Three Boxing Day lessons learnt, feat. Chelsea and Crystal Palace

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Bob Bradley was an absurd appointment

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Hopefully, the US wasn’t counting on Bob Bradley’s tenure at Swansea to boost the nation’s footballing rapport. If so, they’re back at square one. On Tuesday, Bradley was sacked after a dismal 4-1 defeat at the hands of West Ham United. The American’s appointment was met with fair and unfair ridicule. Part of it went with the stereotype that Americans are clueless about football. Part of it went with the fact that Bob Bradley had no experience that merited the job of saving Swansea from the drop which was justified in his eighty-five days as a Premier League manager.

While Bradley was a key part of Swansea’s thrilling 5-4 victory against Crystal Palace, the only team more defensively inept than the Welsh outfit, and a resounding 3-0 win in a relegation six-pointer against Sunderland, the Swans conceded almost three goals a match. Bradley failed at the most basic element of keeping a team up: shoring up the defense. Conceding 3+ goals in losses is unacceptable if you’re trying to fight relegation.

It wasn’t what Bob Bradley did wrong, it was what he just didn’t do. Bradley was out of his depth from the start and had to go. Swansea are the season’s chaos club it appears.