Neal Ardley insisted he wanted his AFC Wimbledon team to “hurt” after their 2-0 defeat to Southend United on Saturday.
The Wombles boss admitted his team “got beaten up” by their guests all the over Cherry Red Records Stadium pitch, as they were second best to everything, particularly in the second half.
A Nile Ranger goal in the first half was added to in the second half by Simon Cox’s strike, but without a shot on target during the entire game, the Dons were never likely to reap any rewards from the League One match.
And manager Ardley cut an unhappy figure after the game, admitting that while his side, still in their debut season at League One level, were not going to win every game, he wanted to ensure they always “had a go” – something their plainly did not in the second half of Saturday’s game.
“I thought the first half was fairly even and we did some nice stuff, although the final ball let us down,” Ardley said. “The difference between the two teams was letting someone take a throw in which went down the line and then dribble into your box, dribble between three people who just stick a leg out as a token gesture and then let him slot it into the bottom corner. If you defend like that, you are going to struggle.
“That was it really. There was nothing between the teams other than that. We worked some good areas but we didn’t have the end product.
“We wanted more drive and more risk-taking in the second half, that’s what we asked for. Take the game to [Southend] and ask them if they want to defend their lead. But the second half was as flat as I’ve seen us.
“There was no tempo, no energy and I was running up and down the line because I felt like I wanted to create a tempo more than the 11 on the pitch. That was disappointing, really disappointing.
“We lost every battle. We lost at one end, we lost at the other. We lost in the middle and they ran harder than us. You have to match Southend in all of those areas before you even get a chance to talk about tactics and skill and ability. We made two mistakes which cost us goals, but that happens. I don’t mind losing games of football but I want my team to have a go and we plainly didn’t.
“I think we could have caused them a bit of a problem if we had played with tempo. You have to give them credit though; they were good. Their front two beat our back three up, their back four beat our front three up and their midfield ran all over our midfield. I want the players to hurt in there [the dressing room], I want them to be embarrassed by it.”
