Swansea City`s winless run has now stretched to 7 games in the Premier League but there`s still no need to panic at this early stage?yet.
Swansea City`s winless run has now stretched to 7 games in the Premier League but there`s still no need to panic at this early stage?yet.
| ‘Getting tired of us playing well and losing! To have 61% possession against Man United at Old Trafford is amazing’ ottawa swan |
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January has and will be a difficult month for Laudrup`s side for more reasons than one. The opposition has been tough and together with that their injury problems are not easing. They`re so bad in fact that Canas` absence in midfield following an injury had to be covered by a defender, and Laudrup needed to bring in a few youngsters to fill up his substitutes bench.
After a narrow home defeat against Manchester City on New Year`s Day, the Swans returned to Old Trafford hoping they could get only their second ever win at Old Trafford – and what would have been their second victory there in just a week following last weekend`s FA Cup heroics.
However, it was never likely to be another win realistically, was it? United`s winless run was a massive four games and they just knew that a win was a must to ease the pressure on manager David Moyes.
You can`t deny that Swansea City are involved in a relegation battle. Yes we`re getting record-breaking possession away at Old Trafford, but it continues to mean nothing when we`re returning to South Wales with nothing to show for it. Possession won`t keep us away from the bottom three, and as teams below play against each other and we`re losing, some of them will start to catch us up. A three-point gap from the bottom three is nothing to be calm about, but while we may be in a relegation battle now, the Swans can soon avoid themselves from being dragged further into one.
February is going to be absolutely vital. The first team players who are currently out injured will gradually return from next month and there`s a lot of winnable games coming up. Our record against teams around us and particularly below us is amongst the best in the bottom half, and is by far good enough to easily avoid relegation.
After what will certainly be a difficult home game against Spurs next Sunday, the likes of Fulham, West Ham United, Cardiff City and Stoke are next up and you`ve got to be looking at avoiding defeat against this four at the very least. We can`t afford three of those four to gain points on us.
Laudrup also said after the defeat at Manchester United that it’ll be important to get points against those four teams:
“You don’t expect to get many points at Old Trafford, so nothing has changed,”
“There are 11 teams in it, as I have said all along, and like nine or ten of them, we have to improve our points.
“We play Tottenham next, then we play Fulham, West Ham, Cardiff and Stoke.
“Those are the games where we have to pick up points.”
Nathan Dyer, Michu and Michel Vorm`s returns should make a significant difference, as they should all be back in contention within a month or so. Michu will of course be vital to turning our possession into goals and points, Dyer can also contribute to that as he proved shortly before his ankle injury, while Vorm looks more reliable in between the sticks.
If these three can return and ease our lack of strength in depth then there should be little to worry about during February, but like I said, next month against those teams struggling even more so below us could make or break us.
| Should we be worried? Or are you confident that we’ll soon start winning League games again?
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