Shambolic display at Anfield threatens to derail the Swans

It was 9th against 7th. Given the historic pedigree of the teams, one would not have hesitated to have guessed that the higher position in the league table was occupied by the club from Merseyside. However, going into the game, it was the Welsh team that was ahead of its more illustrious rival. At the end of the day, however, 9th went up to 7th and 7th went down to 9th. Liverpool beat Swansea 5-0, leaving Swansea with a goal difference of only +4, ahead of West Brom only on goal difference and behind 6th placed Everton by 5 points. A turn up for the books, one would’ve thought. Only, it wasn’t.

Michu, Routledge, Dyer, Williams, Moore, Rangel were all on the bench. It was clearly a sign of things to come. In accordance, the forebears of doom did prove to be right. Swansea were hit for a royal five, leaving Michael Laudrup licking his wounds.

Swansea have shown that last season was no flash in the pan. Under Laudrup, they have continued where they left off under Rodgers and have, perhaps, even improved. Their general play has been brilliant and Michu has been a revelation. They are in the final of the Capital One Cup, which is to be played next Sunday, and it was quite clear where Laudrup’s priorities lay.

That being said, one must wonder if that can really be given as an excuse. After all, the opposition, although placed lower in the league at the start of play, were Liverpool; and this was indeed Anfield. More respect should’ve been shown. Surely, the other possibility was not valid either. There was no way that seeing the fixture, Laudrup thought that there was no way that Swansea could get anything out of that fixture. Quite frankly, it was a sorry excuse for a team and indeed a disappointing performance.

Of course, Laudrup should be cautious. What is perhaps Swansea’s most important match in their history is coming up in a week’s time but then again, it is a whole week away and resting those many players is either playing it way too safe or showing disrespect for the Premier League. I am sure that it is a case of the former but just as easily, a case for the latter could well be made.

Laudrup has been lauded in all quarters for his sterling work with Swansea. When Brendan Rodgers left for Liverpool, many questioned if Swansea would do an Ipswich and be a one-season wonder. At the beginning of the season, Laudrup was amongst the favourites to get the sack earliest in the season. However, he has shown himself to be an excellent manager, more than capable of playing some sensational football. In fact, he has impressed the jury so much that the odds on him taking over at Real Mardrid if Jose leaves in the summer have been cut significantly. People even talk of Abramovich having an eye on him.

Whatever the case may be, the performance was absolutely shambolic, to say the least. Laudrup may think that the Capital One Cup is the priority but he must understand that the Premiership is every bit as important, if not more. The problem with a performance such as this is that it can so easily threaten to derail an entire season, undoing all the good work done so far. A defeat is bad for the psyche of any team but a hammering such as this could well dent the morale of more than one Swansea player who is to start the final in a week’s time.

Swansea are not going to get relegated, that is for certain. Even so, that psychological figure of 40 points is still 3 away. It would be daft to think that they will not get there sooner rather than later but then again, stranger things have happened. Besides, imagine the boost that the squad would’ve gotten if they were going into a final on the back of a win over Liverpool at Anfield.

What is done is done; that cannot be undone. However, Michael Laudrup has his work cut out for him for the rest of the season now that he has been drawn into an unsure mid-table. One hopes that the result was just a blot on the landscape. One wishes Swansea all the best for the cup final and one also sincerely wishes that, come the end of the season, Laudrup does not look back on this game if it came down to a matter of a couple of points or goal difference in qualifying for Europe.