Saturday 17 September 2016 12:11, UK
Francesco Guidolin says he is not worried about Fernando Llorente's lack of goals this season and insists his Swansea team must improve if his strikers are to start scoring.
Spanish World Cup winner Llorente has started all four Premier League games but has yet to find the net since his £5m summer move from Sevilla, while record signing Borja Baston is still waiting to make his debut following a thigh injury.
Swansea's lack of attacking punch is evidenced by the fact only midfielder Leroy Fer has so far scored in open play in the Premier League this season.
"I'm not frustrated about Fernando because this is his first time in the Premier League and at the moment he plays strong for the team," Guidolin said.
"I am sure when we improve our way of playing it's not a problem for Fernando to score because he's a good player. The team has to improve - and the team can improve.
"If we play better, there will be more opportunities to score for a striker like Fernando."
Swansea head to Southampton on Sunday with former Spain U19 striker Borja, the £15.5m arrival from Atletico Madrid, possibly set to be involved for the first time.
Guidolin is hoping to name the 24-year-old on the bench, but the wait for Borja's debut may yet extend to Wednesday's EFL Cup tie against Manchester City.
"I want to see him train free with intensity and confidence," said Guidolin. "I hope to see him in this condition as soon as possible because we need him.
"He is a good player, but it is important in this period we don't rush. Yes it's a long time without him, but he is almost ready."
Guidolin changed to a three-man central defence for last weekend's game with Chelsea but the new system failed to make it to half-time as the experiment was abandoned after 42 minutes and Swansea, 1-0 down at the time, fought back to draw 2-2.
However, the veteran Italian coach insists that it is a formation he could turn to sometime in the future.
"Why not?" Guidolin said. "In the last part of last season I trained my team to play with five defenders, and sometimes you have a good opportunity to do this.
"I have a lot of games behind me because my career is very long. I begin with a 4-4-2 because I was younger when Arrigo Sacchi played very good football with it at Milan.
"I then begin to play 4-2-3-1 because I understood that maybe my team needs to play with a number nine and a number 10 behind. This was my history 20 years ago, but when I managed Udinese they were in the Champions League with 3-4-3 and I couldn't change this shape.
"I train to play in different ways and, for me, it is not a problem. We can play with this shape because, in my opinion, we have the right characteristics to play in this way."
