Part One of the Lowdown on the Swans' Pre-Season Opponents

As disappointing as last season was for the large part, we can’t help but miss the beloved Swans. Still, it’s only five weeks until the first pre-season game. Paul Clement’s men will first travel to Barnet before heading to America for the pre-season tour and will then playing Birmingham City and Sampdoria on their return.

During the US tour, the Jacks will face MLS side Philadelphia Union on July 15^th, Richmond Kickers on July 19^th and North Carolina on July 22^nd. We decided to delve into each of the pre-season opponents, starting with those across the North Atlantic. 

Philadelphia Union were founded just nine years ago, back in 2008. The U began in 2010 as an expansion team of the league and currently reside in 9^th place in the Eastern Conference. They play their home games at the Talen Energy Stadium, marginally smaller than the Liberty with a capacity of 18,500. They’re no stranger to English opposition and played both Crystal Palace and Bournemouth last summer, drawing 0-0 and losing 4-1 respectively. 

There’s also a familiar face in the U roster, former Arsenal, Milwall, West Brom, QPR and Hull forward Jay Simpson now plays his trade for the MLS side. Simpson has three goals in nine games to his name this season. Georginio Wijnaldum’s younger brother, Giliano, plays for the side as a left-back. The club’s all time top scorer is Sébastien Le Toux with 50 goals in two separate spells, however, the Frenchman now plays his trade for Washington side DC United.

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The Richmond Kickers are quite a lot older than Philadelphia Union, though still no-where as near as old as the mighty Swans, the Virginia based side were founded in 1993 and are one of the oldest continuously run soccer clubs in America. They play at the City Stadium which boasts a capacity of 22,611, though this can be limited to just 9,000. The Kickers average crowds between 2,000-4,000, perhaps highlighting the popularity of soccer in America compared to that in England.

Currently residing in 14^th place in the USL, the second tier of American soccer, the Kickers are enjoying a less than successful season. That said, they proved to be no push overs last summer. The Swans fell to a 2-0 defeat to the Kickers.

North Carolina play their trade in the North American Soccer League, the second tier of the American soccer pyramid, equal to the USL where the Kickers reside. The club were in founded in 2006 and up until December last year, were known as the Carolina RailHawks, however, underwent a name change amid plans for a MLS franchise. The club play their home games at WakeMed Soccer Park.

They are currently in 4^th place and are enjoying a pretty sound season. Former Oldham defender Paul Black regularly starts for the side and may well feature against the Swans. The club attracted a record attendance of over 10,000 during a pre-season game against West Ham last summer with the game finishing 2-2.

Liverpool win marks the turning point of Swans' survival bid

Despite a turbulent campaign, it was a pretty sound end for the Swans and to be honest, we’re already missing the Premier League. And whilst we can’t wait for next season, there’s still a long way to go with pre-season and a transfer window to get through first. For pre-season, Paul Clement’s men will head to America to take on Philadelphia Union, Richmond Kickers and North Carolina on the East Coast, as well as a game against Birmingham City at St. Andrews.

But before we delve into the Swans’ pre-season plans and discuss their opponents, we decided to look back on the season and highlight the turning point.

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Undoubtedly, the Swans’ turnaround came with the arrival of Paul Clement. Having already sacked Francesco Guidolin and Bob Bradley after two pretty disastrous tenures, it was vital that the Swansea hierarchy got the next appointment right otherwise their Premier League status would be no more. And you have to hand it them because they did, they got it spot on.

Clement watched his first game as Swansea boss from the stands as they claimed a hard fought 2-1 victory away to Crystal Palace. The win took the Swans from the bottom of the table and up one place. However, no more than one league game later, Clement found his side back at the bottom following a 4-0 hammering at the hands of Arsenal. It was a demoralising defeat for Clement in what his first Premier League game for the club and fans can be forgiven for thinking “here we go again”.

Though to be fair to Clement and his troops, rather than dwelling on the defeat, they dusted themselves down and delivered a resilient and spirited display against Liverpool. Their resilience and determination duly paid off as they ran out 3-2 winners at Anfield, that was the ultimate turning point for the Jacks. They showed they had the ability and quality to beat the top sides and needed to continue doing so.

