I watched MOTD from a completely different perspective on the weekend. In the past I've sat back and enjoyed the games with a sort of detached interest. But this time around it was completely different. What did you guys think? Were you the same? I found myself analysing all the teams, the players, tactics and formations etc and trying to visualise how we would fare against them. To be honest it was not as enjoyable as usual - more like work really. It drove home the difficulty of what lies ahead and the boys are going to have to produce their top form in game after game if we are to survive. What became apparent to me more than anything, was our need for an experienced, strong, combative midfield player to give us some steel and organisation in the middle of the park. Most PL teams are powerful and athletic there and I fear that Joe and Leon, as a pair, will struggle. I've posted this before and my fears have been reinforced. I have no doubt that both players will give everything and buzz about as they usually do. But we need more. I can see them being muscled off the ball too often for my liking and, if we don't get enough ball, our game plan will go out of the window. We base everything on possession. PL players will contest that with a skill, speed and strength that we are not used to. They have done their homework; they know how we like to play and they will try to disrupt that by closing us down high up the field. Sounds like all doom and gloom but it needn't be. If we can get through these first few games without being disgraced, I feel that our confidence will grow and we can kick on to a decent season. Buck will assess the games and react accordingly but I do feel that he will be in for a seasoned midfielder sooner rather than later. It's all to play for. It's going to be exciting; it's going to be demoralising at times. But we are there and we are competing and we will be enjoying, no matter what. Well done again, you Swans, for making all this possible. Now get out there and start ramming those bookies odds where the sun don't shine.
Talking of which; http://www.offthepost.info/blog/201...campaign=Feed: offthepost/TLAa (Off The Post) 32RED are backing us for relegation, which is nice to know! Cheers for the sponsorship money, now **** off! I agree about the central midfielder thing ivor. My thinking though is Brendan is going to give Kemy a chance at being that player... and I'd say in De Jong and Toure we're going to have the best examination of our midfield trio that we'll probably have all season. Those two are serious players, and if we can get any kind of foothold in the middle of the park it'll be a really encouraging sign. If Kemy isn't up to it, who should we be in for? No doubt Buck has targets already but I still like the idea of Michael Johnson... maybe if Man City stuff us they'll feel sorry for us and lend him to us for a while...
Exactly what I did and was having a conversation with some of the boys the same...... nerves too, but we just need to go out and stick it to them.... ....lets see how we get on and take it from there....
Scott, I like the idea of Johnson - very good player and he'd be a good fit. But is he too similar to what we have? The question I'm asking is; where is our ENFORCER? We need one, or we are just going to get steam-rollered in the middle of the park most games. Like you I'm hoping against hope that Kemy will step up. He's got the physique and he can play as well, so he could be the answer. If not, Buck will have to buy in some beef. Mind you, I can't tell you how pleased I would be if Joe and Leon show me that I'm talking out of my arse.
Again, agreed I'd love to see Joey and Leon snapping at peoples heels, it all depends on how physical they can let themselves get without losing their rag I think.
Scott, Michael Johnson went on a season-long loan to Leicester a few weeks ago. Keep up. Well I had tonight down for a 3-0 win to Man City but after reading Ivor's piece I'm changing it ... to 4-0
He did?! What the?! How much money are Leicester throwing around? Mental... Hmm, who then? Reo-Coker was on a free but I don't know if he'd have been up to the football we play, harsh as that may sound... It's a difficult one, but we do have that loan slot left and we do still have time to bring players in permanently too.
How about 'The Refridgerator' from the Chicago Bears c.1985 I think his name was William Perry. Big,big,big bloke. http://www.fridge72.com
Ivor I know where your coming from, but I do think your twitching a tad too, yes I've been analysing the teams and to be honest there will be 7 teams in my view that could give us a pasting, but on the plus the bottom end of the Prem is so poor (Wigan, Blackburn, WBA, Wolves) that we would need to play very poor to go down, I'm not even going to mention Norwich and QPR who we should take 12 points off this season too in my view, so let's relax and enjoy the show, it will soon become clear to Rodgers, if we do need to get a mid field general in, though Agustien in my view, now has his opportunity to shine!....................... please log in to view this image
Reo-Cocker went to Bolton about 3 weeks ago mate. Agree though he's a bit sloppy in his passing. Nobody in this country really springs to mind for this enforcer role. I don't think Brendan is too keen on looking abroad either, so Kemy it is. ...at least for the time being
Scott was underwater when Reo-Coker signed for Bolton - it's not his fault. You may also have been underwater when Dorus signed for Wolves (yes, it's true)...just getting you up to speed...
Lightweight midfielders get completely outmuscled in this division and Joe has recognised that by trying to beef up over the Summer. Just look at Gomez. Simply proved too lightweight in the Prem whereas he was superb in the CCC. I'm a big admirer of Agustien. Rarely puts a foot wrong when I've watched him. Whether he is up to the rigours of the Prem, well only time will tell, but as others have said now is the time to step up, matey. Btw his nickname at previous clubs was 'The Enforcer'. I hope he can do the job or we'll be overrun for sure.
