At Fleetwood Town, as a fan you can rock up and have a coffee or a drink from the bar, all overlooking training from a comfortable booth. We don’t do that at Swansea, mostly because you’d get scouts from Leicester, West Brom, Watford and Burnley packing the place out.
Training has been good in preparation for Manchester City, I seem to be getting the cold shoulder from many people here at the club for my positive attitude to taking on the team dubbed favourites to be league champions this season.
The team looks fairly set and stable.
– Łukasz Fabiański will keep goal, his experience at the back is vital and he hasn’t let me down yet. He has done what a lot of players in this squad hasn’t, win medals.
– Kyle Naughton starts at right-back, despite the protestations of Àngel Rangel. There are better players who could come in, that’s for certain, but of what we have, he’s the best option.
– Martin Olsson is solid, dependable, if not spectacular. His ability to put in a cross has led to goals and that could be key against a fairly brittle City defence.
– Alfie Mawson will wear the armband and is my leader in absence of club captain Leon Britton. One of my earliest decisions was to move him up to vice-captain and he hasn’t put a foot wrong.
– Mike van der Hoorn retains his place in the team after the fans’ voted him in last week over Kyle Bartley and Federico Fernández.
– Nathan Dyer was out in the cold under Stuart Reid but has been a standout player under myself in a 4-4-2. He’s one dimensional, a genuine winger, but that’s what we need.
– Renato Sanches is the best player at the club by a country mile. His energy and quality on the ball is our best way out of the relegation zone. He might not appreciate his form at the minute but I do and his place in the team of the week was well deserved.
– Tom Carroll’s partnership with Sanches in the middle of the park is growing thanks to the minutes they’ve played together. By dropping him back into a deep lying playmaker role, that gives Renato the license he needs to push forward and influence in the final third. An underrated contribution.
– Jordan Ayew was the scorer of two good goals versus Watford as we claimed three valuable points. His running off the ball and in the channels stretches defences, not to mention his shooting is in a hot streak.
– Tammy Abraham might be on loan from Chelsea but at the moment he’s filling an important role for us in Bony’s absence. He’s not a traditional target man but if we keep it on the floor, he has good close-control and balance to get the chance to bring others into play. We also have no other senior striker fit.
That leaves one position, left wing. I have to be honest and say that my confidence in Sam Clucas is waning. Perhaps it’s the comparison to Nathan Dyer which is costing him but I have to put the vote for this week out to Swansea fans. We do have Luciano Narsingh chomping at the bit for an opportunity so let’s find out what you think. Click below to vote who starts versus Manchester City and you could influence the result.
Charlie Tango’s Swans take on Manchester City at the Etihad. The left wing position remains unfilled for Saturday’s team selection. Should Sam Clucas retain his place or Luciano Narsingh come in?
— TheHigherTempoPress (@thehighertempo) January 18, 2018
