Well done to the shrews, deserved winners and showed us up by grafting, now is that a dirty word? Well said Ivor, once again the man of reason. We can have all the possession in the world, but if there`s no end result it`s all a bit rudimentary. Buck now needs to nail his colours to the mast & sort out some of these well paid prima-donnas. Route one occasionally might be a good thing, just to mash it up a bit. Just a thought, is anyone taking bets on when we`ll score our first goal in a competitive game!!!
Buck is not going to abandon a system that has served us well for seasons. We have got to where we are by playing this posessive style of football. It's not like when teams play direct, they just lump it up there and hope for the best. Playing route one is just as difficult as playing Barca style football if you don't know what you are doing. We have no experience of hitting balls in to channels, winning second balls, set pieces, long throws etc., so we would have to spend alot of time working on these things in training. Also, we have a very small team which means it is almost pointless playing route one, and not enough money to be buying enough big players to do it. If we get relegated playing route one, we could keep sliding down the leagues if we don't have the right players, whereas if we keep this style, we know we can compete with the top end of the Championship. Also, if we stay up playing this style, we will attract some quality players next season
There are Premier League clubs and clubs that play in the Premier League - and it has absolutely nothing to do with the budget, or the size of the stadium, or anything else that happens off the field unrelated to the game that's played on it. It's about what you do when you go to work .... In '81-'82, we played at the Vetch Field that was an embarrassment to top flight football, on a field that was mud up the middle by Christmas ... Yet we played like champions, beat all the top teams, finished 6th and could/should have finished higher but for a string losses at the end more as a result of a small squad and injury than lack of effort and desire. What's our excuse ... From what I have seen so far we need to shift a gear to be successful in the Prem, we need to play our game but with more sharpness, more speed, more intensity; and last night, by all accounts we couldn't shift out of neutral. Comments have been made about a lack of fitness - that's easily fixed on a physical level - but on a mental level the players have to take responsibility, they have to take pride, they have to understand shame. On any given day in football one team can raise their game and out-play another - that's part of he beauty of the game - but to lose by not "showing up" is unforgivable.
Our style of play has served us well in the past what with keeping the ball away from the other team for long periods of the games. But the "they cant score iff they have not got the ball " idea is being countered now by letting us have it for long periods and as soon as we move up to threaten thier goal they up the pace close us down and counter attack with conserved energy to burn. Perhaps we need a less predictable game plan to evolve what we already do so well, this is where a tactically good manager which i believe Rogers to be will be worth his salt, given limited funds and players etc available we need every one in the team giving 100% no matter who the opposition is anything less should be dealt with harshly until the right mindset is achieved. Obviously we dont have the likes of Borini and a fit Bodde to lift the team but we do have players who i think can raise thier game and get the team playing as one machine again plus Rogers may still have some usefull conections elsewhere to add even more skill strength and style to the squad, on loan or otherwise. I for one wont be panicking after losing to the richest team in the world and drawing to wigan who have more money and time served than us. As for the shrews maybe the knock/reality check needed to get the reserves fired up for what is to come. Early days but when have the swans ever done things the easy way !
Leeeeon, have I got the right number of "Es" in there? I don't think that any of us actually want to abandon our style of play. Swainseye is just suggesting - and I agree with him - that we route one occasionally in games just for variety, to give the opposition something different to deal with. We are not equipped, as you say, to adopt route one as our style of play, nor do we want to. Perish the thought!! As Yankee says, we need to up our intensity and sharpness and we need more speed as a TEAM. We have plenty of pacey individuals eg Sincs, Dyer, Routledge etc but when they break and get in dangerous positions, all too often they look up to see that their support has been left well behind. They have to check and wait until that support does arrive by which time the opposing mid-fielders have also arrived and the defence has had time to get organised. Meat and drink to PL clubs. My concern about our fitness is well documented. We should be taking a long, hard look at those in charge of it and getting the best that can be afforded if matters don't improve. Look at the Welsh rugby players. The training regime in Poland has improved them no end. They are now able to play flat out for the entire game and the results are showing. For the life of me I cannot understand, in this day and age, how a highly paid sportsman is not 100% fit. But our team? We run out of gas at about the hour mark with a full third of the game still to be played. Incredible!! Because as Yankee posted, it's something that's an easy fix. Alex Ferguson would not tolerate it, neither would most of the managers in the PL. What makes us think we can get away with it, Lord only knows. Anyway, Buck will know all this and we must trust him to put it right.
