Luke Williams delivered a scathing assessment of Swansea City’s performance and discipline after their 3-0 defeat to Cardiff City at the Cardiff City Stadium.
Callum Robinson’s brace and Dimitrios Goutas’ header secured a dominant win for Cardiff, while the Swans struggled to replicate the intensity of previous derby successes, producing what Williams called a “really upsetting” performance.
Luke Williams criticized his side’s lack of fight following their 3-0 defeat to Cardiff City in the south Wales derby.
“I feel very disappointed that we started the game fine and then the performances just evaporate, fall off the edge of a cliff,” a visibly unhappy Williams said after the game. “That’s really upsetting, really worrying.
“We have failed to perform at a consistent level but today, the stark change in our performance from probably half an hour in, we started to lose a grip of the game, we started to give away a lot of corners and free-kicks and then we suffered so badly.
“So many players suffered so badly and got worse as the game went on… I imagine it’s a lot of to do with the atmosphere. I think the opposition could feel that and did a brilliant job to heap pressure on us when we felt weak.”
A post-match melee involving players and staff from both sides, visibly annoyed the Swans head coach.
The incident followed a late clash where Gonçalo Franco collided with Cardiff manager Omer Riza on the touchline. Riza, believing it was deliberate, confronted Franco and received a red card from referee James Bell for entering the field.
“I think from our point of view it’s pathetic. If we think in any way that it’s going to in some way take attention away from the shoddy performance then they’re very much mistaken.
“The time for fighting was on the pitch. Fighting for the ball. Fighting for our fans. To make one more run forward. To make one more tackle. To jump for one more header. To try to make one more action in the box. To try and make one more recovery run when your legs have gone.
“That’s fighting. Not scrapping on the pitch, swearing and pushing.”
Here is the full post-match reaction from Luke Williams: