Swansea are in crisis
It wasn't all bad for Swansea, who did string a few nice moves together. Leon Britton looked like the Leon of old and should probably start the next run of games for that very reason. But questions remain about other squad selections. For the second game in a row, the enthusiastic Kyle Bartley replaced Argentinian international Federico Fernandez in the heart of defence. Fernandez appears to have been benched, but why? He has not been any more culpable for Swansea's poor performances than any other player.
Similarly, Franck Tabanou continues to exist only as a myth, a liminal figure spoken about in hushed whispers under the shadows of the Liberty stadium but never seen. Monk eloquently claimed that anyone who suggests any of his players aren't behind him is "a stupid person" but how can Tabanou be happy? How can Fernandez, an £8 million World Cup-caliber defender, be happy?
Reading between the lines, it seems that the players making up Monk's most recent starting line-ups are the ones who truly support him. The re-introduction of ageing former stalwart Britton and backup Wayne Routledge to the starting line-up, along with the unflinching loyalty shown to the mistake-prone Taylor, speaks quiet volumes about the constitution of Swansea's locker room cliques.
In times of poor form like the one Swansea have been endlessly enduring of late, a manager needs to be able to call on all his charges and use the right player for the right job, not the player he's better friends with. The more the pressure piles on Monk, the more he seems to turn to the old guard and those few players who remain from when Monk himself was a player.
Perhaps that in itself is a good enough reason to turn to a manager who actually doesn't know the club. The irony in Monk's appointment was that having hired from within, Swansea currently look less like Swansea than they have in a long time.
After Sunday's "hard luck" result, Monk will have bought himself time while actually achieving little. Swansea have won once and failed to score in seven of their last 11 games, leaving them just four points above the relegation zone. The crisis continues. - Max Hicks/ESPN
Valid Questions, and you can read the full article here, very good read indeed.
Link: http://www.espnfc.co.uk/club/swanse...continues-for-garry-monk-after-liverpool-loss
Last edited:
