The Swans' brand of possession based football is easy on the eye but it has failed to be incisive enough so far this season. The build-up is patient and it begins in the back -- Britton, Williams, Monk, and Britton are all amongst the league leaders in passes completed this season. When Swansea's central players are pressured, the out ball is often to the marauding right-back Rangel. It is either through him, or the two more advanced central-midfielders -- Gower and typically Joe Allen -- that attempt to play passes through the channels for the likes of Dyer, Sinclair, or Graham to run onto. If those incisive passes are unavailable, the ball is played to the feet of Dyer and Sinclair and the two pacy wide attackers have a go at their markers. In this particular match, Dyer terrorized Evra down Swansea's right-flank but he often lacked a final product. Dyer successfully dribbled past a defender an impressive six times in this match and he also did well to win three fouls. However, he was also dispossessed eight times because he appeared to lack the awareness of what to do with the ball when he beat his marker. Therefore, he failed to provide the incisiveness in attack with his direct play down the touchline -- his 0 key passes attests to this. In addition to Dyer, Sinclair provided width on the opposite flank and also provided direct play. While Dyer often looked to beat his marker down the touchline and on the outside shoulder of his marker, Sinclair in contrast looked to hit the space between the right-center-back and right-back -- whether that be with an off-the-ball run or while dribbling at his defender. Swansea were highly dependent on their wide players for creativity in the attacking third and while their direct play often proved a threat, it failed to break down the United defense. Because this proved troublesome in moments for United, and because it became quite obvious that this was 'Plan A' for Swansea to create chances, this avenue of attack became predictable and United adjusted. Jones was quite disciplined with his positioning at right-back and rarely ventured forward for the first hour of the match while he dealt with Sinclair. Evra began to get tight on Dyer prior to coming off for Fabio -- the latter did this effectively when he came on. Swansea do not -- or did not at least versus United -- have a player that roams between the lines. Graham worked hard up front but he often became isolated. When United's midfielders came up high to close down their counterparts, perhaps one of Swansea's three attackers could have exploited the space between the lines behind Carrick and in front of Ferdinand and Vidic. They could have gone about a possible 'Plan B' in two ways: (1) Either Sinclair or Dyer -- or another player who was not used -- could have drifted inward into this space and acted as 'interiores' -- just as David Silva and James Milner did in the recent Manchester derby. Or (2) Graham or another striker could have played as a 'false 9' and come deep for the ball in the same zone -- just as Lionel Messi did last May during the Champions League final. The latter could potentially have dragged out a center-back and created space in behind for Sinclair and Dyer to run into. This is not to say that the Swansea attackers are of the same quality to the players that they were compared to, but it is to say that they potentially try something that is tactically similar. 2nd half adjustments Swansea brought on Allen for the ineffective Routledge and probably not coincidentally, Swansea improved. Routledge played closer to Dyer and Graham in attack but he failed to link play between the midfield and attack. His poor defensive positioning made him a liability. Allen played left of center in central-midfield and he provided more drive. Gower switched to right of center in central-midfield and he played slightly deeper to where Routledge was playing. The result was Swansea seeing more of the ball in the 2nd half. However, as just mentioned, Swansea was predictable in attack still and failed to create many chances. Full Article here: http://www.thebusbybabe.com/2011/11...ea-city-0-1-manchester-united-michael-carrick
Yet we have 13 points from 12 games, after playing Arsenal, Man City, Chelsea and Liverpool away, and Man Utd at home, so we were never going to amass the points at those games, anything gained would be a bonus, so we got 12 points out of 7 games that are more of a level playing field to the Swans. Sorry but while the article is correct in some ways, its also incorrect in others, we were playing utd off the pitch for most of the second half, to say that 10 chances at goal is not many is stupid, Utd had 13 chances and scored just one goal, a recent game against Stoke we had 9 chances at goal and scored twice. Sorry you can make stats say anything to back an argument.
