I predicteda2-2. Draw and thats how it turned out but on reflection we wasted the win, some school boy defending cost us. Badly and made the game a battle when it should have been a stroll. Laudrup got his game play correct and cant legistate for the likes of Ben, chico, tiandalli and ash being **** at the back! Their first job is to defend not go prancing round the field. We were as slick as I've seen for a while and played some beautiful stuff , norwich played the stoke way and had results from it, their goals were a result of our poor defending and nothing else. Michu should have won it late on but blew it, he had a perfectly good goal d7sallowed in the f7rst half but generally his finishing wasn't up to his high standard. When michu and Luke Moore play together the swans create at will in the final 3rd, surely laudrup needs to stick with this? My thoughts on the players are as follows. Vorm- 7 did ok, was in no mans land for the first goal and should have seen the danger, didnt have too much to deal with, but was safe. Davies- 6 very poor for the first goal, got outstripped by the Norwich player and left for dead, is f8rgetting his job, which is to defend! Rightly subbed by laudrup. A game too far for him but he will learn from the experience . Ash - 5. Worst game ive seen for a while, he knew exactly what norwich were going to offer and should have geen into the boys when we got the first goal, allowing our full backs to go gung ho , 1nil up was not a wise move. His touch was poor and he looked flustered quite often. Has his head been turned? Needs to switch on next. Game. Chico- 6. Poor today , defensively was up and down but stuck to his task . Got done by grunt holt twice and made a meal of it...which was the correct thing to do. It sometimes is the only way to get the free kick, if we had done the same ahainst spurs the result would have been different. Tiendalli - 7. Good going forward but was almost suicidal at the back. At fault in the first goal and almost cost us later but got a foot in to nick the ball qway whennthe net was about to burst. Was great on the ball, would prefer him in front of rangel. Routs 6. Tried but the ball didnt run for him today. Dyer 5. The most frustrating swans player this season, I love him but by god does he struggle in the middle, ye cant even lay the ball off without it going to the opposition! People moan at pablo but dyer has been just as poor but got away with it for large chunks of this season. Up and down game yet again. Ki. 7. Was solid but lacks a bit of bite, always serms to be 2 yards off his runner which was critical for the first goal, did well with the ball and kept us ticking over. Jdg. 6. Not sure about him todau, was more of a steady eddy performance , no frills. Just average, £7m looks well generous on recent form . Michu. 7 did great playing in his correct position, maybe a bit rusty when he had chances running from deep, worked hard for the team , nice to see him score yet again. Moore. 8. Man of the match for me, not gecause he was everywhere but because ye played an intelligent game, took a lot of pressure iff michu and took the brunt of the digs from the Norwich defenders, scored a goal and gace us options, was able to give the defence a rest by holding up the ball when needed . A centre forwards pertormance today, pleased for him . All in all im very happy with the point, norwich is a hard place to go and our players eeserced a result, the marks are a hit low but only because. 3 pts was on offer if we had been a hit less gung ho at times. Thoughrs on the valuable point ?
a point is better than none, i thought Dyer was woeful, once again set piece defending was awful, michu should have had 4
They are a physical side, and our boys know that, and it's not as if we haven't played them before, we had them on the rack, but failed to finish them off, we have missed too many sitters these last three or four games, and it has cost us, as it did again today, thought that we lost concentration at the back today, and it's criminal to give this side set pieces around our box. Thought that the movement between Michu and Moore was very good, shame Michu wasn't at his best, because it let these dirty buggers off the hook!...............
Agree Dragon, the overall team performances have been decent but our finishing at key times in the games has been extremly costly to us, i must say that Michu's dis-allowed goal waas bit of a blow , there was nothing wrong with it !! the sitter he mised at end was staggering by his standards though,maybe it took a bobble or something as the pitch didnt look all that great today. Michu can be forgiven for a run of patchy form,he is the reason we are still in the prem league and he has been more consistant than any other player including saurez and van persie. I thought Holt was his typical dirty self, i dont like when chico does the theatrics but he did get caught both times, sometimes the player needs to bring it to the attention of the referee, if chico had acted all manely and tough about those incidents then holt would not have been booked but chico might have ! A point up there shows Laudrup got his tactics correct, something rodgers failed to do, and i think overall Norwich would conceed that Swansea were the better team, take our poor defensive effort out of the game and it would have been pretty much one way traffic, there was a similar 20/25 min spell against spurs too, its something that a captain should be well on top of, keeping everyone on their toes is part of his job not the managers.
