Swansea City 0 - 1 Southampton Venue: The Liberty Stadium, Swansea Referee: Jonathan Moss (c**t) Date: Saturday the 20th of September 2014, 3pm kick off. Goal scorers Swansea City: Southampton: Wanyama '80 Bookings Swansea City: Bony (Yellow and a straight red?) Southampton: Fonte, Bertrand, Yoshida, Schneiderlin. Injuries Swansea - Amat out for 6 weeks - Leon Britton ruled out for further four weeks with injury Southampton - With no fresh injury concerns Southampton are likely to field the same team that thrashed Newcastle last time out. - That will mean a second start in Saints colours for Toby Alderweireld. - Jack Cork could hold on to his place but Victor Wanyama and James Ward-Prowse are both vying for a starting berth. Lineups; Swansea -------------------Fabianski------------------ -----------Fernandez-------Ash--------------- Rangel----------------------------------Taylor -------------Shelvey-------Ki---------------- ---------------------------------------------- Dyer---------------Siggy-------------Routledge ------------------Bony----------------------- Bench; Tremmel, Bartley, Jazz, Carroll, Montero, Emnes, Gomis. Subs: Montero for Dyer ('59), Emnes for Ki ('85). Southampton ------------------Forster---------------------- -------------Fonte-----Yoshida---------------- Clyne----------------------------------Bertrand ----------Ward-Prowse-----Cork---------------- -----------------Schneiderin------------------- -----Long-----------------------Tadic---------- -------------------Pelle------------------------ Bench; Davis, Targett, Gardos, Wanyama, Davis, Mayuka and McQueen. Subs: Gardos for Yoshida ('45), Davis for Cork ('64) and Wanyama for Ward-Prowse on 69 minutes. MATCH STATS Swansea City..........................Southampton 44%.................... Possession..................56% 5.......................... Shots ................... 11 2 ......................... On target .............. 4 2 ........................... Corners ............... 4 11 ........................... Fouls .................. 15 KEY BATTLES; Wilfried Bony vs Toby Alderweireld- Despite some murmurings concerning missed chances Bony has played very well in these opening fixtures and I fully expect him to come back into the starting lineup. He'll be up against Alderweireld who is a Belgian International (37 caps) on loan from Atletico Madrid. He came up at Ajax and was being watched by a number of top European clubs (Bayer Leverkusen, Liverpool and Napoli) before signing for Atletico...so he is certainly no mug. He can play left and right-back as well as centre-half. Saints have been utilising him at centre-half, he's 6ft2, strong, pacy and can play. His duel with Bony should be fascinating and Bony is due a goal. Siggy vs Victor Wanyama/Cork- Siggy has made a superb start on his return and is the link man that makes the whole attacking engine purr for us. He struggled in the last game against Chelsea after a good opening half an hour...IMO Mourinho decided that we were on top because Siggy was finding too much space, he took Schurrle off, switched Oscar to the right and moved Fabregas from CM to AM. This allowed Mourinho to bring on Ramires to partner Matic in DM. Together they shut down that space and then once momentum had shifted in Chelsea's favour Ramires was able to help press us high up the pitch and once again leave Siggy to Matic... Tomorrow Siggy will be up against another beast of a defensive midfielder in Wanyama (similar to Matic.) Finding space will be difficult, but what worries me is if Koeman partners Cork with Wanyama. Together they could shut down Siggy's space and press us high up the pitch much as Ramires and Matic did. The battle in midfield, as always, will be absolutely key to the outcome of the game. Ki vs Morgan Schneiderlin. Morgan Schneiderlin is a top, top, quality player who could easily be playing CL football. He is their playmaker, scores goals from midfield and is also a physical sort of athlete who works his nuts off. Ki, as our DM, is going to have his hands full....Ki hasn't let us down yet this season but we saw against Chelsea what a dangerous player from midfield can do (Fabregas carved us open on times) and Schneiderlin is that kind of dangerous midfielder. Neil Taylor vs Nathaniel Clyne / Shane Long Taylor (despite the substitution of Schurrle) did not have the best of times at Chelsea....ragged is how I would describe some of his defending. He'll be in for another stiff test tomorrow afternoon. Shane