Aflie Mawson has wasted no time impressing at Swansea City with a stellar performance on his debut.
Swansea City’s Alfie Mawson in action with Watford’s Valon Behrami as Swansea City’s Lukasz Fabianski collects the ball
New Swansea City boss Bob Bradley handed a surprise debut to 22-year-old Alfie Mawson on Saturday when Watford visited the Liberty Stadium.
Mawson paired with Van der Hoorn at the back to secure Swansea’s first clean sheet since the opening day of the season, when they defeated Burnley away from home.
The Watford draw certainly won’t have pleased Swansea fans but there was a real silver lining in the form of Alfie Mawson’s performance.
Watford’s Adlene Guedioura in action with Swansea City’s Mike van der Hoorn
The inexperienced centre-half showed excellent defensive ability against a strong Watford front-line including the likes of the prolific Troy Deeney.
Swansea’s inability to replace long-serving captain Ashley Williams could potentially see them playing Championship football next season, if they’re not careful, but there could be hope.
It’s early days but Mawson looks to be a real talent and if he can play a part in filling the void left by Williams then Swansea may stop leaking goals at the back.
Swansea City’s Jordi Amat has struggled in recent outings
The Amat-Fernandez partnership was again disastrous for Swansea last week when Arsenal netted three times to out-score the Swans, but Mawson and Van der Hoorn made a real statement against Watford.
If the duo can retain the level of performance they delivered, then Bob Bradley may not need to look any further.
Mawson will face tougher opponents and tougher challengers but it’s so far so good and he offers a glimmer of hope to Swansea’s defensive woes.
Swansea City’s Alfie Mawson in action with Watford’s Troy Deeney
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