Yahoo News Mark Robins makes mentality admission after 'poor' Coventry City performance at Leeds United
Mark Robins accused his players of taking the “easy option” in what he described was a really “poor” performance against Leeds United.
The Sky Blues were only 1-0 down at the break but never troubled the Whites once in a desperate first half at Elland Road where they didn’t have a single attempt on goal in the opening 45 minutes.
And although they came out looking more determined to be more of a threat after the break, United grabbed a second and then third goal on the counter attack to complete a miserable afternoon in West Yorkshire.
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“It was a disappointing afternoon,” said the City boss. “We couldn’t get a foothold in the game because when we won the ball back we gave it straight back to them, so we couldn’t build any rhythm or get into the game, and that was the biggest disappointment in the first half.
“I thought we were, well there was nothing in it really. We were trying to keep them at bay because they have got good players, pace and they can hurt you in spaces if you commit too early, too soon. We got it wrong on the right-hand side a little bit but we tried to sort that but still, when we won the ball back it wasn’t the game plan where we were just going to come and sit in front and not take part in the game.
“As I said to you yesterday, I wanted us to take part in the game but to take part in the game you have to be better on the ball and more positive with it because when you play backwards you invite the press, so we kept doing that.”
He added: “For whatever reason, there’s a mentality of taking the easy option at this moment in time rather than moving the ball in the right directions and taking the right option, and that was the story of today. We didn’t do that well enough and then we ended up conceding goals and then at 3-0 down it’s easier to play because there’s no pressure on you. The game is gone, from that point of view.
“Brandon came on and had a really good effort on goal, but it took far too long to get anywhere near their goal. It was really disappointing, so we have got to try to turn that around, turn the performance around and the mentality around on Tuesday, because we were poor today.”