Long will be relentlessly chasing, closing down and running in behind the defence. He will be looking for any chinks of light in the channel between Taylor and Williams...the young Irishman doesn't seem to tire either. Taylor will need to be on it. If that wasn't enough to cope with Taylor will also have the Saints' young pacy full-back Nathaniel Clyne bombing down that flank. Big game required. Federico Fernandez vs Grazziano Pelle / Dusan Tadic Fernandez will get his chance to start. It could be the start of a beautiful relationship with Williams. Fernandez couldn't have had a hotter baptism of fire than the second half vs Chelsea last week. I'm sure he'll be looking forward to a home League debut in a winnable game. To me he looks good in the air, strong and a decent footballer on the deck....but (and I may be mistaken), not the quickest. This is a potential problem as neither is Ashley. Fernandez will be directly up against Pelle, who is large and a handful, and will also have Dusan Tadic coming down the channel between himself and Rangel. Both are pacy, both have a trick, and both (although Pelle in particular) have made very good starts to life in the Premier. Will it be a dream debut or a tough afternoon? QUOTES Garry Monk (Barclays Premier League Manager of the Month for August 2014) On Chelsea; "We have to be more clever," Monk said. "We caused our own problems at times in the second half with our decision-making. With the power Chelsea have, they can hurt you at any time and if you switch off for a split-second you get punished. "We did that a bit too much in the second half on Saturday and couldn't quite get a grip to get back in the game." For all Chelsea's class, Monk felt Swansea might have held on for a special result had they looked after the ball a bit better. "Early on in that second half we should have played a better pass, we should have played an easier pass to deal with and we would have got through," he added. Ronald Koeman - "I am very happy with the squad that we have," said the former Ajax, Benfica and Valencia boss. "We like to show that, and we showed it in a very good way against Newcastle (last weekend). "With the last two signings — Toby Alderweireld and (Saido) Mane — we have a squad maybe more competitive than last season. But I don't know that for sure because I wasn't the manager last season." Ashley Williams (Swansea Captain) - "I think the squad this year is a lot stronger, to be honest," the South Wales Evening Post quotes Williams as saying. "We've got more quality and we've got better personalities. "That's not taking anything away from the guys last year, but we've got a lot of good guys in there. It's a good place to play at the moment." "It's not up to me to decide who plays," said the Swansea captain, "but I'm just happy that we've got quality. "We've got two players that are very good. If they can start playing together they could be a dominant force up front, but the way we play is with one striker at the moment. "If we need to make a change to get an edge on an opponent we should be able to do that with those two there." The Chelsea reverse brought an end to Swansea's perfect start to the season, but Williams is far from downhearted. "I think we showed for a while at Chelsea that we can not only live with the best in the league but outplay them," he added. "They had to make a change. I've been to Chelsea and been turned over a lot of times, but Saturday was different. In the past we've laid down and I don't think we did that this time." "We've had two days off, but I and the boys can't wait to get in on Tuesday and start correcting the mistakes," the Swansea captain said. "We lost to a very good side on Saturday. At times Chelsea were too good for us, but we'll work on things and I'm sure when they come down to us we'll be in a better position for them." Players we share in common Nathan Dyer, Garry Monk.... RECENT FORM Liverpool 2 - 1 Southampton (L) -------------------- Man Utd 1 - 2 Swansea (W) Southampton 0 - 0 West Brom (D) ------------------- Swansea 1 - Burnley (W) West Ham 1 - 3 Southampton (W) --------------------Swansea 3 - 0 West Brom (W) Southampton 4 - 0 Newcastle (W) -------------------- Chelsea 4 - 2 Swansea (L) HEAD TO HEAD: - Southampton have kept a clean sheet in their last 3 matches against Swansea in all competitions. - Swansea have seen under 2.5 goals in their last 4 matches against Southampton in all competitions. - Southampton are undefeated