BY ZULHILMI ZAINAL Follow on Twitter
Journalists present in the post-match press conference of the FA Cup tie between Selangor and Felda United on Tuesday did not have to ask too many questions.
After seeing his team fall to a shock 2-1 defeat to the unfancied Fighters, Red Giants head coach B. Satiananthan was left fuming at his charges' attitude.
"My men played like little boys. I'd already told them that Felda would come at us using counter attacks, like how they scored their equaliser in our previous encounter, in the league.
"We did not play as a team. They didn't pass the ball when they had the chance, they did not use the flanks, and in the end they were easily contained by Thiago and Masa (Felda defenders Thiago Junio and Masaki Watanabe). When we tried playing crosses into the box in the first half, no one was there to finish them. We created chances, but we were not at the level we wanted to play at.
"This is what happens when you take things too easily after controlling the game. They lost their concentration in defence, and was hit by the winner by Hadin [Azman]. Felda deserved to win because they stuck to their tactics, they had concentration, willpower and determination; all of which we lacked. It's my responsibility to beat this out of my team," said Satiananthan.
He also expressed his disappointment towards his foreign players, hinting at the failure of Sandro da Silva, Michal Nguyen and the injured Endrick dos Santos to contribute to the team's performance. Sandro and Nguyen were the only two foreign players who featured in the match, as Endrick, centre back Taylor Regan and striker Rufino Segovia are all currently sidelined by injuries.
"I'm very disappointed with many of my players who think they can play football by simply walking around. If this is the level of the foreign players that I have, I need to discipline them, and if need be, replace them. Our local players too are not blameless.
"They were playing as if they were superstars; they didn't chase after the ball, didn't put in the effort. Three of them were beaten [by Hadin] with five minutes remaining on the clock!
"I will discuss the matter of our foreign players with the board. I can't retain those with lengthy injuries, except for Rufino. We are aiming for one silverware, now we have only two trophies left to go after, and the Malaysia Cup is the more realistic target. We need to make sure that our qualification path to the cup is secure," noted the former Felda United boss.
Follow Goal Malaysia's Instagram account to see photos and watch videos from Malaysian football!
.jpg?auto=webp&format=pjpg&width=640&quality=60)