Football opinion changes almost game by game. It is the nature of a very peculiar beast. Win a match convincingly and you are world-beaters, perhaps destined for future glories; lose limply and it is doom and gloom, maybe even approaching a crisis.
It is a point that Jonjo Shelvey, the Swansea City midfielder, might care to ponder before he next gazes into his crystal ball and predicts great things for the club. It was only last week that Shelvey, while on duty with England, boldly ventured Swansea could mix it with the European elite.
“There’s no reason why this club can’t play Champions League football,” Shelvey said. “This club is set up to play in Europe.” And why not? Swansea were in fourth place in the Premier League before this match, with an unbeaten record that included a 2-2 draw with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge and a more recent 2-1 home win over Manchester United.
Next up was a visit to little Watford, promoted last season and without a win on their return to the top flight. The type of match in which, surely, Swansea would confirm those Champions League credentials?
But no. Swansea produced a display that was strangely listless and lacking in anything that might remotely scare the likes of Barcelona, Real Madrid or Bayern Munich.
Even when Watford were reduced to 10 men in the 64th minute, after Valon Behrami had been dismissed for an ugly stamp on André Ayew, Swansea failed to rouse themselves from their collective slumber. And you know something is badly wrong when the usually unflappable Ashley Williams, the Swansea captain, loses his cool and rages against every decision, as he did in the closing stages at Vicarage Road on Saturday.
Williams lost it, Swansea lost it. At least Garry Monk, their manager, remained calm. “We’ve set the standards so high that, when we have a performance like that, you get more disappointed with it,” Monk said. “You don’t expect that level. You expect the best all the time.
“ We have to perform every week, that’s the expectancy on us. That’s my expectancy and the players know that. But there’s no major concerns, we’re still a very good team.”
Perhaps, though, not as good as they thought. Williams was reduced to a babbling wreck, Shelvey had a stinker and the previously prolific strike pairing of Ayew and Bafétimbi Gomis hardly got a look-in.
Watford wanted it more, scrapped for the merest of morsels and had squandered a series of half-chances before they went ahead. Heurelho Gomes launched a downfield missile, Troy Deeney nodded it on and Odion Ighalo rifled it home. After amassing 20 goals in the Championship last season, Ighalo now has two in the top flight and a new five-year contract, after rejecting a lucrative offer from the Chinese side, Hebei China Fortune.
“Yeah, I turned it down,” Ighalo said. “They wanted to give me a lot of money but I don’t think it would have been a good move for me. Sometimes, it is not about money. I’m happy to have signed my contract. I wanted to stay here. But I’m not going to fold my arms because I signed it. I want to work hard and keep on improving every day.”
Swansea will need to improve if they are to get anywhere near the lofty ambitions outlined by Shelvey. Maybe this was just an inexplicable blip and normal service will be swiftly resumed. “It’s a long season and there’s going to be plenty of ups and downs,” Monk said. “I’m sure we’ll bounce back, no problems.”
Man of the match Odion Ighalo (Watford)
