Malmo captain Jiloan Hamad gives Swans his backing
For a while now I've been wondering how long it was going to be before I saw someone touting us to win the Europa League. What I didn't expect, however, was that it would come from an opposition player - in the aftermath of our first match no less.
Now, it would be all too easy to write this off, and at best it is purely one player's opinion, but Hamad is someone I was very impressed with over the two legs, and who looks like a very tidy footballer indeed.
With Malmo's preference for passing football, their players can appreciate better than most what the Swans are trying to do/did to the Swedes over two legs, and while I'm very much taking this with a heap of salt it's still nice to hear an opposition player backing your team to do well:
One player who has been quick to point out the Swans would do well to keep their feet on the ground is goalkeeper Gerhard Tremmel. The trusty German is developing a cult following amongst Swansea fans after some impressive performances last year, and he's been quick to point out he's got prior experience in this competition:
Some of those quotes are quite telling to me - Tremmel is clearly saying "I signed a contract because I expect to play in cup games". To rob him of that opportunity (there's been no reason to believe that would happen yet, I only say that as Vorm is still clearly regarded as no1) this season would be awfully harsh, given his reliable performances last year, and I think Gerhard is suffering in that he's simply a little bit too old to have any resale value. If we drop Vorm to the bench and make Tremmel no1, Vorm's value will drop massively. Reverse the equation and, with Tremmel approaching 35 years of age, it wouldn't make much difference given the slim possibility of attracting a fee for the German stopper.
As he also points out though, and quite rightly so, the Europa League final is a long, long way away. First up is a visit from Petrolul Ploiesti, the Romanian cup winners who travel to South Wales the Thursday after we commence our league campaign against the reigning champions. Despite Malmo generally being regarded as more of a challenging proposition than Petrolul, it's unlikely the goalkeepers will enjoy as easy a ride as they had against the Swedes in the last round. The Romanians have a young squad full of technically gifted players, and the Swans will have to be on top form to control the game from the off.
For now though, Manchester United are firmly in the foreground and all thoughts of Euro successes have to be put on the back burner. Six days to go...
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| Malmo captain Jiloan Hamad |
With Malmo's preference for passing football, their players can appreciate better than most what the Swans are trying to do/did to the Swedes over two legs, and while I'm very much taking this with a heap of salt it's still nice to hear an opposition player backing your team to do well:
“If they play at their top level they can go all the way. They are a really strong team. If Atletico Madrid can do it then so can Swansea.
“I’m a winger so I look at their wide players and I like Dyer and Routledge. They are two fast wingers, while I also have to mention Michu. In fact, both of their strikers because Bony is so strong and they fit so good together.
“You can see they have thought a lot about their transfers and they can do well.” Jiloan Hamad (Malmo Captain)
One player who has been quick to point out the Swans would do well to keep their feet on the ground is goalkeeper Gerhard Tremmel. The trusty German is developing a cult following amongst Swansea fans after some impressive performances last year, and he's been quick to point out he's got prior experience in this competition:
“I know a little about this competition. I was in it twice with Hertha Berlin, although I didn’t play and I played for Red Bull a few years ago, so I know it as I have travelled a lot to different places and you know that in this competition you can lose against any team. There is no team in it where you can say ‘right, we are going to beat them and go on.’
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| Swansea goalkeeper Gerhard Tremmel |
"You can lose to anyone, but you can also have some good experiences. With Red Bull, we drew twice with Juventus – 1-1 at home and then 0-0 in Turin where the final is this year. It will be in a different stadium now but it would be great to go back. It will be very difficult but hopefully we can go a long way in the competition – especially for me because it will mean more opportunities to play.
“We talk about the final but to get anywhere close to that is a long, long way. If we get there the group stage lasts about three months and if you progress you are still only in the last 32 so we can see already there are a lot of games. It’s almost like a league; it will be 19 games.
"That’s more than half a season. So, of course, I would hope that I could play in Europe, and although I don’t know what the gaffer’s plans are, there was a reason why I signed another contract here and that was because if we get to the group stage I think we will have around 32 games already by Christmas.
"You simply cannot play all these games because then your battery will be off by the end of the season. You have to change players so that means you will definitely get your games and I hope to get as many as possible.
“In all fairness Malmo probably were not as big a threat as we thought they might be when the draw came out. When you looked at it, it was one of the hardest teams we could get at this stage but we kept them away from the goal, and you are always happy with a clean sheet and over the two legs I don’t think they had many shots on target.
“I was not in the action much, but you have to concentrate and it’s still not easy. In these games, against organised teams in Europe, little mistakes can make a big difference, but I think our squad is very, very good this season compared to the last two seasons. There is a lot of competition which can only help us.” Gerhard Tremmel
Some of those quotes are quite telling to me - Tremmel is clearly saying "I signed a contract because I expect to play in cup games". To rob him of that opportunity (there's been no reason to believe that would happen yet, I only say that as Vorm is still clearly regarded as no1) this season would be awfully harsh, given his reliable performances last year, and I think Gerhard is suffering in that he's simply a little bit too old to have any resale value. If we drop Vorm to the bench and make Tremmel no1, Vorm's value will drop massively. Reverse the equation and, with Tremmel approaching 35 years of age, it wouldn't make much difference given the slim possibility of attracting a fee for the German stopper.
As he also points out though, and quite rightly so, the Europa League final is a long, long way away. First up is a visit from Petrolul Ploiesti, the Romanian cup winners who travel to South Wales the Thursday after we commence our league campaign against the reigning champions. Despite Malmo generally being regarded as more of a challenging proposition than Petrolul, it's unlikely the goalkeepers will enjoy as easy a ride as they had against the Swedes in the last round. The Romanians have a young squad full of technically gifted players, and the Swans will have to be on top form to control the game from the off.
For now though, Manchester United are firmly in the foreground and all thoughts of Euro successes have to be put on the back burner. Six days to go...