Wrong place, wrong time for euro stars?
THE sight of Renato Sanches making a lung-busting run through the Benfica midfield and finishing off the Bayern Munich move that he started will leave many Swansea City fans scratching their heads. They didn’t see much of that last season.
Where was this dynamism, this drive, this desire and this brilliance when he was in South Wales? It was absent, that’s for sure.
The youngster was making his first start for Bayern on Wednesday night in over a year. On Thursday Roque Mesa lined up in the Sevilla engine room as the La Liga side face off against Standard Liege in the Europa League.
Two hugely talented midfielders, dining at the highest tables of continental football within just months of leaving the Swans.
What went so wrong for them in SA1? Could Swansea have handled them better to see their undoubted talents shine in the Premier League?
Mesa was the first signing of the summer in 2017 and he was highly thought of by those in the know.
He was compared to Luka Modric by respected Spainbased journalist Sid Lowe.
“The assumptions that certain players are not suited to the Premier League haven’t always stood up; (Juan) Mata, is he going to cut it in the Premier League? (David) Silva - is he going to cut it? (Santi) Cazorla – is he going to cut it in the Premier League? All these guys did quite well,” he said on the Spanish Football Podcast.
“They were the very top level, admittedly. They were that level of players that either had to go to Real Madrid or Barcelona or had to leave the country because they were that good.
“Roque Mesa is not quite at that level, but I think he’s not far off. I think he is a wonderful player. I would imagine they (Swansea City) would try to protect him, that he won’t play at the base of a midfield diamond, he will play slightly to the right, but effectively coming and receiving, sort of doing a Xavi role.” A fine reputation, then.
Sanches’ arrival, meanwhile, sparked a sense of excitement not seen in SA1 before. This was a youngster who was voted the Golden Boy of European football and had played no small part in Portugal’s Euro 2016 triumph. Shock and elation barely covered it.
“I’m delighted to secure his services,’’ said Paul Clement at his unveiling. “He is a player I know well having worked with him for six months at Bayern Munich before my own move to Swansea. He is one of Europe’s elite young talents who has already achieved a lot for his age. Unfortunately, he would be proved wrong.
Mesa, signed for £11 million, was used sparingly by Clement, who kept stressing the man with the moustache was adjusting to the speed of Premier League football.
Clement was clearly annoyed with Mesa after a high-profile error against Watford early in the season. With eight midfielders on his books at the time (imagine that now), he left the Spaniard out in the cold.
Mesa made his last appearance for Swansea in the FA Cup clash against Wolves in January.
Sixteen outings – the majority from the bench – and he was done with British football.
With Sanches, there was such a will from everyone concerned that he succeed, but from the outset he struggled. His debut against Newcastle was littered with mistakes but there were glimpses of brilliance there.
His confidence, though, never looked solid enough – perhaps understandable for a player his age – and it was the performance at Stamford Bridge against Chelsea that summed up his time with Swansea. In a 45-minute display that bordered on terrible, he managed to pass the ball to an advertising hoarding. He was hooked at halftime.
The last of Sanches’ 15 appearances for Swansea came against Notts County in the FA Cup, it ended with injury. Eighteen months before, he was in the Euro 2016 final.
Mesa headed to Sevilla on loan in the January of 2018 and featured seven times for the La Liga outfit. He immediately looked at ease back in his homeland.
Last season, Spanish journalist Juan Antonio Solis said Mesa’s efforts were ‘appreciated more’ by Sevilla.
The club’s caretaker coach Joaquin Caparros valued ‘his tactical nous, positioning infront of the defence and the cover he provides, as well as the support he offers them.”
This season, under Pablo Machin, Mesa has been a regular. Sanches will get more opportunities now as Bayern face up to a mounting injury list.
Ironically, Mesa and Sanches would probably have done better under Graham Potter, or during a time when Swansea were still renowned for their possession-based style of play. Clement just didn’t fancy Mesa – or Leon Britton, for that matter – and preferred more physical players in the centre of the park.
Mesa is a passing player and Swansea has stopped subscribing to that blueprint.
As for Sanches, Swansea’s blue riband signing, he was “damaged”, according to Clement, the man who brought him to SA1.
Few would argue with that statement, he was injury prone and desperately low on confidence.
It is easy to say with hindsight but the youngster was affected by a case of too much too soon.
Swans fans never saw the best of Sanches or Mesa. The players’ talent, however, is not in doubt.