..and we deserved the victory in the end, well done to the players, they ran their bollocks off..well some did but more of that later. I think most thought this was going to be a tough match, it didnt really work out that way for the majority of the game though,swans had most of the ball and tried to create,wigan were happy to play on the break and put everyone behind the ball when we had it. It was a more conserative performance from Swansea IMO, we played with more patience and decided to work the ball across the field alot more like rodgers used to have us do, this was a game for keep ball as when wigan had it they made us chase it, Laudrup in this respect got his tactics spot on for me. Im not going to be liked for saying this but Ben daives is killing us at the back, this boy is not a natural defender, he consistantly loses his man in basic defensive positions and it almost cost us dear today, the last few games we have been terribly exposed on that side from crosses coming in and so it was today, he has the height to out jump these players but his positioning is woeful, its clearly affecting ash williams as well. If we carry on like this we are going to lose more than we win. The boy is going to be good but its clear to see he is way out of his depth defensively, Laudrup needs to improve this area, but he may well think its enough to get us until January. My player ratings for today. Vorm- Back to his best, wasnt tested much but when he was he was solid - 7 Davies- Had a decent game,starting to venture forward alot more but im really worried about how woeful he is at defending crosses, he doesnt "feel" his man, a classic ball watcher - 6 Williams- Again didnt do much wrong, wasnt put under much pressure until the end,the whole of our back line started creaking and chasing shadows,improved but not tested - 6,5 Chico- Growing into the teamwith every game, was at fault for one of their chances when he decided ot dive in,cant fault his football and apart from the odd rash challenge will have alot to offer us as he finds his feet in the premier league. -7 Rangel- did well but looked knackered at the end!! his final ball was a bit dissapointing sometimes and was lucky Ki bailed him out when he got stranded up field - 7 Pablo- Hmmm.. from the sublime to the ridiculous i think! i honestly think he is trying too hard, getting more of an understanding with his team mates and it showed in a far better performance,some wayward passes and a few dodgy touches made me feel uncomfortable, some of his passes between players were total class though and his goal was a great finish,he needed that goal to sttle him down - 7 Routledge- Alongside Britton for MOTM, this player is starting to fulfil his massive potential and he looks almost unplayable sometimes!! im really chuffed for the guy as well, got a raw deal under rodgers but under laudrup he is proving to be the first name on the team sheet, some of his touches and passes oozed class,laudrup would have been proud!! -9 Britton- Is it just me or is this guy the best English midfielder in the premier league?? he is looking more like paul scholes than paul scholes lately!! his close control is top 5 in the prem league for me, i love the player and i think everybody does, total class and never lets his standard slip - 9 JDG- Did quite well, had a bit more fight in his play today, that positon is much better for him IMO - 7 Ki - Growing into our style and starting to click with Britts and the others, looks assured and creative,will surpass Joe Allen within the season if he can maintain confidence and results go well, a future fans favorite, buisness like performance,got tired towards the end - 8 Michu- Legend already !! puts himself about ,wears his heart on his sleeve and is one of the most prolific strikers in europe!! and he is playing for the Swans!! what a signing by Laudrup!! -8 A word about Nathen Dyer, towards the end of the game Ki had the ball and was attacking Wigan, he ran toward the area and looked for a pass,instead of Dyer moving out wide to receive an easy "out" ball from Ki he just decided to stand there in an offside position and do nothing!! something not right with Nathen,thats not like him at all, i think he has been ruffled by the arrival of Hernandez, i think his nose has been put out of joint and he is suffering from it, some wayward passing from him and not his usual all action display DG could well have cost us 3pts today if they had scored, at this level we cant afford to be spunking away chances that strikers should put away!! its happening far too often for him, its going to cost us big time one day !! Did any of our "local" boys celebrate with the spanish guys ?? didnt see it long enough on the TV ?? Overall really pleased with 3pts, it takes a bit of pressure off and the players can now relax and enjoy a victory on home soil once again, the commentators were banging on about our home form, well we have only lost to Everton so stick that in your **** hole fella's!! Thoughts on todays victory ??
Ha hA Ha.. For the first time today i heard the twats commentating say that we are 5pts from the relegation zone !! ffs !! we aint even played 10 games! i was quite confident when we went in at 0-0 because every game weve played this season we have been strong in the second half, we did fade a little bit today but that is absolutly down to nervous tension from the boys who were desperate for 3pts. Ive seen enough to think with defensive additions in january we will survive, it might go down to the wire and we will need a bit of luck but Ludrups signigns are the difference at the moment, a few confidence building performances in the next couple of games and we can be on our way.
