Melbourne Victory coach Kevin Muscat felt his side’s performance in their 2-1 loss to Newcastle on Sunday was ‘nowhere near good enough’.
Melbourne Victory coach Kevin Muscat felt his side’s performance in their 2-1 loss to Newcastle on Sunday was ‘nowhere near good enough’
Nathan Burns’ brace helped the Jets to a win they largely deserved at AAMI Park, lifting them into third on the A-League table.
The Victory dominated possession for large periods and had their opportunities early, taking one when James Troisi equalised early in the second half.
But Muscat said his team’s performance only met his standards in patches.
“Performance interests me but unfortunately tonight it was nowhere near the standard that’s required to win a football game,” he told reporters.
“We threatened in patches and in spells we looked pretty good but over a 90-minute period it was nowhere near good enough to win a football game.”
Muscat said the slowness of the encounter and a ‘lack of intensity’ from the Victory was to blame.
He believes his side’s movement of the ball was far too slow as they struggled to break down a compact Jets outfit.
“From our part, I thought we moved the ball too slow, we didn’t move the ball quick enough,” Muscat said.
“Therefore, people are running to positions where they can’t receive the ball simply because we don’t move the ball quick enough.”
The return of attacker Archie Thompson, who missed the clash with a hamstring strain as a precaution, could boost the Victory against Perth on Friday night.
Despite a string of decent chances early in the encounter, Muscat said the Victory never created the opportunities they have in recent weeks.
“Compared to recent games, I don’t think we created enough clear-cut chances tonight,” he said.
“Our football was nowhere near as good as it’s been.”
Muscat refused to blame marquee centre-back Pablo Contreras for Burns’ second goal after the Chilean mis-kicked a clearance in the lead-up.
“Pablo’s part of 10 other blokes who are defending. Pablo comes here with a reputation and therefore he’s going to be the first one that you want to pick out,” he said.
“The reality for me is he’s part of a back four and part of 11 players trying to defend.
“He mis-kicks a ball. Other players had opportunities to defend it well also. It is a ball that we should’ve defended.”
