Alessio Dionisi admitted there was a clear difference between Swansea City and Watford in south Wales on Tuesday night, claiming he was "angry" with his side's out-of-possession performance.
The Swans had far more energy and quality in the first half, racing into a deserved 2-0 lead, as the Hornets chased shadows.
They improved once Edoardo Bove was introduced to bolster the midfield at half-time but were unable to claw their way back into the contest, going down to their first league defeat of the campaign.
And the head coach was less than pleased with the performance overall.
He said: "I'm not happy but when we play bad and the opponent team play well, there is a distance between us.
"In possession, Swansea played well, and my team out of possession and with the ball played badly in the first half.
"The result in the first half is right. The second half was different, probably it was too late to recover but my team played better.
"It was difficult to play similar to the first half.
"I am angry for how we played out of possession, not just the defenders - it is not right if I speak about them.
"I'm not happy because every day we work well out of possession, I want this, but today I didn't see this."
The bulk of Dionisi's XI has played most of the opening four league matches, with the Hornets not adding depth to their squad until deadline day.
Bove was left out of the XI for the first time, Dionisi explaining that he can't start every match, and he was missed in the engine room, while Martin Payero had a fitness concern.
Branimir Mlacic was the only new signing available on Tuesday, and did well as a substitute, but Dionisi accepts his team looked tired.
He said: "Probably, yes, but you know our situation.
"If there were more players, probably the line-up was different, but today the problem was the distance between my team and the opponent team, with the ball and out of possession.
"Against West Ham and Southampton we played well out of possession, for us it's very important.
"Leaving Bove out was tactical because Edoardo is well but it's impossible for every played to play 90 minutes in every match.
"For example, Martin Payero didn't stay well. I hope for the next match to recover him."
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