Swans' keeper can only foresee a Swansea aggregate victory in the Europa League tie with Malmo
Michel Vorm loves a confident jib to the press, doesn't he? I remember thinking a few times last season that he loves a bold statement, and while it's hard to argue that anything other than a Swansea victory (over the two legs) is now all but a foregone conclusion, I do sometimes wonder whether one of these statements will one day come back to bite him in his Dutch derriere.
I do love a bit of confidence, mind...
"European football is always different but, if we won 4-0 at home, it would be a miracle if they beat us 5-0."When quizzed about the first leg, Vorm was (understandably) quick to praise his outfield teammates - he didn't have a shot to save all night. It must be fun being the Swansea goalkeeper sometimes...
"Sometimes you can just enjoy the game but it's never easy because you don't want to concede. They had a fast player up front and things could have changed quickly, so it's always dangerous, but for the most part I could just enjoy it.
"Even in our pre-season friendlies, I could see everyone was motivated to do well. You could see that against Malmo. We looked fit and kept on going. They were the ones who looked tired, so that's a very good accomplishment for us." Michel Vorm
The "fast player up front" (good knowledge of your opponents there Michel) he is referring to there is likely Tokelo Rantie - a forward of South African descent. The Swans may get lucky in that he limped off with an ankle injury in Malmo's 3-1 league win on the weekend, as did Magnus Eriksson, who is one of the centre-backs who started the first leg in South Wales. Whether either will recover in time remains to be seen.
Carrick reveals United's Swansea focus
While this is perhaps one of the less surprising stories of the week, it's nonetheless always nice to see celebrated footballers taking the Swans seriously and Carrick is certainly a player who will enjoy the way Swansea do things. Famed for his passing, Carrick is better placed than most to comment on the Swans, and he revealed that, with pre-season almost done and dusted, United's attention is firmly on their opening clash at the Liberty Stadium, despite upcoming friendlies and the Charity Shield match with Wigan Athletic:
“Now is the time when you really start thinking about that first game of the season. We’ve been back from the main part of the tour for a few days now and everyone is focused on that first game.
“It’s about being ready for every game though and Tuesday’s will be a good opportunity for some of the lads that haven’t played too much recently and also for the lads that have played to get some more minutes in.
"It helps with your fitness, your general play and your overall sharpness, and we want to continue to make sure we are ready for that first game. We’ve got a busy week but it’s an important one for us.” Michael Carrick
Hopefully they'll only find third gear in their remaining pre-Swans fixtures. I for one have no problem with a sub-par United rolling in town, as hopes of a major upset abound. It says a lot about the Swans progress that almost everyone I've spoken to pre-season fancies the Swans' chances of overturning Man United on the opening day of the season - it's not like they're the reigning champions or anything. Oh wait...