Much improved performance today that will hopefully appease some of the doom mongers. And before I get shot down for a lack of realism I have to say that I have agreed with a lot of the points made on here in recent weeks, just preferred to remain optimistic; I know that performances have been disappointing since the Newcastle game after the cup win but we had arguably over performed up to that point. When the fixture list came out at the beginning of the season we knew that we had to try to reach the magical 40 mark before March or face the prospect of getting dragged into a relegation dog fight given the run in we had. We accomplished that goal and also won a trophy to boot so it was almost inevitable that we would suffer a dip in form. In a perfect world we would have kicked on, with the pressure off of us, and easily cemented a place in the top ten â some of use were even unrealistically talking of champions league!! From a psychological stand point, that was never going to happen! Having achieved our âbest caseâ scenario so early it was obvious that the team would let out a collective âsigh of relief!â From that point on it was always going to be twice as hard to keep up our high standards â yes, the players and manager made all the right sounds about keeping performance levels high and pushing on to a record (for us) points haul â but fear is a great motivator, and once that is removed it is very hard to get something else to take its place. I have never doubted the playersâ commitment, but no matter how they prepare there is always that thought in the back of their heads that they are now safe! They have achieved, and surpassed, their pre season goals so have to try and find some other motivating factor to see them through the rest of the season. This is so hard to do â yes, they want to win every one of their remaining games and finish the season in style, but the fact that the job is done is still there in the back of their heads; that extra âedgeâ is missing, games that could have been âmust winsâ have now become ânice to winâ. Psychologically that fear is missing and a subconscious complacency sets in, however hard they try to overcome it! Have read some ridiculous comments on here recently about âminds on the beachâ and players not caring but feel that that is a little harsh. Great result today but felt that both teams were playing within themselves; Man C had an eye on the FA cup and we had an eye on the finish line â there was a distinct lack of urgency which was totally understandable â the fear factor was no longer present! It is so easy for us keyboard warriors to castigate our team for a perceived lack of commitment after a record breaking season, but we have no idea of the pressures that are on our players, or how we would react if that pressure was suddenly relieved! So donât be too harsh on them, they are still trying, they still want to finish an incredible season on a high. But I can totally understand why they couldnât beat Chelski away or Spurs at home â the fear factor was missing! On the tenth anniversary of âthatâ game I am just thankful of where we are, and how far we have come and, to be honest, I am quite prepared to cut our magnificent team a little slack â would be great to hang on to 9th place, but would have taken anything above the relegation places at the beginning of the season! So well done you Jack bastards â Premier League again next season, and Capitol One cup holders â not a bad return for our efforts!
I felt that the performance was as good as we could expect today, all the players put a shift in and you cant ask for more than that really. Michu again missed crucial goal scoring chances, he is costing us points at the moment but he is forgiven for that considering he has carried us in goal scoring this season. A top level goal scorer is a must and I think Laudrup was very smart putting £5m in the bank and not panic buying in January. Pablo did well today,and like mentioned by many people on other forums he was a little bit unlucky with that pass from Dyer which meant he had to dig it out. Tactically I thought we were very good and the manager made the subs at the right time, Kemy and tiendalli giving us a bit of steel when needed towards the end. Mathmatically we are safe unless somebody can score an obscene amount of goals so I can relax now. I think the players might also relax, but in the right way, they know they are safe and can go out and enjoy the game against Wigan and Man utd . Overall im very happy with what I saw today, we know where our weak points are and im sure Laudrup has learnt so much these last few weeks, so its all good really
Totally agree Norway, and it was interesting to read that Laudrup has said that the recent run has actually helped him in identifying where he needs to improve the squad for next season! Our poor form of late could actually be a blessing in disguise! Every cloud has a silver lining eh? Have enjoyed every minute of this season and can't wait for the next - gonna be a looooong Summer!
