It was actually a little bit embarrasing at times tonight, we looked very tired very early and apart from some sterling defending from Chico,Bartley and Vorm it would have been alot worse. Fair play to Arsenal they came out really wanting it and we didnt! no complaints about the result at times i thought we just wanted to be anywhere other than the emerites, judging by Laudrups sneaky smile at the end of the game i think he is also happy we are out! There isnt alot to say about our performance other than our heads looked to be elsewhere, i dont really blame the players for that and even though it was a fresh team complacancy was spreading from 1-11 . There were a few shocking performances and i do put that down to us just not wanting it enough but Danny Graham was shocking for me and so was Nathen Dyer, Pablo was invisible when he came on and Kemy is carrying alot of timber for a premier league midfielder. Routs had a go and Jazz did well though looked a bit weary in the end,understandable when that was one of his rare outings but the boy did well. Tiendelli was decent and tried to play his game and Leon was great for 60 mins, Jack wiltshire is now once again the greatest player on the earth ever of all time.. he had leons number in the second half but only because leon was running low on gas, i must say the arsenal boy looks a decent player and he was everywhere in the last quarter and took his goal well. Am i dissapointed ? not really, im kind of glad we are out as i think without our first 11 on the field we can blow hot and cold sometimes, i think the players didnt really fancy this or the thought of extra time and thats probably not a bad thing. I fancy Brighton to win against them in the next round and i would have thought the same if they were playing us, we dont respond well to being the favourite so not a bad thing to be out know with one less game to prepare for, some might say thats a negative attitude but its clear to see we are patchy at times and thats due to chopping and changing too often i think. The guys that came into the team can be proud of themselves,nobody disgraced themselves and the likes of Bartley and Jazz can be counted on in the future to stake a claim or back up with injuries. Overall a tired performance with minds on other things, we all know we need to be 100% to compete against these kinds of teams and just a 5% drop will result in the kind of showing we saw tonight. Im glad we can think about the league and league cup and i think the players can concentrate on the real prizes, that of prem survival and cup glory. As i said earlier Laudrup looked very relaxed and happy during the game so i think he was releived we are out though he would probably never admit that. Thoughts on tonights tired team performance ??
Won't argue with your assessment Norway. Our passing has been sloppy for the last couple of games now. Very disappointed with Dyer he's been giving plenty of game time in recent weeks. I can see the new lad getting games soon. Chico is becoming a rock in our defence, he's turning in performances now that are equal to Michu, but going undetected.
I find myself indifferent to the result, the performance or anything else. Strange. Just something to get out the way before next Wednesday's 'big game'.
aswan i think you have probably summed up perfectly how the players were thinking tonight. Of course we wanted to win, but if we were ever going to ditch a game better to be this one than a league game or the chelsea game. Our passing is not fluid at the moment but i think Laudrup knows we can play that with our first 11 and he is trying to impliment different systems. It also doesnt help when we swap players around to cope with the amount of matches we are playing,all those things will be a factor in why we arnt as slick as we have been. Remember how good we looked against WBA ? there is no way we have forgot how to play that way but we have added valuable strings to our bow over Xmas, containing teams has been the best way to intergrate the less regular players IMO , so for me Laudrup is again spot on with this approach.
We've played a huge amount of games these last two months, so the player do look jaded, even with Laudrup rotating players. With a bit of luck we can get to February with at least 5 points and a cup final. Then we can get back to playing once a week and get our passing game back on track.
Exactly my take on it. Was relieved when arsenal scored late on when faced with the prospect of extra time. Onto more important matters!
On 26th January we will now have a weekend off. After playing Chelsea on the 23rd the next game is West Ham away on the 2nd Feb 10 days later, so that will be a chance to recharge the batteries
Think it was a game that gave Laudrup the opportunity to look at some of the fringe players and how they would cope against a top side desperate to progress in the competition - let's be honest, Arsenal needed this win far more than us! We put out a second string side and, Dyer aside, we acquitted ourselves well. TBH it was quite nice to watch a game that I didn't really mind losing; yes, it would have been good to stay in the FA cup, but I believe the league and Capitol One Cup are far bigger priorities! We can take a lot from this game; OK we were battered in the second half, but there were players that showed that we have strength in depth - thought Jazz had a decent game, as did Kyle and Tiendalli and think that any of them could do a job for us in more important games. Think we are getting close to being a complete squad - with two players for each position - just need a back up striker I think! Is quite strange for me to be so positive after a loss, but I think Sir Mike will have learnt a lot about the players he has at his disposal, and be confident that he has cover for just about every position! Was chatting to some fellow Jacks earlier about the strength of our squad - until now we have only had a few Welsh internationals in our team - but now we have a squad that contains potential Spanish, Dutch, Korean and Belgian internationals! To be honest I really don't care that we are out of the FA cup - we are stronger than we have ever been, and have the ability to beat anyone home or away! Have bruises all over my body due to continually having to pinch myself when I realise where we are, and how far we have come! There was never a better time to be a Jack Bastard!
Poor performance (apart from Vorm, Jazz Chico and Bartley), beaten by the better team, squad players given a chance, no extra time, we move on. Just concerned that our midfield has forgotten or lost it's ability to push forward ..... have we been showing the bigger teams too much respect at the detriment of our own attacking flair? Perfect game this weekend for us to become the aggressor again. If we don't, then I fear we may have hit the 'wall'.
