Macarthur FC boss Ante Milicic has laid down the gauntlet to his charges, insisting that they “looked like a basketball team” during the second-half of their recent 2-1 victory over Newcastle Jets.
The game at the Newcastle International Sports Centre saw Milicic’s men taking the lead through an acrobatic scissor-kick from Loic Puyo, while Matt Derbyshire scored with a header to double the lead.
But the Jets did not give up and pulled one back through a goal from Valentino Yuel. As the game went on, the Bulls were pushed to the brink as Craig Deans’ charges pushed hard for an equaliser that eventually did not materialise.
However, it was easy to spot that they struggled to cope with the likes of Yuel and Ramy Najjarine, both of whom put in an excellent performance for the Jets.
“We just stopped playing in the second half,” Milicic told FOX Sports after the match. “We went long every time, we couldn’t win the second ball.
“We looked more like a basketball team than a footballing team. And when we go away from what we’re strong at we struggled.
“They did well to get the result but in the end we need to get better and play our football for longer periods of the game.”
While the fact remains that the Bulls needed to work hard in defence with skipper Mark Milligan playing as a make shift centre-half on the day, they remained toothless in the attacking third during the second period of play.
Milicic added: “We know we’re capable of playing. When we really execute the things that we talk about and train for we look a good footballing side.
“But then there’s that other part that we need to get better at.
“We don’t want to be a team that starts hanging on to results too often. We need to be better.”
Macarthur FC have a bit of a break to regroup as they clash with Sydney FC in Campbelltown on January 30.