As I said on the Match thread, I hoped we'd get a point before the game and we did, so no complaints from me, at least the boys put in a decent shift today, even if we didn't have our shooting boots on, well done Swansea city, excellent game at the back, all four did terrific, and Ash had it well organised today, Chico was solid again, I simply can't fault this Amigo, what a transfer, even better than Caulker. Ben Davis had Aguero tabbed and bagged all game, well done Laudrup for giving him the chance to shine!.......... Good post Cartoon, about time you made yourself useful......................... PS: Lets get a serious striker for next season, to sort our lack of cutting edge up front, no slight on Michu either in saying that, he's been a legend all season, now for a win mid week at the DW stadium!................ please log in to view this image
Day off today, the first Saturday off I have had off in a long, long time. Made the most of it by heading into NY with my wife, a very nice lunch in Eataly an Italian market food court, followed by the Swans game in the Football Factory, a pub just behind the Empire State Building, great for any visitor wanting to catch a game. Both good places. Anyway, defensively we were strong, Ash was immense, he has put in more tackles and blocked more shots than anyone else in the Premiership but that is not distracting from the others who all put in a great defensive performance against the second in the table. What is disturbingly obvious is that up front we are really lacking in quality. Michu likes to come from Mid-field and he has done a great job for us but we need to do a job lot sale and jet some real strikers in for next season. I agree that this kid Donnelly needs to be given a chance to see what he can do. Nothing to lose really. A lot of hype about this kid, is he up to it? Only one way to find out. Let's face it, Ben Davies was thrown in at the deep end and has had a stunning season and congratulations to him. Lots of talk about Scotty Sinclair coming back, I don't think that would be a good idea, we have good wingers already and ultimately he is a winger, we really need a goal scorer or two, ideally a pair to work in tandem with our great mid-field that really can't be faulted. 3 games to go. Man U, Interesting, could be a real test again on out defense, Wigan away, they are desperate to stay up and will throw all they can at us. Exploit that, take them on the break and send them down, Adios Roberto. Fulham at home? Just keep an eye on Berbatov, he is one tricky Bulgarian but 3 points from that one would be a nice finish.
Quality wingers? Well I think they have actually done ok but we need the forwards to finish the job. I think a 4 4 2 with 2 new forwards would suit us fine, just not enough fire power up front at the moment. Whatever formation they want to play, 4 3 2 1, or whatever, we need a striker, big time.
NJS - Eately great place that. Looking forward to next season. Looking forward to the summer transfers. For a change we are going to be the predator not the prey ... for the most part. The Spanish clubs with any talent must be dreading ML's agent or our scouts floating around and asking for tickets to matches. We clearly need that extra piece of quality and edge on the final pass / first touch in and around the box. Michu has been great, but he's getting a lot more respect and a lot less space from defenders now. A little less blindness on the part of match officials wouldn't go amiss either.
Great post swans-cartoonhead. A good game, much better than the Chelsea performance. We really should have scored at least 2 in the first half and the penalty that wasn't was atrocious. I actually felt we sold ourselves short by not claiming all 3 points but then again a point against the Champs is very good. Our final touch/shot is the only issue that needs addressing and it's the worst kept secret in football that we are after a striker or two with real class (I'm still hoping for Aspas and Lukaku on loan). Pablo started poorly again but grew in confidence, I get a feeling that he's going to come good against Wigan and score or assist a few goals. Defence was solid, Britton is the master of timing tackles and Vorm had little to worry about given the cost of Man City's strike force. All in all a very good performance. Happy jack!
Good post. But criticising the team for a patent lack of effort (v Chelsea) isn't doom mongering. It's justified. As you say SC, much more effort all round yesterday though Jonathan De Invisible still needs a boot up the ass imo. Hernandez was a busy bee, and our defence looked organised, with all of the back four on song. Who'd have thought young Davies would get the superstar Aguero riled because he was getting no change from him? Either side could have nicked it and I wouldn't have complained had it been City, but a draw was a fair result.
