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Steve: "We Didn't Come Out And Play Second Half"
Crewe Alex boss gives his post match action reaction following Lions defeat.
Steve Davis could not hide his disappointment after a poor second half showing from his side. Crewe had fought back from 1-0 down to go in at the break on level terms thanks to Lauri Dalla Valle's first goal of the season but we failed to build on that in the second period as Millwall forward Aiden O'Brien added to his opener with two superb individual goals to claim the match ball and the points for his side.
After the 3-1 home defeat, the Alex boss was honest in his assessment. "It was a depressing second half from us. I thought we were okay in the first half, we played some decent football without creating too many chances. They didn't create that many either.
"It was probably the right scoreline at half time. We had a slice of luck with the goal, as it has hit Lauri but I felt we deserved that because we haven't had much of that this season.
"There wasn't a lot in the first half and I thought we would go out and take the game to them in the second half. We got a corner very early on and I thought good, we have got them on the back foot but we didn't build on that and we didn't come out and play in the second half.
"We made some silly mistakes and their goals typify us at the moment. We are okay in possession but we are not doing enough when we haven't got the ball. It is too easy for them and we have to improve on that. The lad has danced through three or four challenges on the edge of the box for the last goal, there wasn't any real contact or challenge and it wasn't good enough from us. I don't know what you do about that, it is down to the individual to win those sort of battles.
"We don't engage enough with the opposition, don't get close enough, intercepting and spoiling and that is something we have to look at. I've said it all season that we have to got to stop just shadowing people around and be more competitive when we do not have ball. When we don't have the ball we look vulnerable.
The midfielders didn't track back enough in the first half and there were not defensively sound in the second half. We can all do better. "It is a collective game though and there was a lot of pressure on the back four because we didn't do well enough in midfield or retain possession well enough up there either.
"That is football. We had a great chance at 1-1 but we didn't take it. You have got to take those chances. If that goes in it could be different. The confidence grows and it makes things easier for you. It got blocked twice on the line and there is some good defending from them there but those chances you have to take. It was a key moment.
The boss added: "The balance is not quite there. We look like we have a back four and six attackers at the moment and we are short of one or two more defensive players. If we need to do that and switch it around then we will. We need to be keeping the ball out of our net because if we are conceding three goals a game then it is always difficult."