Testing his limits, Bradley found himself in impossible situation at Swansea
The man who best embodies Jurgen Klinsmann’s philosophy—more so than even the former U.S. national team coach himself—is the man Klinsmann replaced. More
Bob Bradley
Bob Bradley lands 1st win; Tottenham’s unbeaten start ends
LONDON (AP) — After a difficult introduction to English Premier League management, Bob Bradley’s wait for a win is over.
Swansea’s players couldn’t achieve it the easy way for their trail-blazing American coach.
In the sixth game of his reign on Saturday, Swansea tossed away a 3-1 lead against Crystal Palace to head into stoppage time trailing 4-3.
Displaying the fighting spirit Swansea has lacked this season, Fernando Llorente found time to score twice and complete a wild 5-4 victory that lifted the south Wales club off the bottom of the standings.
“It’s a crazy match, and it’s very important for us,” Llorente said. “We need confidence and this match will help us a lot.”
It shouldn’t have been so tough. After Wilfried Zaha gave Palace an early lead, Gylfi Sigurdsson’s free kick and Leroy Fer’s double gave Swansea a 3-1 advantage. But the game unexpectedly swung back in Palace’s favor when James Tomkins and Christian Benteke scored either side of Jack Cork’s own goal in a nine-minute spell.
But Llorente, dropped from the squad for last weekend’s draw at Everton, presented his case for a starting role in the most dramatic fashion.
“The character of the players came through,” Bradley said. “It’s been a difficult season so far, there have been a lot of things that just didn’t bounce the right way.”
On Saturday they did, but not for Alan Pardew whose Palace side slumped to a sixth successive league and is only out of the relegation zone on goal difference. Swansea climbed off the bottom and is two points from safety.
The top of the table…