Improved Swans Earn Home Point vs Bournemouth

Swansea City produced a much improved performance for the home fans as they earned a deserved point against AFC Bournemouth at the Liberty Stadium this afternoon.>

Paul Clement made five changes to the team that lost 2-0 at Burnley last weekend. Wilfried Bony started while Tammy Abraham had to settle for a place on the bench, while there was also a surprise start for out-of-favour midfielder Roque Mesa as Clement switched to a diamond 4-4-2.

Fer and Clucas also dropped to the bench with Ki back in, while captain Federico Fernandez had to be replaced by Mike van der Hoorn following the sad passing of his father.

From the very start, the Swans looked sharper and quicker in general play. They were more organised in their own half, and showed a far higher level of desire and effort to win the loose balls and close down the opposition.

It was the sort of effort and desire that was well appreciated by the fans, who had been somewhat criticised of late for their lack of atmosphere and vocal support, which has had an affect on the players according to the head coach.

But it was proven today that if the team show the sort of effort that we want, then there’ll be no issues with a lack of atmosphere or grumbling.

There might not have been a shot on target until Fer’s double effort late on in the game, but we finally witnessed a performance to build on, something that might convince some that the writing isn’t in fact on the wall this season.

Wilfried Bony’s presence up top was a big help. His hold-up play and aerial ability had been craved for weeks, while Mesa did the basics well in deep midfield. Carroll again looked like he was severely lacking confidence still, as was evident when he failed to control a simple pass near the left touchline. Ki was rather inconsistent but still showed enough to prove that he’s better than anything else we have to choose from. In fairness to him, today was probably the third different midfield position that he was asked to play in.

Bournemouth looked surprisingly average, and together with Swansea’s added desire and solid shape, Fabianski wasn’t called into action as much as in recent weeks.

The Swans had what looked like a perfectly legal goal ruled out not long before half time, as the awful referee – Stuart Atwell ruled it out for a harsh foul from Jordan Ayew.

Leroy Fer had our big movement late on though, his first effort was parried by the goalkeeper, but when the ball fell nicely back in his path, his second effort hit the side netting.

There were plenty of positives to be pleased about today. We got a point and kept a clean sheet. Mesa and Bony both started and put in good performances, particular Bony, and it was a game we really should have won. The only frustrating thing was that it felt like it was a missed opportunity to get 3 points. We have Chelsea away on Wednesday with Manchester City also coming up later this month, so we really needed three points before the busy festive period.