in their last 5 matches against Swansea in all competitions. SUMMARY Two of the early season’s top teams go head-to-head at the Liberty Stadium on Saturday, as third-placed Swansea welcome fourth-placed Southampton in the Premier League. During the summer many believed that Southampton would struggle massively in the new season having sold off many of their star players, but Ronaldo Koeman has so-far defied the doubters at the Saints with two wins and a draw in their opening four matches. One player whom Southampton kept hold of was French international Morgan Schneiderlin, and he has been the standout performer in the fledging weeks of the season for the south coasters scoring three times already. Alongside, Dusan Tadic (two assists) has made an immediate impact in the creative left by the summer sales, while Graziano Pelle had done well with three early goals in the league campaign. Swansea, though, have made an even better start to the season than their opponents this weekend, chalking up three wins and a 4-2 defeat at Chelsea. The re-arrival of Glyfi Sigurdsson in Swansea’s midfield has been instantly positive, while Nathan Dyer has found his scoring touch with three goals in four games. At the back, former Arsenal keeper Lukasz Fabianski has replaced Michel Vorm with minimal fuss, while the spine of the team is completed with the ever-solid Ashley Williams at the heart of the defence, while Wilfried Bony (0 goals) is always a threat. As far as momentum goes, Southampton came into the game having scored four against Newcastle while Swansea shipped four goals in their last match. That said, there doesn’t feel like a great deal to pick between the sides, and this may be one of the hardest games to call in round five of the season. - From a site called 101GG STATS: Swansea City (Currently 3rd place) - Swansea City have gone 287 minutes of football without a goal against Southampton. - Swansea are one of only two teams to have won both of their home games in the Premier League this season (alongside Chelsea). - Nathan Dyer has scored with all three of his shots on target for Swansea this season. - Gylfi Sigurdsson has assisted four goals in four appearances this season. Gylfi Sigurdsson Already looking one of the signings of the summer in his early season performances, last week was the first time this campaign that Sigurdsson didn’t have a direct involvement in a goal during a match – with 5 out of Swansea’s 6 goals in the league – all 6 if you include Wayne Routledge’s volley that came from a headed clearance of a Sigurdsson cross – the the result of an assist or goal for the Icelandic international. His influence in the final third is the accurate passing – the advanced playmaker behind the striker often has a low passing accuracy due to attempting passes that are not on and forfeiting possession – Sigurdsson’s pass accuracy is 87.4% with 49% (73 out of 149 completed passes) going forwards. With this area of his game strong, it plays to the strengths and playing style of Swansea Southampton (Currently 4th place) - Saints did the double over Swansea last season and are unbeaten in five overall against them (W2 D3). - Southampton are looking to win three games in a row for only the third time since returning to the Premier League in August 2012. - Graziano Pelle has scored three goals from just six shots on target in the Premier League for Southampton. Graziano Pellè With the departure of Rickie Lambert leaving Southampton short in strikers in their squad, new manager Ronald Koeman brought his star forward from previous club Feyenoord. Pellè had excelled during his time in Holland with an incredible record of 50 goals in 57 league matches (55 in 66 in all competitions), but his career in his home country of Italy – a total of 21 goals in 106 appearances – had left reservations over whether Southampton’s number 9 could cope at this level. The Italian striker currently has 4 goals in 5 matches though in the league and cup, and the physicality he has shown suggests will be threat against every team in the division. Winning 5.25 battles in the air on average per match, this is considerably more than the match average achieved by Rickie Lambert last season (1.76). Having 3.3 shots per match so far this season, Pellè to score at any time against Swansea on Saturday is valued at 3.17 with Tailorbet. ODDS: Swansea to win: 6/4 Southampton to win: 9/5 Draw: 23/10 TV: highlights on BBC1's MOTD Stream: Post Match Swansea