"Our Defense Was Poor Today" Spartak's Abascal Was Displeased With The Team's Actions
After the game, the head coach commented on the team's performance
In his post-game press conference, Spartak head coach Guillermo Abascal lamented the team's second-half performance during their 4-1 defeat to FC Orenburg on Matchday 11 of the Russian Premier League. He described the team's defending as "really bad" and said they "made many mistakes" after conceding all four of Orenburg's goals in the second half.
"Today we lost, first of all, because of our attitude, our approach to the game, especially in the second half," Abascal said. "I am very disappointed with the way we played. We didn't play as a team, we didn't follow the plan, and we made many mistakes."
Spartak's defense was indeed porous on Sunday as Orenburg attackers found pockets of space with relative ease. After a first half that saw few chances for either side, Orenburg took the lead just six minutes after the restart via a penalty from Jimmy Marin. Spartak was unable to respond and conceded again in the 63rd minute when Ivan Baklanov capitalized on a defensive error.
A penalty from Spartak's Alexander Sobolev gave the away side a glimmer of hope, but the hosts netted twice more in the final 10 minutes through Artem Arkhipov and George Despotovic to cap off a dismal afternoon for the Red and Whites.
Abascal: "We need to improve our defense"
In his post-game speech, Abascal stressed the need for the team to improve defensively. He said: "We need to improve our defense. We need to be more organized, more compact, and we need to make fewer mistakes. We need to work on our communication, our positioning, and our decision-making."
The Spaniard also called on his players to show more desire and determination on the pitch. He said: "We need to be more aggressive, more proactive, and we need to be more clinical in front of goal. We need to show more character and personality. We need to be more like a team."
He added: "We have a lot of potential, but we need to start realizing it. We need to start playing as a team, and we need to start winning games."
Spartak will have a chance to bounce back when they host FC Rostov on Matchday 12 of the Russian Premier League next Sunday.
