WRAP: Melbourne Victory outclass Sydney FC in Grand Final
It was sweet revenge for Victory who lost to Sydney five years ago in the Championship decider.
But for the Senegalese international, he was left to rue a performance that left him almost speechless.
“The result is the reality of the game. We didn’t play good today. They deserved to win.
“Since I’m here it was, how you say, the baddest game we play. Today we didn’t play our game.”
Tavares said it wasn’t a case of Victory not allowing Sydney to play their usual game.
Sydney simply did not play the way they can, he said.
“They [Victory] did a good pressing, they were good but they were not like better than the first game when they came to Sydney.
“The problem was us, we didn’t play good today. We didn’t create, we played long balls and when we don’t get the ball back as soon as we lost it.”
Tavares added he felt Jacque Faty’s loss in the first half was a key moment in the game.
“We were not prepared for this,” he said of the move that saw Seb Ryall shift from right back to centre half alongside Matt Jurman to cover for the injured defender.
“They had the home advantage but we give the game to them. Today was not our day,” added Tavares.