manager Garry Monk: "I would question the first free-kick against Wilfried Bony. Whether it was a yellow or not I don't know. The second one was a foul but there was no malice in it. It puts us in a difficult position. "We were by far the better team in the first half. And in the second, the only shot they really had on goal was the one they scored from, which was the one time we switched off and got punished. But we will pick ourselves up and go again." Swans captain Ashley Williams: On Bony sending off... "He will bounce back. He's disappointed now, but I've got no worries about Wilf, he's one of the best professionals ever," said Williams. "He trains like a warrior every day and I'm sure he'll recover. "It's disappointing, all the lads are disappointed and after we worked so hard, to come away with nothing is hard to take. "There's stuff we can take out of the game like last week and we've got a week until the next league game to do that." On the game... "This one hurts a little bit more (than last week). We don't like to lose two on the spin, no-one does, and it was at home as well," said Williams. "We feel like we worked hard, we kept our shape and we limited them to only a few chances. "They're a passing team so obviously they had a lot of possession, but they didn't get anything clear-cut, there were a couple of headers and the goal. "We'll talk about this game and then look to the next one. We won't stew about this one. "There are lessons to be learned quickly because we've got another game and we'll look to that." "We had to keep our shape and hit them on the break. But we couldn't really hit them so we wanted to keep our shape and end up with the draw," said Williams. "In the end we nearly got to the 90, but we didn't so we'll have to work on that. "It only takes a second to score a goal and we didn't do our defensive duties on that play. "It's disappointing. "We should be able to do that for as long as it takes and we didn't. "You can't fault the lads' effort. We were dead on our feet out there and it was tough. "We're not going to point fingers, we can all take blame. "As a squad we didn't shut them out when we feel like we should have. "We'll look on the positives." On playing with Fernandez... "I thought he did really well. I enjoyed playing with him. He's obviously a really good player. It's difficult when you have a new partnership. It will take time to get used to a few things," added Williams. "We've been talking a bit and tried to nail a few things down. "It's going to take longer, but congratulations to him because he's a very good player in my eyes." Southampton manager Ronald Koeman post match: "It was difficult. We didn't play well in first 20 minutes. Swansea played well and we lost a lot of balls. It was complicated, but finally the result counts and it is a very good win. "I don't like to talk about yellow and red cards. When it was 10 v 11 it was more easy for us. We didn't create a lot but we scored the goal." Following day on Monk's dissatisfaction with the lack of a card for Jose Fonte... "I can understand why he is shouting like that because maybe it will have an influence on the decision of the referee. "But it wasn't a yellow. If you give one for that kind of action, I think he has to show 30 yellow cards in every game. "It wasn't a very hard game, a tough game, but I think the problem was the yellow cards were shown at the beginning. That was the problem. "I think for both teams it was sometimes difficult to understand the decisions." Koeman reckoned Bony may have been a little unfortunate with his first booking. "Maybe the first one I don't think he exactly meant to make that foul," he added. "Maybe it was a little unlucky, but the second was a yellow card, yes." "This was a different kind of win for us, a difficult one against a strong Swansea team," said former Benfica and Valencia boss Koeman. "When it was 11 v 10, it changed — always a red card is difficult for one team and maybe a bit better for the other team. "After the red card, we had the patience to create some possibilities and we won thanks to a great goal. "The most difficult thing in the first half was that we lost too many balls. We had some problems with the rotation of Swansea's midfield and we didn't win enough second balls, so it was difficult for us. But after the red card we had a lot of pressure and we stayed patient. "We didn't create a lot, but always you are capable of scoring goals if you are patient."
