A very lucky three points. Our defence still scares the s**t out of me. But, the problem also seems to lie further ahead with our midfield. We were getting overrun today and if MP hadn't have shored it up with three subs, we would have lost the game for sure. Our fullbacks I'm ok with. The CB's were hopeless today. I should have put money on Bony scoring - it really was just a matter of time, he got in between them so many times. I thought Kane was excellent today. I'm beginning to be convinced that he has a real future at the top of the game.especially if he can keep learning and improving.
Yes. Lamela would be better in the middle, where he isn’t going to play. I think he’d be better on the left as well. Eriksen, like Gylfi before him, is a central player who is also reasonably good on the left. Our options should be Lennon/Townsend on the right, Townsend/Chadli/Lamela/Eriksen on the left, Eriksen/Lamela in the middle. We should get another right sided player in January, since Lamela, Chadli and Eriksen just don’t work there. I agree we were getting overrun in midfield today. It’s strange and disappointing, since I thought Mason and Bentaleb have done well in the past. Still: good game, good win, even if Swansea can fairly feel they deserved better. There’s nothing wrong with sticking with this plan away against all but the top teams or at home against teams that attack, if we go by results. The change I’m hoping for is next week. We need to figure out how to beat a team we should beat at home.
Yep, our second highest scorer was on the bench today (Dyer), so perhaps we were one dimensional. Michu had issues last season, the Spanish connection went tits up and there are personal reasons so Monk won't have him in the team, plus it appears his legs are knackered. Can't see him in a Swans shirt again.
Lamela could have been sent off twice. I think I have found his best position............................ [video=youtube;u7frtAcPHYw]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7frtAcPHYw[/video]
. Don't think someone likes us very much. It's funny though, you talk of us diving yet you guys bitched at every moment you were barged off the ball or minimally contacted. You may also not have seen Williams give a little kick to Kane while he was grounded but of course with your rose-tinted glasses on, Williams must have had a spasm in his leg at a convenient time. Referees in general are poor, it's not just your side that has been on the wrong end of decisions or lack of them so don't act like you're the sole victims in the league or in this game in particular. While Lamela was lucky to stay on the field, we too could quite easily have had a penalty when Kane went down (a soft one but contact was made which clipped his heel, causing him to lose balance) and had the ref or linesman spotted Williams' kick on Kane then he could well have seen red. Both teams had spells in possession, granted you had a lot more yet I don't recall neither Lloris or Tremmel having to make many saves. It was an enjoyable game in which the result ended harshly for you but your bitch-fit is one of the best I've seen on here, so congrats on that. I wouldn't rule it out mate, our home form is shocking. Teams a lot worse than you guys have come to the Lane this season and got points so unless we have a shift of improvement in performances, it's a very achievable objective for yourselves.
Possession, chances=cobblers. Balls in the net=bliss. Our goals were not lucky so tough luck Swansea, learn to finish. On to Noocassel.
Soldado diving? I'm not sure he actually got given a foul in the entire game. As for handballs, barring the Walker's after he'd been barged to the ground, I don't think there were any of them, either. If you're looking for players going down easily, then you might want to look a little closer to home. Montero seems to like the grass quite a lot, for example.
It was the case of the disappearing players, wasn't it? If someone told me that Vertonghen, Fazio, Lamela and Soldado spent half the game enjoying a cool beverage somewhere I wouldn't be surprised. As usual, though, I blame the coach. I saw Pochettino waving the players forward, and thought to myself, any chance you could just ignore him? They didn't, of course, with the result that when Swansea moved the ball to their designated scorer, the same player they spent the whole game getting the ball to, we looked utterly shocked. It occurred to no one to stay somewhere near him. It may be that we'll get better at this with time. It's certainly what Pochettino believes. I don't happen to think so, but I could be wrong. Some things do seem to be improving. While I still hate the lack of width, Eriksen and Kane may be starting to score the way Eriksen and Ade did last year. Our FBs look good all of a sudden. If we can just get our CBs playing well, and our midfielders protecting them somewhat adequately, and if we can get some width and draw weaker teams forward a bit, instead of hammering away at the middle of parked busses and getting hit on the break, we might just start to get somewhere. I agree with YV, incidentally, about Davies tackle on Bony. In my few years as a fan, that might have been the best tackle I have ever seen. I just couldn't believe he would be able to break up the play without deserving a pen, and the technique he used to do so was perfectly judged and timed.
I know I've said this already, but what got me more than anything was our wayward CB's. Bony got inbetween them so many times, you just knew that eventually he would score. It was like how many times to you need to be smacked on the head with a lump of wood you figure out that it hurts!..
I don't think I mentioned the Davies tackle, might've been someone else. It was a great tackle even though I thought Bony was at fault for being too slow and not realising Davies was coming in to nick the ball. I'd compare the situation to Drogba's goal against us where Jan was looking to slide in and nick the ball but Drogba put his body across Jan's path and made it impossible for a tackle to come in without going through him first. The defenders were at both ends of the extreme yesterday, in terms of marking and positioning we were awful but when it came to making tackles and blocks in the box we were very good. My main concern about our defending is whether the players were told to mark zonally, because that was what they appeared to be doing in the way they left Bony unmarked as well as the fullbacks going narrow, ignoring the Swansea wingers(mostly Davies did this).
I don't think that playing with two non-wingers in the wide roles helped our fullbacks, YV. I lost count of the number of times that they were overloaded and had to repeatedly tell other players who to pick up and mark. Eriksen and Lamela have both shown that they're willing to work hard, close down and do their bit for the team, but it's not their natural game. Both of them are better suited to playing in more advanced roles where their defensive responsibilities are clearer and less important. Harry Kane's got much more of an idea of how to defend than either of them and he's a striker.
I think all 3 are fine at nicking the ball back and closing down but it's tracking back that you don't get from Kane(probably tactical) and Eriksen(laziness). Lamela's a willing runner and as we've seen with Lennon and Chadli, that's half the battle. It was the wingers that weren't getting shut down and Davies in particular who preferred to back off rather than put a tackle in. That's the kind of defending I expect from a winger, not a full back. Davies had a good game but he was too cautius when they attacked, especially with how easy it was for them to put in a cross for the goal. Maybe Bentaleb or Vertonghen need to work on making sure he has the cover behind him incase he gets beaten by the winger.
Is was Wenger who started the bleating about there being no points for artistic merit. It's not ice dancing, it's football. You will always be judged by what you do, not how you do it.
I thought that Davies was getting overrun by multiple players, which resulted in his hesitance to put in a tackle on occasion. He didn't want to commit to challenging one, only to have a simple layoff take him out of the picture entirely.
If we made no changes yesterday Im convinced we would have won .Especially taking Britton off , wr didnt need more attack players , we just needed the players we had on to have a bit more time to keep the pressure on .Monks aggressive panic changes, for the win at home , gifted the Spurs the points . Lots of changes and no finish will generally lose to less chances but good finish.If anyone knows that theory , its us Swans.
I think what was key were the substitutions we made. These bolstered our midfield, which was being overrun. After that we were more on the front foot. Having said this, we were very fortunate not to be behind by that time.
I didn't understand the removal of Britton either, Roofjack. He's been out injured for quite a while though, hasn't he? I thought that Pochettino's subs worked too though, which hasn't always been the case.
