Western Sydney Wanderers head coach Markus Babbel has labelled his side’s Hyundai A-League form as ‘frustrating’ in light of their 2-2 draw with Brisbane Roar on Friday night.
Western Sydney Wanderers head coach Markus Babbel has labelled his side’s Hyundai A-League form as ‘frustrating’ in light of their 2-2 draw with Brisbane Roar on Friday night.
The Wanderers were within seconds of grabbing their first win in nine games, before Vedran Janjetovic inexplicably played at a ball which was destined for a goal-kick.
In accidentally touching the ball, Brisbane received a corner at the death which they slotted home when Adam Taggart rose highest amongst the pack.
Babbel appeared exasperated with his side’s recent trend of surrendering leads, admitting it’s become an often occurrence.
“It’s frustrating because this is not the first time, this has happened a lot of times this season,” said Babbel.
“We’ve dominated, we’ve created, we were up, but we lose the games.
“Today it feels like we lost this game, but it’s experience because you saw a lot of young players on the pitch, and we keep working.”
Friday night’s draw comes against the backdrop of a midweek loss against Melbourne City, where Babbel’s side appeared to be cruising at 3-2 before Keanu Baccus got himself sent off in the second half.
That changed the game as Western Sydney would concede two goals in the last ten minutes and fall 4-3 at AAMI Park.
Four days before that loss, the Wanderers had pulled a goal back against Adelaide United and appeared to be mounting a comeback at 1-1.
However, a 66th minute strike from Craig Goodwin gave the Reds a lead they would hold onto, the game ending 2-1.
Babbel reflected on these results, citing his team’s inability to cope with the busy January schedule.
“It’s every week the same. I think the first time we played a good style of football, deserved the lead, had everything under control,” said Babbel.
“We couldn’t create many chances, we weren’t 100% in the game, and then after 70-75 minutes, I saw the boys got really, really tired.
“This is the biggest problem we have — 90-95% of my team have never played 10 games in a row, three games in a week.
“You saw the battery was empty and then you start to do mistakes, you can’t stay in the tactical discipline, and then you come under pressure.
“For me it was clear: If we couldn’t score the third goal…what happened would happen.”
