Oh yes, it's in the Yellow box! 16 points better off than last season, and still two games to go? Not bad for a Rookie...........
As previously mentioned, we've got goal-line technology to thank for the 3 points as well as a magnificently spirited display. Ref even looked dubious in awarding the goal. Reminds me of last season when JDG was put through clear on goal and the final whistle was promptly blown!
I'm sorry but I agree with Wenger, we "refused to play football". We don't play like that every week, last week was a better performance for instance, but it seems I'm watching more games where the Swans "refuse to play football" than games where we do play this season. This deeply saddens me. Under Jackett I wanted him gone because of the style of football even though we were climbing higher up the table....Sousa I had a lot more patience for, given the circumstances....at the moment Monk is a lot like Jackett for me. I take nothing away from the achievement, he might even get to 60 points this season and 6th/7th place which would be incredible for a club our size....Monk and the players will deserve every bonus, every bit of praise coming their way. It's just that "refusing to play football" is not what I go to football for.
The bad football for me is definitely a fair trade to have 6th place within distance with only 2 games left. But only right now. I'm happy to achieve these positions playing the way we are, so long as there is an aim to revert back to our sexiness. Finishing as high as 6th will definitely attract higher quality players to our club, and the more quality we add, the better we will perform. So hopefully its just a case of grind out the results for now, and let the football be a result of that success.
Have to agree (and have been saying so all season so there's no need for anyone to point that out). I'll support the Swans no matter what but I support them for football not for being able to crow at gaining 3 points (and for the usual twisters that don't mean I want us to lose or I support Cardiff) or where we are in the table. Given Monk's reluctance to come out and say he wants European football I can see no point in trying to get 6th or win cups if it means we play as we did at the Emirates. We have ridiculed the likes of Stoke, Cardiff and QPR for parking the bus so it is hypocritical to applaud it when we do it.. It seems like 'getting back to the Swansea way' is in fact going back to the Jackett era.
Utter nonsense, we don't play like that every week, So you would have preferred us go there pass it around and get beat 3-0 than play the way we played. When Mourinho does it, it is genius when we do it, it is refusing to play. I as much as anyone love it when we play football the way it should be played. But, there are times and places when you have to change things and play to the conditions. That's what we did and won 3 points. Please point out the last time we parked the bus. twice I can think of Arsenal and Saints and guess what 6 points. Tried to play against Chelsea Guess what got beat 5-0 and 4-2. Maybe QPR and Cardiff should have done it a bit more effectively and they wouldn't be playing their football in the Championship. As for Stoke I can't remember them parking the bus rather kicking their way to wins. I was sceptical of GM when appointed manager, But have to be honest he has added a spine to us now and I am still staggered there are some clowns out there who wont give him any sort of credit and are still looking for any opportunity to have a go at him. For shame on you people.
The point is we shouldn't play the same way for every game, we complained enough when Martinez and Rodgers were accused of having no plan B , now that we adapt our style of game to suit the opposition some are complaining because we have used a plan B. Sorry but I would rather play ugly if you like for a few games in a season and get 3 points. Besides we didn't have a centre forward on until the 80th minute, so if Arsenal can't score in that amount of time, isn't the problem more theirs than ours?
For me, the result v Arsenal proves that Monk is learning very quickly in this league from his mistakes. We went toe to toe with Chelsea and got butchered. Monday night, Monk deployed a different approach with the idea of keeping the score 0-0 until we could get Gomis on the pitch. Gomis came on and we won, exactly the same type of tactics v Southampton. Most said we were lucky v Southampton, but Monday night proved that Monk has worked out 3 very effective game plans to get us 3 points We can now dominate teams with possession, play a very effective defensive and counter attacking style and we can also play the 4 CMs in the diamond.
Another article on "bitter" Wenger http://news-me.com/2015/05/12/bitte...arsenal-concern-after-strange-swansea-defeat/
No, we ridiculed Stoke, Cardiff and QPR for playing hoofball, and for only being able to play hoofball. Stoke have evolved a bit under Hughes, but those teams were only ever effective playing negative defensive football and percentage attacking football. They had no other option. Their players couldn't play football, and didn't seem to even be able to learn to play football. They knock it up to the big boy and work off scraps in the box. Rightly ridiculed. We, unlike all the teams you mentioned, can do more than basic percentage football. We can dominate games and possession when we feel we can, and we have many times this season, still maintaining an average possession above 50% across the season and scoring some stunning team goals from slick play. We can compete toe-to-toe against combative, physical units and come out on top. And we can park the bus against the top and form teams in the division and come away with 3 points. This season has had it all, and somehow the team gets compared to a League 1 side managed by a manager who, while he did well for us, has always managed in the lower divisions. The same manager who persisted with 442 and thought that KOL and OTJ was a valid option as a midfield two. This is a different kettle of fish, sorry. We were heading for the Championship eventually under Jackett, but we'd have never gone higher using his systems. Garry Monk has eclipsed all league achievements by all recent Swansea managers by reaching 56 points and likely finishing at least 8th in the Premier League. If he qualifies for Europe through the league system, it will be a far greater achievement than qualifying through a cup. Breaking into the top 7 in the league would be monumental.
I don't understand how people can't enjoy seeing us change tactics on a weekly basis. It's massively intriguing to watch and analyse and it shows how far we've come. We've got players that we know can play possession football and sometimes we ask them to express themselves (Stoke and Newcastle) and sometimes we ask them to sit in and keep it tight (Saints and Arsenal). The benchmark of success is not style of play, it's winning football matches after 90 mins. Under Rodgers and Laudrup, there were some matches that used to bore me to sleep (usually the ones that we had 70% possession but couldn't create chances) and there were games where we looked so weak and open defensively. We only had one way of playing, and when we couldn't get going we would crumble defensively, but naively keep trying to play. We were naive as a team, thinking that if we played well we'd win. But teams worked out both Rodgers and Laudrup's Swans and by the end of both of their tenures they were having little success.
You know You have got a good manager when he can out fox his peers with tactics. Arsen was out foxed and he don't like it........Maybe we should have asked him first on which way should we play to accommodate his team....What a bad loser and i hope Monk will carry on playing mind games next season and change the way we play to baffle these big time charlies for evermore....Best season in Swansea 's history...
first time on since the win. watched the first 73 minutes on telly then had to drive to work. an almighty roar was heard on the streets of Brisbane when we scored and a louder one when the final whistle went. I think I scared a few motorists. a great win, can we do it tomorrow against City - absolutely, well planned by Monk and his team.
Terror i am all for wanting to play football but did you really want us to try and go toe to toe with arsenal whilst they are/were the form team in the league. Sorry but monk got it spot on if we had got tonked like qpr then people would be pulling monk apart now well done gm. That is 12 points from the top 4 at present oh am i happy with that
