When Swansea signed Ivorian Wilfried Bony for a club record fee of £12m from Vitesse big things were expected from a man who scored 31 goals in 30 Everdise appearances last season, making him the top scorer in the league. Whilst his first season in the Premier League has been hampered through a hamstring injury, Bony is beginning to look well and truly on form.
Bony’s goal against Welsh rivals Cardiff on Saturday was his 8th in 21 Premier League appearances, 14 of which have been starts, making him Swansea’s leading goalscorer. His goals have replaced those of Michu to some extent, with the Spaniard lacking the clinical edge he showed last season, although his progress has been hampered by injury too. If Swansea could get both players fit and playing well together, they’d be a real handful and would trouble most Premier League defences.
Adjusting to the Premier League is never an easy task, but Bony has done well in his first season, especially when compared to the goal scoring record of Sunderland’s Jozy Altidore. American Altidore also played in the Netherlands last season and bagged 23 goals for AZ Alkmaar, despite being a handful and playing well for Sunderland, he’s managed just 1 goal. That’s testament to just how good Bony has been this season.
Bony’s performances gain even more traction when you consider that they've been in a Swansea team which has failed to reach the heights of last season, although that’s down to injuries as much as anything.
Bony is taking the most shots per game (3.1) in the Swansea team and that shows how the attacking onus has fallen on the Ivorian. Bony’s strength and power in the air is highlighted by the fact that he’s won 2.4 headers per game, the third highest in a Swansea team which predominantly keeps the ball on the floor. Bony’s strength and power are complemented well by the pace of Nathan Dyer and Wayne Routledge, as an attacking trio it has all the attributes needed to score goals.
Bony has also been prevalent in Swansea’s progress in the Europa League too, scoring twice on their arduous route to the knout-out stages. They’ll need him to be on top form if they are to progress further in the competition as they face sizeable opponents in Napoli in the next round.
Bony’s performances so far this season have highlighted the potential that he has and if he can keep playing in a similar vein of form he’s sure to score more goals, especially as he settles in more to life in the Premier League.
Source: DSG
