Stojkovic: Grampus played like ´high schoolers´

Nagoya Grampus manager Dragan Stojkovic was exasperated following the club’s 2-0 loss at Shimizu S-Pulse on Sunday.

The reigning J.League champions are now four points behind leaders Gamba Osaka and three behind Kashiwa Reysol.

“There’s absolutely nothing good I can say about how we played today,” Stojkovic said after the match.

“We didn’t make anything of the chances we had and we paid the price.”

“It was like high schoolers playing against a university team. In a way, it was a good lesson for us.”

“We learned that we can’t win if we play this way and we certainly can’t win the league either.”

The 46-year-old had plenty of praise for Grampus’ opponents including Freddie Ljungberg, who torched two defenders on the right-hand side before crossing to Alex Brosque for S-Pulse’s second goal of the match.

“Looking at that play, you’d never think he was 34 years old,” Stojkovic said.

Nagoya will have a chance to bounce back from the disappointing loss when they host Albirex Niigata in the first leg of the J-League Cup quarter-final, followed by an Emperor’s Cup match against Tokai League side FC Suzuka Rampole next Monday.