We lost 1-0 away to Arsenal playing depth. The goal was beautifully taken by Wilkshire. Was this up to our usual standard - no. Some players are playing their way out of contention for places, other are becoming almost indispensable - Chico. Considering Jazz hasn't played in a game all season he had a solid game. We have lost our edge in passing and we are persistently second best in too many competitive situations on the field. I hope ML knows what he is doing.
Passing and ball retention were certainly off tonight, our signature game was gone. No excuse for giving the ball away time and time again. I don't think I have ever criticized the Swans before but the passing in mid-field was poor. Arsenal had enough chances to make this a convincing victory, Vorm was magnificent as were the back four and saved us from a humiliation. We really have to be on better form against Chelsea and Stoke for that matter this weekend if we are to gain any success in the next 2 games. That was poor, my heart bleeds and I am worried.
On a positive note .... our lack of execution quality on the field in midfield (passing etc) is our own undoing, but this is something that can be fixed. We lost 1-0 with these short comings. I think it bodes well for the future. If mighty Arsenal can only beat a weakened Swansea side 1-0, when we're not firing on all cylinders then wait until we have a moment to catch our breath and regroup. The international break is going to be great for us.
the mighty arsenal have gone butty>>>>u played the normal arsenal lastnight one things for sure you`ll never win the fa cuP ......
Agree I'm indifferent to the result cos priority is league and CO cup but it was annoying getting to the Emirates to watch a rather lack-lustre performance. It's a ball-ache of a stadium to get home from. I could have spent the night crocheting instead Apologies for starting a whingy thread elsewhere but it is time for a number of players to buck up their ideas. Hernandez needs to get down the gym cos he's too lightweight, Dyer needs to do something that gets him running at his man again, Augustien needs to shed a few pounds (don't we all), Graham needs to work on his touch and increase his work rate if he wants to get back in the side, we have to stop giving the ball away so cheaply and get back to attacking ways. I don't really want to go and go to games where we're set up to counter-attack but forget to do any attacking. Vorm was probably my man of the match for us. Bartley wasn't as good as the first game but his aerial threat is nice to have in the box.
Good comments there master, i think everything you said is very fair. There has been a dip in form there is no mistake about that but i do beleive the real Swansea city is just around the corner. Mentally we must be very tired, there has been alot to take in for our boys especially changing personell and tactics from game to game. Laudrup is right to evolve the team and we have seen the benifit of that. Example. the opposition do not know which team they will face when they play us, will we stand off and play on the break? will we keep the ball and play our posession game? will we just park the bus ? Under rodgers we were beat before we got to an away stadium very often, as we knew ourselves that our football would not survive against the likes of Stoke,Blackburn,Everton etc. We now have enough options to vary the way we play and our league position suggests Laudrup has caught a few teams on the hop with this change. We will see the real Swans when its needed but i think Laudrup needs to be able to refine other parts of our game and thats what we have been seeing latetly, the pfoof of the pudding is in the eating and being unbeaten for nearly 8 games against all the top sides says alot to me. Players will get the hunger back as soon as the Chelsea game is over.
You're right Norway, I know you are. If I were in ML's shoes and putting the FA cup as the lowest priority, as it should be, I think we may as well have thrown caution to the wind and used it as a fact finding mission. Maybe see if Michu and Graham can work together, try a different formation to surprise the oppo for instance. At least have a go to show a bit of respect for the travelling fans. ML has at least seen if he thinks Jazz can step up - his defending was solid enough but we didn't get to see him on the attack. I just hope that when it comes to the Chelsea game all of the mental exertion and nerves doesn't hit home and bite us on the ass. I don't think it will but we need to be at the top of our game to make sure we get through. Then I'm sure there will be relief for all involved and hopefully some of the shackles will be off a number of our boys.
Spot on! ML has obviously used the last month or so to refine and train defense while getting a good amounts of points along the way. He looks further ahead, the big picture, and it's nice to see he can act on the poor defense in the beginning of the season. As a fan one should be thrilled to see the defensive development the last month and not moan about the lack of offensive tactics recently.
Im sure Laudrup wouldnt pick a team to lose but i think there are other things on his mind and that of the players. An example is maybe not wanting to go into a tackle 100% and pick up an injury that means you miss a potential semi-final or cup final . Im not our boys are like that but it does make you wonder about the mental approach. We must also credit Arsenal and put our hands up to them being much better. they had the likes of poldolski,Arshevin,ramsey and the oxe on their bench !! its easy to forget just how big a team this is and just how much the FA cup represents their last hope of getting anything from this season..its been 8yrs of hurt for them and they were never going to roll over for us yesterday !! The point about the travelling fans is of course valid, but in support of the players on this one and indeed Laudrup we were beaten by a great finish and we had our big guns on the field second half(where we actually played alot worse !!) only the players really know if they were up for it or not but i guess mentally they may have been elsewhere a little bit and Arsenal were coming on strong and bringing their A game..it happens sometimes . Tlking about letting the fans down is a bit harsh but i totally understand your feelings, i would feel the same way, at least it wasnt like going away to Wigan with 4,500 fans only to **** out of having a go at a beatable team! also knowing how much that game meant to fans ..ive never really forgiven Rodgers for bottling that head to head with roberto.. it told me alot about rodgers as our season was ticking over nicely and it was a game that the fans wanted to get closure . Chelsea wont be easy, ive no idea how we will do either. It could get messy if we arnt 100% on our game. If Chelsea are 100% on their game i expect them to win but how much i dont know! We had to lose sooner or later and Arsenal away in the cup always looked the most likely to me
