SWANS: Matos rues ‘passive’ first half as unbeaten start ends at Southampton

Vitor Matos admitted Southampton “were much better, sharper” in the first half that ended Swansea City’s unbeaten start to the Championship season.

The Swans were beaten 3-1 at St Mary’s, breached for the first time in 449 minutes of league football and knocked off the top of the table.

“Southampton were better than us tonight,” said Matos. “In the first half, they were much better, sharper, clinical as well, finding the players between the lines, which we knew would be one of their main strengths.

“They were more aggressive than us; they played with more intensity, and we were quite passive. They showed more speed than us.

“We had some good moments, but we also had a lot of moments where we were not us, and they scored the two goals, and it shows where we need to improve.”

‘Much closer to what we want to be’

The head coach saw a different side after the break, Zan Vipotnik‘s penalty on his 100th appearance briefly giving the leaders hope before Léo Scienza’s clincher.

“In the second half, I think we were much closer to what we want to be, to what we have shown so far: aggressiveness, much more initiative, much more control, much more desire, much more willing to attack them,” he said.

“I think that’s how we got paid with a goal for us.

“We need to improve our last decisions in the final third and the consistency of our play to be clinical in all situations.

“But when you have this kind of game, you cannot give anything away. We need to be as competitive as we can. Unfortunately, we were not in the first half.”

‘When you lose, you get feedback’

Matos wants the lessons applied quickly, with second-from-bottom Burnley visiting the Swansea.com Stadium on Saturday (3pm kick-off). A trip to Lincoln City follows a week later before the international break.

“When you lose, you get feedback. I think that’s what you can get from this game. You need to learn to be more competitive, learn what you need to improve, and then try to be the team we want to be against Burnley,” he said.

“It’s a challenge; there is a bit of tiredness there to manage the squad just in this last bit before the international break.

“It will be a really interesting game. I think having the stadium behind us will help us a lot. I think that’s why we are there.

“We will definitely take the first step, which is to show everyone our passion and desire for football. Then everyone will join, and it will for sure be a really good game for us.”