Ammies boss frustrated by mistakes in Cup defeat
SALFORD manager Graham Alexander was left frustrated by his side’s mistakes after they were knocked out of the FA Cup by Burton Albion on Tuesday.
Three second half goals saw the Ammies eventually defeated 4-1 in their first round replay at the Pirelli Stadium, after Ibou Touray’s goal had them level just after the break.
Despite the scoreline, Alexander was still impressed with some parts of his side’s performance, and blamed individual mistakes for the result.
He said: “I was quite pleased and content with the performance up to the first goal, I thought the first goal was the only difference between the two teams.
“The players responded well in the second half, we deserved the equaliser and we were looking to go and stamp our authority on the game.
“I don’t believe it was through their outstanding quality, it was through our mistakes and that’s something we have to address.”
The result sees Salford knocked out in the first round for the second successive season, and the Ammies boss says he’s looking for a reaction against Macclesfield this weekend.
He added: “We have to learn that the things that we do in training are important.
“We have to keep a stronger focus for bigger periods, we have periods of games where we don’t and we’re very loose.
“We have to improve on a lot of things, but we’re desperate to get out there on Saturday and get this feeling of frustration out of our minds as quickly as possible.”
WHEN Jose Mourinho last took a managerial job he was seen as the one man who could stop Pep Guardiola from dominating yet another league, making life a nightmare for his old La Liga sparring partner.
Instead, it was Mauricio Pochettino and Tottenham who brought the new City project back down to earth – a 2-0 defeat at White Hart Lane brought their first defeat.
By the time Pochettino was inflicting arguably the most heartbreaking moment of Guardiola’s Etihad tenure so far in that dramatic
Champions League quarter-final last season, Mourinho had been unemployed for months.
As he takes over at Tottenham under pressure to show he can still cut it, comments made this season show the gulf between Guardiola and Mourinho.
The former Chelsea manager had been signed up as a Sky pundit and was box-office on his first outing, blasting Frank Lampard’s side in their 4-0 defeat to United on the opening day. Not only did the Portuguese coach say that City, Liverpool, Spurs, and City B were the only teams capable of winning the league (dismissing two former employers) he then proceeded to slaughter Chelsea for their loss at Old Trafford.
Guardiola smiled when the City B comments were put to him a week later, and his subsequent comments surprised many.
“I’m really impressed with how Chelsea played in the games with tough teams in United and [the Super Cup with] Liverpool,” he said.
“They didn’t win but I was really surprised with how good Frank Lampard’s team played.”
It is not unusual for the City coach to talk up other teams, or go against the general premise of a question, but his words certainly jarred with the majority of comments around Chelsea at the start of the season. Their form since, however, sees them come to the Etihad on Saturday looking down on the Premier League champions, capable of going four points clear if they can pick up a seventh straight league win. Guardiola may not have imagined City would be fourth after almost a third of the season but his early judgment on Chelsea should help him in his team’s efforts to change that on Saturday. Recognising Chelsea as a threat earlier than many has allowed more time theoretically to counter them.
Going forward, if Mourinho cannot see such dangers then Lampard’s side look far more likely to threaten Guardiola at City than Tottenham without Pochettino do.
Simon Bajkowski