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Fernando Llorente and Gyfli Sigurdsson were in fine form and Clement was getting the best out of his two star players, with Llorente grabbing a brace and Sigurdsson netting the winner. The latter was the star of the show yet again in the following game as he scored another winner in a 2-1 home win over Southampton. The Swans were finally out of the relegation zone and two points clear of 18^th place.

The Swans then won just one of their three games in February but did put up a good fight away to both Chelsea and Man City. Heading into March they were still clear of the drop and a 3-2 win over Burnley helped take them five points clear. Though that was as good as things got for the Swans in March as they lost to Bournemouth and Hull before picking up five points in April, including a respectable draw away to Jose Mourinho’s Manchester United.

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May was set to be a huge month for the Jacks and they started off in 18^th place, something special was needed. And something special was delivered. Kicked off by beating Everton 1-0 thanks to a Llorente header, Clement’s men followed up by beating a sorry Sunderland 2-0 at the Stadium of Light to secure survival and another year of Premier League football. The Swans ended the season on a high at the Liberty by beating West Brom 2-1 to finish 15^th and five games unbeaten.

Borja Baston flops in first season in South Wales

Yesterday we brought to Swansea’s star of the season in the form of Gylfi Sigurdsson. Despite his heroics, there have been few teammates who have failed to pull their weight this season and ultimately, underperformed by some distance. For the Player of the Year we could have presented you with Sigurdsson, Fernando Llorente or Alfie Mason, but far the underperformer of the year, there are far too many candidates.

However, we believe no-one has underwhelmed quite as much as Borja Baston. Arriving from Atletico Madrid for a club record fee of £15.5million, there was a buzz around the Swans and the Liberty faithful were excited to see the striker in action. But Baston has far from enjoyed life in the Premier League thus far and it’s unsurprising to see him linked with a move away. 

For Eibar last season, the 24-year-old bagged an impressive 18 goals in 36 league games, equating to one goal every two games. And at Zaragoza the previous season, he boasted an even better record with 23 goals in 38 league games, starting every game for the Aragon club. But arriving in Wales, Baston failed to hit the ground running and has started just four league games for Swansea, costing the Swans over £3million per start. The Spaniard does have a further 14 appearances off the bench but has managed just one goal for the club, in a 3-2 defeat at Arsenal.

Baston played little to no part in Swansea’s top-flight survival surge and we may well have seen the last of him at the Liberty. He did not feature in either of the club’s last two games and has not started for the club since the 7th of January in a 2-0 defeat to Hull. After failing to make an impact, the striker was hauled off on the hour mark and that pretty much sums up his debut season in the Premier League.

For all the excitement surrounding the transfer, particularly in regards to that hefty fee, it’s disappointing to see Baston’s move turn out how it has, though Paul Clement may throw the forward a lifeline. The Swansea boss said: “He hasn't had the kind of year he or we would have liked for various reasons - but that doesn't mean he doesn't have a future here.

"We have to all talk about that and decide what we're going to do for the best of him and the best of the club moving forward."

However, there is no brushing over his failings and Jason Levien who bought a controlling stake in the club in the same window Baston arrived stated that the club “certainly we had higher expectations” for the player. Should Baston depart, it’s likely that a move back to La Liga awaits, he is clearly prove in that league and suited to the style of play whereas the Premier League requires a lot more physicality. Though, if he does choose to stick around, he has his work cut out to prove himself.

Gylfi Sigurdsson: The shining light of this season and one Swansea must hang onto

Swansea’s late fightback against West Brom yesterday was the perfect curtain call on what has ultimately been a great end of the season. Whilst the Swans should be far from content with their showing this year, they can be proud of the resilience they have showed since the arrival of Paul Clement and whilst another relegation isn’t acceptable next year, we guess we’ll let them celebrate, for now.

