AFTER WATCHING HIS team boost their chances of beating the drop with a 1-0 win over Liverpool tonight, Swansea City boss Carlos Carvalhal was interviewed by the Monday Night Football panel.
The Swans remain rock bottom of the table but they are now level on 20 points with West Brom. Speaking after the final whistle, Portuguese coach Carvalhal — who is in the job just after Christmas — revealed what he told his squad ahead of the fixture.
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“I did an analogy with my players about this game,” he told Sky Sports. “I said to them that Liverpool is a really top team, and they are very strong, but they are a Formula One [car].
If you put the Formula One into London in the traffic at 4 o’clock, it will not run very fast, I’m absolutely sure. It was exactly what we had to do to play against Liverpool — make them play the way they don’t like it.
“Another thing that was very important in this game is that they have a principle that when they lose the ball or if the opponent plays inside their half, they are very strong at pressing. We did these mistakes when we played in Liverpool, but today my players were ready for this.
“All the time, my players played one or two touch in their half with support, and after they played to the sides to be out of the pressure. When Liverpool came to the sides, we tried to switch to the other side to put them in the kind of problems.
“That’s why, especially in the first half, we achieved some moments that we were more near their goal. We had the fortune to score a goal and we were winning 1-0. After, you understand, we were playing against a strong team and we needed points.
“It wasn’t exactly the way we wished to play but in the circumstances of the moment, my players were brave like gladiators and we achieved a very important three points.”
The42 has just published its first book, Behind The Lines, a collection of some of the year’s best sports stories. Pick up your copy in Eason’s, or order it here today (€10):
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'Liverpool are a Formula One car. If you put it into London traffic at 4 o'clock, it will not run very fast'
AFTER WATCHING HIS team boost their chances of beating the drop with a 1-0 win over Liverpool tonight, Swansea City boss Carlos Carvalhal was interviewed by the Monday Night Football panel.
Alfie Mawson’s first-half goal was enough to hand the Welsh club a confidence-boosting victory over the Reds at the Liberty Stadium — just one week after Jurgen Klopp’s men had ended Manchester City’s unbeaten run.
The Swans remain rock bottom of the table but they are now level on 20 points with West Brom. Speaking after the final whistle, Portuguese coach Carvalhal — who is in the job just after Christmas — revealed what he told his squad ahead of the fixture.
“I did an analogy with my players about this game,” he told Sky Sports. “I said to them that Liverpool is a really top team, and they are very strong, but they are a Formula One [car].
“Another thing that was very important in this game is that they have a principle that when they lose the ball or if the opponent plays inside their half, they are very strong at pressing. We did these mistakes when we played in Liverpool, but today my players were ready for this.
“All the time, my players played one or two touch in their half with support, and after they played to the sides to be out of the pressure. When Liverpool came to the sides, we tried to switch to the other side to put them in the kind of problems.
“That’s why, especially in the first half, we achieved some moments that we were more near their goal. We had the fortune to score a goal and we were winning 1-0. After, you understand, we were playing against a strong team and we needed points.
“It wasn’t exactly the way we wished to play but in the circumstances of the moment, my players were brave like gladiators and we achieved a very important three points.”
The42 has just published its first book, Behind The Lines, a collection of some of the year’s best sports stories. Pick up your copy in Eason’s, or order it here today (€10):
Relegation-threatened Swansea hand Liverpool their first Premier League defeat since October
As it happened: Swansea v Liverpool, Premier League
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analogy Carlos Carvalhal Formula One London traffic Premier League Liverpool Swansea City