Essendon's coaches have begun to analyse last night’s loss to Geelong in hope of returning to the winners’ list against the West Coast Eagles this Saturday.

Head coach James Hird was brutally honest about the team’s performance, calling it an uncharacteristic display that did not reflect the high standards present at training.

“The way we played in that first half was unacceptable,” Hird said. 

“The players realised this at half-time in the way that they played and the way that they approached the game isn’t the way the Essendon Football Club wants to play.”  

Assistant coaches Mark Harvey and Matthew Egan also spoke honestly about the midfield and defensive efforts respectively. 

Normally able to stand up to immense pressure week-in week-out, our formidable back six did not have their best night according to Egan 

A combination of Geelong’s quick ball movement and ability to hit targets caused headaches for the defenders.

Egan singled out Cale Hooker as one player who could keep his head up.

“Even though Hawkins kicked four, Cale Hooker fought really hard,” Egan said.

“Our pressure on the ball was just off today.

“We’ve got a bit of work to do with team defence and to try and find a way to stop scores.” 

Our midfielders showed progress this week, able to win the clearance count by 20 - an area that had been an issue in previous weeks. 

However, although Mark Harvey saw this as a step in the right direction, he believes there is still a lot of work to be done in raising the efficiency of these clearances. 

“Our inability to control the ball when we win it and our rushing of disposals is causing some heartache,” Harvey said 

“It’s a two fold problem at the moment.”

Hird has flagged that there will be some hard reflecting at the club this week with some changes to the line-up to follow. 

The team currently sits in 12th place after round 10 and will travel to Western Australia to face the in form West Coast Eagles before the bye.