Can't add anything to what you have already said I don't think NJ. Think Michu deserves to be ahead of DG now for our striker position, he proved that today. Gutted about Nathan though, clearly something not right. My starting lineout for next game: Vorm Rangel, Chico, Ash, Jazz/Ben Ki, Britton Pablo/Dyer, JDG, Routledge Michu.
Vorm 7 Williams 6.5 Davies 6 Chico 7 Rangel 7.5 Pablo 7 Britton 8.5 Routledge 9 Michu 9 Ki 8.5 Dyer 7.5 DG 6.5 That's how I see the player ratings, two players that are continuing to disappoint, but I'll not be negative and name, as it was a very good performance today, Michu is indeed on his way to being a Swansea Legend!...................
Fair assessment Norway. Fair play to Routledge he's really taking his chance since Sinclair left. I'm really impressed with Ki, the lad looks the real deal, he's a class act.
It was well deserved, i thought we worked hard and showed the media that the players are up for a fight, wigan in fairness look a useful team this year and they did well to draw with everton so they are no mugs thats for sure!! 3pts off city next week and we will be on our way ! Routledge is like a new player under Laudrup and the boy deserves alot of credit for keeping his head down when rodgers was dropping him all the time, his link up play was first class and for the first time since he signed we are seeing him play with a bit of swagger..and that is an awesome site to see in fairness !!
Routledge looks like another player under Laudrup, dont know what hes done but its definately working, maybe hes just installed a bit of self belief - must have been frustrating for him seeing Sinclair on the teamsheet week after week after some very average performances - long may his new found ability continue. also really pleased Hernandez got the goal, should boost his confidence no end cos at times like you say Norway he looks like hes trying too hard. This time last year i remember that Graham was suffering from a lack of confidence infront of goal and it seems he has the same problem now. he came good in the end so i will continue to back him but this time hes got stiffer competition in Michu (class!) and Moore (who I was surprised to see on the bench) one player who doesnt have any confidence issues is Ki - has looked assured since day one, hes going to be big for us...and then theres Leon, what more can you say, the only thing missing from his game is goals and if that shot had gone in today the roof would have come off! De Guzman did well today but im still undecided... ... and the defence! in general we did better today but we do look very vulnerable - if we do go ahead against teams like Chelsea how the hell are we going to defend it, the whole team in my opinion needs to learn to hold on to the ball better, after they scored we defended too deep. anyway , i m very pleased with todays performance, crucial with 2 tough teams coming up - UP THE SWANS!
Routledge is a revelation this season - he is involved in everything positive that we do going forward. Sparkling pace, clever touches, exciting to watch. Michu is just king at being in the right spot at the right time - what a pickup. DG???? Really ..... WTF. How he scored all those goals in the championship speaks volumes about the general quality of that league, cause he's even blowing bread and butter situations for a decent forward up here. Michu to start as the 9 again and Moore to be brought on next time PLEASE. I had a sense today that if we could have just shifted a little gear and been sharper in the pass we could buried this game instead of hanging on at the end.
I agree about Routledge, but wouldn't say he's been a revelation this season in the sense that I thought he was outstanding when given his chance last season. I would have loved to see more of him last season but for some reason Rogers didn't see it. Maybe that's a good thing though, because if he'd have been given his chance last season, maybe Man city would have snapped him up instead?
The reason Rodgers didn't fancy Routs last year is because he does sometimes have a bit of an erratic final ball. Twice yesterday he tried silly passes (one from our own cornerflag and back into the middle of the goal!) and that would have put off Rodgers and his possession at all costs mantra. I'm not taking away from him because he is playing brilliantly - but I would like him to take chances in the right places. This was, to a lesser degree, something that Hernandez was guilty of - and, like Routs, he still played very well... but it was sublime to ridiculous for both of them. Not to sound like a grump, but a good benefit of Michu playing upfront is that he should be tackling less around our box. He tries, he gets stuck in but he has the Scholes about him. That all said, there was the tactical shift today - pushing Michu upfront meant that we had three solid midfielder ratehr than two and a deep-lying forward. This was something we did at the beginning of last year to set the foundations for the year before Gylfi came in. It doesn't necessarily reflect on the strikers (although DG has gone a bit tubs), but is the most sensible approach when we have a wobbly defence at the moment. It will help us to build confidence and then make a shift to two later in the year. One thing no-one seems to have commented on (maybe reflecting the fact that no-one will agree with me) but I think Chico is growing with each game. He is really committed and has an eye for turning defence into attack.
Agreed, I though he was a contender for man of the match yesterday. I was in a cafe in Lampeter in the week and I overheard some old guy slating Chico saying that he'll never make a premier league player. I was just about to comment, but he then went on to slate Laudrup so I thought what's the point?
