Adelaide United head coach Carl Veart has questioned whether his side were still in “holiday mode” following their 1-0 Isuzu UTE A-League defeat to Melbourne City.
A stunning early strike from Terry Antonis proved to be the difference on the scoreboard between the two sides, however Veart believes his side were well and truly second-best at AAMI Park on Thursday.
“Tonight wasn’t a great performance from us,” said a frustrated Veart post-match. “We had a lot of shots but there was no real quality.
“The lack of our effort at times and intensity was not where it needed to be, not even close. In the end we got what we deserved.”
The Reds came into this game having not played since their 4-3 win over Sydney FC in Unite Round on January 13 and Veart believes the extended break may have actually led to lack of intensity from his side.
“It’s something we’re going to have to have a good look at,” admitted Veart. “Whether having the weekend off last weekend, whether that sort of put us in a holiday mode, I don’t know.
“Sometimes you can have a bad performance, football-wise, but you’ve still got to fight and still have good intent and we just didn’t have enough of that tonight.”
The defeat keeps Adelaide in eighth spot on the ladder with five wins, three draws and six losses to their name, and Veart concedes his side just aren’t consistent enough.
“It’s happened (on) a few occasions this year where we have too many players that are below their level,” said Veart. “We’ve got to start taking a lot more responsibility as a club to not put in performances like that.
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He continued: “We most probably need to have a discussion as a group and find a solution together, that’s the only way we’re going to get out of having performances like this. When we do that, we play some good football and generally come away with good results.
“Tonight there was most probably not one player in our team that could put their hand up and say they were close to the level that they’re normally at.
“It’s not good and you can’t win football games when you’ve got so many players that are below their level.”
To add to Veart’s frustrations, the Adelaide Head Coach also revealed the club is struggling to recruit attacking players during the current transfer window.
“We’re trying to find players to bring into the club but it’s not that easy,” said Veart.
“It’s not like we can just pop down to the corner shop and get a couple of players off the shelf!
“We’ve had a few conversations with a few players but we just haven’t been able to find the right players yet. We’re still looking and we hope to be able to bring in a couple of players in this window before it closes.”
Next up for the Reds is a home clash with Central Coast Mariners at Coopers Stadium on February 3.