Jordan’s air of confidence is indication of Swansea spirit
SWANSEA City gave their Premier League survival hopes a massive boost as they held on to beat Liverpool 1-0 at a jubilant Liberty Stadium.
Alfie Mawson got the only goal of the game for Carlos Carvalhal’s men and they then held on for dear life for a win that moves them within three points of safety.
The result comes just 27 days after the Swans were hammered 5-0 at Anfield, and this result will provide a major boost of confidence that they can secure an eighth season of Premier League football.
Here’s what we learned on a night of high emotion... SWANSEA’S SIGNIFICANT SUCCESS Wins, whoever they are against, only bring the same number of points. But these three feel all the more significant for Swansea City.
In what was only the third time in four seasons a team in last place beat a side in the top four, Swansea’s win moved them to 20 points, level with West Brom and behind the Baggies on goal difference.
If the mood around the Liberty on Monday night was of new belief, spare a thought of what Albion, Southampton (22) and Stoke (23) fans are thinking after their own positive results at the weekend disappeared back into a fog of pessimism.
More importantly for the side who have now collected more points in Carlos Carvalhal’s time (seven) than the 12 games before his arrival, it has congested the entire bottom half of the division.
Swansea would have been six points adrift had they lost; instead they are now six points off Watford in tenth with three points separating the bottom six. The win will have had a negative psychological impact on rivals as much as it boosted Swansea. No-one from Everton down is safe.
One other stat: this is the third time Klopp has lost to Swansea under a third different manager (Francesco Guidolin, Paul Clement, Carlos Carvalhal) having also taken in a game against a team led by caretaker Leon Britton last month. No other side has beaten Klopp’s Liverpool more times than Swansea. CARVALHAL IS BOXING CLEVER Carlos Carvalhal may have used a Formula 1 analogy, but he might well be a boxing fan given the rope-a-dope style of Swansea City’s start to proceedings.
It was a ploy he used to – almost – good effect against Tottenham, where Swansea stayed tight and compact without much attacking ambition in the first 30 minutes, before then springing forward and asking greater questions.
Of course, in that Spurs game Swansea had suffered the injustice of Fernando Llorente’s offside goal and could not find a way past Hugo Lloris.
Here it paid dividends, but it was notable how Swansea remained very much content to stay within their half and get all men behind the ball.
Compared to the previous 30 minutes, the amount of touches in the Liverpool half more than doubled in the 15 minute period before the break when Alfie Mawson found the breakthrough, as did the touches in the final third.
There is little wrong in being solid and restrictive, but perhaps the key difference between Carvalhal’s Swansea and Paul Clement’s – for there was only a little more possession here (28%) than there was in the Wembley rearguard against Spurs, the 2-1 defeat at Arsenal and the 4-0 battering by Man City – is that Swansea look confident and purposeful when they do look to make the most of the attacking openings.
Confidence and clarity of game plan is not only clear, but growing. ALL CHANGE FOR AYEW All-important three points aside, the impact Carvalhal and his almost aggressive positivity is having on individuals is clear. In particular, the improvement it has unearthed in Jordan Ayew is nothing short of remarkable.
The Ghanian didn’t get on the scoresheet here, as he had done in three of his four previous starts under the Portuguese, but his performance was integral to Swansea’s success.
His running with the ball was statistically better than anyone else on the park, spearheading Swansea’s counter and easing pressure when it came to the second-half red tide of Liverpool.
Only once did he fail to make the right decision when on the ball, compared to the number of times he would take the wrong option under Paul Clement, with his confidence shining through.
The fact he left the field to a standing ovation and the crowd singing his name, unthinkable just a few weeks back, shows how far he’s come in a very short time. JEEPERS ‘KEEPERS There were worrying signs in the final minutes of the match when Kyle Naughton hurriedly passed a message to the bench and Kristoffer Nordfeldt was rushed to warm up.
Lukasz Fabianski appeared to be struggling with an unknown injury and, at one stage, it appeared the Sweden international would be called upon to see out the last few Liverpool attacks.
It brought back memories of the defeat to Tottenham at the Liberty last season when Swansea were leading and there was confusion about whether Fabianski would come off. The