It was never going to be an easy game against an organised Swansea side. I thought first half was a very close call. We'd shaded the first 20 mins before Swansea came back into it.
Then second half Swansea looked good. We had chances (i'll get to those in a minute!) but in terms of general play we were on the back foot for spells. We looked very deep. I can understand Bruce wanting us to be hard to break down and then hit them on the break but we had nobody charging forward to counter them. We needed to put far more pressure on the ball and work harder when we haven't got it.
I thought Colback was excellent on the left. Not a natural winger but I would happily play him there again. Composed, solid, combative. Sess was our spark up top. He looks so comfortable on the ball, always ready to run at them, get stuck in and can play a killer pass...it's just a shame Gyan wasn't reading from the same page...
He looked better than he did v the mags but still nothing like the Gyan we saw last season. He got himself into the right areas but squandered 3 big chances, chances that (dare I say it?) B£nt would have buried...
At the back we did a decent job. They put us under pressure and got a fair amount of chances but only really had 1 possibly 2 clear cut chances. Ferdinand and Brown looked composed. Bardsley played well and O'Shea was solid. They got a clean sheet away so they must have done something right.
So overall it looked better. Nothing special but better than the Brighton horror show. However each match that goes by it becomes even more painfully obvious we need a goal poacher. Not particularly a target man IMO just a goal machine. Somebody who can create something out of nothing. Wickham looked decent today and we have Ji, both of whom will adjust to the prem and are both tall lads.
We lack a natural finisher. Get one of those and we'll be pressing up the league in no time. If we're done for the summer and don't sign anyone...then there is definitely some cause for concern...
Then second half Swansea looked good. We had chances (i'll get to those in a minute!) but in terms of general play we were on the back foot for spells. We looked very deep. I can understand Bruce wanting us to be hard to break down and then hit them on the break but we had nobody charging forward to counter them. We needed to put far more pressure on the ball and work harder when we haven't got it.
I thought Colback was excellent on the left. Not a natural winger but I would happily play him there again. Composed, solid, combative. Sess was our spark up top. He looks so comfortable on the ball, always ready to run at them, get stuck in and can play a killer pass...it's just a shame Gyan wasn't reading from the same page...
He looked better than he did v the mags but still nothing like the Gyan we saw last season. He got himself into the right areas but squandered 3 big chances, chances that (dare I say it?) B£nt would have buried...
At the back we did a decent job. They put us under pressure and got a fair amount of chances but only really had 1 possibly 2 clear cut chances. Ferdinand and Brown looked composed. Bardsley played well and O'Shea was solid. They got a clean sheet away so they must have done something right.
So overall it looked better. Nothing special but better than the Brighton horror show. However each match that goes by it becomes even more painfully obvious we need a goal poacher. Not particularly a target man IMO just a goal machine. Somebody who can create something out of nothing. Wickham looked decent today and we have Ji, both of whom will adjust to the prem and are both tall lads.
We lack a natural finisher. Get one of those and we'll be pressing up the league in no time. If we're done for the summer and don't sign anyone...then there is definitely some cause for concern...
