Gylfi Sigurdsson has praised Paul Clement’s training sessions at Swansea City, and said that it’s easy to see why he was at some big European clubs as an assistant.
Two of his predecessors – Bob Bradley and Francesco Guidolin were criticised for their poor training methods, but having worked with some of the biggest stars in the game, Paul Clement was surely going to put that right.
Fitness was lacking under Guidolin’s training, and while Bradley did improve those levels somewhat, he lacked in many other areas – particularly tactically, organisation and decision-making – as he continually made team changes that gave us no chance of stability and consistency.
Guidolin made up for his team’s clear lack of fitness with good team organisation and game plan, but that only went so far as his side would severely struggle after the hour-mark as a result – this was particularly obvious against the likes of Manchester City and Liverpool at home.
Clement seems to have both the training methods and tactical ability – and Gylfi Sigurdsson praised the new head coach – who’s training sessions have been noted as being much more intense.
Sigurdsson said:
“Hopefully we can continue the good work that we have been doing over the last six or seven weeks and we stay up. Clement has been fantastic, you can tell that there`s a reason why he has been at these big clubs that he has been at.
‘He is very organised. His training sessions are fantastic. He is very positive and he is very good man-to-man with the players. The players have confidence in him and all together it feels like a good combination.”
His comments about his dreams of playing for a ‘big club’ will dominate the back pages though, but what player doesn’t have dreams of playing in Europe for a big club?
It’s also worth noting that he also spoke about how he’s enjoying the pressure of the battle at the bottom with the Swans. In response to Clement’s comments that he could play for a top club, Sigurdsson said:
“Yes, that`s of course, very flattering,”
“Maybe he was just trying to give me confidence. Of course, it would be a dream to play for one of these big clubs.
“Hopefully if I continue doing well for Swansea and Iceland then in the near future, I can play in a big club. I am enjoying being one of the senior players, though.
“We may be in a tough spot, but I am kind of enjoying the pressure of that. I am trying to make the most of that and help the team to get three points every week.”
“The results in the last couple of games haven`t been as good as we would have hoped, losing two very important matches. There`s still a long way to go,’
“If you look at the bigger picture, with where we were at Christmas and where we are at the moment, we have made a big step towards safety but, of course, it’s a really tough season with a lot more football to be played.
You can’t be naive though, if a big offer comes, and it’s big enough to tempt us to sell, then he’s off, and you can’t imagine him being still here next season – whichever League we’re in. He’s raised his profile even more this season, we’re always seeing his goals and assists stats. The likes of Everton and West Ham have already been linked and I’m sure they’ll be submitting bids in the Summer.
Lets just hope that if a big bid is accepted for Gylfi, that we actually put the money to good use and recruit high quality players.
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