Monday 25 May 2015 10:08, UK
We reflect on Swansea's 2014/15 Premier League season, with the help of stats and pundit views...
Swansea
Finishing position: eighth (+4 on last season)
Total points: 56 (+14 on last season)
FA Cup: Eliminated in fourth round by Blackburn
Capital One Cup: Eliminated in fourth round by Liverpool
Season review
Garry Monk’s new deal can’t come quickly enough for Swansea and no wonder: this has been a record-breaking season, a mockery-maker of outsiders who tipped relegation long before top scorer Wilfried Bony left for Manchester City. In his first full term of management, Monk has instead led the club to its highest Premier League finish, surpassing a previous top points haul with games to spare and picking the pockets of messrs Wenger and Van Gaal along the way.
The 36-year-old former captain, whose achievements saw him nominated for manager of the year, has not only shown an eye for a transfer - Federico Fernandez, Jefferson Montero, Lukasz Fabianski and Gylfi Sigurdsson all success stories - but also a sharp brain for tactics, a preference for pragmatism. The educated football of Roberto Martinez and Brendan Rodgers remains but Swansea have toiled, stifled and counter-attacked, too. Just ask Arsenal.
Injuries, suspensions and that big-money departure cut midway through the campaign, but Monk had fostered team spirit that proved sustaining and Bafetimbi Gomis - whose in-play collapse on the turf at Tottenham made for one of the season’s most shocking moments - finally found some groove. Monk knows he must manage expectations for a side that only just missed out on Europe (a blessing in disguise?) little over a decade since they faced non-league oblivion but he’s also admitted to “dreaming big”. How do Swansea build on such a stellar season? Under Monk and chairman Huw Jenkins - the shrewd business operator whose punt on a rookie has paid off - you bet they have a plan.
Phil Thompson’s star player: Ashley Williams
“Federico Fernandez has been very good and hasn’t had the recognition he deserves – he’s gone under the radar a bit. Gylfi Sigurdsson has been good and Jonjo Shelvey has done exceptionally well but I’d probably have to plump for Ashley Williams as Swansea’s player of the season. He’s been a proper leader and he seems happy, even though there’s always speculation linking him with a move.”
Monk's moment of the season
"There have been so many different highlights and different reasons why that would be a highlight throughout the season. There’s too many for me to pick one to be honest with you. The Emirates was great, the doubles, the way we started and finished the season and the consistency. Just the performance level we’ve had all the way through. You take all of them into account. Let others pick what the highest and lowest moments were."
Quotes of the season
“Is £28m an astronomical fee? I think so. You have to take a lot of things into consideration but we felt this was the right deal for the club. Of course we're disappointed to lose him but to produce a £28m player at this club … I feel quite proud about it" - Garry Monk on Wilfried Bony’s January sale to Manchester City.
“Coming off the pitch, he was fine, he was talking and he wanted to stay on. We knew about this when he came to the club. He's had all the medical checks that you can possibly have and it's just part of his life. It's to do with low blood pressure” - Monk on Bafetimbi Gomis after the striker fainted on the pitch during a 3-2 defeat at Tottenham in March.
“He has to be (the best manager in the club’s history), he's finished with the top number of points and finished eighth in the Premier League. You can't argue this year, I can't say anything different. Garry has grown and developed as a person and as a manager” - Chairman Huw Jenkins on Monk.
Stats of the season
- Swansea became only the third team in Premier League history to do the double over Arsenal and Manchester United in the same season
- The Swans won a record 16 Premier League games - the most wins in a top-flight season since the 21 they recorded in 1981/82 - and only failed to score in seven, with only Chelsea, Manchester City and Arsenal hitting fewer blanks
- Swansea statistically did better without Wilfried Bony, their win percentage climbing from 40 to 50 per cent following his transfer-window move
Phil Thompson’s view
“Swansea have been great and Garry Monk has, in my opinion, done enough to be talked about as one of the managers of the season. He’s broken all kinds of records and, bearing in mind he lost his star striker in January, he’s done incredibly well and so have his players.”
