JOVIAL CARLOS TURNS THE TIDE
YOU can imagine it somehow. Carlos Carvalhal zipping through the streets of Swansea on his bike, beaming smile across his face, waving cheerfully at passers-by.
The Portuguese manager took to two wheels for an hour last Wednesday, enjoying ‘a short moment of pleasure’ before resuming the very serious business of trying to keep Swansea City in the Premier League.
After the way everything unravelled at Sheffield Wednesday, Carvalhal is enjoying a new lease of life in fresh surroundings.
His jovial outlook has proved infectious at the Liberty Stadium, with dressing-room laughter the best medicine for Swansea’s relegation fears.
Just ask Ki Sung-yueng, the man whose late winner secured three precious points against Burnley on Saturday, a fourth victory in seven league games since Carvalhal took over on December 28.
‘He is a gentleman and he is witty. Sometimes he tells us the stories and makes us laugh, they are very funny,’ said the Korean.
‘But when he talks about business, he is very serious. He said to us that he has an A face and a B face. When we have a laugh, we laugh, but when we work, we have to concentrate. I want to keep this happy atmosphere and we will stay up.’
Carvalhal certainly had his A face on after Saturday’s win, offering up more of the colourful analogies that have become his hallmark. Having been ‘really deep in the ocean, very dark with no fishes’ when he took over, Swansea are now ‘smelling the fresh air, swimming a little and know the direction to the coast’.
When talking about why he brought on £18million new boy Andre Ayew and Tammy Abraham to pursue a late winner, Carvalhal spoke about ‘putting all the meat on the barbecue’.
Last week, he treated journalists to Pasteis de Nata, the traditional Portuguese custard tarts. He’s certainly been a breath of fresh air.
But Carvalhal’s witty wordplay and press conference theatrics haven’t always been in such happy circumstances.
Asked about Wednesday’s faltering form following a derby defeat by Sheffield United in September, he angrily screwed up a £20 note and bashed it on the table to make the point that his squad still had the same value despite the loss.
But the light-hearted touch he has brought to Swansea is translating into performances of cohesion, control and industry. There has been a visible improvement since he arrived.
Carvalhal says half the battle is mentality, explaining that the third division side Leixoes he coached to the Portuguese Cup final in 2002 eliminated a string of higher-league sides because they had no inferiority complex.
‘For a team from the third division to reach the final, you have to play to win. If you don’t do that, you can’t win,’ he said.
‘It was a very small team and when we played the top teams, we always thought we could win. I think everyone has recognised that Swansea aren’t as weak as people thought before these seven weeks. Our players and our team now have more respect. We are doing our job.’
Leixoes lost 1-0 to Sporting Lisbon in the final that year but Carvalhal has replicated their approach at Swansea.
‘We have 14 points in the last seven games. The Arsenal and Liverpool wins were big for us,’ added Ki, who ended a 37-game Premier League goal drought stretching back to May 2016.
‘Now on the pitch, we don’t think that we are going to lose the game. The winning mentality is getting better and also the organisation and the way we play. He has changed the team and everyone believes in him.’
When warmer days arrive, Carvalhal plans to hop on his bike again and visit the idyllic beaches and coastline of the Mumbles. Will Swansea have reached the safety of the shore by then? Don’t bet against it.