Dejection at the final whistle for Brian Barry-Murphy, manager of Cardiff City.(Image: Huw Evans Picture Agency)
Brian Barry-Murphy admitted Cardiff City “didn’t defend well enough as a team” as their 12-match unbeaten run came to a crashing halt in a chaotic 5-2 defeat at Plymouth Argyle.
The Bluebirds boss described the result as “very disappointing” and conceded the manner in which the goals arrived, particularly in clusters, proved decisive on a chastening afternoon at Home Park.
Cardiff were repeatedly undone by Plymouth’s direct approach, with crosses and breakaways causing havoc throughout. Barry-Murphy felt his side began the game in control but were punished ruthlessly in transition.
“It’s a very disappointing result for us. We have to take it on the chin and move on quickly,” he said. Join the Cardiff City breaking news and top stories WhatsApp community.
“I thought we had good control of the game in the early stages, but Plymouth are very direct nowadays and get the ball in the box very quickly,” he explained.
“On transition they caused us some problems. We weren’t at our best in terms of creating chances and when they broke they looked dangerous.”
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The timing of the goals proved especially damaging. Cardiff had pulled themselves back into the contest before being hit again in quick succession.
“The way the goals fell, within close proximity of each other, was difficult for us to handle,” he said. “We bounced back really well and I was confident we would create chances and score, which we did.”
However, he pinpointed the second-half penalty as the moment the contest slipped away for good.
“As the second half wore on, the penalty just took away our momentum and from then on it was difficult.”
There was also frustration at how swiftly Plymouth punished Cardiff’s missed opportunities. Barry-Murphy referenced a key first-half moment when Chris Willock went close, only for the hosts to break and score.
“Ironically they scored two goals from breakaways in the first half when we looked like scoring. Chris Willock goes through on goal and looks like he’s going to score but didn’t. Then they break and score.
“We didn’t defend those well enough as a team. That cost us today.” Sign up to our daily Cardiff City newsletter here.
Despite the heavy defeat, the Cardiff manager refused to criticise his players’ attitude, insisting their mindset to attack was correct even if execution fell short.
“We needed to be better in how we played the game. I thought we’d create more chances in the game, our mindset was to push forward and I’ve no complaints about the players.
“It just wasn’t our day and it’s a great result for Plymouth. Well done to them and good luck to them.”
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Barry-Murphy also stressed that perspective is needed after such a bruising result, pointing to his side’s consistency over the course of the campaign.
“The players have been really good all season and they haven’t got carried away when we’ve been doing so well. So we won’t get carried away when it doesn’t go our way.
“The players have not been affected by how they’ve done. They’ve remained very humble.
“We need to bounce back with a really good training week and then obviously the game next Saturday.”
