CARLOS REELS IN THE POINTS
<M<IP >8D<# <M<IP B@:B Saviour Carvalhal nets another win for Swans
CARLOS CARVALHAL is proving a club can come alive again after they seemed to be sleeping with the fishes.
Swansea looked to be sunk when the ex-Sheffield Wednesday manager washed up in Swansea Bay seven weeks ago.
But since then the seafood-loving Portuguese boss, who enjoys comparing players and teams to lobsters, sardines and beachside barbecues, has taken an incredible 14 points from seven matches.
That’s more than Paul Clement managed in the first 20 games of the season before he was hooked.
Korean midfielder Ki Sung-Yueng blasted in a deserved winner nine minutes from time and then revealed Carvalhal tucks into his fisherman’s tales even inside the dressing room.
Tension
“Sometimes he loves to tell the stories because he is a great gentleman and is very witty,” said Ki.
“When you feel some tension, he will tell one of his stories that makes us laugh. But when we have to get down to business he becomes very serious.
“He says he has an ‘A’ face and a ‘B’ face, so when we have a laugh it’s great but when we have to work, we concentrate.
“I want to keep this atmosphere, it’s happy. I want to keep this performance, too, and we must maintain this until the end of the season. Then we will stay up.”
Including an FA Cup run that required two replays, Carvalhal has lost just once in 11 matches. His Premier League record shows victories over Watford, Liverpool, Arsenal and Burnley, with draws away to Newcastle and Leicester.
His only defeat was against Tottenham and Ki reckons every player feels as special as caviar, rather than cod and chips. He said: “Tactically, all over the pitch, he makes everyone work hard.
“He’s changed the players. Everyone knows what to do on the pitch so he has made a big difference.
“The Arsenal and Liverpool games were the big turning points for us and now on the pitch we don’t think as if we are going to lose the game.
“That’s the main point for us, the winning mentality is getting better now.
“In football, sometimes you can’t explain something, like us now.”
It was Ki’s first goal since the final day of the 2015-16 season and it capped another strong display from a player whose current contract has yet to be renewed.
“It has been a long time since I scored, I can’t really remember anything about my last one against West Ham,” added Ki.
“When you score a goal the feeling is great and also when you win the games like this in this situation.
“Of course you want to score more goals but sometimes I can’t. First of all, I want to help the team to win.”
While Swansea float back to the surface, Burnley manager Sean Dyche and his team are treading water. But their former Swansea midfielder Jack Cork believes 11 games without a win will soon be put right.
He said: “We knew a bad run would come at some point but we don’t want to let the first half of the season go to waste and just peter out.
“We need to find some more belief in ourselves and get that mentality back of not conceding.
“We’re still in seventh and we’re having a great season.
“A top-half finish would be amazing. It would show how much progress we have made.
“That would be a good target for us.” SWANSEA (5-3-2): Fabianski 7; Naughton 7, Van der Hoorn 6, Mawson 6, Fernandez 7, Olsson 6 (A Ayew 59, 7); Clucas 6, KI SUNGYUENG 7, Carroll 6; Dyer 6 (Abraham 74), J Ayew 7 (King 90). Subs: Nordfeldt, Narsingh, Routledge, Bartley. UP NEXT: Sheffield Wednesday (a), FA Cup, Saturday. BURNLEY (4-4-2): Pope 6; Lowton 6, Long 7, Mee 6, Taylor 6; Lennon 6 (Arfield 74), CORK 7, Hendrick 6, Gudmundsson 7 (N’Koudou 85); Barnes 6, Vokes 7 (Wells 81). Subs: Lindegaard, Westwood, Ward, O’Neill. UP NEXT: Southampton (h), Premier League, Saturday, February 24. Referee: Andre Marriner 7. YOUR TURN: Which striker scored Swansea’s winner when they beat Burnley 3-2 at home last season?