"Im not going to be liked for saying this but Ben daives is killing us at the back, this boy is not a natural defender, he consistantly loses his man in basic defensive positions and it almost cost us dear today, the last few games we have been terribly exposed on that side from crosses coming in and so it was today, he has the height to out jump these players but his positioning is woeful, its clearly affecting ash williams as well." I strongly disagree with the above statement. He has learning to do in the art of defending, yes, but so does Neil Taylor. He was up against an excellent player yesterday, in Kone, and the "offside" goal aside, did not do much wrong. Indeed, he at least listens to Ashley when our captain is instructing the line; something that Chico consistently refuses to do. Individually, Chico is good in the challenge and good in the air, but in terms of the defensive unit he is an absolute liability and is, in my opinion, the defining reason as to why we look so susceptible at the back. Ash is looking to back up Davies, as he should, yet is also having to keep an eye on Chico who constantly ball watches and moves up-field to attempt challenges. It makes his performances eye catching but also limits the effectiveness of Williams and Davies, and also Britton who has to keep an eye on Chico in order to fill in his CB position when he decides to go wondering. The loss of confidence in Ash's game recently is down to this, I feel. He has no confidence in his defensive partner and is unable to settle as a result. Chico's lack of discipline is also a dent on the successful distribution of Vorm. Last year, Vorm would have had the confidence to pass short to Leon, Ash, Joey or Caulker even if an opposing player was within 5 ft of them. This year, it just isn't happening and that is down to either a lack of confidence from Vorm in the ability of his team mates to retain the ball under pressure, or it is a direct instruction from the manager. If it is the latter, then it shows bad tactical nous as we repeatedly invited Wigan onto us for the final twenty minutes by not keeping the ball. If it is the former, then the lack of confidence and understanding between defence and keeper is a real concern and could easily have cost us the game yesterday, as it has a number of games previously this season. I have high hopes for Bartley pushing for a starting spot when he's fit. Also, Hernandez is a turkey and has a worse than touch than Kuqi and all the endeavour and grind of Robinho playing on a snowy January night in Hull. In six months time, I hope I am proved an idiot for saying this, but, goal aside, he was worse than average yesterday, and if I was Dyer I'd be annoyed and perplexed at being replaced by him.
Apparently Routledge was close to leaving last season, due to the lack of opprtunity here, we never heard him moan about his lack of chances though and he deserves credit for that, as said above , routs deserved more games last season,some of his play was exceptional but Sinclair would always reclaim his place which pissed off alot of fans and made Sicnlair's popularity suffer as a result. Anyway, a crucial win for us and 3pts . Im hoping we will see a change at full back soon, Ben Davies is going to struggle against the likes of city and chelsea,it could get embarrasing and damage his confidence. Laudrup doesnt have great options but its affecting Ash's performance IMO and im seeing the defence look quite disjointed at tmes. Chico is getting better with each game and that helps alot .
Big apple- Fair points, i do think that that Chico is still learning our system and communication at the moment, he is playing as more of an induvidual than he maybe should be doing right now but i feel the raw materials are there to build on. Ben Davies is nnot keeping his man tight and on many occasions they are free to ghost in and steal a yard or two and gain a free header/pass, of course the boy is young and is still learning his craft but he needs to learn fast! his frailties are consistant and that is more of a worry than the odd mistake,it means he isnt learning or not being told or not listening or analizing his game. Your point about not doing much wrong is also fair, but thats the problem really. The "offside" goal which of course clearly was is a classic example of his awearness, he is doing tht kind of thing every game and it is often resulting in a goal, indeed it should have been a goal yesterday! Ball watching or not keeping his player tight is one of the most fundemental things a defender needs to learn about, he doesnt need to out jump a player or beat him to the tackle all the time he needs to be aware of what is going on around him. It sounds harsh as he is doing well considering but he will and is conceeding us points, i thinkn he needs a game or two just to take stock of his great progress and watch from the bench, it could also be that Laudrup thinks he is the best bet for us..if thats the case we got problems up until January
Looking good - positive, confident, up for it Reminiscent of Spain - creating loads of great chances; not great conversion ratio That's what you get with a False 9.... but its absolutely the right thing for us....
Thought Chico was excellent yesterday. Didn't put a foot wrong at the back or when going forward. He really took the pressuse off Ash, which was badly needed.
Yeah, Chico does seem to have settled a bit now- not running around ike a headless chicken. He showed a lot more composure. I only wish we could have kept a clean sheet yesterday - we need to stop shipping goals.
