SAD SWANSEA KOP IT
CARETAKER RUES BASIC MISTAKES AS STRUGGLING WELSH CLUB SUCCUMB 5-0 TO RAMPANT LIVERPOOL
Swansea City caretaker manager Leon Britton bemoaned the basic errors which saw the Premier League’s bottom side hammered 5-0 at Anfield last night.
The visitors, who sacked Paul Clement last week, looked rudderless on the pitch and the fact they were only one goal down at half-time owed more to Liverpool’s lacklustre performance than any tactical game-plan.
What was telling, however, was the hosts did not have to work that hard to score four times - including two in as many minutes - after the break.
“It was very difficult. The first half was not too bad: we grew into game, got a little bit of confidence, but after we conceded the second goal all belief and confidence drained from the players.
“We made a lot of mistakes, some really basic errors, and against a side with the quality of Liverpool then you are going to be punished.
“At a place like this, you need a seven to eight out of 10 performance from everyone to get any sort of result, but when you are making mistakes that are at academy level then they are going to punish you.”
With no appointment seemingly on the horizon, Britton has to pick up the players for the trip to Wat- ford on Saturday.
“I haven’t spoken to the chairman since Christmas Eve because I have been involved in the game but as far as I am aware I will be in charge for training (today) and for the Watford game.”
Philippe Coutinho, captain in the absence of the injured Jordan Henderson, scored on his 200th appearance for the club after just six minutes.
But it was not until the second half that the floodgates opened with Roberto Firmino scoring either side of a brilliant strike from Trent Alexander-Arnold, withAlexOxlade-Chamberlain completing the rout on 82minutes.
Manager Jurgen Klopp was pleased his players were able to rectify their mistakes of the first half.
“Even in a not really good first half, we had enough chances to score two or three goals,” he said. “That should be enough. I was not disappointed at half-time, but we had to defend the situations better, we had to be more compact.
“In the second half we were better. It wasn’t an easy game. It was really hard work – I’ve no problem with that. I’m really happy with what we learned.
“It is a perfect result for us, nobody injured, I don’t think. Important three points, five goals, clean sheet so it’s all good.”