Fans have every right to be angry, says Swansea's Bradley
REUTERS - Swansea City manager Bob Bradley does not blame the fans for booing his team off at halftime after watching them fall three goals behind a visiting Manchester United inside 33 minutes at the Liberty Stadium on Sunday.
Swansea have not won in the Premier League since the first day of the season, and are second-bottom in the 20-team Premier League by virtue of a single goal's difference, tied on five points with last-placed Sunderland.
A Zlatan Ibrahimovic brace after Paul Pogba had opened the scoring in the 15th minute was enough to condemn Swansea to their eighth defeat in 11 league games this season, and Bradley called on his players to take responsibility for the result.
"We understand very clearly where we are. There's no hiding from the situation," Bradley, the league's first American coach, said after the game.
"They (the fans) have every right to be angry at halftime. We have to be honest about the work that needs to be done.
"There's only one way to win the support of fans, and that's to play better and take points... Once we get a result or two I think everyone will say 'Okay, we have finally turned this thing around.'"
Defender Mike van der Hoorn got the Swans a consolation when he headed home in the second half, but Bradley took no comfort from the goal after watching his side's meek first-half capitulation.
"In the first half we were pushed too deep, when we got the ball we gave it back too quickly and we were not dangerous," he added.
"We had people close to the ball a lot of the time, but we didn't have enough commitment to close things down and get tight on people.
"In the second half there was a little progress, but we can't take solace from playing a bit better when you are 3-0 down."
Swansea travel to seventh-placed Everton on Nov. 19, when the league resumes after the international break.
(Reporting by Debanjan Bose in Bengaluru; editing by Amlan Chakraborty)