CARLOS WATCH... HOW THE NEW SWANS GAFFER DID ON HIS DEBUT

WHATEVER the final outcome of Swansea City’s fight against Premier League relegation, Carlos Carvalhal, his players and the travelling Jack Army will not forget this afternoon at Vicarage Road in a hurry.

With time running out and Swansea seemingly destined for another defeat, it looked as though the Portuguese would mark his debut in a fashion all too familiar this season.

Then, in a flash, Jordan Ayew turned in Oli McBurnie’s excellent knockdown, before Luciano Narsingh struck the winner when Heurelho Gomes parried a Nathan Dyer shot.

The result was absolutely bedlam in the away end and on the Swansea bench, but how much did we learn about what to expect under Carvalhal?

Here we take a look... THE SET-UP PAUL Clement had tried any number of combinations of formation and personnel in an effort to arrest Swansea City’s slump during the opening half of a season.

Carvalhal had favoured a 4-4-2 at Sheffield Wednesday and so it was not too much of a surprise when he elected to utilise it for his Swansea bow.

Tom Carroll and Roque Mesa were in the middle of the four, with Sam Clucas and Renato Sanches in wider areas but encouraged to drift infield and create mismatches against defenders.

It was another new formation for this Swansea squad, and there had been just 48 hours for the new boss to try and iron out any fundamental creases.

He admitted himself he had not been happy with a lot of what he had seen, but it is a shape we should expect to see moving forward. THE STYLE WITH just two training sessions under his belt, this game was never going to give us a full representation of what the Portuguese will want to see from this Swansea squad, but there were little moments and passages of play which hinted at it.

Shortly before Ayew hit the bar early on, there was a lovely exchange of one-touch passing between Carroll, Sanches, Martin Olsson and the Ghanaian that sprung them through a Watford press and into clear space. There were a few more similar instances in the second half which managed to give Sanches some room.

On the whole, a lot of Swansea’s weaknesses remained clear to see, the lack of confidence and trepidation trying to play in some areas, and the lack of composure in the final third were again issues.

But they at least kept trying to play and kept coming during the final stretch, riding their luck along the way.

Carvalhal had promised he would not send a side out to try and draw and you could not argue about that given that Swansea pressed again as soon as they had the equaliser.

It is going to take time - and some January additions - for a full vision of Carvalhal’s plan to become evident, but there were enough pointers here of what he wants to see even if the execution was off given his very brief time at the helm. THE SUBSTITUTIONS CARVALHAL has been a relentlessly positive figure since his arrival and he was not going to die wondering when it came to his substitutions.

Disappointed in Tammy Abraham’s offering – even if the striker did limp off – he did not hesitate to send McBurnie on, having already withdrawn Mesa for Narsingh in an effort to inject some pace into proceedings.

Clucas was later taken off to get Dyer on the field and the four substitutions worked a treat as all three made telling contributions.

McBurnie set up the leveller for Ayew from a Narsingh cross, while it was Dyer’s shot that allowed the Dutchman to pounce for the winner, his first Swans goal. COMMUNICATION WITH PLAYERS HAVING been frustrated with the opening 25 minutes and more, Carvalhal took his time relaying messages to his players and looking to get them to understand exactly what he wanted.

Sanches came in for particular focus, with Carvalhal continually encouraging the on-loan Bayern Munich man to come inside rather than standing on the wide outside. At one stage he even called the Portugal international over from the far side of the field to make his point.

Similar messages were relayed to Clucas, with the pair switching flanks too.

The penny did not initially drop, and Sanches was poor in that first half, but he grew into the game and became more of a factor once he occupied the pockets of space his manager was directing him too.

As a collective, Carvalhal could be seen urging his players higher up the pitch, desperate to prevent them sitting deep and inviting pressure. THE TOUCHLINE MANNER FOR the most part, the former Sheffield Wednesday boss cut a calm figure, although some of his frustrations did spill over with a hunched, rapid walk to the dug-out following the Watford opener.

One misplaced pass from Sanches saw hands briefly thrown in the air, while there was a kick of the turf when a Carroll pass threatened to send Ayew in on goal only to rebound off the striker’s heel.

He became increasingly animated during the latter stages as he sensed his side building up a head of steam.

He waved his players forward, gesturing and gesticulating. He celebrated the equaliser, but at the winner he got fully caught up in the emotion as players and staff erupted from the bench around him as he relished the moment and acknowledged the fans.

Again at the final whistle he made sure he made his way over to the travelling supporters, who had heartily cheered their side all afternoon, and pumped his fists as he shared the moment with them.

It did not feel forced, it felt like a genuine excitement and warmth.

He will surely hope those are not the last time such scenes are enjoyed this season by those backing Swansea City.