Fernando Llorente says Swansea City must be fearless and overcome their crisis of confidence if they are to avoid relegation from the Premier League.
The Spaniard faces Stoke City at the Liberty Stadium on Saturday against a backdrop of deep unease at the club’s predicament as well as severe criticism aimed at the striker himself.
The Swans are two points from the safety zone occupied by Hull City and have taken just one point from their past six matches. Paul Clement’s side have only scored one goal in their last five games and Llorente’s sprinting statistics – or lack of them – caused him to be singled out by pundits after last week’s defeat at Watford.
He admits: “We play with pressure and it’s a very difficult moment. The confidence of the players is a little bit down and we have to recover that. This match has become massive for us, it’s like a final.
“We need to win three out of the last five games and not think about the situation. We need to play without fear and give all we have.”
The defeat at Watford last Saturday was particularly galling for travelling supporters who saw little to suggest there was an immediate way out of danger.
“We have to be more aggressive and more competitive and play with a big heart,” Llorente continues. “We need to find the performances like the one we showed against Liverpool. The team have demonstrated they can play at this level. Tactically we can play in lots of different ways but the importance is the mentality.
“I was always thinking about coming here in my career and I am enjoying it a lot, it’s an incredible league. The Italian league [where he played with Juventus for two seasons] is maybe slower but it’s difficult because they often play five at the back and it becomes difficult to score goals. But now I am very happy in this league, for me it’s the best.”
“I always find the defences very strong, maybe sometimes stronger than me. When I played in other leagues it was always me who was stronger than the defenders. Here, when you play against a team at the bottom it’s so difficult and it’s easy to lose.”
Often in teams at the bottom players prefer playing away from home, but the striker believes the Swans’ best chance of survival is at the Liberty Stadium. “We are playing better at home. Maybe it’s the crowd, they have been very supportive. When we create chances and the team is playing well it’s enjoyable to play there.”
Llorente points to the recent matches against Leicester and Burnley that produced maximum points as the performances that need replicating at home between now and the end of the season.
Swansea took the lead in both games, but it has been when going behind that their confidence has proved particularly fragile. Bob Bradley’s fraught time in charge was characterised by the side’s inability to stay in matches when they went behind. The 18 goals they conceded in five December defeats led to Bradley’s sacking.
Under Clement, Swansea have at least been able to stay in games for longer and Llorente insists the problems are mainly in the player’s heads.
“We have to stay strong in our minds. It’s difficult for us to change a game if we are behind. Sometimes we do – we did it against Crystal Palace – but at other times the team has fallen down if we go behind. We must have the mentality to stay strong.”