Dario Gradi not happy with points give away

Last updated : 30 September 2007 By The Chairman
Crewe Alexandra's Technical Director Dario Gradi was not happy with the way his side threw away a two goal lead at Boundary Park and ended up with nothing out of a game which they could have won.

He told the club's official web-site, "It is very disappointing to lose the game in the final minute but that's football. The players are very down and rightly so, but they have got to pick themselves up for Tuesday night at Tranmere. We have been in these situations before and we will get together on Monday morning and go through it again."

"Football can be cruel sometimes and these things happen. We could have scored the winning goal ourselves but Schumacher's shot went inches wide of the post. That is the dividing line. Saying that, we didn't play well enough in the second half. We didn't keep possession well enough and gave the ball away cheapily. That just invites pressure and although we coped well for much of the game defensively, we had the ball going in and around our box too often. The third goal came about after it bounced out to their player, but the second goal was disappointing because we lost the smallest man in the box and he headed it in."

"We have work to do, but we know that. We didn't deserve to get anything from the game. Maybe we were good enough for a draw and and after they scored the seocnd goal we would have taken that. But we are not only going to blame the defence because they headed out about 100 balls this afternoon. When they are doing it and then we give the ball away cheapily, that is what happens because it keeps coming back. It is a collective thing and we need to work on it."