Though, one player who has been able to hold his head throughout the campaign is Gylfi Sigurdsson. The midfielder is unsurprisingly being linked with a £25million return to Tottenham after a marvelous season, boasting nine goals and 13 assists. That means that the Icelandic man has been directly involved in 22 of Swansea’s 45 league goals this season, just short of half.

As well the goal difference of Paul Clement’s side being drastically worse off, the Swans would also be 14 points worse off were it not for Sigurdsson’s influence. This would see them in 19th place with just 27 points as opposed to 41. For his efforts this season, Sigurdsson has scooped four Man of the Match awards and unsurprisingly, the Swansea Player of the Year Award.

Clement seems hell-bent on keeping the midfielder but his head may be turned by a return to Spurs under Mauricio Pochettino. The Argentinian is also said to be tracking Ross Barkley and whilst he does remain keen on the Everton man, he knows it would set his transfer budget back some £50million and he’d be able to acquire Sigurdsson for half of that price. It is believed that Pochettino was perturbed by Sigurdsson’s sale and thought he should have never been allowed to leave White Hart Lane.

The midfielder did of course switch London for Swansea in 2014 and Pochettino had little time to exert his influence. In December Pochettino described the decision as a mistake and claimed that the midfielder would have been “perfect” for Spurs. With the likes of Eric Dier and Dele Alli been linked with moves away from Spurs, the club may just need to accumulate some new bodies in midfield and Sigurdsson would be the perfect addition.

Of the speculation surrounding the set-piece specialist’s future, Clement said: “We don’t want to sell him or any of our best players. We want to keep them here, we want to strengthen and I think he, Fernando Llorente and the others have enjoyed the second half of the season.”

It would be a huge loss for Swansea if Sigurdsson was to leave and may cause other players to head for the exit door, though should they manage to retain his services, they may just go onto enjoy a quiet season of mid-table mediocracy next season, a breath of fresh air following their recent brush with relegation. In addition to helping his teammates stay at the Liberty, if Sigurdsson is stick to around, his presence may just help convince Clement’s transfer targets to head to Wales. He is an undeniable talent and without him, Swansea would undoubtedly be down and out.

Preview: Swansea City v West Bromwich Albion

There’s likely to be something of a party happening at the Liberty Stadium on Sunday. Swansea secured their Premier League status last week with their 2-0 over Sunderland, followed by Hull’s 4-0 drubbing away to Crystal Palace enough to see them safe. 

The travelling Swansea fans were sent into raptures upon the final whistle at the Stadium of Light and it’s unlikely they’ll care too much about Sunday’s result against West Brom.

However, the same can’t be said for Paul Clement who is keen for his men to finish the season strongly. Whilst he admits he is “delighted to have got safe”, he added:

“The season is not over yet and we want a good performance at home - there's lots of motivation going into the last game. If we win on Sunday, we could end up with 29 points from the second half of the season. so let's finish in style.”

It’s probable that Clement, who has won eight of his 18 league games this season, will offer the same side that beat Sunderland as there no new injury concerns for the Swans. Borja Baston, who may just play his final game for the Swans should he feature, faces a late fitness test whilst Wayne Routledge may be named on the bench after returning from a hernia problem. Baston has been a huge disappointment at the club following his £15.5million transfer from Spanish giants Atletico Madrid.

The Swans head into the game in good stead and are unbeaten in four league matches, taking ten points from a possible 12, scoring six and conceding one during this run. Clement’s men have also lost just one of their last seven league games, drawing one and winning five. West Brom on the other hand, are without a win since March and have not won on the road for eight games.

It’s fair to say it’s looking like advantage Swansea. The hots have won four of their five home top-flight home games against West Brom, scoring three goals on three separate occasions. Tony Pulis will hope his side can keep the in form Fernando Llorente quiet, the striker has netted nine goals in his last ten league appearances at the Liberty and scored against Sunderland at the weekend. Elsewhere, should Gylfi Sigurdsson score, he will be the first ever Swansea player to chalk double figures for both goals and assists in a Premier League campaign.

Prediction: Swansea City 2-0 West Brom