Melbourne Heart FC stand-in captain Matt Thompson says the team can have no qualms about its loss to Perth Glory at AAMI Park on Sunday.
Melbourne Heart FC stand-in captain Matt Thompson says the team can have no qualms about its loss to Perth Glory at AAMI Park on Sunday.
The four-time Socceroo lamented Heart-s inability to unlock the Glory rearguard, saying the team controlled enough of the match to derive a result from the match-up.
Boasting the lion-s share of the possession, Heart dictated terms for much of the contest, forcing Glory deep into its own half as the Red and White searched for an opening goal, and later an equaliser.
However, the side-s attempts were thwarted by a vigilant Glory, leaving Thompson to rue Heart-s profligacy in possession.
Thompson said: “We passed the ball around quite well, I think the only opportunities Perth had are the ones we gave them, and it was disappointing to have as much possession as we did before the final third and not put anything away.
“I guess the only opportunity was the penalty, and that-s something we have to look at. In terms of how we played, I didn-t think it was that bad at all.”
While Heart has adopted an increasingly direct style of play this season, Thompson concedes the team needs to be more methodical in its forays into the opposing half of the park.
“There-s obviously certain times we need to learn to move forward, but at the same time, parts of this season, we have rushed things and forced things. Today we didn-t, we were a lot more patient,” Thompson said.
“It might be frustrating to some people, but hats off to Perth, they closed the gate a bit at the back and made it hard for us to play the ball in to Eli Babalj. At the end of the day, we should have been good enough to create more chances and put them away.”
