There were only two teams that finished in the top-half of the Premier League table despite a negative goal differential a year ago and while some might consider that an indictment against those squads, it can also be regarded as testament to their perseverance. Crystal Palace managed to finish 10th but even more impressive was Swansea City’s eighth-place finish despite all of the obstacles the team faced throughout the year. Here is a look at four important things we learned from Swansea City this past season.
Gary Monk Is A Star
It’s safe to say that Swansea fans will sleep a lot easier once the club reaches a new deal with Gary Monk after he helped them exceed all expectations with a record-breaking season despite dealing with so many different issues along the way. Swansea was considered left for dead after Michu was loaned to Napoli and Wilfried Bony left for Manchester City, but instead of sliding down the standings, they wound up ending the year with their highest Premier League finish in club history. The 36-year-old was nominated for manager of the year and after overcoming suspensions, injuries and big-money departures in his first season. The future certainly appears bright for Monk and his team moving forward.
The New Guys Are Pretty Good
One of the biggest strengths that Monk displayed in his first year with the team is his ability to find underrated talents and acquire them, which is exactly what he did with Federico Fernandez, Jefferson Montero, Lukasz Fabianski and Gylfi Sigurdsson. Monk found special talents that fit his vision perfectly and each of those players did an excellent job with Swansea this past season. The amount of money that the Potters have at their disposal is a major question mark as they clearly don’t have the operating budget of Arsenal or Manchester United, but after watching what Monk did this past year, there is every reason to be confident that he can acquire the talent he needs regardless of the financial limits placed on him.
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No Fear Of The Bright Lights
One thing that Monk certainly installed in his players was the confidence to succeed under the bright lights in big moments, which they proved when they beat some very good teams this past season. Swansea is only the third team in Premier League history to do the double over Arsenal and Manchester United in the same season and their 16 league wins was their most in the top flight in more than 30 years. There are some issues – especially at the back end where they gave up 49 markers this season – but this is a team on the rise. They aren’t even close to being considered an elite Premier League team in the conversation with Chelsea and Manchester City, but this past season is proof that they certainly aren’t afraid of the bright lights.
The Wing Is An Area Of Need
For all of the positives that can be taken from this past season, the one area where Swansea will definitely need to improve is on the wing where Nathan Dyer and Wayne Routledge regressed down the stretch as both players were dealing with nagging injuries. Jordi Amat and Kyle Bartley earned time in relief of the aforementioned but they didn’t inspire. They weren’t much more capable than spot-starting because of injuries. If the wings aren’t stretching the defense, then it crowds the middle of the field and makes it much harder to score goals. That’s part of why Swansea only tallied 46 goals in 38 games this season, which was the eighth-fewest.
It’s clear after this past year that the wing is the biggest area of need. Monk has done an excellent job on the market already and it will be interesting to see what he does this summer when it comes to addressing their biggest area of need.
