Swansea slipped into the relegation zone on the weekend with defeat to high-flyers Arsenal.
Arsenal’s Santi Cazorla in action with Swansea City’s Neil Taylor
Bob Bradley suffered his first loss in his debut game in charge of the Swans against a strong Arsenal side who wouldn’t take ‘no’ for an answer.
Swansea managed to net twice at the Emirates but it wasn’t enough as sloppy mistakes at the back allowed their hosts to out-score them.
Once again, Swansea showed spirit and refused to lie down against one of the top teams in the league but once again, it just wasn’t enough and their frailties at the back proved costly.
Swansea City manager Bob Bradley
New boss Bob Bradley will have learnt a lot from the defeat, namely that he has to address the worrying situation at the back. Swansea are yet to find a replacement or bridge to the gap left by Ashley Williams and that must be Bradley’s first action.
Sunday league-like errors were on show at the Emirates and they undid the good work going forward by Mo Barrow, Sigurdsson and Borja.
The loss surely signals the end of the Fernandez-Amat partnership at the back following another disappointing showing from both, and it remains to be seen how long Bradley will put up with Neil Taylor’s rustiness on the ball.
Arsenal’s Santi Cazorla and Swansea City’s Lukasz Fabianski after the game
Bob Bradley has plenty of issues to sort out at the Liberty Stadium but bottom-half teams don’t stay in the Premier League with a leaky defence and that has to be put right.
Swansea have two winnable fixtures against Watford (home) and Stoke (away), although the latter now looks tougher with the Potters’ recent upturn in form.
If the Swans can’t fix their problems at the back and fail to take at least three or four points from the next two then you they’ll be fearing the worst with Manchester United, Everton and Spurs all to play in the following four games.
Swansea City’s Gylfi Sigurdsson scores their first goal
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