Nobody can argue with Russell Martin’s second half assessment of his team after yet another Swansea City win at the swansea.com yesterday afternoon. He was right to say it was painful and then put it in to context with his sides superb performances over a hard and gruelling eight day period.
It isn’t often a side travels to two away games and then finishes off at home taking nine points from a possible nine. Add to that the international break which at times really does scupper sides who are finding form as the swans have recently. Having said that yesterdays game was most certainly one the swans would have fouled up six weeks ago for sure. The home side did live a bit scarily at times after a first half that they dominated from start to finish. The only question mark if you want one would be that two goals for Swansea is often not enough.
And it should have been more.
However, a second half resurgence from the black cats really did tie down the home side and the visitors apathetic first half display was replaced with a far more vigorous and direct attempt to win the game. Despite numerous poor challenges by Sunderland and numerous cautions from the first half Sunderland somehow managed to keep eleven men on the pitch. Corry Evans could have had three yellows let alone two. His desire to disrupt the swans movement and possession by leaving far too much in numerous challenges displayed a player who not only isn't good enough in the face of a team who are far better, it showed how poor a player he is.
He should have gone in the first half.
That aside Russell Martin saw the performance for what it was and you can’t blame him for referring to the hard miles over the past eight days. "We got back to the stadium at 3.30am on Thursday morning, that is not easy and I think it showed. So the second half was a bit more painful, and we are probably not overly satisfied with the performance other than the first half an hour” For all the attacking flair Sunderland summoned up in the second half they really didn’t create a massive amount of chances. Ben Cabango was again immense, and despite some references from certain quarters Harry Darling proved he is more than capable of being a championship regular. And of course he scored a goal again. Martin made note of his performance as well. "I think the most pleasing bit with us from Harry today was how he defended the box in the second-half. He defended really robustly. With some people, it just takes a bit longer to adapt to a different environment and level. We know what he's going to be and what he's capable of, but Woody and Ben have just been really top so it's been difficult for him. But a brilliant performance, I'm really pleased for him to score."
To have players like that who can come in and make a difference has been a long time coming for the swans, and with Joe Allen and Jamie Paterson ready to return within a week or two the swans boss could have a few headaches in the coming weeks. We all know that the three most recent games played have been a real test for the side, and hopefully they will take a huge amount of positivity from the three wins this week. "We're too tired to feel anything at the moment," said Martin. "I'm immensely proud of the players, staff and the fans. To get the three wins is an incredible return. If anyone had said at the start of the week that we'd get nine points, we'd probably be the only people who would believe we'd be capable of that. They've shown immense courage and energy. The last two games certainly showed today in the second-half. We started the game with brilliant energy and were so aggressive. We looked a threat”
Russell Martin congratulates Oli Copper
In amongst all the plaudits for the wins Steven Benda has come through these games with much to be proud of personally. Like Jay Fulton who was excluded and out of sight last season until January he has applied himself and is now a deserved Swansea number one. Okay he has let in four goals in three games but with his side scoring seven it doesn’t look that bad. Martin spoke of Benda post match. "Their goalkeeper has made more saves than Steven. They're a really good team by the way. I really like them, Sunderland. They'll cause a lot of teams problems this year”
To remain in the top six had to be the end goal yesterday and Martin’s side did just that. With four changes it does go to show that there is a little strength in depth within the squad even though both Joel Piroe and Michael Obafemi found this game particularly hard to get in to. Having bagged the three points and with it being such a long haul of a week we can forgive them for that. Piroe especially was ineffective and looked more than a yard short of pace.
He does need a rest, and maybe a little more practice heading the ball after another clear opportunity went begging.
With an eye on a few days off and then Burnley to prepare for come next Saturday it has to be said this has been a very pleasing week all round. And almost certainly the best run of games that Martin has been involved in since coming to the club. Not only in the results but the all round performance levels. Nest Saturdays game is another huge test and at some point this excellent run will come to an end, but really will that be at Burnley ?
We have said it already this season, there is little to frighten Swansea City in this league, and everything to gain by having that self belief we have seen since returning from the international break. The only way is still up, but it’s not that far to go. Now anything is possible.