There has been a great deal of progress this season. Despite the unfortunate defeat at Burnley, the Swans capped off the week with strong performances and valuable points. Looking back on the season so far, the team has matched top teams and is playing some lovely football it is much more competitive and there appears to be a strong team spirit.

It’s approaching the one-year anniversary of Luke Williams taking over the reins at Swansea. His first senior coaching role in the Championship was a baptism of fire. Soon after arriving, he had games against Southampton, Bournemouth, Leicester, and Leeds, which saw a shed full of goals conceded and the Swans’ midfield and defence torn to shreds. The benefit of a full summer window is that a new team is being built, which, under Williams’ guidance, shows skill, determination, and resilience.

Williams inherited a team coached by Russell Martin, who instructed the team to play out from defence. Most will remember the goals we gave away during that time, as players were often quickly dispossessed by a high opposition press. So far, only four other Championship sides have fewer goals against than us. This is a major turnaround. It is a testament to the work the entire coaching team has put in, particularly Martyn Margetson. It is difficult to imagine that we could now ship the quantity of goals that we did shortly after Williams arrived.

Watching the Swans play this season, we still like to play the ball out from the back, but if that isn’t practical, Lawrence Vigouroux will kick long. I no longer get the jitters when we play out from the back. We play out with good player movement, skill, and authority, and we quickly get the ball moving. It’s also credit to the players. The players brought in during the close season have settled as a squad with a strong spirit to work and play for each other. Vigouroux has surpassed expectations since arriving – having to fill the big boots of Carl Rushworth from last season.

We have seen glimpses of quality from the start of the season, but now the team seems to be finding its feet and playing quality football consistently. Goncalo Franco has been immense, and Myles Peart-Harris has shown flashes and his game against Watford was at another level. Florian Bianchini is showing increasing assurance, and his goal against Oxford was a delight. Before his injury, Eom Ji-Sung was feeling his way into the team and showing signs of quality and ingenuity. When he returns to the squad, we will have a gem. Finally, Zan Vipotnik (below) has come in for some stick, but until recently, the service to him has been of limited quality, so any forward would be struggling.

He is going to come good.

Making this progress doesn’t happen by itself. The players needed time to settle into playing football in a new country with new players around them and new styles of play. Williams and his coaching team (Margetson, Alan Sheehan, and Kris O’Leary) have spent a lot of time working with the squad collectively and individually. I like Williams more and more, and he deserves great credit for adopting a style of football that fits with what Swansea have traditionally played; he and the coaching team have tightened up our defence, and they have buy-in from the players for a style of football that they understand and enjoy.

Williams emphasises the importance of players playing with aggression. Matching physical toughness and aggression is essential in a competitive and physically challenging league. In the last couple of seasons, this has been exemplified by Joe Allen, who harried the opposition relentlessly and added snap in the midfield. Franco has picked up that mantle this season, and when he wins the ball back, he shows great skill in using it to move defence into attack. All the squad are playing with commitment, contributing to improving performances. Ollie Cooper is returning to the performances he was putting in two years ago when Russell Martin brought him into the first team set-up. After a wobbly start, Josh Tymon is returning to the form that he showed week in and week out last season.

As we approach the January transfer window and the last international break this year, fans discuss what the team needs in terms of additions. This year, this has added piquancy with last week’s news that Steve Kaplan and Jason Levien were selling their stake in the Swans. Andy Coleman will have a crucial role in facilitating this, but he will also have a lead role in the transfer window. Most fans feel that the financial handcuffs that held us back will hopefully be removed.

The ambition should surely be to say that this team could make the playoffs, and we should aim for that. However, most agree we need more goals, and for that to happen, we need a goalscoring forward and a goalscoring advanced midfielder.

Hopefully, Santa is listening.

Photographs: Reuters

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