If we put 10 men behind the ball for one off games I wouldn't have an issue. My issue is with the overall theme of getting away from attacking possession based football. Yes we can still put in a good half where we move the ball well and cut the opposition open, but this is happening less...I find myself not taking the pride in 3 points that I used to. I know I'm not alone in this...I run a kids team and sometimes wear an old Swans top whilst taking the kids. Up until a few weeks ago I could almost guarantee you that one of the dads would comment on how "boring" watching the Swans is now (I have never had a discussion about the Swans with any of the fathers where I wasn't positive about how we are doing in the League)....despite the points total this is how a lot of people feel. Also, if you read some of the other forums out there about 50% of Swans posters were against the direction we were heading just a month or 2 ago. People are positive at the moment because we are pulling off some big results....and that's great. If the results dried up the knives would come out I guarantee you. This is the problem you see all over football, it's all about results and this has resulted in the manager merry-go-round we see and the lack of club identity on the pitch, a philosophy, a playing style.....a few years ago I felt we were bucking the trend in this regard and I was proud of that. I am not so proud of the way we play today. I was all for a "plan B & C" it's just that I envisaged plan "b" being something like 3-5-2, a formation change which would allow us to find a way past the teams who were stopping us from playing whilst maintaining our style. The Christmas tree formation (some call it a diamond) was a formation I was not against, I even posted a thread on here stating that it suited our current personnel better.....it's just that I hoped that going forward it would be our Plan "C", used to stifle and frustrate teams while retaining a counter attacking threat. Currently I see more stifling and frustrating play from us than I see good football and I'm getting the impression that this is how our future will look for the next couple of years as it has achieved results. Some people will be deliriously happy if this is the case. I am not.
Laudrups more attacking style worked for 3/4's of a season Terror, we were found out very quickly with that new attacking direction he created for the team. It could have costed the club its place in the league, so if you are saying a lot of Swans would rather we attacked and ran the risk of relegation I have to speak up and call bullshit.
I'm not just talking about Laudrup, he just tweaked our style and recruited well, but I reject the notion that we were going down or that our diminished performances in the league were down to his tactics. I put the drop in performance down to the Europa and in fighting. None of our 3 Prem managers had us anywhere but mid table. I'm sure the majority would take 7th and nearly 60points over attractive football every time I'm fine with being in the minority. Anyone who has a read through the other site every now and again will be able to confirm that a couple of months ago at least 50% of their posters were dissatisfied with the style of play...they had Planet Swans visitors accusing the whole site of being anti-Monk. These posters included our core support. So it's not just me and Bob.
On times I am still not happy with the way we play (normally at home). But, what I have seen this year is that our soft underbelly has started to disappear. We are a much different proposition away from home and very difficult to beat. I do wish at home we would go for the jugular a bit more but that is just my opinion. Do you honestly believe all the top teams play nice attractive football all the time. No the tactics are put in place for individual teams and that seems to be working. As well as GM is doing he still seems to me to make a few mistakes in substitutes and maybe sometimes formation. He has however got a lot more right than he has got wrong.
I will ask you Trundle, how many more points would we have had this season if Monk had used his subs correctly (in our eyes), I would say at least 4-5
Barcelona are probably the only team in the world that can attack, attack and attack without having to worry about changing style of play. Every other team in the world, including the current English champions, Chelsea, have to adapt their play depending on who they're playing. The reason we're high up in the table is because we're now able to adapt our balance between attack and defence much better than before. Formations are not everything. We've seen Chelsea and Arsenal playing 451 and tearing teams apart. We've seen Liverpool playing 352 and tearing teams apart. But we haven't seen Chelsea playing 352, and Liverpool have struggled with 451. Changing formation and still persisting to attack is not a Plan B, it's just a tweak of Plan A. Plans are put in place to deal with the opposition. If you know the opposition like to keep the ball and are very good with it, you put a plan in place to stop them, not to just naively think that you can find a different way to attack them to make them defend more. That is how you lose football games. The proof is in the pudding: We're currently 22 points ahead of the relegation places and we're 12 points behind a Champions League place. Rodgers finished 11 points above relegation and 22 points off Champions League. Laudrup was 10 points above relegation and 27 points off Champions League. Laudrup/Monk were 9 points above relegation and 37 points off Champions League. The reason why we're much higher up the table this season is because we're no longer naive and arrogant enough to believe that a football game is all about us. If we play well we'll win. If we have the ball, they can't hurt us. Well, unfortunately, in the past 5 years, teams have found a way to stop possession-based sides. Even Barcelona were stifled time and time again by defensive displays from Munich, Real and Atletico Madrid on