SHOW ME SOME REAL BOTTLE
Clement tells struggling Swans stars to ‘step up like Ronaldo’
PAUL CLEMENT wants his Swansea stars to show the same bottle as Cristiano Ronaldo.
The Swans boss believes Gylfi Sigurdsson, Fernando Llorente and Federico Fernandez can help move the team away from the drop zone – starting at Watford today.
And Clement recalls the time Ronaldo (above) calmed him down before Real Madrid’s Champions League final with rivals Atletico Madrid, in 2014, which they won 4-1.
He said: “I remember that final. I was behind Cristiano lining up in the tunnel, and I was looking at the trophy on the podium – it looked amazing.
“It took my breath away and Cristiano looked over his shoulder and said, ‘Don’t worry, Paul’. Now, that is confidence and that is belief. I wasn’t even playing in the game, but that’s what the big players have, they relish it.”
Despite an initial turna- round in results following Clement’s arrival in January, Swansea are winless in five games and have dropped back into the relegation zone.
Now, the former Bayern Munich and Real Madrid assistant wants his experienced players to step up. Sigurdsson played in the Iceland team that excelled at Euro 2016, Llorente is a World Cup winner with Spain, and Fernandez featured for Argentina at the last World Cup.
Clement, 44, added: “Some of our players have been at big clubs, Llorente is an example of that. Tottenham are a big club, some of our players have played for them, recently.
“Llorente, Sigurdsson and Fernandez, they are players who know what it’s like to play in big games.
“We have young players who are new to this with very few Premier League matches.
“What you hope for from the experienced players, and they have been very good, is that they try to galvanise the dressing room and give their advice and experience to the younger ones and help them.”
Swansea will be without vice-captain Jack Cork for today’s Watford clash, after the midfielder suffered an ankle injury last week.