Pretty fair assesment overall , i see David pleat is in the papaer saying we need a bigger goal threat and should be looking to sign someone like a Rooney ,Bergkamp,van der vart or Zola type player!! thanks dave very astute comment !! got a spear £30m quid and 100k a week for wages?? Everybody seems to be an expert on the Swans style of football yet nobody has ever had the balls to attempt to play it!! pleat is right in what he says but of course we all know we are never going to sign that calibre of player, it is possible that we could find an import from Holland if we scout correctly but its going to be hard. I think most of us know what we need and i think buck knows as well, but i got a feeling its all gonna comedown to money . His comments about the clubs ambition being alligned with his are going to be a big test for the board, as ive said many times on here lately we are just a few players away from being comfortable in this league, results against Man utd arnt a problem results against the 13 clubs below europa leugue places are. We will find out over xmas where are season is going and i expect the club to back buck in whatever he needs in January . My take on the game was that Man utd could have pushed through the gears if they really needed to, if scott had scored the equaliser we would have seen Utd up the tempo IMO, a good performance from us non the less
I love the bit that says "Graham or another striker could have played as a 'false 9' and come deep for the ball in the same zone -- just as Lionel Messi did last May during the Champions League final", and "Either Sinclair or Dyer -- or another player who was not used -- could have drifted inward into this space and acted as 'interiores' -- just as David Silva and James Milner did in the recent Manchester derby". I know the article says it is not comparing our players with theirs, but he is. The reason Milner and SIlva and Messi are some of the best players in the world, is that they can make those moves at the right time, and the reason we are doing so well, is that we remain rigid in our style of attack. The more we do the same moves over and over again, the better we will be at them. This is a typically ignorant, big club view of the Swans. They think because we play a style which is close to Barcelona, we have the players to make the system freeform like Barcelona do. The writer is basing his judgements on his own team, and yes if Man Utd were playing like we are at the moment, his suggestions would be good. It could bring an extra dimension to an already top class team, but for us it could be very risky. The article is basically saying, if Swansea played a bit more like Man City or Barcelona, we would win more games, and that couldn't be further from the truth. We have scored goals and kept clean sheets playing this predictable style of attack and that's the aim of ther game. Like Jager said, we have 13 from 12 and so we are doing very well thank you very much.
I feel there's a strong element of truth in the article. We play our football but it is measured (slow) and therefore it can be predictable - better teams will always work us out. That is not to say that we are not doing well. Of course we are but we do need to progress because there is no surprise element now. The opposition will be analysing every game we play and we have to keep improving. New players will help providing they are quality; however, I would far sooner we imported one top class player than three run of the mill types because that quality player will help bring out the best in the players we have - and I would say that it's a pretty good best. There are still many lessons to be learned eg, our midfield must find a way to support Graham without leaving us exposed otherwise the goals are going to dry up again. Also, Buck must learn to take on board sensible suggestions about our play. He seemed ruffled that Alan Hansen (an admirer of our style) criticised the goal we gave away. To be honest, that smacked of arrogance to me. Let's face it, this is the first time that Buck has managed at this level. His time at Chelsea isn't really relevant to us because they have/had quality that we can only dream about - players who can do things that ours can't. We've had a decent start now we have to capitalise on it. We know that there are worst teams than us in the PL but the toughness of this division means that we have to keep proving it week after week until we are safe. At the end of the season we often see a mid-table team suddenly plummet down the league and get relegated. Buck's job is to see that we will not be that team.
My thoughts entirely, Leeeeeon. We are, who we are. We are not Barcelona or Man City. Criticising Dyer for his final ball is an example of the narrow minded thought process behind this article. Why doesn't he criticise Mark Gower for not being Zinedine Zidane and volleying it in from 25yards while he's at it? We play to the best of our individual abilities and, over time, we'll look for improvement.
Innit! Why isn't Gary Monk playing like Beckenbaur, why isn't Scott Sinclair playing like Henry and why is Danny Graham not playing like John Charles?
I don't agree with your criticism of Buck's reaction to Hansen, Ivor. The MOTD pundits are just as bad as the author of this article for criticizing individuals and teams for simply not being as good as the top teams in Europe. Rangel made an error; they scored. Their "lad" (to quote the ever knowledgeable Hansen) made an error; we did not score. Neither error was worse or better or more unnecessary than the other. It's surely just a fact that this is a game of football where mistakes happen and goals are sometimes scored as a result. It is so easy to just pick out individual mistakes and criticise and also pick out individual moments of genius and heap praise, when, ultimately, it's a game played on a purposefully uneven surface with a fairly unpredictable spherical object for the enjoyment and pleasure of those partaking, and those observing. To eradicate all mistakes, as some seem to suggest that we should be doing, is surely impossible and would render the game boring beyond belief!
