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Mulvey said the match was one of the most one-sided ‘one-nils’ he’d been involved in and described his team’s performance as the best 90 minutes they’d produced since his appointment.
“You’ve seen some of the fruits of our labour today. I was very happy with the penetration, our overlaps in wide areas, passing was good and we created chances,” he said.
“The only thing missing was the killer instinct.”
Mulvey singled out Ivan Franjic who was a constant thorn in United’s side as his attacking threat down the right side put Valkanis’ defence under constant pressure.
“He [Franjic] gave us great penetration down the right-hand side, he created a couple of chances for himself and his teammates and it was as good a half as he’s played since I’ve been here,” Mulvey said.
In stark contrast Adelaide United coach Michael Valkanis was hoarse from shouting instructions all game and said inconsistency and mental weakness was to blame.
“Last week when we tried to play out there was movement, this week there was no movement,” he said.
“It was like we didn’t turn up to play.
“To me it seems like it’s mental because there’s days where they can turn it on and play football and there’s days like today where they don’t turn up,” he said.
The Reds gaffer claimed his side won’t take much to turn things around as an upswing in confidence can rejuvenate his tired charges.
“If things go well these boys can play unbelievably well,” he said.
“They can change like that,” Valkanis said.
Valkanis said his side missed the natural leadership that in-form lynchpin Jon McKain offers and believes the players brought in to replace him may have missed a golden opportunity.
“Johnny is a leader on the park and he organises things,” he said.
“People got an opportunity to play… and they have to take that opportunity to perform,” Valkanis said