We didn’t play up to standard
DANNY Whitaker said his side could and should have given more after their 2-0 FA Cup preliminary round win over Wythenshawe.
Two goals from Alex Curran ensured Macclesfield progressed to face Mossley - but the manner in which they did didn’t exactly have Whitaker beaming.
He said: “We didn’t make it easy and that’s what disappoints me the most.
“Players have off days, they have moments where they’re sloppy in possession or they’re lazy or chose the wrong decision.
“But we were just lacklustre all over the pitch and quite laboured in our forward play and in our reactions to win the ball back.
“It just wasn’t us really. We did have certain moments where we looked like ourselves but there just wasn’t enough of them”.
Whitaker said part of the problem was his side’s struggle with problem solving as Whythenshawe set themselves up to frustrate Town.
And it was for that reason his side struggled to create decent chances.
He continued: “It’s difficult when the opposition set up so defensively with eight men behind the ball, just looking to block space and you’re looking to move it from side to side as quickly as possible and get down the sides to deliver balls into the box.
“We didn’t do that enough.
“We drove into wide areas but we just didn’t deliver the ball for whatever reason.
“We were being too predictable and safe.
“We need to make runs in behind to stretch the play”.
The final scoreline could have looked a little more favourable had James Berry’s goal been awarded but it was ultimately struck off, having initially been given.
Whitaker added: “Apparently it was handball.
“The linesman gave it as a goal but then there was a huge discussion about where it hit so it was a bit confusing but it was what it was”.
But Whitaker’s men weren’t to be denied and he was pleased with the manner in which they took the lead.
He continued: “It was pleasing to see because it came from a set piece.
“It comes back to the standards we’ve set over pre-season which are so high we probably expected a bit too much today after ten minutes because of the way they set up.
“But there’s no excuses, the lads have got to problem solve themselves on the pitch.
“We said to them at half time we need to speed up the play and get behind them as much as possible just to stretch the play.
“And then there was getting balls in the box. You don’t necessarily have to pick someone out but make them defend the box. Defenders don’t want to defend crosses so the more you put in someone might get on the end of it or it might drop to one of our players and you get a goal so from that viewpoint it was imperative we put them under pressure”.
James Berry’s ‘goal’ wasn’t the only moment of contention during the match.
An administrative error seemingly occurred when the hosts brought on a player who wasn’t named on the team sheet.
Whitaker was quick to raise the issue with the match officials.
He said: “It was pretty obviously really.
“First and foremost he wasn’t named on the teamsheet so to then put a player on the pitch who isn’t named on the teamsheet, you know the rules.
“You can’t just put anyone on so that’s a big error on their part.
“Weather the officials could have checked the teamsheet before the match I don’t know.
“I don’t know who’s responsibility it is but we flagged it up straight away and said ‘the rules are the rules, you can’t bring someone on who isn’t a named substitute’.
“So we raised that point and the officials dealt with it after that”.
But on the whole and after an encouraging summer, Whitaker says there’s plenty of room for fine tuning.
He continued: “Even against ten men we were still sloppy.
“We didn’t impose our game and the way we like to play.
“We got a bit lazy with backwards passes to put ourselves under pressure.
“Just go forward and attack them.
“They were a man down and it’s a big pitch so no doubt they would have been tiring towards the end”.
Looking ahead, Whitaker is looking forward to the season’s opener against Clitheroe in the Pitching In Northern Premier League West division.
He said: “We’ll go into it full of confidence, we’ve had a great pre-season.
“We’ll have a look at what we could have done better against teams like that - how to break them down and how to put them under more pressure and to threaten the goal more”.