Williams hails “fantastic” performance

The life of a football manager can never be an easy one.   Just five days after describing defeat at Hull as “dreadful” it was the “fantastic” Swans that Luke Williams watched dismantle QPR at the Swansea.com Stadium yesterday afternoon to move into the division’s top ten.

Three first half goals which included Liam Cullen’s first club double for almost four years were enough to seal the victory and the Swans could even afford the luxury of a pretty abject second half and still come home with plenty to spare on an afternoon enjoyed immensely by the home crowd.

Williams had called on the Swans to deliver a performance after they were beaten 3-2 last time out at home by Sunderland but he was made to wait for it after arguably the worst performance of the season at Hull last Saturday.  The performance though was worth waiting for as a first forty-five minutes delivered as much as any half performance since the Swans boss took charge last January.

The football was good, the finishing was clinical and QPR – one of the division’s most in form teams going into the game – had no answer to the way the Swans played that opening period so it was little wonder that Williams was in cheerful mood in his post match press interviews.

“I thought it was a fantastic performance. It was a brilliant performance and I am very happy,” said the Swans boss.

“The important thing was we built up more carefully with the ball, which meant we could have more players close to the ball when we lose it.

“So we were better than with the ball, we were more careful, we did not rush trying to get those entries into the final third which can leave you unable to press if you lose the ball.

“The players understood that really well and delivered it really well. It meant we could win the ball back so quickly.

“That is what we had been used to, but I think we had lost our way a little bit trying to rush getting into the box. We were more organised and it was very enjoyable to watch.

“That was reflected in the goals we scored, we were considered in the build-up, and then had the time for the players to get in the box and if we give players like Liam Cullen opportunities we know what is going to happen.

“It was very pleasing, and the players really took responsibility and played together as a team in the second half. We did not get anxious in terms of wanting to protect the lead, or have people getting excited and wanting to do things for themselves, but we did not do that.

“We played together as a team, and we were unlucky not to score more goals.”