Should have won this at a canter with the level of dominance we had at times Midfield as usual lacked the requisite bite and determination to dominate with conviction Fullbacks to blame for shoddy defending I think Ash is not up to his usual inspirational self; is not on the front foot driving or dictating; squandering possession all too easily
a point is better than nothing but yet again we barely get a draw when others have beat them off the park.....
Should have wiped the floor with a very mediocre Norwich side. Michu will be disappointed not to have bagged a hat trick.
Michu will indeed be dissapointed, really wears his heart on his sleeve that boy!! Norwich were desperate for points today but i thought we contained it pretty well, earlier in the season our goals were coming at the right times,now the same is true of the opposition. Im not sure if Ash is having a dip in form or not, its difficult to work out as all the defensive unit were all over the place for the first goal and the corner but as captain he shouuld now by now where the threat will lay with Norwich !! we were pushing a game we didnt need to push thats why they equalised,that showed a lack of understanding IMO. As i said earlier though ,i am happy with a point, it stops the rot and gives us a platform to work on for the Southampton game.
I think that Ben needs a break, he was thrown in the deep end, and has taken to it like a duck to water, but he is looking jaded these last few games, and I wouldn't mind seeing Taylor come back in now, we need him!...................
A bloody striker we need...well played to moore but as a bit part player its going to be much harder for him.....he should be playing as striker every game and not now and then. we let danny go and lita (who scored again today) and we rely on a midfielder to get the goals....we should have put half a dozen past norwich today...so that is 4 winless games on the trot now.....not good...
At least it isn't 4 losses on a trot like a certain favourite of yours guided us to last season, and a point at Norwich in ML first attempt
winless....a point means nothing, 3 points mean nothing we are safe but a win means everything, points dont matter for us now but a win definately does and we could not get it against a poor Norwich side and that is not good after all the possession we had......
Well I did think we would get a win. But I not to despondent with a point, so glass half full today. Dai you mention not good with all the possession, how many times have we lost with a bucket full of possession. We've done that under Laudrup and Rogers, so no change there.
Why does everyone assume we are totally safe ?? its 10 pts but still mathematically possible isnt it ?? Anyway , i'll leave that one for another day. When Canas signs in the summer he will give us plenty of dog in the midfield, his game would be perfect for us, kemy will IMO need to be moved on as i dont think he has taken his chances when given them, canas looks like the strong midfielder some beleive is essential to us. Another defender is a must too, seeing us getting done by such sloppy defending really winds me up, ash was very patchy today,so was chico. Ash has no competition for his place and i cant help but think thats not a good thing! I think he may well be on his way in the summer and all things considered if the money is to good to turn down then an experienced big strong hard centre half is a must. The boy mentioned in the post the other day looks like a beast,its that type of player we need,ash is smal for a centre half and sometimes we really notice it!!
I think the scores are a tad harsh. Mostly on Ash and Dyer. I thought Ash kept the big Kamara guy quiet for a lot of the game...Maybe he gave away possession or whatever, but for large parts of the game he was solid...Along with Chico Mmm, I can't really say much about Dyer, I just don't remember thinking he had a particulaly bad game. Tiendali...interesting, he was heavily involved, but I thought he was slightly wasteful and I wonder if we had someone of a higher quality would we have won today? Did he get involved a lot because he is good player, or is it just the system. Is there someone who could do it better than him, for next season. Moore did all the things he could have done.
you dont believe all that bogey team rubbish do you valley.. Its what people say when you dont win as a feel good factor....there is no such thing...
Rhys- I understand if you think the scores are a bit harsh, its just something to kick off the debate really, i did feel though that ash didnt have a strong game in terms of his touch on the ball,his control of the defence his captaining of the team and his inability to lead from the front today. He would have known everything there is to know about Norwich away, dwight,chico and Ben didnt. It was down to Ash to make sure those boys did the job of defending first and attacking second, if you look at the first goal,the whole defence is a shambles!! we were winnning 1-0 at the time so why such a lack of leadership? keep it tight when you score,especially away at Norwich!! Splitting hairs i know, but i felt this was a game where we could have picked up an away win,in the end we were lucky to get a point! the lower scores reflect the fact the boys collectively blew a great chance of 3 pts
It all about not having a top striker why we are struggling, it always have been, we have not had a proper striker since trundle days who could make goals out of nothing....we could also do with a couple of quality defenders so we can rest those who are not showing their best......also why are we playing our second best keeper every game now.....Lots and lots of work to do by laudrup if we want to be a force next season.....
