Carlos Carvalhal tells Swansea to 'swim to reach coastline' after Burnley win
Saturday 10 February 2018 20:03, UK
Carlos Carvalhal said Swansea must 'continue to swim to reach the coastline' after a 1-0 win over Burnley secured a fourth win in seven games under his tenure.
Ki Sung-Yueng scored nine minutes from time to see off Burnley as the Swans, who were five points adrift of safety when Carvalhal was appointed in December, moved up to 15th in the Premier League.
The former Sheffield Wednesday manager was appointed as successor to Paul Clement after the team lost 5-0 to Liverpool on December 26th, and has overseen a dramatic upswing in results as the team have put space between themselves and the bottom three.
Carvalhal said: "When we arrived we were in the deep ocean. It was very deep and dark. We saw no fishes. We won some games, to put our noses out of the water. It was the first time we'd smelled the fresh air.
"Now, in this moment, we have started swimming and we can now go to the coast. But we must continue to swim to reach the coastline."
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Carvalhal's tenure began with a dramatic late turnaround to beat Watford 2-1 in Swansea's final game of 2017, and the club have lost only once in the league since.
"A lot of things [have changed]. There is not one reason. I'm central to things but I'm not more important than anyone at the club. I take risks to change the formations, we create a new dynamic.
"But I can't do these kind of things alone, there a lot of people. The fans, the chairman, the kit man, the people in the press all have a contribution. But the most important things is the players.
"I'm happy with my players because they are working very hard. It was a difficult game, we knew it would be. But it's a deserved win. We created more chances, we controlled the game very well, especially in the second half.
"We put all the meat on the fire, on the barbecue. We finished with Clucas on the left and three strikers in attack.
"The boys did absolutely amazing today, I'm very, very proud of the club and the fans and especially my players, because they were fantastic today."
Burnley had the better of the chances in a tight encounter in south Wales, with Ashley Barnes and Sam Vokes both going close for Sean Dyche's side before Ki struck late on to continue Swansea's remarkable revival.
"We tried to move things," Carvalhal added. "The game wasn't easy. It's not easy to score against this team. If we play like this against other teams we will score goals. Maybe we'll concede, but we'll score goals for sure."
