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Alan Waddle
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The striking similarities between Aston Villa loan signing Conor Hourihane and a Swansea City hero and message Swans just sent the Championship
Source: Wales Online
January signings can have a massive impact on where a club finishes the season and in Conor Hourihane, fans hope Swansea City have found the player to guide them to the Premier League.
The transfer window had a transformative effect on Swansea’s fortunes last season. Bringing in players like Marc Guéhi, Conor Gallagher and Rhian Brewster improved the Swans in every area of the pitch, solidifying their defence, adding creativity in midfield and providing a potent goal-threat.
Together these three on-loan stars helped propel the Swans’ unlikely push for the play-offs.
Steve Cooper will be hoping another on-loan Premier League player can have a similarly positive impact on the side.
Irish international Hourihane arrived from Aston Villa earlier this week and instantly got supporters excited.
With 24 international caps, two promotions and an appearance in a League Cup final under his belt, Hourihane should be ready for the big fixtures which await Swansea over the coming months.
The 29-year-old is a proven performer at Championship level, a classy midfielder who has regularly set up and scored goals for a number of years.
Swansea’s midfield has been excellent recently but none of Matt Grimes, Jay Fulton, Korey Smith or Yan Dhanda have scored more than one goal this season. Most of Swansea’s assists have come from their wing-backs rather than their midfielders so Hourihane’s deliveries could address this imbalance.
He’s also always been prepared to pitch in when out of possession, a hard worker who should fit perfectly into Swansea’s industrious midfield.
Importantly, he is also a set-piece specialist which is something Swansea have lacked for years. The last Swansea player to score directly from a free-kick was Gylfi Sigurdsson back in 2017.
Dare I say it, there are some striking similarities between Swansea’s new loan signing and the Icelandic club legend.
Sigurdsson was a game-changer, a player who was never afraid to roll up his sleeves but most importantly he could provide moments of quality to win matches.
Hourihane may not have Sigurdsson’s quality, but many of the same attributes are there and the man from County Cork could become a Championship version of Sigurdsson.
Swansea didn’t need to do too much in this window. They sit second in the league, having lost just four games all season. They have the best defence in the Championship and Jamal Lowe’s scoring form means they’re no longer short on goals.
Swansea’s form in the first half of the campaign suggests they could have coped without any signings in this window but they have made the decision to seek the experience and quality of Hourihane from the Premier League. It’s a move which adds goals and creativity to an already excellent midfield.
It’s an ambitious signing which sends a message to the rest of the league that Swansea are serious promotion candidates.
Source: Wales Online
January signings can have a massive impact on where a club finishes the season and in Conor Hourihane, fans hope Swansea City have found the player to guide them to the Premier League.
The transfer window had a transformative effect on Swansea’s fortunes last season. Bringing in players like Marc Guéhi, Conor Gallagher and Rhian Brewster improved the Swans in every area of the pitch, solidifying their defence, adding creativity in midfield and providing a potent goal-threat.
Together these three on-loan stars helped propel the Swans’ unlikely push for the play-offs.
Steve Cooper will be hoping another on-loan Premier League player can have a similarly positive impact on the side.
Irish international Hourihane arrived from Aston Villa earlier this week and instantly got supporters excited.
With 24 international caps, two promotions and an appearance in a League Cup final under his belt, Hourihane should be ready for the big fixtures which await Swansea over the coming months.
The 29-year-old is a proven performer at Championship level, a classy midfielder who has regularly set up and scored goals for a number of years.
Swansea’s midfield has been excellent recently but none of Matt Grimes, Jay Fulton, Korey Smith or Yan Dhanda have scored more than one goal this season. Most of Swansea’s assists have come from their wing-backs rather than their midfielders so Hourihane’s deliveries could address this imbalance.
He’s also always been prepared to pitch in when out of possession, a hard worker who should fit perfectly into Swansea’s industrious midfield.
Importantly, he is also a set-piece specialist which is something Swansea have lacked for years. The last Swansea player to score directly from a free-kick was Gylfi Sigurdsson back in 2017.
Dare I say it, there are some striking similarities between Swansea’s new loan signing and the Icelandic club legend.
Sigurdsson was a game-changer, a player who was never afraid to roll up his sleeves but most importantly he could provide moments of quality to win matches.
Hourihane may not have Sigurdsson’s quality, but many of the same attributes are there and the man from County Cork could become a Championship version of Sigurdsson.
Swansea didn’t need to do too much in this window. They sit second in the league, having lost just four games all season. They have the best defence in the Championship and Jamal Lowe’s scoring form means they’re no longer short on goals.
Swansea’s form in the first half of the campaign suggests they could have coped without any signings in this window but they have made the decision to seek the experience and quality of Hourihane from the Premier League. It’s a move which adds goals and creativity to an already excellent midfield.
It’s an ambitious signing which sends a message to the rest of the league that Swansea are serious promotion candidates.