We lost our last game, which is usually the point at which managers start to make changes they have been contemplating. For me, Carroll for Shelvey and perhaps Tiendalli for Taylor. If Carroll is fit then can he possibly be worse than Shelvey has been. I don't see how Tiendalli could be worse than Taylor. This is going to be a tough match. It will further define where we are in the grand scheme of things. Southampton have not been struck as badly by the summer clearance as we might have expected. A game we need to win ... we must consolidate and confirm our flying start, we must bounce back after the Chelsea defeat, we must beat the likes of Southampton - not because they are a weak team by any means, but because we are at home, we must take 3 points at home from clubs that will be hunting and gathering points like us during the season.
From a site called 'backpagefootball' (I think)... Ki Sung-Yueng – The Premier League’s rising Asian star September 16th, 2014 by Ross Davis With the somewhat low-key Premier League departure of Manchester United’s Shinji Kagawa, wildly celebrated around the rest of the world under the banner ‘Free Shinji,’ there are now just four Asian players on the books of Premier League teams. Of the four, Ki Sung-Yueng is undoubtedly the leader in terms of performances and current ability; Ryo Miyaichi of Arsenal is on another loan deal in Holland at Fc Twente; South Korea’s left-back Yun Suk-Young is yet to play a game for QPR this term; Maya Yoshida of Southampton is the only one whom may even be mentioned as a contender for the title of best Asian player in the Premier League. However as a defender who churns out solid if predictably unspectacular performances each week for Southampton it is not quite a fair nor accurate comparison. After a difficult first season at Swansea City AFC following his move from Glasgow Celtic in 2012, Ki found his feet in the post-Di Canio regime of Gus Poyet’s Sunderland. Ki played an integral part in Poyet’s passing philosophy, which led Sunderland to the miraculous escape from the curse of bottom at Christmas, only the second team to achieve this after West Brom in the 2004-2005 under Bryan Robson’s tutelage. Ki’s role as a deep-lying midfielder provided the focal point in Poyet’s possession-based style of football. The 25 year-old Korean’s calmness and discipline in possession, and also without it, are what saw him displace former club captain Lee Cattermole for the majority of the season. It is perhaps this discipline that in a relegation dogfight brought about the decision to play Ki ahead of Cattermole; Ki’s zero red cards in his career are an endorsement of it whereas Cattermole’s seven is why they call him ‘Clattermole.’ Although in these terms Ki can be seen as a reliable disciplinarian for any team, he has not always been the model football representative at international level. In 2011 in the semi-final of Asian Cup against national rivals and neighbours Japan, Ki pulled a monkey face and performed a monkey gesture after scoring a penalty in a game that Korea would eventually lose on penalties. This lewd unacceptable act can perhaps be recognised as more of a reflection of the continual misgivings between the two nations after the history of Japanese colonisation of Korea, rather than a direct breach in Ki’s usually good behaviour on the football pitch. This 2011 act notwithstanding Ki’s discipline and performances for Poyet meant that the Sunderland manager was keen to sign Ki permanently in the summer. But, Poyet recently acknowledged the fact that his club were priced out of a move for Ki when Swansea wanted £10 million for a player who’s current was running down into its final year. So Ki, now back at parent club Swansea has been able to retain his Sunderland form of last season that earned him many plaudits. Ki even opened the 2014/15 Premier League season goal-scoring charts with his 28th minute slotted shot that silenced an opening day optimistic Old Trafford. The goal not only symbolised Ki’s post-loan improvement, but was also his long overdue, as he admitted himself in the post-match interview, first goal for Swansea. Finding himself unmarked on the edge of the box, Ki angled his body to strike the ball with his less preferred left foot what was in the end more of a controlled pass of the ball into the bottom corner past the despairing David De Gea. The goal was representative of the growing composure that Ki has when it comes to striking and controlling the ball. The side footed controlled ‘pass’ into the net was reminiscent of how Ki’s Premier League hero finishes from the edge of the area. The nickname “Kirrard” is an illustration of the love and admiration he has for the English Premier League, and especially current Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard. In adding goals to his game Ki can hope to replicate his hero’s Premier League career, and in the short-term help Swansea continue their good start to the campaign. His position in the team, alongside the ever-improving Jonjo Shelvey, provides great stability in another of the Premier League’s possession based passing teams. Indeed Swansea were ranked second only behind eventual champions Manchester City in passes completed during the 2013/14 season. Swansea completed 1,968 passes, and had an average possession of 57.3%, third in the league last season. Ki’s skill sets appear to be a perfect match for the type of football played at Swansea. The South Korean international, capped 63 times, provides the passing link between defence and attack: the defensive shield for the centre backs and the passing funnel for the more attack-minded players of the team. Ki’s passing accuracy for the first three games of the season is a high 89%. His composure on the ball, sharp turn of pace and eye for a pass has seen him excel in a Swansea team that held the joint the lead going into the September international break.
