After netting an equaliser to help the Swans get a point against Everton, Jordan Ayew said that they’d have lost that game six months ago.
He’s definitely right there.
Coming back from a goal down during the first half of the season was just unthinkable. As soon as went a goal down, we pretty much knew that it was game over. The one time that we did come back from a goal down during a game was against Watford, but we later threw a point away after errors from Mesa and Mawson gave the Hornets all three points.
In Paul Clement’s 18 games this season, we conceded first (and of course lost) in 9 of them.
Not a single point gained under Paul Clement, but that soon changed when Carlos Carvalhal came in. In five of his 13 games so far, we’ve come back from behind to get points. Quite a turnaround.
- Watford – Won 2-1 – 1-0 down, 5-minute comeback late on
- Arsenal – Won 3-1 – 1-0 down, came back to win 3-1
- Leicester – Drew 1-1 – came back from a goal down away at Leicester to draw.
- West Brom – Drew 1-1 – as above, Abraham equaliser.
- Everton – Drew 1-1 – as above, Jordan Ayew equaliser.
It was almost as if that comeback victory at Vicarage Road woke us up and showed that we can fight back from deficits to get points. The mentality was all wrong under Paul Clement. The endeavour and effort weren’t there after conceding the first goal. Heads dropped and we just caved in.
Watch Jordan Ayew’s excellent strike against Everton below:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BhmYI2xF4z5/?hl=en
“We still have a bit of a stress, but six months ago we wouldn’t have got a draw in this game.
“It was one of our best performances of the season, but in football you can’t get everything.” – Jordan Ayew
Jordan also revealed that Carvalhal asked him what his best position was, put him there and we’ve all benefited from it. It’s not really much different to the position he was playing under Clement, but Carvalhal has tried to play to his strengths more, and that is to get him running on to balls in behind. His efforts off the ball have also jumped since Carlos’ arrival too, and his high pressure has helped, most notably in the 3-1 win against Arsenal.
He's been an absolute revelation since CC took over. I remember saying on here after Liverpool away under Leon that he should never be allowed to pull on the shirt again.
Funny old game.
— Paul Thomas (@NeathJack1) April 14, 2018
Paul Thomas makes a good point on twitter above, and he wasn’t the only one thinking that after that 5-0 defeat at Liverpool. He was involved in 4 of Liverpool’s goals that day and truly had an absolute shocker, a million miles away from the player he is now.
“Although the first 10-15 minutes was difficult, I grew into the game and the boys produced a great performance,”
“Since I set foot in this club they put me in the best conditions to express myself in the best way.
“When the gaffer came in he spoke to me within a day and said he was counting on me. He asked me where my best position was and everything is OK now.
“Every day I have a smile on my face and work hard when I go into training. – Jordan Ayew
