Paul Clement has insisted that in Italy they would have been applauding in admiration of Swansea City’s defensive ability in their 0-0 draw against Tottenham at Wembley.
It may not have won the Swans manager too many tributes amongst Spurs fans on Saturday night, but Clement believes the attributes revealed by a third successive away game without conceding a goal should be acknowledged.
Spurs had over 70 per cent of the possession and most of the clear-cut chances but could not break down a stubborn Swansea side.
Clement was proud of his side’s performance, and says succeeding with a defensive approach should be praised.
“I think good defending should be applauded. If you got to Italy, you know that’s something they are very proud of and clearly we want to attack better and have a little bit more control of the game, but we always have to be realistic.
“I would have liked to have created more chances, but I think good defending should be looked on positively.”
“I thought we defended very well and we had to, we had to defend very well. I was pleased with the character and discipline and the effort of the players today, especially after our performance last week at home where I thought we were complacent in our performance, but I couldn’t say that today.
“I was actually very proud of the physical effort that they had to put in to get that point and also the strong mentality that they had to show because we were under pressure for you know long, long periods.
“If someone had said before the game you’re going to have a nil-nil at Wembley against a really good Tottenham side I would have taken it, and as the game progressed and from what I saw I feel the same about that as well.”
Clement replaced new midfielder Renato Sanches, on-loan from Bayern Munich, with Leroy Fer after 58 minutes in a game where Swansea took a cautious approach.
“Sanches is rebuilding confidence after a turbulent year at Bayern,” said Clement.
“We knew he wouldn’t be lighting things up straight away here, he is getting used to the pace of the Premier League. It takes a bit of time to get up to speed.”
