Greg . 18 hours ago

Irate AZ manager Maarten Martens unhappy over 'unacceptable' Ilves goals

AZ manager Maarten Martens stated his dismay over some of the goals his side conceded in the 4-3 loss at Ilves Tampere on Thursday.

AZ lost a sloppy first leg of their second-round matchup in the UEFA Conference League qualifying phase and were in danger of returning to Alkmaar with a two-goal deficit, were it not for Mexx Meerdink's injury-time goal.

Despite the Alkmaar side somewhat saving their European campaign with a one-goal deficit, manager Maarten Martens was extremely unhappy after the match.

Ilves took a 3-1 lead when Alexandre Penetra dropped short to adequately protect a rushing Adeleke Akinyemi, who easily cut his way through the AZ defence.

When the Alkmaar defence showed up to have switched off during a throw-in from Ilves, Marius Soderback was permitted to freely shoot at goal following errors from Maxim Dekker and Peer Koopmeiners, causing the 4-1.

"I am most critical of the third and fourth goals.

Mistakes can be made, but we simply did not stick to our plan.

That is unacceptable, really not good," the Belgian boss told Ziggo Sport.

Ilves's fourth goal was what stood out most to Martens: "That is what I am most angry over.

Too many players weren't concentrated on the team.

"We have a lot of talent and good players.

It's over maturity and sticking to agreements.

As technical staff, we debate things in meetings and we repeat them.

If you don't see that reflected on the pitch, that's not good.

"AZ host Ilves in Alkmaar on Thursday, July 31st, in a crucial away leg for the Dutch outfit.