We would be saying exactly this. Hopefully bioth clubs will continue to improve and finish in the top half. You can just wait another week
No just can not see us going this way at all. We should stick with our normal formation, but go with carroll maybe holding a bit in place of Shelvey and pussh Ki on and am in total agreement with most that Taylor has had more than enough time to show us whether he is the one to play at LB and unfortunately I think he has been poor in nearly every game and that includes the Welsh game against a non league side. Time to give Tiendalli his chance.
Afraid Ronald Koeman might want this more than the usual after we turned him down. Time for ALL our players to play from first to last whistle.
Agree here. That said, given the way Southampton have started, I'd be satisfied with a point tbh. This is our biggest test so far as Utd and Chelsea were nothing to lose games, and will give us a much better assessment of how things are shaping up under Monk.
This will be a tough game, but one we can win and should being the home team, I like the way Southampton play and after some painful transfers out, Southampton are showing they have a philosophy to continue where they left off, much like us here at Swansea, I'm very much looking forward to this game where both teams will play to win, both playing attractive football too, I'm going for a 2-1 win to Swansea. and hoping that Bony will fire up on Saturday!..............
Agree with you Valley. This game will give us an indication of how "good" we are. A victory would suggest that a Top 10 finish is not beyond us.
A very tough game against on form two of the brightest teams outside the top 6 in the premiership. this has a draw written all over it on paper and i wont disagree with that as it stands. If Bony continues to miss the target like he has been doing then we have to rely on others so we really need bony to up his game and find the net in this game. I dont want to see us having more shots and losing by the odd goal because our striker cant shoot on target most of the time. 1-1 looks a good bet but im putting my trust that bony will find his form and bet 2-1 win....
Fair play considering the high profile players that have left the club this season, they are doing really well. I'd be happy with a point but feel we might just nick it. Like Dai, Bony to net the winner.
I think this will be the toughest test for us so far, and even though we are at home a point will be a decent result. Hate being so negative but a win will be fantastic. 2-2 for me.
We also battered West Ham Musty and should have beaten Liverpool. We are a better team under Koeman. He's tactically way ahead of Pochettino.
I rate Southampton and like to think we're par. I always predict a swansea win, 2:1 Swansea, Bony & Montero Fab Rangel, fernandez, Ash, Taylor Carroll, Ki Dyer, Siggy, Routledge Bony
My blind optimism hopes that they'll be running with some overconfidence and we'll be trying to make up for a poor second half which will result in a 3-1 victory.
Would like to think so, but they got the better of us twice last season and the Koeman effect could spur them on to do the same again this year. If Fernandez continues to hide away (one for over 50s there ... nearly), Taylor doesn't make a vast improvement and Bony and Gomis continue to be goal shy we could be in for a torrid time. That assumes Shelvey is left on the shelf (ves) for a while. That said I'd like to think Monk will have done his homework - especially on corners - and we'll come away with a 2 - 0 win.
Undoubtedly a tough game. Southampton are a side which could easily have more possession than us. Extremely hard to predict the outcome, but I'll go for....a draw!
