That's quite a good stat. Nice find Supers! When they lost to Newcastle they had 68% of the possession. Not many teams can win with only 32% of the possession.
i think it was against villa but i'm only going from memory of the stat and opponent. the commentators certainly made comments about it at the time!
The way they play doesn't bother me one way or the other but there are 2 things that do get my goat. Firstly, the idiots who compare them to Barcelona. Have they ever watched Barcelona? Yes Barcelona do pass the ball sideways and backwards for 30 seconds or so but then, 5 seconds and 2 defence splitting passes later, the ball is in the back of the net. Messi on his own has probably scored more goals this season than all the Swansea team put together. Secondly, this Rodgers for Manager of the Year nonsense. On TV last night one pundit asked in the same sentance - Are Swansea safe yet and is Rodgers still favorite for Manager of the Year!!! Am I missing something?
It will be a disgrace if he wins it, absolute nonsense. We've accrued four more points, scored a dozen more goals and beaten them home and away this season so there is no way anyone can say Rodgers has done a better job, particularly when you consider the state of the two clubs when the respective managers took over. The main reason people have been creaming themselves over Swansea is because they have picked up wins against some of the big boys - Arsenal and Man City - to grab the attention of people who don't usually look further down the league than the top six and we hadn't. However now we have beaten Spurs you can visibly see the tide of public opinion shifting and the 'experts' are all now finally taking notice of the brilliant work Lambert has done this year. Pardew should still win the award though, but Lambert should definitely be runner-up
IMO Swansea are doing fine. They have developed an excellent base in terms of squad and system on which to build. Yes they need to be more flexible, and they need more options going forward, but that is a matter of fine tuning. Their ability to hold possession and general confidence on the ball is a huge asset. They will only struggle next season if they ignore the lessons of this one, and I don't see that happening. They have improved year on year under Martinez and Rogers. As for the Barcelona nonsense, it's not the Swans fault; it's down to the sheer stupidity of so many in the media.
I don't get the anti Swansea thing. I think people misunderstand the pass, pass, pass mentality. It grinds the opposition down. Rodgers philosophy has defensive connotations in that if you have the ball the opposition cannot score, thats a big part of his ideal.
I guess we just get cheesed off with everyone raving over Swansea even though we are still 4 points ahead of them. I like them a lot, though, even though this does get my goat. They are definitely my second favourite team in the Prem because they've done things the right way and (like us) they're not pretentious (compare QPR and lots of other clubs whose fans think they are 'big' clubs).
Glad they look like being safe. Decent bunch (and fans) for the most part. I agree though that they need some fundamental changes or options to the way they play for next season. I feel more comfortable with Norwich's flexibility and ability to mix up their squad and style of play that we'll still have some surprises for the opposition next season regardless of any summer signings.
I really like Swansea and have no anti vibe against the way they play. They rightly got plaudits for the way they took apart teams costing millions in Arsenal and Man City. Like any team they will go through bad patches. Surely it is no coincidence that their form has gone down hill since Rogers got linked with the Spurs job. I would rather criticise Villa. Surely their negative one dimensional football has been found out and if they don't change things are heading for inevitable relegation in the next couple of seasons.
I have to say that I am delighted for BOTH Norwich and Swansea. We have brought so much to the league and we will be lsing 2 or 3 pretty stale clubs through relegation and replacing with Southampton and Reading. Next year's league should be the most entertaining in years and we can take our share of all credit whether it is acknowledged through the MOTD muppets or not!
Have to say, disappointed with some of the jealous/sour grapes comments - no one has tried to steal the good work done by Lambert and Norwich, actually everyone I speak to always speak well of Norwich.... Yeah we had a bad run of form and dismal result against QPR, not everyone has great results and performances all the time.... No Swansea fan believes we are Barca, or anywhere near as good, our style is just modelled the same way and we enjoy the passing game, yes some of the superb opposition give our team a challenge to break down unlike what Barca can do in a matter of seconds... But we will learn and move forward (hopefully)..... Enjoy the ride lads as one month you can be flying, like we did with the 3 in the row, including us beating Man C and demolition of Fulham at the cottage and getting all the plaudits - then the next you can lose 4 in a row and everyone thinks you play boring football..... Hope there's no love lost - still have respect for Norwich and cheers for the guys showing the mutual respect.... Hope you have a successful run to the end of the season
Batterseacanary - nothing to linger on about on of with the result today, in all honesty from what I can read, that score flattered Man C - a few minutes of weakness saw them capitalise to make it look so convincing (correct me if I am wrong), plus, how much moneys worth did that have on the pitch.... You've had an excellent season, am sure you've all enjoyed as much as I have and it looks like we'll both have another crack next season......
SWANSMAN - you have many friends on here, I'm not sure why one or two moan about you getting the plaudits, after all, if a big club comes looking for a new manager, it places Rodgers above Lambert, so you won't hear me complain! You played very well today, but I so wanted you to win your previous match! Good luck in your remaining games!
