Newcastle Jets head coach Gary van Egmond says a lack of confidence is causing his side to play too tentatively in recent weeks.
Hunter Ports Newcastle Jets head coach Gary van Egmond says a lack of confidence is causing his side to play too tentatively in recent weeks.
After enjoying a glut of goals at the start of the season, the Jets haven-t found the back of the net in four of their last five matches, with the only exception being their 3-3 draw with Melbourne Heart.
Van Egmond said it was clear in the Jets- 3-0 loss to Perth on Friday night that his side were lacking the killer instinct in front of goal that comes with high confidence levels.
“When one goes in, I think you-ll find we-ll score quite a few. Right at this moment it-s a little bit like they-re very tentative,” he said.
“They-re looking to score, but is it 100 per cent looking to score. That-s just from a lack of confidence.”
Van Egmond said the Jets- inability to score goals in recent weeks is being compounded by the fact that they were continuing to make errors in defence.
“We-re finding it difficult to win games due to the fact that we-re conceding self-inflicted goals and on the flip side at the moment we-re not putting the ball in the back of the net when we-re creating a number of chances,” he said.
“You-re never going to win games when that happens.
“At the moment from a confidence point of view, they-re down.
“We need to just pick ourselves up and really start to work hard again on the training field and get ready for the next week.”
The Jets conceded two goals in a five-minute spell either side of half-time against the Glory and van Egmond said that was due to lapses in concentration.
“That wasn-t a good time to cop a goal and obviously five minutes after half-time we-ve copped another one,” he said.
“Those goals when they get scored in that timeframe are usually concentration or fatigue.
“It was probably more so an issue of concentration in regards to both of those goals.
“It puts you on the back foot and it makes it very difficult for you to try and win a game.”
One of Perth-s goals came after an error from 17-year-old Jets debutant Mitch Oxborrow, but van Egmond said the Young Socceroo will be better for the experience.
“It was a tough debut for him. He found it a little bit difficult with the pace of the game, but he-ll take a lot out of that,” he said.
“It was a good experience for the young kid and he-s definitely a bright prospect and he-s learnt a lot from this game.”
The Jets will look to bounce back against Sydney FC in front of what is expected to be a big crowd Hunter Stadium on Saturday night.
The fixture will see the two biggest names in the A-League, Emile Heskey and Alessandro Del Piero, go head-to-head for the second time this season.
Both players scored goals in Round 2 when the Jets won a thrilling game 3-2 in front of over 35,000 fans at Allianz Stadium.
“We hope the fans are always behind us. We hope they-re always going to be our 12th man, especially at home,” van Egmond said.
“We have that opportunity against Sydney and we-re looking forward to getting back.”
Newcastle Jets v Sydney FC
Saturday, December 22
Hunter Stadium
Kick-off 5.30pm
Tickets from PROticket
Limited parking will be available for purchase at the car park entrances on game days for the remainder of the Jets 2012/13 season. Whilst there will be parking available for purchase, Hunter Venues does encourage patrons to pre-purchase their parking tickets at a PROticket outlet or online at www.proticket.com.au as parking is subject to availability.
