To see the fun in the stands...


"I'm embarrassed and I hope the boys are embarrassed. I'll take responsibility but each individual player has to look at himself as well," he said after the game.

"Nobody wants to get beaten 5-0. It's embarrassing for the club and ourselves."

Kawasaki coach Takashi Sekizuka however, judged the team less harshly.

"We don't feel tonight was really representative of the Mariners," he added. "We really prepared ourselves well for this game and in our research, all the times that we've watched them we've really been impressed by their strength and ability.

"We really prepared ourselves to diffuse these points in their game. We were quite intimidated and we really worked hard on our planning for this match. Even though we won this game, we expect the next match against The Mariners to be a challenge."

The visibly shattered Mariners' coach said he was extremely disappointed that all the good work built up over the past two ACL matches had been thrown away.

McKinna said: "Once the first ball went in, nobody wanted the ball, nobody was helping the guy on the ball, bad decisions, bad passing - the list goes on."

Lawrie dismissed the idea that Kawasaki dominated simply because they were a vastly superior team.

He added: "The movement and timing of these guys was outstanding but when we were giving the ball away needlessly, it was not just because they were a great team, it was because we weren't doing well.

"We were too slow moving the ball forwards because we didn't have options. As soon as they got the ball the movement started through midfield, they were bombing forward from everywhere and making intelligent runs.

"In the first few minutes we had some good opportunities in the front third to slip people in but the quality of the ball wasn't there. That was the difference between the two teams - every time they were in the front third, because their movement in the final pass was good they cut us open."

Although not overawed by their highly-rated opponents, when Kawasaki scored the first goal it "sucked the life out of the team", Lawrie said.

He conceded that not playing competitive football for three weeks may have affected the team's sharpness but he said it was no excuse for their poor performance.

The gap between the A-League and the J-League should not be judged on this one game, however, as both the Jets and The Mariners have both had good results, said Lawrie.

Facing Kawasaki away in a fortnight's time, the team would be working on a long list of improvements, including the movement through midfield.

"They did little one-twos round about us all night," he said. "We never picked up any second ball and because they were always moving they picked up every crumb.

"When we have the ball, our movement has to be better so that people on the ball have better options."

To see the fun in the stands...