Mike Mulvey called Brisbane Roar’s 2-0 loss to the Newcastle Jets at Suncorp Stadium on Friday night a ‘wake-up call’.
Mike Mulvey called Brisbane Roar’s 2-0 loss to the Newcastle Jets at Suncorp Stadium on Friday night a ‘wake-up call’.
The Roar coach said his side, usually renowned for their precise build-up play, were not quick enough in their passing, as they struggled to break down a dogged Jets defence.
The loss ended a run of six straight home wins for Brisbane, but continued their poor record against the Jets at Suncorp.
Newcastle have now registered eight wins at the Roar’s home ground, which is the best record of any visiting side.
A James Donachie own goal in the 34th minute enabled the Jets to maintain a defensive structure and hit Brisbane on the counter attack; a tactic which paid dividends and resulted in a second goal late on from Joseph Gibbs.
Despite completing 607 passes to Newcastle’s 297, Brisbane could not find a way to goal.
“What this is, is a wake-up call to us,” Mulvey said after the match.
“This is our home ground, we want it to be a fortress, it was up until now, and it’s the first game for a while that we haven’t scored in.
“So we’ll take our medicine.
“We’re big enough and ugly enough to be able to deal with that.
“I take full responsibility for the result and we’ll fix it on the training paddock.”
The Brisbane coach lamented his team’s inability to convert a handful of decent chances, and their unusually laboured attacking play.
“We had our chances, we did have our chances,” Mulvey said.
“We just weren’t incisive enough in the final third, occasionally we were taking too many touches, we didn’t have the support in the right areas.
“So, look, it was a frustrating night for us because they got numbers behind the ball and we didn’t move the ball quickly enough.
“We got into some good areas and we probably made about seven, eight, nine, maybe even 10 cutbacks tonight; every one went to a green shirt, except the one in the first half that fell to Liam (Miller).
“They’ve obviously studied us and looked at the way we do things, so we need to be a bit smarter.”
