I also go to the games to watch the Swans, but there must also be respect for the opposition. Football games consist of two teams, and two Premier League teams at that, so respect must always be shown to the opposition as they are always high calibre. If you only focus on the Swans then you will end up chastising players for making mistakes against high quality opposition, when the reality is that sometimes the opposition either have the reputation or show some sublime ability to force the mistakes. It happens in football. Sometimes you just have to put it down to the opposition, and you only get that from watching the opposition as well as the Swans at any given match.
I don't believe Monk was forced into playing any formation. He could easily have adopted the same formation as at Leicester with Monty playing off Olly. Montero did a lot of good work down the flank, but from up in the Gods at St James you could see him cutting in and doing some smart work infield as well, so he certainly could play upfront ahead of the midfield diamond. Monk learned from his mistake at Leicester, saw that we were too narrow against them - given the intensity and high nature of their press - and applied the correct change to the formation to rectify against Newcastle (who, like Leicester, were also desperate for a win and would have been up for it). Our formation and width nullified their high press and allowed us to catch Newcastle with their pants down numerous times, even using Williams' and Shelvey's long ball ability to free Dyer and Montero when needed if Newcastle's backline had come up to half way. It worked so well that after about 20-25, Newcastle eased off as they weren't getting joy with their pressing. Leicester would have eased also last week if we'd had the width to escape.
I saw the quote "we reverted to a style and formation we know and play well" by someone. Well we also play the midfield diamond formation well as well. We do them both well. Showing that we are still a side capable of winning pretty, but we're also a side with an effective tactic for winning ugly. With the right additions for next year we could really become quite a complete unit under Monk. We're doing under him what I got immensely frustrated about under Laudrup when we went to sleep after winning the cup - finishing the season strongly. That's not an insult to Laudrup, just stating how I felt at that time - it frustrated me massively. I let Rodgers off because it was our first season and our target was only to survive. We were a really good team when we won the cup and had no excuses to pick up only 6 points from the last 10 games. To keep the players going until this stage of the season is testament to Monk, he is by no means the finished article, but he's successfully managed to find the correct seasonal targets to keep his players interested, hungry and fighting for points at this stage of the season (Leicester aside) - something other managers have failed to do. Pardew, Allardyce, Hughes and Koeman have all faded in recent games, no doubt through a lack of belief/intensity from their players as a result of not managing the mental side of things properly. Props to Monk for that.
Two more winnable games against Stoke and Palace to come, and as fans lets just enjoy the Arsenal and City games. Even if we get battered, it may be to be expected, both Arsenal and City are fighting to ensure automatic Champions League qualification, and City are in a tussle to finish above United to keep their bragging rights. I'm sure Monk will continue to motivate his players, but against a fully-firing Arsenal/City when our players have nothing to play for with the record already achieved and 50 points surpassed, it may be very hard now.