Source: Radio New Zealand
Auckland FC coach Steve Corica wants a focus on football not referee decisions. Andrew Cornaga/www.photosport.nz
Auckland FC has given up asking A-League referees to explain their decisions.
Instead, coach Steve Corica would speak to his players about how they reacted when they did not get the refereeing calls they expected as they headed into finals football.
For a few weeks Corica had been unhappy with what he believed was inconsistency in the officiating. So much so, he had an outburst that got him red carded for kicking an object on the sideline during a game in exasperation.
Players were also starting to voice their displeasure to the referees in recent weeks.
“They’re starting to get frustrated from some of the decisions,” Corica said of his team which were sitting second in the league ahead of the last game of the regular season.
“I think we can get a little bit carried away. We probably just need to concentrate on the game and not what the referees are doing and make sure we get the job done.”
The league’s top goalscorer, Sam Cosgrove, had been central to Auckland’s playmaking and to incidents involving the referee this season.
In Sunday’s game against Central Coast Mariners, Cosgrove believed an opposition player had “intentionally” stepped on his back when he was prone on the ground. An act both he and Corica said should have been a red card.
Referees deemed it worthy of a yellow card and Cosgrove was still annoyed.
“Other teams are trying to get under our skin. We rise above it, but we want a bit more help from the officials,” Cosgrove said.
Cosgrove, who had six yellow cards himself and had sat out a game in February for accumulating five yellows in 17 games, defended the way Auckland’s players and coaches had dealt with being on the wrong side of calls.
“You see the manager the other week, he gets sent off, but at no point have we lost our heads and lost boys on the pitch from disagreements with the referee.
“We get frustrated, but I think if anything it fuels our fire.
“At times, I suppose it could become a distraction, but we’re a team that plays on the edge, we’re a team that are intense, we work hard, so if we get that little fire in our belly, sometimes it can help you.”
Sam Cosgrove of Auckland FC after being fouled during the A-League round 12 match against Brisbane Roar. AAP / Photosport
Cosgrove’s treatment in his first season in the A-League has been questioned both by the player and his coach.
The Englishman embraced his role as a physical presence up front and the extra attention that came with it.
“I imposed myself physically on the league straight away when I first came.
“We’ve scored goals all across the front three, the front four that we play, but being the top scorer in the league, you’re automatically going to be that danger man for the opposition.
“But I don’t mind it. I thrive on the battles.
“I think that most weeks I get the better of my centre-half. I’ll keep on doing what I’m doing and they can keep on doing what they’re doing.”
Cosgrove has scored 11 goals so far this season, but said he should “probably be on three, four, five more goals than I’m at, to be honest”.
If Cosgrove could add to his goal-scoring tally on Sunday against Sydney FC, it could help Auckland avoid dropping down the A-League standings.
The striker said some of the issues that lead to Auckland fighting to stay in the top two on the last day of the regular season were self-inflicted.
A win in Sydney would lock in second place in the standings and a semi-final berth. A draw or a loss by one or two goals would mean the chasing teams could catch Auckland and send last season’s Premiers Plate winners into third place and needing to play an Elimination Final next week to get into a semi-final.
“It’s a sink or swim moment and we need to swim,” Cosgrove said.
Cosgrove summed up how he thought Auckland had arrived at the must-win situation they now faced as “mistakes, probably at both ends of the pitch. Not enough quality and not taking our chances up at the top end”.
“We’re conceding goals that are our mistakes, that’s something that we’re going to have to rectify, whether we’re trying to be a bit too cute at the back or whatever, but we’ve highlighted it now and it’s something that we need to change.
“If we can turn it around and do what we can do, we’ll win the finals, for sure.”
Auckland FC coach Steve Corica shakes hands with Sam Cosgrove. Andrew Cornaga/www.photosport.nz
Corica felt the pressure of backing up last season’s success.
“I think when you’re trying to win trophies and you’re trying to be at the top, we put pressure on ourselves, because that’s what we expect as coaches, the players know that.
“There’s always going to be periods in seasons that don’t go your way and I think we’ve had a couple this season, January comes to mind, definitely, and of late.
“For me, it’s more exciting to see how we respond. Once we’re in the finals, it’s do or die at times.”
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
