Bob Bradley: Swansea City must improve after Manchester United loss

Bob Bradley admitted his Swansea City players must do more to win the backing of the fans after a bleak home defeat to Manchester United.

Bradley's men remain in the Premier League relegation zone after United's 3-1 triumph at the Liberty Stadium.

The damage was done in the first period, when the Swans did not get close enough to Jose Mourinho's star men and United duly cruised into a 3-0 lead.

The Swans improved after the break, although Bradley conceded that their second-half efforts were too little, too late.

And after a top-flight winless streak which now stands at 10 matches, the Swans boss reckons his players must dig deep as they bid to turn their fortunes around.  

"There's only one way to win the support of fans, and that's to play better and take points," Bradley said.

"From the players' and coaches' side of things, we have to focus on the part that we control.

"That's how we play, how we compete and how we fight for points. 

"If the fans are angry at half-time, I understand that. We didn't do enough to win them over in any way.

"They have every right to be angry at half-time. We have to be honest about the work that needs to be done.

"We have to get some positive results. Once we get a result or two I think everyone will say 'Okay, we have finally turned this thing around', but right now we are going through a tough stretch.

"We understand very clearly where we are. There's no hiding from the situation.

"We know all the areas where we need to be better."

The Swans endured an awful first 45 minutes, with United dominating the ball and causing numerous problems for the home rearguard.

Their first goal, which came after just 15 minutes, was a spectacular one, with Paul Pogba rattling home a half-volley from outside the area.

United doubled their lead just six minutes later when Wayne Rooney laid off to Zlatan Ibrahimovic and he drilled a low 20-yard shot which beat Lukasz Fabianski.

Jose Mourinho must have been enjoying what he saw from his spot in the directors' box - the United manager was serving a touchline ban - and the visitors' day got even better just after the half hour when Rooney teed up Ibrahimovic for his second goal of the afternoon.

The Swans did improve after the break, with the introduction of wingers Modou Barrow and Jefferson Montero giving United's defence something to think about.

They pulled a goal back on 69 minutes, when Mike van der Hoorn nodded home from Gylfi Sigurdsson's free-kick.

But despite the Dutchman's first Swans goal, United held on with relative comfort.   

"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," Bradley 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."
The Swans started in a 4-4-2 formation, before changing their shape before the break and then introducing two natural widemen for the second period.
But Bradley reckoned it was not tactics which were the problem during a painful first half.
"We changed because it's important at 3-0 to try to think how you can get at the other team," he said.
"I don't think it's tactics in a game like this. The details that matter are the choices we made on the ball, whether guys off the ball were finding enough space, what our reactions were when we lost the ball, whether we played the right pass.
"I was angry with the way some of the goals were scored. They are not putting 15 passes together and playing through us.
"We gave up goals in situations where I felt we were in good shape.
"We were pleased with the clean sheet against Watford, but in my three other games we have given three goals away. We cannot keep doing that."