Three Reasons You Should Root for Swansea City
“Now we can just kick on and look forward,” said Swansea’s Scott Sinclair about rebounding from last weekend’s 3-2 home loss to Norwich, adding, “We’ve got to let that game go.” I hope that they’re able to, and that they pull themselves back into form during the next two weeks. Yes, some friends are now warning me about my recent obsession (My name is Eric, and I’m a Swans-aholic.), but I don’t care. Hear me out.
Here are three reasons why you, too, should root for Swansea to move past their recent defeat and make a push in the home stretch of the EPL season:
1. They’re from Wales.
There is something uplifting about their quiet recalcitrance, which, being inherent in the history of the British Isles, hardly needs to be stated (even though many of their players are British). Being automatic underdogs, Swansea can’t avoid being endearing to anyone who doesn’t root for Manchester’s Evil Empire(s). Also, coming from the land of the mythical King Arthur and the hometown of the very real (but still mythical) Dylan Thomas, the Swans carry with them a powerful literary and cultural tradition, one drenched in both defiance and, more importantly, whiskey. This culture is emblemized fittingly by flags with iconic red dragons on them. What’s not to love?
2. They don’t have any annoying superstars.
Swansea is an exemplar of team football. They don’t have obscenely priced, whiny superstars. They don’t have has-been novelty ticket-sellers. They don’t have Wayne Rooney. They just have a group of great players, all willing to play their parts, and all willing to work together to put in complete games, week after week. There is something almost charmingly commendable about their attitude, which embodies something we who came of age in the ‘90s used to call “good sportsmanship.” (As George Carlin would say, in his typical crabby cadence, “Do kids even know what that is anymore?”)
After their stunning performance against Arsenal, the Swans’ Leon Britton showed just how classy this team is by displaying not head-swollen bravado but rather reverent humility, saying, “There are the games that make people sit up and take notice a bit more. When you beat a big team, especially on the telly, you get more people watching and it gets your name out there, but we are very grounded as a bunch of lads and we will be keeping our feet on the ground.”
How refreshing are comments like this?
3. They’re only going to get better.
Not only is their system a solid and versatile one, allowing players to rotate into changing rolls and be effective in a myriad of ways (sound familiar, Dutch fans?), but their players, if they can keep them healthy and happy, are very young, relatively speaking—which means they have the time to mature and peak in the near future. With Danny Graham at 27 years of age, Nathan Dyer at 25, and Scott Sinclair at 23, the best is most likely yet to come, especially if these and other players continue to gel into the system and gain some more experience playing against the top tier of the Premier League.
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