Clement demands more from Swansea

BeSoccer 6 years ago 337
Swansea City's coach Paul Clement expects more from his side. AFP

Swansea City have to improve in the attacking third if they are to avoid another Premier League relegation battle, says Paul Clement.

Paul Clement knows Swansea City must play better going forward if they are to build on their goalless draw with Southampton on the opening weekend.

Swansea were mired in a Premier League relegation fight for much of last season, with Clement's arrival in January the turning point in their campaign.

The new season offered little to be excited about from an attacking perspective as Swansea only managed two shots – neither on target – in the entire 90 minutes at St Mary's.

In contrast, the Saints clocked up 29 attempts, but Swansea remained resolute with a series of superb blocks and two good saves from Lukasz Fabianski.

Clement was satisfied with what he saw but acknowledged things have to improve offensively in the coming weeks.

"It was a hard afternoon, they had a massive amount of chances, set play after set play and we suffered at times," he said, as quoted by BBC Sport.

"I'm happy we ended up with a point and it could have been a lot worse. The last-gasp defending was good but we didn't use the ball well enough further up the pitch.

"We are pleased we have got out of here with a draw. 

"Every game we play we have to try to get points on the board and look to play better. I'm sure they will be disappointed and think 'how have we not won'."

 

For Saints boss Mauricio Pellegrino it was a frustrating first competitive match in charge, but he was able to find enough positives despite their lack of quality in front of goal.

"We did everything to win the game but we couldn't. We controlled the ball, created chances but this is football - you have to get goals and we couldn't do so," he said.

"As a manager, we can work on how to create chances but sometimes it is really difficult to score - we had 29 shots.

"Swansea is a good team, they were ready to attack us but we were well balanced and that was the key to controlling the game in the second half. For us it is best to keep going, keep training and we have another game on Saturday

"I think we have quality and spirit in the team."

Mentioned in the news story

Premier League
Southampton
Swansea City