Although Arsenal have only lost one single game in the League this season, the fans are expecting a very difficult encounter away at Swansea tomorrow evening. The Gunners have struggled to win games which was epitomised by Tuesday’s farcical draw with Anderlecht and we can expect more defensive blunders tomorrow.
Swansea are just two points behind Arsenal at the moment, but their home form can hardly be bettered by any team except Chelsea. They have had one 1-0 defeat (to Southampton) but five wins and a draw from the rest, including five clean sheets. No wonder their manager Garry Monk is much more relaxed than Arsene Wenger.
“Of course, when you look at the table you’d say we must be doing something right,” said Monk in the the South Wales Evening Post. “The team are on track in terms of where I want them to be. They are progressing nicely and taking on a lot of information.
“They are trying to put that into action and at this moment they are performing at a very good level.
“We’ve played some great football, scored some very good, well-worked goals which have been very much in the style we have become accustomed to at Swansea City.
“We have also kept five clean sheets in 10 games which is very pleasing.
“We have had a good mixture in terms of attacking and defending, but we still have a long way to go in terms of where we are trying to get to. The players are adapting very quickly so hopefully there will be more to come.”
Don’t Arsenal fans wish we could have our own manager talking with such confidence? Obviously the expectations are lower at Swansea than Arsenal, but they are a great example of how teams can improve with very little investment, and if Wenger isn’t careful the Swans could leapfrog over Arsenal in the Premership table tomorrow…