Oscar Garcia felt his side’s first-half performance was their poorest of his tenure, but also gave credit to Barnsley for their display – and said the Tykes’ 2-1 win contradicted their league position.He told seagulls.co.uk, “The first half was really disappointing – and our poorest performance of the season – but in the second half we played much better and in the last 30 minutes we had enough chances to draw and even to win, but we didn’t take them.
“We didn’t start well. We let them have the ball and didn’t put them under pressure quickly enough; we allowed them to be comfortable when they had the ball, and we were not comfortable when we didn’t have it.
“I’ve told the players we have to start all the games at 100% and if we don’t then these things will happen.
“I didn’t need to get angry with the players at the end; they were all very disappointed and know we must improve ahead of Saturday’s game.”
Albion’s head coach said that his team did not underestimate the visitors, and paid tribute to their approach under caretaker boss Micky Mellon.
“We didn’t expect this to be an easy game; we knew it would be tough. All the games in the Championship are tough games, whether you are playing against teams at the top of the table or at the bottom.
“If they continue to play the way they did this evening, then they will not be at the bottom at the end of the season and will maintain their Championship status.”
Oscar also explained why he played a lone striker, a system which has served him well in recent weeks.
“We were unbeaten in six games playing that way. There was no reason why we should change, but I understand why people question that.
“It’s normal when you lose to ask why the manager did this or the manager didn’t do that, but I’m sure they were not saying those things during the last six games.”
Oscar also confirmed Andrea Orlandi missed the game with a knock, but hopes he may be available, along with Leo Ulloa and Kazenga LuaLua, for the visit of Leicester City this weekend.
“Other players are coming back from injury and I am very pleased to have them coming back now. Leo is starting to take part in training and we will see when he is ready to return.
“Andrea was not 100%. He took a knock to his knee in training and so we preferred to put another player in the squad instead.*
“We will now prepare for Leicester, one of the best teams in the league. We will go out to win and to play how we know that we can play.”
Original article
“We didn’t start well. We let them have the ball and didn’t put them under pressure quickly enough; we allowed them to be comfortable when they had the ball, and we were not comfortable when we didn’t have it.
“I’ve told the players we have to start all the games at 100% and if we don’t then these things will happen.
“I didn’t need to get angry with the players at the end; they were all very disappointed and know we must improve ahead of Saturday’s game.”
Albion’s head coach said that his team did not underestimate the visitors, and paid tribute to their approach under caretaker boss Micky Mellon.
“We didn’t expect this to be an easy game; we knew it would be tough. All the games in the Championship are tough games, whether you are playing against teams at the top of the table or at the bottom.
“If they continue to play the way they did this evening, then they will not be at the bottom at the end of the season and will maintain their Championship status.”
Oscar also explained why he played a lone striker, a system which has served him well in recent weeks.
“We were unbeaten in six games playing that way. There was no reason why we should change, but I understand why people question that.
“It’s normal when you lose to ask why the manager did this or the manager didn’t do that, but I’m sure they were not saying those things during the last six games.”
Oscar also confirmed Andrea Orlandi missed the game with a knock, but hopes he may be available, along with Leo Ulloa and Kazenga LuaLua, for the visit of Leicester City this weekend.
“Other players are coming back from injury and I am very pleased to have them coming back now. Leo is starting to take part in training and we will see when he is ready to return.
“Andrea was not 100%. He took a knock to his knee in training and so we preferred to put another player in the squad instead.*
“We will now prepare for Leicester, one of the best teams in the league. We will go out to win and to play how we know that we can play.”
Original article