We are still on course for a top half finish and far better than what most thought but there is still a long way to go and the premiership gets much harder after january where many team have found the going tough. Remember Blackpool and Hull who fell like a stone after january as they never strengthened and thought they did not need too because of the lofty position they were in....well they were wrong and lost out on a big pay day. Monk im sure through his experience won't be as complacent as some of us fans and he will know fully well that we will have to strengthen in one or two positions to keep our form going as we approach 2015 where the premiership gets fierce and much harder to win games....
Agree Dai, we've had a good start but that's all. The hard work is ahead of us but I'm happy for now and will be very happy with a top ten finish come May.
Clearly some of us live in the real world, and see what a great season we are having under Monk so far.................
Agree with this. But I think I am more optimistic. I find myself not being overawed by the specter of playing a City, Arsenal, 'Pool or any of the other so called top teams because this season, for one reason or another, they're either not as good as they think or the traditional second tier in the Prem has improved more than we all expected. If we can consistently produce at the same level that we did against Arsenal I could see us finishing in the top 4. I don't see any reason why we cannot repeatedly perform at that level. I didn't get the sense that we were playing out of our skins but quietly going about our business as a good team should. The City match will be an opportunity to reaffirm that performance level - I like our odds.
there is a reason why the also rans are now much more closer to the top 6 or 7 and that is Money. Gone are the days of only the top teams being able to afford to pay stupid fees that nobody else could afford. Today there is a much more level playing field where teams like us can afford the £10m -£20m players who are just as good as these £30-£40-£50m+ players on the day. Its rubbish to say the premiership is weaker when you look at the caliber of players in it and much fairer to say the also rans have a better chance now of beating these so called big clubs home and away....the premiership is as strong now as it has ever been...
Disappointing result today, but we are still 5 points better off than the corresponding fixtures last season Man Utd 1-2 Swansea (+3) Swansea 1-0 Burnley (Same) * Swansea 3-0 West Brom (+3) Chelsea 4-2 Swansea (Same) Swansea 0-1 Southampton (Same) Sunderland 0-0 Swansea (-2) Swansea 2-2 Newcastle (-2) Stoke 2-1 Swansea (-1) Swansea 2-0 Leicester (Same)** Everton 0-0 Swansea (+1) Swansea 2 Arsenal 1 (+3) Man City 2 Swansea 1 (Same) Swansea 1 Crystal Palace 1 (Same) *Replaced Fulham ** Replaced Norwich
You have got to give credit to palace, they never gave in and could have capitalized on our poor finishing but luckily that never happened. we should have had the game done and dusted in the first half. Apart from the finishing it was an entertaining game from both sides...
Sorry, Rosie specs wearers, Palace offered nothing and we gave them a point and once again dropped points at home playing poorly. Are we really 5 points better off? Against teams in similar position to those we've played we are about the same. e.g Everton - a good point especially compared to last season but Everton aren't the team they were last season nor are Liverpool. A point against a team 5 places below us would have been ok last season and is ok this season. Having played our best football all season against Arsenal and Man City Monk replaced Carroll (being hailed as stunning in many national and international publications) with Jonjo who has been wanting all season. Serious unhappiness in the East.
We've picked up points against the top teams and dropped points against teams we should probably have beaten. Man U, Arsenal, Everton +7 Newcastle, Sunderland, Stoke -5 Great start to the season though, but still room for improvement. Too many times we score first but don't get the 3 points. But this is a much better start than most expected. Monk has already said we'll strengthen in January, but losing Bony for a few weeks could be what drags us down. And he'll probably be sold at end of season, so it's critical that we get some good goalscorers in, preferable in January.
Not sure why Monk rates Jonjo so highly. I think he should be sold in January. Hopefully Carroll will start against QPR.
Jonjo is a risk taker and therefore when things go well, it's all happiness and light and when things go badly it's all doom and gloom. I think he does good and bad in equal measures, it's just that most people remember the bad and conveniently forget the good. It's easy to laud Carroll, Britton or Ki when they run around in front of the defence making short passes without giving the ball away. Shelvey brings something else to the table. Is Carroll going to score from the half-way line? Probably not. Jonjo had a couple of good opportunities to score yesterday and missed both, but at least he got himself into scoring positions. He's the type of player that's going to split opinion right down the middle.
With Carroll or Leon on the field Ki can move further forward. Ki is a superior player to Shelvey in many respects and would provide more cohesion and more creativity in midfield. Ki has the ability to get into scoring positions and to create opportunities for others. Shelvey's positives are not frequent enough to out weigh his far more consistent negatives and the clear imbalance and lack of cohesion he introduces into midfield. We are not the same team when he is on the field, we do not play the same way, and we are not able to complete at the same level. And, on the freak goal from the halfway line, I'm happy to bet you anything you want that Carroll does it before Shelvey does it again. About splitting opinion down the middle .... unless you're a particularly large person and splitting it by weight, I think the opinion is pretty much leaning that we're a better team with Shelvey not starting.
I suppose we all see things differently but when Carroll has played from the start we have looked and played like ourselves again. Leon and Carroll aren't prolific in front of goal but his worth is doing a job we miss when Shelvey plays. Jonjo had a poor game yesterday and, apart from losing his rag, demonstrated all his flaws - slow in thought and execution, wandering up field leaving big gaps for others behind him to fill, calling for a pass while standing behind and opponent, although his short passing yesterday was fairly accurate but long balls were speculative (and, as usual, relied heavily on the wings to reposition and take the pass rather than the ball finding them), a liability in defence (this time the clumsy challenge was in the box), finishing was poor, looked disinterested with his back to play and head down. I'm convinced that with Jonjo starting our shape and style is compromised. Brendon isn't flavour of the month now but he does know talent and he was happy to off load Shelvey as he knew he wouldn't fit with what he wanted for Liverpool, and that is the same as made us a successful team; quick passing, possession, making spaces for passes, wearing teams down by getting them chase shadows. Let others play hoof ball. Either Monk builds the team around Jonjo or lets him go in January. And, when I same him warming up with a first team bib on my heart sank. I knew we'd struggle and we did. Yesterday Palace gave us a lesson in pass, move and keep possession.
You're having a laugh, aren't you? Palace demonstrated they are capable of defending well by keeping their shape and defending in numbers. They can also counter-attack with pace. I hardly think they gave us a lesson pass, move and keeping possession.
I think it's unfair to put all blame on Shelvey. In my opinion worth keeping & when he's focused for 90 minutes he can play the swansea and adds a bit of character to the team. Perhaps he needs a mental coach or something. Because he needs to concentrate more, many times he isn't disciplined. Caught out of position or that finish yesterday if he'd just concentrated a bit more. I guess you could also argue monk isn't getting the full potential out of the players, because I agree with some that the football & shape of the team hasn't looked as fluid as it has previously despite picking up a number of points. You could also argue the players are **** & we've been lucky. you could argue a lot of things.
bob why do you hate the swans so Much ?? whatever game you saw yesterday was not the same as we all saw..
Shelvey had a good game and we are lucky to have a player like him in our squad. Im with monk on this. cracking player if you know what you are looking at...
The lone ranger comes riding over the hill dai and meets Tonto at the big rock and says""There are 5 thousand indians coming over the hill , what are we going to do"" ...and Tonto says"" what do you mean WE white man""
