Arbroath assistant manager Ian Campbell has lambasted the Lichties for “criminal” defending in their 4-0 defeat against Dundee United.
The Gayfield outfit capitulated in the first half of their Championship curtain-raiser, with Glenn Middleton, Mathew Cudjoe, Craig Sibbald and Louis Moult all rippling the net for the visitors.
And Campbell pulled no punches following a nightmare start to their league campaign.
“Dundee United did well but we didn’t lay a glove on them all night,” he said. “It’s disappointing from our point of view and we’ve got to pick up on individual errors. Those are what gifted them goals.
“United are obviously good players and a good team; they passed the ball for fun. But we lost criminal goals. That’s not like us — so we’ll do something about it, because we are a good team.”
Knife through butter
The manner of the opener — with Joao Balde inexplicably giving possession straight to Moult, who teed up Middleton on the break — was illustrative of an error-strewn, passive showing from Arbroath.
“I thought we were getting a foothold in the game when they scored the first goal,” he added. “Then everything changes and they go through us like a knife through butter, over again.
“I’ll give credit to Dundee United but I’m very disappointed in ourselves. We need to dust ourselves down, pick ourselves up and stop making individual errors.”
Dundee United are up and running in the Scottish Championship!
Glenn Middleton drills the ball into the bottom corner for the opening goal! ⚽️#BBCFootball pic.twitter.com/hMRwdqOXLB
— BBC Sport Scotland (@BBCSportScot) August 4, 2023
Sibbald and Scott McMann also rattled the woodwork, with United underlining their own status as title favourites with a dominating display.
But Campbell warned that ANY team will punish Arbroath for a repeat of Friday’s performance, not just the division’s big guns.
He added: “When you gift the opposition goals — and they are good players, anyway — then the confidence gets up and they cut through us easily. They’ll be a good side this year. But you can’t gift any team goals like we did.”
