With a number of unfashionable clubs still enjoying a lofty league position, Eric Imhof argues fans of the Premier League's potential European gatecrashers should stick together
As a Swansea supporter, you have to enjoy a win like that. How many times over the last four years have Swansea played an even game with an opponent, only to have one of those fateful bounces decide the outcome, leaving three points squandered? And how many times have Swansea kept a clean sheet in open play but let in the odd nicked corner? How many times has Swansea had a 50/50 decision go against them, changing the entire outlook of the match?
Well not on Saturday. The Swans did what so many teams have done to them in the past: tapped in a scrappy corner and edged out a tight, up-in-the-air win. The goal, which went down as an own goal but really was technically assisted by Gomis, whose header to Cork from Shelvey’s corner was superb, sank a determined (and endearing) Burnley side and moved the Swans up to 8th (8th!) in the Premier League with the quickest attainment of 40 points they’ve ever enjoyed. So much for a relegation battle.
In fact, the pundits (gotta’ love the pundits) are all doubling back to what they were only apprehensively hinting in December: Monk’s side might still have a shot at qualifying for the Europa League. In one of my favorite unintentional point-counterpoints from the weekend, The Guardian claims, “Now Europe is back on the horizon,” for the Swans, followed immediately by Monk’s rejoinder, “This is the problem, expectations.” Zing!
But with Monk’s tempered reasonableness aside, do the Swans really have a shot at 5th or 6th place? As it stands they are six points behind Southampton, and eight points behind 5th-place Liverpool - who, given their second-half resurgence, Swansea are unlikely to catch. With safety assured and all eyes to the future, the 47-point high-water mark is, with good reason, the most immediate carrot.
In the meantime, if you’ll allow me to veer off into making an entirely different but tangentially related point, I really hope that Southampton can maintain their footing. Even qualifying outright for Europa league would be a major achievement—and, more importantly, would blaze a trail for possible future inroads into the established Premier-League oligarchy: inroads that Swansea could well exploit.
Back in December (which seems like forever ago now), the table from 4th to 8th looked like this: 4. Southampton (33 pts), 5. Arsenal (33 pts), 6. West Ham (31 pts), 7. Spurs (31 pts), 8. Swansea (28 pts). Southampton was 3 points behind United in third, and a real shake-up near the top looked probable, with Liverpool in 10th with 25 points and Everton in 12th with 21. Contrast that scenario with the current 4th-8th: 4. United (50 pts), 5. Liverpool (48 pts), 6. Southampton (46 pts), 7. Spurs (44 pts), 8. Swansea (40 pts).
Things are looking a little more “normal,” which is to say, boring, as the erosion of form caused by a long arduous season is starting to show. Even if the title isn’t already spoken for, the race for the remaining spots will only be as exciting as the perennial battle between the same handful of clubs, whose grip on the top is best exemplified by the fact that they need not be named. As compelling as Liverpool’s turnaround (for the second straight year) has been, how compelling was the table in December, when it looked possible that Southampton AND West Ham would be crashing the fancy, ostentatious reception at the top of the top half?
As it’s probable (I’m never counting out the Swans, mind you) that Southampton have the best remaining shot of all of the “surprise” success stories this season, I think it's acceptable for fans of clubs like Swansea to root for them to unseat one of the big boys. For Swans fans that support should have been made quite easier to muster by Jonjo’s dagger on the 1st of February.
I, for one, hope that if the Swans don’t elbow their way any higher than their current (unbelievably fantastic) position in the remaining fixtures, that someone other than the usual suspects does. And yes, if it can’t be Southampton or the Swans, I’d even take West Ham. Yes, even West Ham.