numerous occasions. They've had to adapt by purchasing two of the best players on the planet (Suarez and Neymar) to give them their attacking edge back. The reason why Monk is having success is because as well as focusing on us and what our game plan is, he gives as much focus to the opposition. He understands how the opposition likes to play and works out a way to win the game. He doesn't go into games just thinking that if we play well we have a chance of winning. He gives the team a specific plan and says to his team, "this plan gives us the best chance of winning". He has built a squad that believes in him and are willing to carry out his plans, whether attacking or defensive, in order to get the three points. Player cooperation and willingness to execute the manager's plan is more important than any style of play. How did Atletico Madrid win La Liga last season playing one of the most defensive styles in the league? Because their players believed in Simeone and were willing to do whatever he said to win football matches. How are Juventus in the final of the Champions League this year? Certainly not through free-flowing attacking football. Another team built on a strong defensive unit and the ability to score goals when required. As a fan of all styles of football that bring success, I absolutely love what Monk is doing this season. He's brought a tactical edge this season that the other recent Swansea managers couldn't even nearly develop. Maybe it's because he's played under all the managers and has been able to successfully bring together the best of each of them. Maybe it's because he's a defender and has played against a multitude of different styles at all levels in his career. I love free-flowing, possession-based football, but I can appreciate a team that is able to hold the opposition at bay just as much. The fact we can now do both is a huge step forward for Swansea City. We haven't got the player personnel to think that attack, attack, attack is a viable option to consistently finish in the top 10, and just merely changing the formation and playing the same way is not a viable Plan B. The core of our squad is 5 years older, many are now over 30, and we have so many fresh faces in the squad this season. This season had every opportunity to go tits up, but Monk has made it our most successful yet through excellent tactical nous, squad management and having the balls to risk using a real Plan B.
Before Laudrup we had a much more patient game, he was indeed the one to go direct and attacking. And it has been discussed to death and proven multiple times over that we were found out well before our first European game. We were in the bottom three form from February onwards, immediately after the Cup win. And before that cup win we had the humiliating annihilation at the hands of Liverpool, it was then that Laudrups game plan put us in relegation form. We had fans from other teams saying all we did was pass sideways at the back before he became our coach. And we were holding our own with that style with the opposition trying many different tactics to find a solution. Under Laudrups attacking tactics the hole in the armour was huge when it was exposed, repeatedly. Over and over.
Bigkidderz has it on the money, Monk has matured us as a team, and many Gunners after the smash and grab we did, were reffering to us as the new Manu? Laudrop showed how vulnerable we could be with his one dimensional attack down the middle which was so easy to defend against and counter. We are now a team that can change tactic, style and formation with purpose and resuls, and we should thank Monk for that, and I'm more than happy to go to the Liberty tomorrow pondering which options Monk will impliment TO WIN THE GAME................
For anyone who complains that they disagree the way we won the game needs to see a doctor......That is what we are trying to do...win games ......
Win boring game and - 3 points Lose exciting game and - 0 points The first we are likely to stay in the premier league The second we are likely to be out of the premier league The premier league is going to be worth a £100m minimum a season soon, the championship is a pittance compared to it. If people prefer to watch the likes of Cardiff, Leeds, Charlton and Huddersfield instead of Man Utd, Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea, I suggest they go and watch them instead of the Swans. Sorry I am in the camp of plan B,C,D and so on
The main theme this year has been 'change'. Change of style, change in tactics, change in results and most importantly change in attitude. Until this year imo we have played like premiere league teenagers; full of energy, full of running, full of intent, fearless yet ultimately flawed as hearts ruled heads. The flaw in our game was our very soft underbelly which cost us much particularly in the second half of games we dominated in the first. We did play well but only when we were allowed too. As soon as teams started to pressure us our neat triangles disintegrated along with our passing and our game in general. The mantra of a small minority appears to be either "go for it regardless" or "entertain me I'm bored" Either way they're spouting utter nonsense. It would appear that this few would prefer to be entertained by training field football and not excited by a competitive football match. They whinge when we dare to implement Plan B or Plan C and get a result and laud a loss as long as we looked good in defeat. That's what your saying boys, but would you be happy and entertained watching the Swans play Plan A football in the Championship or Div1. I suggest that's where one plan football would reduce us to. I disagree whole heartedly also with their intimation that we have been boring this season. Utter bull, we have played superbly well in so many exciting games this season. We have matured from a one trick wonder into a strong, adaptable, intelligent football team versed in a multitude of tactical plans and styles, equipped with the intelligence to implement any when required.
