Real Football Man All of the Football, All of the time
Carlos Carvalhal has picked up seven points from a possible 12 since taking the reigns at the Liberty Stadium as Swansea boss and although his new charges may still be at the bottom of the Premier League table there is certainly an air of belief circling around the ground once again.
That belief would have increased massively in their last league outing when they pulled off a shock win over high flying Liverpool. Alfie Mawson was the hero as his first half goal was the only strike of the game but at the same time credit has to go to his teammates for a heroic performance across the board.
There may well have to be more of the same tonight, when they play host to Arsenal. The Swans have at least managed to condense the gap between themselves and the drop to three points with Stoke lying 17th, not only that but they have a better goal difference than the Potters also.
That will give Swansea hope that they can still claw their way out of the bottom three come the end of the season and the question that has to be asked is whether or not the win against Liverpool is truly the turning point of what has been something of a maligned campaign.
Again the criticism that is pointed in Swansea’s direction is the fact that they have a real lack of goals in their side and with just a day before the transfer window ends they have not managed to bring in any reinforcements in a bid to fire themselves up the table.
The former Sheffield Wednesday boss Carlos Carvalhal did say that he was not going to recklessly spend this month but Swansea fans would have at least believed that there would have been something of a new addition to the squad in the month of January.
His Arsenal counterpart Arsene Wenger may not be spending recklessly but he is definitely looking to spend big on a forward this month. That being Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang with a fee of £60m being believed to be agreed with Borussia Dortmund.
However the deal is not over the line yet as somehow Chelsea look set to play a huge part in the deal. Ultimately Dortmund are not letting the Gabonese forward leave the club without a replacement. At first they identified Oliver Giroud as a makeweight in the deal.
Now however it looks as if Oliver Giroud’s wife fancies staying in London and that could mean a move to Chelsea, this would then see Michuy Batshuyai move to Dortmund in a convoluted triangular move. This bit of business is by no means done yet.
Arsenal were in business 10 days ago though in their last Premier League outing, they made very easy work of Crystal Palace at the Emirates thanks to a 4-1 win. The scoreline perhaps not telling the story of the Gunners dominance as they raced into a 4-0 halftime lead as the three points were earned without a struggle.
This is not the only Emirates joy they have had as of late, they have also returned to another cup final. This time though it is the Carabao Cup after they disposed of Chelsea in the Semi-finals. They had to come from behind last Wednesday but once again Arsene Wenger has Antonio Conte’s number.
The Gunners are five points off of fourth and the final Champions League place, it is fair to say results went their way in the last Premier League game week as they took advantage of both Liverpool and Tottenham dropping points. Quite simply all Arsenal can do at present is put the pressure on these two clubs.
That comes in the way of earning maximum points and just going about their own business, even if it means slightly flying under the radar. Although Swansea have looked better as of late, I don’t think lightning will be able to strike twice in recent times as Arsenal pick up an away win.
