John Eustace criticises ‘unacceptable’ performance as Derby thrashed by Swansea

Derby boss John Eustace questioned the attitude of certain players after seeing his side comprehensively beaten 3-0 at home by Swansea.

Goals from Joseph Opoku, Eom Ji-Sung and Ronald mean the Rams have now picked up just one point from their opening three Championship contests, and Eustace revealed he had no issue with the boos that rang out from the home supporters at the final whistle.

“I can understand the fans’ frustrations 100 per cent because the performance was unacceptable and I’m really disappointed,” he said.

“We are lacking in confidence at the moment so conceding that first goal so early on didn’t help, and while we huffed and puffed and had some little moments, to then concede the second just before half-time was a kick in the teeth.

“We then made three changes at half-time. I didn’t want to because none of the players are fit yet and that showed with the way we dropped off the pace in the final 20 minutes, but we had to try and make something happen.

“We couldn’t really put together any sustained attacks or give their keeper any problems, though, and things just seemed to fizzle out a bit and we’re probably lacking a bit of quality in certain areas,
which we are crying out for.

“The only thing that disappointed me in the second half was that the body language of some players wasn’t great. But I’ll take full responsibility for the performance and result. I pick the team, coach the players and give the tactics out.”

Opoku netted for the second time following his summer move from Belgian outfit Zulte Waragem after just two minutes, while Eom – the architect of that opener – then got on the scoresheet himself just before half-time with only his second league goal since November.

Ronald added a deserved third in second-half stoppage time, with unbeaten Swansea having made their best start to a league campaign since 2020, taking seven points from a possible nine, including back-to-back away triumphs.

Boss Vitor Matos said: “We started the game really well and scored. There were moments when Derby pushed us back but we coped with their threat, and after we scored the second goal that gave us the comfort to control the game how we like to.

“Derby made a really strong start to the second half and pushed us back again, but we stayed controlled and calm and then had a number of chances to score. We were maybe a bit too anxious to get a third to kill the game off but I’m really pleased with the maturity of the team, how the new players are fitting in and the desire and energy they are showing.

“We have a group of players who are enjoying playing together. We have the same mindset whether we’re playing home or away and we’re happy to have put on a good performance for our fans.

“We’re showing we can compete against teams with different styles of playing, but it’s only one game and we have a difficult run of fixtures coming up.”