Football
Mattias Karen, Arsenal correspondent 7y

Bob Bradley: Swansea can build on close defeat to Arsenal in his debut

LONDON -- Swansea manager Bob Bradley says he saw plenty of positives to build on from his first game in charge, but criticised his team's start in the 3-2 loss at Arsenal on Saturday.

The former United States coach became the first American to manage a Premier League game when he took to the sidelines at the Emirates and saw his team nearly stage a major comeback as Arsenal hung on with 10 men for the last 20 minutes.

Bradley said his team came out playing too cautiously and that the defending on Arsenal's first two goals was "poor," but he was pleased with the way his players turned things around.

Gylfi Sigurdsson made it 2-1 before the break and substitute Borja Baston pulled another goal back midway through the second half. Sigurdsson and Modou Barrow then had chances to equalise after Granit Xhaka was sent off with 20 minutes left.

"That was an exciting game, but obviously didn't finish the way we wanted," Bradley said. "There's not one of us that now walks out today feeling good. No chance.

"But I think we can still look at some of what happened on the field today and say all right, that's what we need to be about. That's the kind of football we can play, that's the kind of mentality we can build on.

"It's a start. Whenever you go in to work with any team you try to [give] your players some starting points."

Bradley was hired last week to replace Francesco Guidolin, who was fired after a poor run of results, with Swansea still looking for a first win since the opening day of the season. A trip to the Emirates was one of the hardest introductions possible to life in the Premier League, with Arsenal now on a six-game winning streak and level on points with leaders Manchester City.

But Bradley said he saw enough to come away with an optimistic feeling despite Swansea now being in the relegation zone with just four points from eight games.

"We kept at it. So at the end I'm disappointed, but I think the feeling among the players is that we had a very good week of training," he said. "And now if we can take the starting points that we saw today and keep going 30 more times, then there's a chance to become a really good team. And obviously if you do that you're going to take your points.

"I would expect that [the fans] are not satisfied. But maybe like me they saw a few things today that say, all right we like what we see.

"That doesn't mean that you get ahead of yourselves. The work to become a good team, no matter the league, is real. It's hard work. And you try to convince the players every day that the reason that most teams don't become good is because they're not capable of the kind of real work week in and week out to improve in so many areas."

Bradley took a moment to look around the stadium before the game as he stepped onto the Emirates pitch, and acknowledged that it was a "proud moment."

"But I was also trying to figure out the sections in the stadium," he said. "Because over the years I've been able to look around and find my wife and my daughters, but I couldn't figure out which section was which, so I couldn't find them today."

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