Wilfried Bony aka ‘Daddy Cool’
I support a small club, Swansea City, in the English Premier
League, arguably the most competitive professional sports league in the world. The
Swans will face Manchester United in the first fixture of the 2014-15 season, a
daunting first opponent for many reasons. Aside from their storied past—20 top
tier titles; the most in English football history—United finished a lackluster
seventh in the table last year, having sacked their manager late in the
campaign. The Red Devils, therefore,
will have something to prove, as they open the season at Old Trafford in front
of more than 75,000 people. By contrast, the Swans will return from
Manchester to play their first home fixture in front of 20,750 people at
the Liberty Stadium in South Wales, but the differences between a big club,
such as United, and a small club, such as Swansea, extend well beyond stadium
seating capacity. A larger club, by virtue of its payroll and the profiles of
its players, can expect to challenge for the league title, as well as entry
into lucrative European club competitions, such as Champions League. The allure
of winning titles and competing with other powerful European clubs often proves,
to the star players and coaches on successful smaller teams, too difficult to
resist. Smaller clubs enjoy little peacefulness from season to season, as their
best performers receive offers from suitors across the continent.
Last year, the Swans themselves competed in Europa League, a
demanding European club competition that unfolds in parallel with the domestic
league calendar. Swansea traveled throughout the season to Sweden, Romania,
Spain, Switzerland, Russia, and Italy, in addition to enduring physical matches
in the Prem. The Italian giants, Napoli, who entered into Europa League after
failing to advance in the more prestigious Champions League competition, eliminated
the Swans, 3-1, in Naples, after the two sides played to a 0-0 draw in Wales.
Swansea had bulked up for the Europa League mission, by adding players at most
positions, but in the end, the schedule wearied and battered the club, and they
found themselves drifting downward in the league table. At one juncture in the
second half of the campaign, Swansea sat just two points above the drop. Had
their fortunes continued to sour, they could have faced relegation to Football
League Championship, the immediate under-tier to the Premier League, into which
three clubs tumble every year, and from which, three teams climb every year. Just
as Manchester United parted with manager David Moyes, the Swans board of
directors, reeling from the club’s tepid performance, sacked their manager, the
legendary former Danish star, Michael Laudrup, replacing him with favorite son
Garry Monk, a 35 year-old defender still on the active roster.
Monk, a long-time Swansea captain with no managerial
experience, led the club to a respectable record of 5 wins, 3 draws, and 6
losses after Laudrup’s departure, with a plus-6 goal difference over that
stretch. (Laudrup had amassed a record of 6 wins, 6 draws, and 12 losses, with
a minus-6 goal difference.) Swansea’s triumph at Sunderland on the final day of
the season earned the club a 12th place finish in the table, but it didn’t
quite erase the club’s yearlong struggles. Many players, including the previous
year’s ace, Michu, faced layoffs with injuries. The club owned the ball during many
of its matches, employing its trademark passing schemes, but the possession, at
times, rang hollow, with the club unable to create opportunities. In addition,
the Swans often conceded a maddening early goal. They produced fewer clean
sheets (shutouts) than in previous seasons and only took two points from big
clubs: an early draw with Liverpool, and a crucial draw at Arsenal, where Swansea stalwart Leon Britton carried the ball into the defense, forcing a late
own goal to earn the point. Captain Ashley Williams anchored the team with 34 league starts, the
most on the club. Williams, a defender, had played on the back line with Garry
Monk, before Monk became the club’s manager. Nobody will forget Ash hugging
Garry on the sidelines after the club took a 1-0 lead in the second Welsh derby
versus Cardiff, Monk’s first game as gaffer.
Wayne Routledge scored that goal, before tallies by Nathan
Dyer and Wilfried Bony gave the Swans a comfortable 3-0 triumph over their
arch-rivals. Wilfried, the undeniable man of the year for Swansea, scored 16
league goals—with his feet; in the air; from the spot—for Swansea, none finer
than a blistering inside-out strike versus Manchester City at the Liberty
Stadium, as part of a 2-3 home loss. The Côte d’Ivoire international, who arrived
at Swansea last year from Vitesse of the Dutch Eredivisie, would finish tied
for sixth in the Premier League scoring race. It was, however, another player to
join Swansea last year, Jonjo Shelvey, who would produce the club’s greatest highlight,
a wonder goal blasted from 45 yards away, that broke a 1-1 home tie versus
Aston Villa. Shelvey, who joined the club from Liverpool, also scored crackers
against his former club at Anfield and against Newcastle at the Liberty
Stadium. His distribution from midfield led to several assists and frequently
opened up the field for his teammates. Other players, such as defenders Angel
Rangel and Chico Flores, rewarded the club with valuable minutes, although
supporters sometimes bristled at Chico’s histrionics. Still, Swansea scrabbled
toward the end of the season, garnering points in the table, avoiding a
relegation battle, and offering the kind of likability and intense promise that
inspires the club’s ardent supporters.
Ash Williams embraces Garry Monk after
Swansea take a 1-0 lead against Cardiff.
Swansea take a 1-0 lead against Cardiff.
I could write about Ben Davies’ and Michel Vorm’s departures to a wealthy London club, Tottenham, or the likelihood that Dutch World Cup star, Jonathan de Guzman, won’t return to Swansea, or how the club, once dubbed “Swansealona”, has rebuilt without its star, Michu, and many of its other Spanish players who emulated the Barcelona style of play. I could explain my fears that some big club, either in the Prem or perhaps the Bundesliga, will prize Wilfried from the Swans, depriving us hooligans of seeing him partner with Bafetimbi Gomis, a promising recent addition from French Ligue 1 side, Lyon. In the end, small club supporters don’t expect their sides to actually win the Premier League title, but instead, hope the team will achieve the highest possible finish outside the big clubs, or, in some miraculous way, maybe sixth or seventh, should one of the big clubs stumble. According to the Guardian, Swansea City spent £49 million on player wages in 2012-13, a scant 27 percent of what Man U spent, £181 million, in the same campaign. There is a very tangible underdog purity in seeing your scrappy club step onto the pitch against a heavily funded, heavily favored big club, with a growing possibility—now three years in the Premiership and counting—that Swansea City will compete for the win, the three points, every time they battle a colossus. I wish them well at United and for the new campaign. Up The Swans!
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