Twice we have really missed Leon and both those times teams ran at us and scored . Everton and Norwich. For me if he's fit he has too play. What think the faithfull?
Yes we did miss him, i was dissapointed with the replacements a little bit, i felt JDG did ok but neither of them really wanted to be in the driving seat and do the unselfish work, moving off the ball and creating spaces is critical for us .
Very true - those players should look at what it is about Britton's game that makes him so vital to us.
Britton wasn't missed as much as good nimble defending in the back four and in particular by Ash. We had 60:40 possession - we owned midfield, we didn't own our penalty box. Leon would not have made much impact there. The free-kick aside, which was perfectly struck, we got beat 1:1 in our box for three of the four goals and the keeper was beaten twice at the near post.
Thought Kemy should have played yesterday to give us a physical presence against Norwich. And how Danny Graham has come back in and jumped above Luke Moore in the rankings I cannot fathom.
I think we did miss him, Ki seemed to drop back a little more to play Brittons role and he is just too sloppy with his passing. We either need Britton playing or a very similar replacement. We look like an engine with no oil without Britton IMO.
We missed him, that's for sure. While the defense was ****, I think having Leon ahead of them makes them more relaxed. Mak no mistake, Leon is our talisman.
Agree PGF, Moore must be well pi55ed off. Danny for me, offered us nothing up front. Moore can at least bring other players into the game, just as he did against Arsenal.
I thought that after the obvious rollickin' that ML handed out at half time, Ki looked fabulous for most of the second (bar some sloppy passes in the final 10 minutes). He was always available for the ball, keeping things simple, keeping us ticking. He must have touched the ball around 10 times in the lead up to our first goal. I agree that the first half was a different story. Ki and Britton work like a unit when they're together. They sit deep and mop up as a team. If Ki drops, Britton stands a little further forward. Likewise, if Britton drops in, Ki pushes on. The weak link yesterday was having De Guzman playing Britton's role to partner Ki. De Guzman is too attack minded to play such a disciplined position. It was only in the second half that De Guzman looked like he was playing with any kind of discipline, and as a result, we wrestled control of the game off Norwich. The fact is that if we'd played Agustien from the off, or made the decision to put him on midway through the first half, he would have done a much better job of Britton's position than De Guzman and we wouldn't have found ourselves 3 down. Our full backs push forward so much that if one of our more defensive midfielders also pushes on, we're literally left with Chico, Ash and one DM as our last line. That sounds quite bare, doesn't it? Not surprising that we were struggling in the first half. We had two choices to make in the first half yesterday. Straight swap Agustien for De Guzman. Or sacrifice Danny for Agustien, push Michu into the 9 position, and De Guzman back into his more comfortable position behind the striker. We didn't make either choice and we'd pretty much conceded the game by half time. If we can get De Guzman to play with the discipline in his game that he showed in the second half, then he can do a job for us when Britton is missing. But Agustien is the tailor-made replacement for that position and I think it was an error to not use him.
I'm guessing that Danny was chosen for his work rate against a high energy team. As technically good as Moore is, he is no worker and adds nothing to the team when we are under pressure. When we are attacking, he is a different proposition with his skill and touch. I agree about Kemy. He adds physicality to midfield but he can also pick a pass. Either Ki or JdG should have made way for him but there are arguments against that as well. JdG scored a goal and made another, whilst Ki made the most passes (112) in the PL. The thing is, quite a few of those passes failed to find the target and added to the pressure we were under.
Without Britton I would play Augustien over Ki. JDG needs to be pushing forward (and as has been rightly pointed out) he scored and made chances. His set pieces are crap though, maybe trying to get the freekick passed the first defender or over the wall would be worth a try Jonathan?
The shape of our team is always more important than any individual. Ki had to play because he's the closest thing to Leon that we have. It's ok for De Guzman to push forward, but if he's neglecting his defensive responsibilities like he was in the first half yesterday, it doesn't matter if he scores or assists because we will concede as well. Ki and Agustien would have provided a sterner backbone to the side yesterday and had more balance. It would have given our forward players a much better platform to work off. Ever since we started the 'Swansalona' revolution, we have played 4231. Two defensive midfielders (Britton has been partnered by Bodde, Pratley and Allen in this time, now he's partnered by Ki). Yesterday, due to De Guzman neglecting his DM position, we were actually playing 4141 in the first half and poor Ki was having to do 2 player's worth of work. Yes, he was sloppier than usual, but I don't blame him because in my eyes, it was De Guzman who left him more exposed than he would've been had Britton been playing. Midfield is so important to us. If our balance is off, we give our opponents a great chance to get at us.
Didn't we miss Leon Yesterday! simple answer....YES...but it should not be like that, we should be able to keep the same standard whoever is left out for whatever reason...
We should be able to but we don't because for different reasons both Ki and JdG are off the pace at the moment. Personally, I think Kemy is a better fit for us.... at least for now.
