Feel free to take exception but the poll at the top of the thread tells it that most swans fans expexted us to win the game, not a point but to win the match. Personally I think it is asking a lot to beat the in form team in the remier league with a £42m pound player who pulls the strings for them, even more so with half a first choice defence. We are indeed competitive and there is nothing wrong with confidence in your team, but why then criticise the manager when the result doesn't quite go the correct way ? why not just accept that Arsenal had a spell where they took advantage, why question the tactics and selection and hold this up as the reason for defeat ? how about having the grace to accept that we were beaten by a better team ? We never seem to be beaten by a better team anymore it always seems to be Laudrups fault ! I could be wrong but that's what it seems to me . People said very similar stuff after the spurs game too, so its nothing new these last few weeks. Far too many are getting above themselves I think , if you disagree that's fine but reading the reactions after defeat to Arsenal I hold my own view
I must add that if you read a poll on the Cardiff board that said only 13% though they would lose to Arsenal then im sure like many the first word that would pop into your head would be the wor "delusional" harsh but true im afraid 47 % thought we would win 39% thought we would draw 13% thought Arsenl would win Over confidence,blind loyalty,passionate support, belief in our ability or delusion all depends on the after match reaction to me
But our squad is by far stronger to that of Cardiff. Could also spin it the other way though, Cardiff had a crack against Man City and got 3 points at home, and yesterday WBA had a crack against Utd at Old Trafford and came away with 3 points as did Villa against Man City. These big clubs are there for the taking if we play to our best with the right players, and in my opinion our squad is much better than that of Cardiff, Villa and WBA, so if these clubs are willing to have a go at the big teams rather than 'contain' them, then so should we, especially at home
Or spin it the other way again and ask do those teams turn up to those grounds with less focus or more focus as when they play us ? they know they wont get much ball so they know they will have a game on their hands at the liberty, it sharpens their game knowing this where as perhaps at other grounds they are not as 100% focussed and believe they will have enough to win even at 80%
TBH, when I saw our first 6 league fixtures, I thought that we could get as few as 2 points (2 draws against Palace and WBA) or as many as 8 (draws against Liverpool an d Spurs, and wins against Palace and West Brom). So to get 7 is probably as good as we could reasonably expect. The next 6 fixtures should see us get a much better return - then we should have a better perspective of what we can achieve this season in the PL.
And as Laudrup correctly pointed out we have the same points as this time last season where everybody was going on about how we made such an amazing start to the season !!.. That puts a lot of common sense into the picture doesn't it ?
Saying that the fans are delusional due to an online poll is a bit harsh... most would have voted with their hearts out of blind loyalty...If the same voters were asked to bet a reasonable amount of their own money , I can assure you the voting results would have been significantly different. I shall repeat my earlier post, which is similar to a few others comparing points tallies.. In my mind we are 1 point ahead of target so far, and my target for the season is a very stretching 50 points plus !! Looking for minimum of 4 points from next three games though to keep us on track. KTF
we all saw that when bony came on we got better and we even scored, If laudrup had done what he is paid to do and play his strongest firepower up front from the start then i firmly believe we could have won that match. ...It was nothing short of bad tactics by the manager...
Last autumn we had 2 new players in our back four (Chico and Davies), 4-5 new players in our midfield (Guzman, Ki, Michu and Pablo, Routledge (was sub under Rogers)) This season the core of the team has played more then 50 matchs togehter before the start of the season. We haven't started bad, but with our squad, we could have done just a bit better
Well I have had a bit of a break from the Swans, due to some days spent in North Wales, picking up my Z3 over the weekend, must say that BBC Radio Wales stinks for reception up there, and when you can get it, it's bloody Cardiff coverage! Anyway managed to get to my hotel and get Swansea sound on my mobile via the Internet, and talk sport had the game covered too. I had us down for a win on this pole, and would not have done so, had I known that Rangel and Williams were out, because they are both too important to our defencive strength, which needed to be at it's best, against an in form Arsenal, and I've been watching the Gunners over the last 3 or 4 weeks, and their midfield and forward line has really clicked into place, and Ramsey's like a new signing for them, so it was always going to be a battle with our best back four, let alone half strength, so I'm not too disappointed to be honest, lets hope Ash is back soon, though when I bumped into him in the kids section at NEXT, he seemed fit enough to me, chasing his two year old round the store!.................
Well said Phil. However I take you up on your point about the reception of Radio Wales up North. You can't get it in bloody Hirwaun
This! .... we have a Championship prediction league on our board ... very few of us ever predict that we will draw, let alone lose.... it goes to the very core of being a supporter ... we suppress rational thought in favor of hope ... because 'just maybe' ...
.. not worthless necessarily .. but certainly prone to bias born of optimistic passion filled hope and loyalty ...
