Swansea 0 - 0 WatfordSwansea earn Bob Bradley first point as manager in dour draw with WatfordSuited and booted, Bob Bradley looked the part this week after opting for a wardrobe change, yet the transformation on the pitch under the new manager will have to wait after Swansea City’s winless run was extended to eight matches. It was a day when Swansea did everything but score as the combination of the woodwork, Heurelho Gomes’s sharp reflexes and some wayward finishing enabled Watford to escape with a point.
Modou Barrow was the standout player and tormented Watford with his pace and tricky, yet Swansea were unable to convert any of the opportunities that the winger laid on. The best of those chances fell to Gylfi Sigurdsson, who struck the post and saw another effort saved by Gomes. The Watford keeper also denied Mike van der Hoorn from point-blank range.
While there were some positives for Swansea to take from their second-half performance, the harsh reality is that it is two points dropped and this result leaves them in the relegation zone ahead of a tricky run of fixtures against a rejuvenated Stoke City, Manchester United and Everton.
Watford, in contrast, sit comfortably in mid-table after collecting their 11th point from their last six matches. They threatened only sporadically, and generally on the counter-attack, with the substitute Nordin Amrabat squandering a late chance with a snatched left-footed shot that flew over.
It has been a strange week for Swansea in many respects. The club’s supporters’ trust, which has a seat on the board, is bitterly upset with the way that the takeover that led to Jason Levien and Steve Kaplan buying a controlling stake in the club in the summer was handled, to the point that they are considering legal action over the sale of shares. They have also expressed dismay at the fact Bradley was appointed without their knowledge.
Writing in the match programme, Levien and Kaplan apologised for not notifying Huw Cooze, the supporters’ trust’s long-term elected director, of their decision to replace Francesco Guidolin with Bradley. “Not informing him sooner as to our ultimate choice was an error on our part and one for which we take full responsibility,” Levien and Kaplan wrote, before going on to admit they had “immediately sent a written apology” to the trust.
Bradley, in fairness, was given a warm reception on his first home game in charge, yet the goal that would have given the home supporters such a lift never arrived. With their three-man defence, Watford proved hard to break down initially and Swansea only created a couple of chances before the interval. Sigurdsson, on whom so much seems to depend in this team, whipped a right-footed shot from 20 yards that Gomes managed to hold onto and Barrow saw his left-footed effort from a similar distance turned behind.
Bradley had made five changes to the team that lost 3-2 at Arsenal, including giving Alfie Mawson, a 22-year-old summer signing from Barnsley, his Premier League debut at centre-back alongside Van der Hoorn, who also came back into the team. Troy Deeney and Odion Ighalo could have been forgiven for fancying their chances up against a new defensive partnership, yet Watford offered little as an attacking threat in the opening 45 minutes, with Younès Kaboul’s long-range deflected free-kick about as good as it got for the visitors.
With his direct running and willingness to take players on, Barrow was Swansea’s best outlet. Early in the second half the Gambian skipped past José Holebas and Miguel Britos on the Swansea right but Borja was unable to turn the ball home at the near post. A couple of minutes later Sigurdsson delivered a superb free-kick from the right that Van der Hoorn, sliding towards goal on the edge of the six-yard box, met on the half-volley only for Gomes to block with his legs.
Barrow was causing havoc and set up another two opportunities. Fernando Llorente, on for Wayne Routledge, saw his angled drive deflected over the bar and then Sigurdsson, from the sort of position where he is normally so deadly, shot tamely into the arms of Gomes.
At the other end Watford appealed in vain for a penalty when Kyle Naughton tangled with Valon Behrami as the midfielder burst into the area. Normal service soon resumed, however, when Barrow escaped on the right and squared for Sigurdsson, whose 20-yard shot came back off the upright. It was that sort of day for Swansea.
Guardian
