Have a look at the current League table,roof,and you'll probably notice that the team are struggling in the lower reaches and staring relegation in the face. Where they were back in the day is now history,and superfluous,unless of course the Club can claim mitigating circumstances,and if finishing in the bottom three can use the defence,"Ah,but we did O.K for a couple of weeks in December,and we had Europe to contend with,so let us off.". I'm tired of all this backward looking,seeking for reasons,excuses,etc.,the team are in a bad position,and history ain't gonna come to their aid.
Then don't say we were crap during our European adventure then , because we weren't . We were doing great in both competitions till Christmas.
You are quite right,we are not yet in the relegation zone,and may be lucky enough to avoid going there. The inescapable fact,however, is that we are grouped with a bunch of teams who merely make up the numbers in the League,cannon fodder,for want of a better description,and I for one take little pleasure from being in that non-illustrious group. Even Stoke City have left us behind now. I don't need to prove anything,I am giving my opinions,based on what I see. It is you who constantly feels the need to produce statistics that are irrelevant to the current position the team finds themselves in. You clearly gain some degree of comfort from seeing where we have gone wrong,and what possibly caused it,and that's O.K. I don't feel the need to delve into such details. "Our squad is good enough".Good enough for what? To clatter around the foot of the table alongside a large group of other poor teams?
Perhaps you could highlight the post where I said "we were crap". If you are not able to find it,then perhaps you could apologise for saying I had.
We were not underachieving during our European adventure , you are absolutely wrong vetch . Hows that , better !
Agree with this. It's not a case of not being able to play extra matches, but everything else being equal, the team that's had a week before matches will be more rested and ready to go that the team that traveled to Europe a few days before. Maybe that traveling leads to one little mistake and that's the difference between winning and losing. If we stay up, it will be interesting to see the difference it makes not being involved in the EL. If we finish 10th next season, then we can blame EL for this season. If we struggle again, then maybe not. But so many variables involved that it would be difficult to compare. But Newcastle did badly during their EL season and bounced back well. It is bound to make some difference. But that's life.
Actually,I have a Shelvey,so no "splitting of hairs" here. Not to put too fine a point on it though,you asserted I said something,and I didn't.
I disagree, the PL has not changed Swansea City .... the character that led to the manner and conduct of sacking Laudrup is embedded in the people; it is the stress perhaps that has forced them to show their true colors, it has not put "color" into them that wasn't there already. Good people, in general, try to do good things or handle them well; people with bad character can put on an act and look good, but sooner or later that act comes undone. And, Laudrup is not an isolated case, we have had Sousa's experience too. What happened with Laudrup was two-fold: on the one hand an error in judgement; on the other a character flaw in the way it was done. We can all **** up, but there's an honest way to do it and then there's a way to cover it in **** in the process. I think they chose the later. I have some patience for errors in judgement handled well, but how this was done is unforgivable.
Let's hope the reasons Laudrup was sacked comes to light soon. Anybody know what is happening with the legal advice Laudrupwas seeking? As for the players playing twice a week I agree with Vetch. Look at super 15 for example, their top players will fly to NZ, Australia and South Africa on a weekly basis to play each other, a lot more flying involved than the Europa and they never moan. The majority of these will then play upwards of 7-8 international test then back to club rugby before touring the northern hemisphere only to re start the season 6 -8 weeks later and they need longer for their bodies to recover. For the money they earn, I'm sure they can run around for 180 minutes a week.
I think many of us are hearing the excuses regarding tiredness as a physical one. I really don't think that's what they're saying at all. It is one of mental alertness and tactical preparation for each game that has suffered. The pace and tactics involved at this level of professional sport is nothing that any of us can truly comprehend and I think THIS is where the Europa hamstrung us a bit. Now it's players coming back from injury trying to get up to speed (you only have to see Chico's performance from only a week away to see it's not easy to be 100% sharp straight away) I also think the management change really hasn't helped. I'm not saying a change wasn't needed, but I am starting to wonder if we may had been better off letting him see the season out...although if the players were that unhappy with him, they may have played for relegation...bigger clubs than ours have seen players dropping performances to expedite a manager exit...
I do not pay much attention to the excuses of players, but I do recognise some factors that have thrown our season this year, not least the EL campaign, to the change in playing style that Laudrup implemented, which in my view was suspect, that said we did have a season of injuries, and that's not an excuse but a fact, and when you have squad players like Aloevera up front, then you are going to throw games. There are so many factors that have conspired to shoot ourselves in the foot this season, not least the politics at the club too!..................... Vetch I agree with some of what you say, but you do need to be realistic with regard to the effect of the Europa League on our Premier League form, it's happened to many clubs much bigger than us, and it has thrown us off our well oiled stride, but we will survive and comer back next season fighting fit, we are not going down!..................
I wonder what the views on here will be like saturday evening, after we lose to Nar`ich (which we surely will). I may be saying this in a little bit of jest, but they will scrap for every ball, whereas we won`t. They show more desire and of course they are a bit of a bogey side for us. This is another "must win" game, the same as Palace & West Brom, ah yes nul poinds. The players need to get their asses in gear & show some conviction for the side & the fans their playing for, as has been said, for a king`s ransom in their back pockets.
Just seems to me that while ML was in charge, he was to blame. Now that he has left, it's the players' fault. I'm not sure what people expected from us but when he was sacked we were 12th in the league, still in the fa cup after beating Manu away and still in Europe. The board has ****ed up on a colossal scale imo.
It's not fair on the squad to just call them 'not good enough'. Our squad this season is pretty much the same as the most successful Swansea team of all time...last seasons' Swans. You only have to look at our first 2 seasons to see the pattern emerging. In both Rodgers' and Laudrup's seasons, you saw the squad perform at a very high level for around 30-35 matches, then we tailed off in both seasons (please correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe we only won 2 games in the last 10 of the season under both Rodgers and Laudrup). The squad seems to burn-out quickly in a season and can't prolong it's intensity. You throw in the Europa League this year and not only are games coming more frequently, but they're also further away, it made us start our season weeks earlier than normal, and we got to 30-35 games much quicker than normal - around Christmas/New Year. As can be seen from previous seasons, this seems to be a limit for the squad. Going out of the Europa League won't have had a positive effect. Despite going out, the squad still haven't had an extended period of rest to fully recharge (like they would in the Summer). We've shown in previous seasons that by the last 10 games, we're out on our feet, and that's with a regular seasonal routine. So without any extended period of rest, I can't see how off the back of the Europa League campaign, we'd be any better in the last 10 games than our previous seasons suggest. I hope we can cling on to our PL status, but I do feel that it will come from 3 other teams being equally as bad as us rather than us clawing ourselves away to safety. I've booked the away trip to Newcastle in a month's time - I never thought we'd go there needing a win! Maybe we still won't...
It's not the same squad though is it ? This seasons new additions include Bony, Shelvey, Cañas, Amat, Pozuelo and Vasquez. We lost Ki. Michu's had injury problems. Ben Davies hasn't been as good as last season either. I'd say only Bony has been anywhere near as good as we hoped. Shelvey has performed well at times but not consistently - and like Cañas who has been erratic to say the least is capable of lethal mistakes. Amat - average - certainly no improvement on what we have. Pozuelo - who knows - is he still alive ? Vasquez - pffffft! I feel we assume that because be buy new players that we are automatically improving. Many were putting Cañas in the starting 11 before pre-season had even kicked off.
I agree Stereo. When at their best, only jonjo and Bony have improved our team. In the summer, rather than spending 20 million of 6-7 players, we should invest that on 3-4 players maximum. Time to go for quality instead.