We were green when we first came to the premiership with only tika tacka short triangle passes in our game and it was enough to keep us in the premiership but teams got use to our one style of play and we started to lose games frequently with our strikers having long barren runs. We were under pressure for change and it came with the sacking of ML who was struggling badly that he could not buy a win........We were in trouble there was no getting away from it until jinx in his wisdom turned to someone who had all the experience of the club and put monk in temporary charge. Many fans thought he was off his rocker and that is understandable but as usual jinx came out smelling of roses as it was a masterstroke....Today we are an established premiership side with not just a plan A but B,C, and D also and in with a chance still of qualification for Europe.......We have nothing to moan about and this season has been the best yet and long may it continue.....
I agree Dai, thought Jenkins was nuts going for him instead of bringing someone in. Even after the end of last season I thought it was the wrong decision to keep him in the job. But I been proved wrong, and I'm happy to admit it. We needed steel in our game, the fact is we were losing games because of our soft centre, Rodgers and Laudrup both were not defensive managers that could mix style with a steel edge when you need it. Rodgers always plays from the back, today Liverpool lost 3-1 because probably he doesn't have a plan B I'm really happy with how things are with our club, yes we need to strengthen in positions, but I'm sure this will be sorted, really looking forward to next season now
Most of the above I can't argue with (some of it, but won't open that can of worms as it's tedious for everybody). Yet I'm still left with the feeling that we've lost something...something that truly made us special. On the way up it was always up against us in terms of resources and finance...but we took the game to the opposition regardless. It was like watching a skinny kid in the school yard beat seven shades of **** out of the school bully after learning how to box They never saw us coming. I was proud of the way the Swans played football. Perhaps it's the end of an era, perhaps the Swans will go on to bigger and better things...but if this is our football of the future I doubt they'll make me as proud.
Your posts make me cringe. You were screaming bloody murder when ML was in charge because you thought we were losing our style of play. And that was when we were winning games too. Now the shoe is on the other foot everything is hunky dory so long as we are winning. Very hypocritical.
To be fair, I get this notion. Unfortunately for you though, I do think it is an end of an era for the Swans. When you get to the Premier League, and the way we got here, you can't help but be filled with pride at how we took on the big boys at their own game and came up good. But we're no longer Premier League newbies. This season there are only 7 teams in the land better than us. We no longer feel pride when we beat the mid to lower PL teams, we feel it's what should happen. We've evolved into a true Premier League outfit and are now playing the football and displaying the tactics to match. We are now one of the big boys. Not one of the little boys spoiling the party. It's the Burnleys, Hulls and Leicesters of this league that feel pride when they beat us now, not the other way around. To continue your analogy, we're the ones that now have to look out for the out-of-nowhere skinny kids who are coming to beat us up. And therein lies the difference for me. Therein lies the reason why it's an end of an era and a necessary change of style. If you want to compete with the big boys, you have to play big boy football. I showed in my last post how much closer we are to Champions League and how much further we are from relegation this season - that's no accident, that's where Monk's evolution and maturing of Swansea City has taken us. Unfortunately, competing points-wise with the big boys means that we can't play a naive attacking/possession based game in every match with our current personnel. Maybe if we ever consolidate in the top-8 or even top-6 we'll be able to recruit a team that, like Arsenal, can consistently take the game to every opposition. But, like Arsenal, unless the stars are aligned (i.e. The Invincibles), playing that way doesn't win many trophies. I think that that "thing" that we've lost that truly made us special is the Underdog tag.
I agree with the above, we have matured in the league, we need to adapt to the opposition we are facing. Rodgers and Laudrup were guilty of playing the same style whoever we played, to be fair to them it worked to an extent as we stayed up. The thing is for us now it's not just staying up, it's getting into the top ten every season, we should be challenging for Europe now, not just worrying that are we going to get 40 points. If you look at our position this season, we haven't been out of the top ten all season despite lawro having us in the bottom 2 by his predictions. We are not punching above our level, this is our level now! And like the Saints we are here to bust the party at the top of the table. Long may it continue
Looking forward to todays match, will be in the east stand lower tier. You do know Terror that all the English Tabloid are exited about getting a new top young 'British Manager' and fans from all prem teams are extatic that this has been achieved against the backdrop of so many foreign managers, read the stories on Monk in the Telegraph and the Gaurdian, that should go a long way in helping you see the bigger picture here, and I'm sure we will see our Swanselona style this very afternoon........
