Phil SumblerOne of the things that was very obvious yesterday to pretty much everyone inside the Swansea.com stadium was that Ethan Laird was really not having a good day.
The longer the game went on the less confidence he seemed to have. On several occasions in the second half he was given the ball in the space in which he normally thrives but instead of looking to take on his man he often either cut inside or opted for the ball backwards.
It may seem unfair to single out Laird on a day when the Swans game plan was undone by some pretty basic errors but this is a youngster on the early stages of his footballing journey and we need his confidence high in the weeks to come and more performances like the ones we have seen before yesterday.
From the early stages of the game it was clear that it just didn’t look like it was going to be his day.ย That in itself is OK.ย All players have them.ย ย Those days when whatever you do it just doesn’t go right.ย ย Your first touch is off, your second touch is worse and the defender up against you is thinking that the afternoon they thought was going to be full of tough challenges turns into one of the easiest afternoons you could imagine.
Laird’s early touches were good and he was involved in a couple of good Swans moves but the standard of his performance declined as the first half went along.ย ย The ball was coming his way but he wasn’t finding the space, he wasn’t running onto balls and he wasn’t able to get past the defender.ย ย It was an off day nothing more but an off day that we should have protected.
The longer the second half went on the worse it got.ย He looked like a player who had the confidence drained out of him and that was the sign that he should have been replaced.ย ย Maybe Russell Martin thought he was about to turn it around, maybe he didn’t think we had a viable option or maybe he just didn’t see it but it was clear to all of us watching from the stands what was needed.
Ethan Laird is a quality player.ย He will have a good career in front of him and he will have more bad days.ย We have seen numerous times this season what he is capable of and we will see it again.ย ย Whatever the reasons behind yesterday – tiredness or just an off day – it wasn’t is day and hopefully this morning he will be aware that it was just ‘a bad day at the office’ and put it behind him.
The job of the manager and the coaching staff is to make sure that is the case.ย An arm around the shoulder, words of encouragement and a reminder of what he has achieved in a very short time here in South Wales and at Championship level.
Forget Reading, remember Cardiff, Peterborough, Coventry and all the other good performances – those are the real Ethan Laird and not the one that offered little yesterday as a threat.
I don’t know Laird but he does seem like someone who believes in his own ability and that belief will be keen to him now.ย Older, wiser heads around him need to remind him of that.
