A solitary goal from Shane Long was enough to end Francesco Guidolin's unbeaten run as Swansea City boss, as his side were beaten by Southampton.

In was a rather tough watch for the Liberty Stadium faithful, though there were some key points to note in the game.

Andre Ayew can play anywhere

Central midfielder, striker, winger; all within the past month.

Ayew is steadily becoming the go-to man for all occasions having played well in each role, he has shown he can really do it all.

The Ghanaian was back to his preferred role out wide today and generally played well in an otherwise dire game.

Where is Jefferson Montero?

With Steven Davis playing wing-back when Southampton were defending, Jefferson Montero’s expertise at running at players would have been a great asset today.

It seems that Modou Barrow is even ahead of him in the pecking order, and now there has been three managers this season who have been left unsatisfied with the Ecuadorian. It seems likely that he will be moved on in the summer.

Guidolin marshals his troops from the sideline. | Image source: Getty Images.
Guidolin marshals his troops from the sideline. | Image source: Getty Images.

Southampton are a good team, it’s okay not to beat them

Losing to Southampton isn’t the worst thing in the world. Hopefully Swansea fans can realise this and not immediately resort to thinking the worst.

The away side have now kept six clean sheets in a row and generally are a well-coached team, full of intelligent players.

Excluding the game at St. Mary’s where Jonjo Shelvey scored a late winner, Swansea have had a poor record against the South-coast side.

A loss doesn’t necessarily signal the end of Swansea’s time in the Premier League, and putting in a solid showing should boost confidence.

Danny Graham has been reincarnated

Alberto Paloschi is very reminiscent of Danny Graham during his Swansea spell.

During Graham’s Swansea days he was never the prolific goalscorer the team perhaps needed, but he worked his socks off from the first minute to the last, linking up well with his team mates and living in the channels.

It has only been three games into Paloschi’s Swansea career, so this could be proved wrong, but so far the similarities are there.

Conceding from corners

Southampton had three corners today and scored no goals from them. None.

Apart from the one, where Southampton did find the back of the net, but the referee luckily gave a foul.

It might not be a huge boost, but it’s progress and something Guidolin has been working on; to see the players take this on board is only a good thing.

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About the author
Jack Mceachen
Sports Journalist in Staffordshire University.