When we have the ball and long periods of possession and our keeper gets more touches than our center forward it's time to reset the compass relearn the direction to goal. Man City, Wigan, and now Shrewsbury have shown us how to be more efficient and productive with less possession. Wigan didn't score but had a penalty saved and hit the wood-work twice. I'd settle for hitting the post right now at least we would know we are shooting.
When BR states that players raised their hands to say don't pick me on Saturday - does anybody at the game last night care to offer who he might be referring to. My audio on Swansea Player was interrupted with work yesterday so I don't have a sense for how the subs did and whether they shoukd be included on BR's for public commentary.
Take your pick. the only ones who looked as if they had any desire at all were the kids - and they won't be picked anyway on Saturday.
Perhaps they(kids) should be included in the squad for the game and given a seat on the bench. Time to send a message.
Maybe. The closest anyone came to saying they had a good game was Joe walsh at LB. Alfei not too bad either. At least they showed some desire to do well. I'm getting tired already of saying 'Graham worked hard'. He did, but no end result.
One too many E's, but I'll let that slide! I think we kind of agree. We definitely need to improve our fitness to a premiership level, and we need to sharpen up and speed up our game. We do need to get the hang of playing longer balls up to Graham, because he is strong and tall, so can hold it up better than anyone we have at present. I just took exception to the phrase 'route one' because that is different to playing balls in to the front man to hold up. Route one is piling men in the box and hitting percentage balls into pre-determined areas. In pre-season I remember seeing quite a few balls from the back to Graham, and he did ok with most of them, but it is a very difficult thing to pull off compared to tippy tappy. Maybe if they were doing it pre-season it is part of their gameplan, but it has not worked in a game yet, but that is all part of gelling as a team. I guess I am saying, that to criticise the tactics two games in to the league is daft, because we haven't settled yet, as to be expected. If we still haven't scored any after six games, then maybe it's worth talking about it, but for now we need to just believe in the players and the manager.
Agreed Leeeeon. I think we're all kind of assuming what we've seen so far is indicative of how we'll fare in general for the rest of the year. Maybe, given our lack of practice at hitting longish balls, it would be easier to bring in a player with a good range of passing and adapt him to our way of playing, than getting the squad as a whole to do it? If we had someone alongside Augustien who was completely used to hitting a 30 yard ball to his strikers feet/chest/head, it would probably click a lot faster...
if it has served as a wake up call, it will benefit your manager and squad for the season. good luck swansea
no such thing as a wake up call, the players were just not good enough and im afraid the bookies have got it spot on that we have no chance in the premiership, we jumped the gun and paid ridiculous money for our suppose no1 striker and the fans who questioned that at the time are looking right....we wont get 20 points this season and that is if we are lucky. fans can make all the excuses and paper over the cracks all they like but they are just kidding themselves, Who actually thinks we will beat Steve Bruce's sunderland on saturday, yes we will give them a game but where are the goals going to come from.....I'm afraid Brendan has got a lot of work to do in the transfer market and he only has a short time to do it....
Here we go again.... From the same moron who said "...we'll never get promoted under Jenkins. Fact." I'm surprised you've got the balls to even post on here, Dainumpty. Your credibility is non-existent and you are a standing joke, just like on dear departed 606. Look, nobody is papering over any cracks. We know it's going to be tough. We know that Graham is untested at this level and is clearly low on confidence. We know that last night was unacceptable. But true fans get behind the team and don't scream "We're doomed" from the rooftops. At least not in August!
who the **** are you calling a moron you dip stick, typical coward behind the computer screen ...what a kid,,,try and debate sometimes instead of look at me i can insult people because they cant see me.. get back on the cardiff board where you are there every day wumming them up as your useless on here with no constructive argument for or against on any subject
Leeeeon, you sure, buddy? I counted 4 "Es" now I've taken the time to look properly. Seems right to me. I used the expression "route one" as a generic term in respect of varying our play occasionally to get the ball into our strikers more quickly before the defence had time to get organised. Now if we had Bodde in the team, what a weapon we would have. Long ball, yes, but placed on a sixpence and perfectly weighted - and when he wasn't doing that he would be crunching the opposing midfielders. How I wish that man was fit!!
