1 assist in 684 minutes does not a winger make; especially when the CF is Bony who can head the ball. And I believe Dyer's assist was not a cross but that chipped through ball against City (?).
Not great but there again as good as Routs and twice as many goals in 2/3rds of the time on the field Apps .......................Mins..Goals....Assists...Yel..... Red...SpG...PS% Total / Average 15.... 618.....0.........2.........0..... 0........0.4.....73 Jeff
For me, despite what anyone else says, Barrow and Montero are the starters. Dyer and Routledge are proven players in the Premier League, but they are out of form. A key part of Swansea City and how we play is having wingers who terrorise full backs. Routledge has the skills to make a mockery of defenders, but Dyer only ever did it with pace - pace which appears to be slowly fading. Of our 4 wingers, I have it as Montero as our best, Barrow/Routledge fighting for the other spot, and Dyer as back up. Montero and Barrow are fearless - much like Dyer used to be - they get the ball, turn to face their marker, and figure out a way to get round him - whether that's dropping a shoulder, playing a one-two, a few stepovers, a nutmeg... Dyer no longer does that, he's playing with shackles on, he refuses to back himself to take on his full back. I do admit that at the start of the season he was playing with freedom and had finally started running at his full back again, and he looked great! But, for whatever reason, he's stopped. Don't make this into a "bigkidderz hates Dyer" situation. I don't and haven't ever. In fact, he was my favourite Swansea player for quite a few years! But that was when he was a fearless, left back destroyer. Come to think of it, the main reason I like the look of Barrow so much is because he reminds me of Dyer 4 or 5 years ago - not necessarily playing style, but the way he just fronts up and takes on his man! Monk did say that he wanted his new signings to be first team players...as far as the wingers are concerned, I think he's nailed it.
Im comfortable with any combination of our 4 wingers .But Dyer and Routledge are one and two for me. Both are evolving into new players , both are more lethal in the hunt for a goal . Didnt Dyer have a ton of assists the last couple of seasons , could be wrong. Dyer has more Premier League seasons than either Montero or Barrow has starts and hes far from done . Dyer's omission from games before and after his great start to this season is a bit baffling though . Future on the wings looks solid for seasons to come all round.
Ye I think Dyer will be on the bench v qpr and young Barrow will start , As you say Matthew after what we saw on sat Jonjo may find him self on the bench fuc--- t**t and bring on Britton.
TBH Barrow hasn't really shown what he do apart from run fast and draw fouls. He may be gem but can't be compared with Jeff, Dyer or Routs yet. Someone, on one of our threads and claiming to know the under 21 set up, was extolling the virtues of Kenji Gorre as a goal scoring winger who would offer more than Barrow. I've no idea if that's the case - does anyone else have any information about him?
What I've seen of him is a beautiful arching cross to Gomis against Man City, which had Gomis actually attacked, could well have been a goal. I saw him ghost past Clichy a couple of times in his 20 minute cameo too. I saw him pulling out silky skills while he was making a mockery of Wilshere on the touchline against Arsenal. I saw him beat Gibbs in that game also. I also watched him tracking back and helping Rangel pretty effectively when we were hanging on against Arsenal. To be fair, Palace's left back did well against him, but Palace were sat back in their own half not giving any space to either winger. Even Jeff was struggling for most of the second half. The fact is that he's actually only had about 60 minutes of game time - for me, he's used those 60 minutes really well and showed he can be effective, but it's certainly not enough to make a judgment on - whether that be for or against him! Jeff played off the bench for 6 or 7 PL games before being given a starting spot, Barrow will have to show he's effective over 6 or 7 games off the bench to earn a starting spot too. Kenji Gorre is playing well from what I've heard too. All I know is that he's scored something like 8 in 8 for U21s and he's been working on his finishing after training. Seems like he's got a good head on his shoulders and will hopefully start training with the first team squad this season to be ready to integrate into the Premier League next season, if not before.
Should be Bony, Montero, Gylfi, Dyer as the front 4 vs Chelsea. With Ki and give Jonjo 60 minutes to perform.
Funny you should say that, but I thought there was something familiar about the guys putting out the cones this morning. I just didn't recognise them out of team colours.
This is the first time ever in our history that we have a true squad and not just a team of good players and a couple of promising reserves. View attachment 34304 View attachment 34305 I think every player, except Williams perhaps, will be rotated at some point this season if only to maximise physical fitness and mental freshness of the squad. Monk, coaches, senior players and us of course are all new to this at the liberty and it'll take a bit of getting used to but its there, evident for all to see. Take Monk out of the picture and just focus on our squad, compare it to our teams over the last 10 years. Exciting times ahead I think
We have a really good 16 and a decent 4 more. Provided we don't pick up too many injuries we'll do well. Tremmell as we know is a very good reserve keeper. I think last season we had so many injuries there didn't seem to be a settled core so the support players were stretched. Jazz (although absolutely slaughtered by some fans in the lower east even as the game started) has shown he's good enough to play right or left back against most teams this season. I am a fan of Jazz and, on the quality he showed in his previous games this season I would happily start him in place of Taylor (who I don't rate and never have at this level). Tiendalli is always quite reliable. Bartley and Amat have improved no end and Fernandez is an Argentinian international; who from this three is the first choice must be a headache but Bartley keeps his spot for me. Tom Carroll is a huge improvement on Canàs and Fulton but I am concerned Monk will play Jonjo in the hope of a decent performance. Wingers can interchange and will need to Montero, I think, still needs more game time before he's effective for 90 minutes - and Barrow is good for short periods. Routs and Dyer would still be my first choices. In midfield I'm not convinced out squad is as deep as last season Siggy is good, Ki a revelation but then we are struggling. IMHO Shelvey has a long, long way to go to shift either Ki or Siggy and Emnes is solid in attack but doesn't give a lot in defence - not quite a winger, striker or midfielder but good to have in reserve. Gomis gives the appearance of being good but when you sit down and look carefully he has been useful but no more - as Donnelley was back unto Bony last season he is an improvement. In January I would still like to see us binging in at first choice left back and a quality replacement for Shelvey or bring in competition for Ki and Siggy and play Jonjo as an out and out 10.