All serious betting people who bet huge sums of money will have their bet on us going down and if i was to put big money on swans survival then im afraid i agree with them. we are the minnows in a big pond a david against goliath that will be a tall order for us to survive, that is what all these big backers and bookies look at.....i have put a small bet on us to survive and iv put a small bet at 14/1 that we will win tonight....so because our own sponsors have got us to go down only reflects what the rest are saying and that is just buisiness and nothing to do with sponsoring us...
Hate to say it but I was right. Man City had a look at us for the first 25 minutes then took a grip on the game that they never relinquished. Before I go any further, though, I want to congratulate every one of our players. They tried their best and it was a good best until the class that money buys finally showed through. Well done, lads, it was a tough baptism but there will be a lot easier fixtures than this to come good. So what do we have to do to come good? Firstly, we have to stiffen the midfield as I have been preaching. Man City poured through it at will and the first goal originated just inside their half when Leon was muscled off the ball by Silva. Silva???? He's not much bigger than Leon but he won the ball, pushed forward and 1-0!! All too often we lost the ball in the tackle and, for me, we capitulated far too easily in the physical side of the game. What's wrong with our players? Are they too precious to hit someone with a tackle that makes their bones shudder? Man City did it; conceded 9 free kicks to our 2. Talent is great to watch but not if you're playing against it. Sometimes you have to give it a bloody good kick to keep it honest and we have no one capable of doing that. Cynical? Not in the least. All the top sides have people who dish it out and Stoke have been dining at the Premiership table for some seasons on the strength of it. We seem to want to play the game in far too pure a fashion. Well and good if the other team are prepared to watch us do it. Premier League teams don't do that, so occasionally we must be prepared to mix a little bit of ugly into our blend. That includes hitting the odd free kick into the penalty area to see what happens. It baffles me that even when we get a free kick in a dangerous position, we still take it short and try to play our way in on goal. Why??? We now have a striker who is pretty decent in the air. We have a 6'3" centre back who can create havoc if he attacks the ball. Doing this builds pressure which leads to mistakes which leads to chances. Simple enough but we rarely do it and it would give defences something different to deal with. Anyway, I'm sure BR will look hard at the video and draw his own conclusions. But if he fails to realise that we urgently need a tough, experienced midfielder(s) then we are in for a hairy season. In addition to this, as much as I like Dobbs, I would not start him in tough away games. We are not likely to be attacking much so I would shore up midfield with a more defensive player and Graham will have to rely on the wide men for his ammunition. And, speaking of Graham, a Watford poster stated that it was unusual not to see him in the thick of the action. Well, he hasn't been, in any of the games that I've seen him play for us. He's just not getting the service, certainly not what he was used to at Watford (that speaks volumes) and that is something that Buck has also got to address and pretty smartly. So my suggestions, for what they are worth, are as follows:- toughen up and get nasty as a team; get a quality midfielder(s) in asap; find a way to get service in to a striker who is going to get pretty p****d off soon if he doesn't get it. Oh, and hang on to Vorm like grim death. What a gem Buck has unearthed in him. Got to have doubled his transfer value in 90 minutes!! Finally get out there against Wigan and show them how we can really play.
Got to agree with you there Ivor. Possession football is great if it's then used to get towards the goal. Too often we chose sideways to the fullbacks instead of diagonal to our unmarked winger. There are many lessons to learn and I'm sure Buck and the lads will be starting their steep learning curve today. I still think we'll be ok though.
I want to see the game again from the DVR to get a less emotonal perspective, but for what it's worth here's what i took from last night's match. First, Man City are q big side. Tv offers a skewed perpspectice but up close Toure, De Jong et al are big players. Even Silva us not a small lad, he just looks small next to Toure. Vorm has incredible reflexes and gets down quick. For his first game with us he did great. Our style of play is good enough for this level but not at the tempo we play it. We're going to have to shift a gear and be sharper on the ball and snappier on the pass. In defense of Dobbie, Man C started with two holding midfield players in Toure and De Jong, he was grafting between those two and just never had the time he enjoyed last season. The Tate experiment at left back is no longer an experiment. The results are in. We need cover at left back and for defense across the line - suspensions or injuires will kill us. Allen looked the part he came on. He must start and be allowed to grow into his role at this level. Caulker at his age is amazingly solid. Rangel needs to find a yard of pace. Had a splendid time at Eastlands' hospitality in the East Stand. Terrific service and banter, the only bummer was the score.
Agree with both posts. Vorm is definately the buy of the summer. We need a more physical option in central midfield , and we need Taylor back at left back (and possibly cover for this position as well -and keep Tatey as squad back up with monk for centre back). The game was as expected , they just had too much class for us , but definate positives on show , and I feel we will compete with a lot of the teams at home , and pick up a a few points on our travels , enough to get us safe at the end of the season.
Well I thought we DID throw the ball into the box from free-kicks around the area on a couple of occasions. Now that we have Caulker and Graham it's something that's worth doing. The first goal seemed to come about from Tate getting dragged into the middle for no apparent reason leaving their winger (Johnson?) free out on the right. And Tatey would retreat all the way back to Crewe if the pitch were long enough.
