Carlos: It’s sink or swim time
NEW Swansea manager Carlos Carvalhal has laid down the gauntlet to his players, saying they must prove their worth or risk being given the January boot.
Sacked by Sheffield Wednesday on Christmas Eve, Carvalhal has made an immediate return to management by succeeding Paul Clement at the Liberty Stadium.
Swansea are bottom of the Premier League and Carvalhal will run the rule over his players at Watford this afternoon and against Tottenham on Tuesday.
He said: “The first step is to try to give confidence to the players and give them the opportunity to show what they can do.
“If we change things and the answer is not what we expect, then after this we will try to improve the team in January.
“The clock is ticking, that’s absolutely correct, but we can’t do anything until January 1. So we have to try to give confidence to the players who are here first. They need to show commitment and after that we will take decisions.
“We have talked about the possibility of bringing in new players if we need to. The chairman was open about that, but let’s see the weaknesses first.”
Swansea’s squad is woefully short of quality and the club’s league position reflects that.
But the likes of Kyle Naughton, Martin Olsson and Tom Carroll have produced underwhelming performances all season without any pressure being placed on their positions.
The whole Swansea squad has a point to prove to Carvalhal, who added: “We are now five points adrift and the team aren’t playing good
WATFORD SWANSEA
football. They aren’t scoring or creating chances. When you change some things, when you create a new dynamic, the players can surprise you and they can change to another level.
“So it’s our work to try to give confidence to them to show that they are better than what they have shown.”
Swansea are struggling for goals but the 52-year-old Portuguese has been boosted by the return to training of striker Wilfried Bony, who has been struggling with a hamstring injury.
A late decision will be made on whether the powerful Ivorian faces Watford, but
WE’LL FIGHT: Carvalhal yesterday
the game is likely to come too soon for Ki Sung-yueng to recover from his calf problem. This afternoon’s match will be Carvalhal’s first in England’s top flight but he says he has nothing to prove. “My staff and I will take this opportunity with both hands. We will work very hard like we did in the past,” he said. “We do this because we want to work. We will be here from morning till night because it’s what we like to do. “We will prepare well and try to improve things because it’s a good opportunity to show our abilities. We’re sure we are more than ready for the Premier League.” Watford manager Marco Silva knows all too well the challenges his countryman Carvalhal faces after failing to save Hull from the drop last season.
Carvalhal faces the same task and Silva said: “The Swansea board obviously believe in him, although the situation at the club is not the best. If he’s taken this decision he believes he can do the job.
“I expect Swansea to be organised and wait for our mistakes and hit us on the counter. We respect them but we have to be focused on ourselves.
“It’s not the first time we have played against a team who has a new a manager. I remember David Moyes was appointed by West Ham and we did well and won that game.”
Watford sit in mid-table but Silva added: “We don’t look at the table and it doesn’t matter if we play top or bottom. We will need to be at our best.”