Ok I've read the article S l JACKson, and yes I agree we are deficient in two key area's, and it could so easily be remedied, by bringing back Borini and Bodde, then we would be the real Swansea City, with the cutting edge up front we were under Martinez, when we had Bodde in CM, Jordi Gómez and Scotland up front. I've said many times before, that Bodde was a big lose to our midfield control, and subsequently since then we have over depended on our wingers, you have to remember that Allen missing first half, proved a point, and Rodgers needs to understand that he does not have the full strength midfield that Martinez enjoyed, no one could touch us in the middle of the park in those days, and without young Joe there, who knows well how Ferrie Bodde controlled the game, and learned a great deal from him, then we will always struggle to provide supply to Graham. Now that brings me to the issue of our striker, once again we have an issue up front, I don't think Graham has the same level of tenacity and skill of Borini, Borini had a true instinct to pull defenders out of position, a great ability to walk passed them and laugh, as he scored, Graham is not the same player by any measure, and needs to be given more of an edge from our midfield, otherwise he will struggle as he obviously is. I'm not going to get into the argument of supply, that we got into over Pintado, but there are strikers that treat defenders as inferior cannon fodder, and those that just flounder when the centre back puts a foot in, so to conclude the answer is simple, Jenkins should get Borini back, who is wasted at Roma, with their kill football style of play, and we will be back in business, though we either need Bodde back too, or a like for like replacement, or young Joe will now have to step up to the plate, as he looks like doing. By the way as an after thought, why did we not take Borini back, surely we would have known that he was not going to figure with his home club, we should have had him back on loan, not Roma!.............. please log in to view this image
Bang on DPJ. If we had Bodde and Borini, they would be the ones creating those attacking opportunities. No need for a change of style, just a bit more quality in certain areas playing the way we are now, and we will be a possible top ten side
I enjoy these debates, lads, even if sometimes we have to agree to disagree. I still maintain, however, that there are times (and situations) when it is suicidal to play football and the correct decision is to get rid. I would also guess that most PL managers would agree with that. Building from the back to attack is fine but when you are UNDER PRESSURE defending in and around the penalty area, it sometimes makes sense to whack the ball away. For me, that is not hoofball, it is professional and common sense. As for Borini and Bodde, Phil, I agree that that scenario is what dreams are made of. But we ain't got 'em and not likely to either in the near future. The situation regarding Bodde remains ominously quiet and, even if Borini became available, I would imagine that there would be plenty of competition for his signature. Could we afford him in that circumstance? We can but hope that Buck established some decent rapport with him. But, aye, what a difference they could make! Meantime, we have Danny Boy as our striker and we would be best served by trying to get better service into him and helping him with more midfield support. He is a goalscorer and will do the business IF we help him. Can't fault his work rate or his attitude. In that context the observation about Dyer is correct. I love the guy to death but for all his roasting of various full backs, the end product is far too often disappointing. Something that needs a lot of work. But, hey, isn't this great? We aren't down in the dumps. Our team is doing just fine and here we all are discussing ways and means of how our club can establish itself as a solid PL club - much better than getting depressed about a relegation fight. That might come but for now we'll leave that to others and look onwards and UPWARDS.
we need a plan B & C because whenever we play the so called big teams they are so good that they will do enough just to win against our style of football. We play good football but not good enough yet, give us a few more quality players and a few variations of our style of play and we can take away the advantage other teams will have on us.....these football pundits know what they are talking about and they are right that we need better quality up front and more attacking play so we can score more goals.....we are just 9 points off bottom place and that is not a lot and changes will need to take place in certain quarters if we are to survive the hardest part of the season to come......
I'd rather stick to Brendan's ideals too.... Narrow margins sometimes...Had we scored or had we even won, it would be completely different reviews..
Yes I know, because I was there at Wembley! and I'm sure that Jenkins would love another £45 Million next season, particularly given our stadium expansion project, so let's wait and see what January brings, as I'm sure another £45 Million will be too big a carrot for Jenkins to ignore!.............. please log in to view this image
I'd rather stick to Brendan's ideals too.... Narrow margins sometimes...Had we scored or had we even won, it would be completely different reviews.. these teams would have moved up a gear if we had equalised, we are the minnows and have very little chance of winning anyway, still it dont take away how good we played but we were never going to win.... just to pull you up on something dragon....... jenkins no longer has anything to do with money at the club, he is nothing more than an errand boy doing what Morgan tells him to do.....a figurehead like
.................. Your a star Dai, no doubt about it! Cue Jager...................... please log in to view this image please log in to view this image
As if by magic you keep saying that Dai, nothing was done without the board saying so, the directors of the club have always been in charge, no matter what you say Dai, Huw never acted independently in regards to the finances of the club ever.
