Jeremy Monga’s absence from the Swansea City side has inevitably raised a few eyebrows, but Vítor Matos has offered some insight into his thinking as the highly-rated seventeen year-old waits for his opportunity. And yes his International clearance did take a good few days.
Monga arrived at Swansea on loan from Manchester City with a considerable reputation, and supporters have understandably been keen to see what the teenager can offer. His omission at Southampton on Tuesday brought the subject into sharper focus. Swansea were 2-0 down at the interval at St Mary’s and clearly needed something different. Head coach, Vitor Matos made a change, but instead of putting Monga on the bench pre match he included Ronald in his match day squad. It was he who replaced Joseph Opoku.
It was a decision which Matos has now explained.
The Swansea head coach believed Ronald possessed exactly the qualities his side needed at that particular stage of the game. “I think Ronnie is full of desire, full of hard work – we needed a player like that on the pitch in the second half,” The Brazilian certainly made an immediate impression. Ronald was involved almost immediately after the restart, getting into a shooting position before firing over, while the Swans as a whole began playing with considerably more aggression and intensity.
Matos highlighted Ronald’s work without the ball as particularly important. “He comes on, goes straight to situations where we pressed unbelievably well to make Southampton uncomfortable. That’s what we wanted, to give them uncomfortable moments as well.” We think most Swans fans now know Ronald is a Matos favourite without doubt.
The Swans pulled one back through Zān Vipotnik’s penalty seven minutes after the restart. Although Southampton eventually won 3-1, Matos was far happier with the attitude and intensity his side displayed during the second period. For us that second half performance was poor, it wasn’t anywhere near good enough to take something from the game, There was a complete lack of conviction and positivity, and as we displayed in our final word on the game - the press was pretty poor and ineffective throughout. Matos though isn’t one to hang his players out to dry, he will know just how much needs repairing to avoid that occurring again on Saturday. .
Ronald offered Matos something very specific at Southampton, well according to the Swans boss. “Ronnie is a player with that [ability], that’s why he came on. I am happy that he came on with that hunger and really looking forward for the future,” Matos said. That explains Ronald. The more interesting question for Swansea supporters is what happens next with Monga.
The teenager is still at the very beginning of his Swansea career and has joined a squad on loan where Matos has repeatedly emphasised competition, intensity and players earning their opportunities. Monga provides something different. But what we do know is that Matos will always (in the main) go for his own permanent players first. Malick Yalcouyé we believe suffered last season as a result of that. And as we reported exclusively on here permanent signings were his preference. It was only right towards the end of the window two were brought in. A third, Tiago Parente who is understudy to Josh Tymon was signed with Matos insisting on a buy clause.
Monga (below) has pace, technical quality and ability to attack defenders one-on-one which made him one of the most intriguing additions of Swansea’s summer business. But he is also only seventeen and there is clearly an element of managing when and how he is introduced to Championship football. The Southampton decision therefore looks less like Monga being overlooked and more like Matos choosing the player he felt was best suited to the situation he felt the Swans would face.
Ronald’s performance justified at least part of that thinking. He provided energy and pressed aggressively, but again that’s Matos’s opinion. For us he didn’t do a lot more. The positivity on his performance stated by Matos is ill founded. But circumstances are already changing. Ji-sung Eom is now away with South Korea at the Asian Games, reducing Matos’s options in wider positions ahead of Burnley’s visit to the Swansea. com tomorrow (3pm) That could bring Monga considerably closer to his Swansea debut.
The excitement surrounding the Manchester City youngster isn’t going away, and neither should it. Swansea City have acquired one of English football’s most highly regarded young attacking talents.
For now, however, Matos appears determined to pick players according to what his team requires rather than reputation or expectation. And he has already made it clear he picks for the game not for the crowd. Against Burnley, perhaps the time has finally arrived for Swansea supporters to get their first look at Jeremy Monga. Nobody will be disappointed if he is named on the bench for sure. But there will be comments if he doesn’t get some minutes irrespective of the result. The overall target this weekend is three points, regardless of who plays though.
Catch up with last nights report on this weekends game.
⚽️ Swans welcome the Clarets
Photographs: tag:reuters.com,2026:newsml_MT1MTRX000J3G5EZ:1512466513 & Swansea Independent
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