Carlos Carvalhal described himself as a “footballing romantic” as he was presented as Swansea City’s fifth manager in the space of little more than two years, although the Portuguese has no time for fanciful storylines and made it clear that any act of escapology at the Premier League’s bottom club would be down to hard work rather than a miracle.
Appointed as Paul Clement’s successor on a short-term contract until the end of the season, the former Sheffield Wednesday manager did his best to radiate positivity as he vowed to bring “a new dynamic” to a Swansea side five points adrift of safety and sleepwalking towards the Championship for months.
It is a thankless task on the face of it, yet Carvalhal seemed grateful for the opportunity, perhaps not surprisingly given that he has never managed in the Premier League before. The 52-year-old, whose managerial career has seen him work in five countries and included spells in charge of Besiktas and Sporting Lisbon, revealed that he turned down offers in Turkey, England and Japan because he wanted to take a break from the game in the wake of leaving Sheffield Wednesday on Christmas Eve.
“Then I had the call from Swansea and immediately I said I was ready to work,” Carvalhal said. “For the other situations I had said I needed some rest, but for this I knew my rest was over, I wanted to be here. I like difficult challenges. A lot of people will say that Swansea need a miracle to stay in the Premier League, but I don’t agree because miracles is something not from our world. It’s a very good challenge and we will fight to put the team in a better position.
“I am a very positive person and I know that if you asked 100 people, other than Swansea fans, if they are going to get relegated, this is what they are thinking. They are five points adrift, the team aren’t playing good football, they aren’t scoring or creating chances. Nobody has many expectations of Swansea. But we can change things – that’s what we believe. We can improve the players and create a new dynamic.”
It has been a whirlwind few days for Carvalhal, who only accepted Swansea’s offer late on Wednesday evening and left his home in Yorkshire at 4am on Thursday morning to be in Swansea in time to take training before his first game in charge, at Watford on Saturday.
Carvalhal, who is bringing in two assistants and two analysts to work alongside him, said he would need to talk to Leon Britton, the player-coach who was placed in charge in a caretaker capacity for the previous two matches, before deciding what role the 35-year-old will fill. “Let’s see in which position he can help the club more,” the new man said.
The burning issue for many Swansea supporters is how active the club will be in the market next month to improve a team desperately short of creativity and firepower and who finished the summer window with the lowest net spend in the Premier League. Carvalhal chose his words carefully in that respect, maybe mindful that he needs to keep everyone in the squad onside for the time being.
“The clock is ticking, that’s absolutely correct, but we can’t do anything until 1 January so we have to try to give confidence to the players that are here first,” he said. “They need to show commitment and after that we will take decisions. We have talked about the possibility of bringing in players if we need it, and the chairman was open about that, but let’s see the weaknesses in the team first.”
As well as suggesting Swansea would not be selling Alfie Mawson or anyone else next month, Carvalhal spoke about how he hopes to help Renato Sanches, a compatriot, rediscover some form. “I think he needs confidence. We can forget that even though he played for the national team and Benfica, he’s still a kid. He’s still learning, he needs a role in the team. When he understands exactly what we want, he can be a completely different player.”