Before the window shuts (31/8), I really feel we need to add a midfielder. Agustien showed us glimpses and we all know what we have in Leon, Joe (oh and Gower, Orlandi). Harley is untested and may come good but I suspect will go on loan in a few months. We are all praying Bodde does a Lazarus. Is this sufficient? Lets face it, we have always known we are a 'little' on the small size, however in the Championship we had good little uns against ok big uns but I fear we will come across a lot of good big uns this year. I think to stay true to our game with an attacking midfielder/wing men, we just need something different in midfield as January seems a long time away when the window closes. We don't have to break the bank, but horses for courses after all. Not that I'm panicing, but survival can be all about timing. Now where can we get Claude Makele style, hungry youngster for under 2 mill...... any suggestions? STID
It depends on how we play ... if we play at a higher tempo, sharper moving on and off the ball, snappier passing, we can survive with the players we have, or with the stature of the players we have. If we're going to play at the tempo we played at on Monday, we're going to need players that can withstand the challenges they'll be receiving. Can we play at a higher tempo? Speed trumps size. Against Real Betis we looked sharp and a lot quicker than we looked against Man City. Is Man City really that much sharper, or were we just a little awe-struck with the occasion.
I am not knocking our current players as they will come up trumps throughout the season. It is a squad game afterall. Man City had size and speed and thats when our ickle boys found themselves chasing shadows at times (granted, not every team will be like Man City). I just think it's worth getting a different type of midfielder whilst we can.
agree we do need bigger midfield players to use when we play more physical sides, leon and Joe are a bit on the small side but are ok for teams that are about the same size as us....
Not disagreeing, but who would that player(s) be and where would he (they) come from. Having said that our number priority is to bolster our numbers on defense otherwise sooner or later Alfei and Jazz will be making their Prem debuts.
Totally concur swimaway - a glaring gap in the middle At times it has been Men vs Boys in the middle (not just vs man city) - and even the lower tier premier teams will offer too stern a physical (strength / pace / fitness / size) challenge for some our midfield. Agree we need to sign asap in the pratley mold
Glad to see that my campaign for some midfield bite is gathering momentum. Totally agree with this thread and the sooner we sign someone, the better. We all know that there are many instances of small players who are absolutely brilliant. That's the point, though. Our small guys are not brilliant - they are good, honest professionals who will always be at a disadvantage when they face other good, honest professionals who are bigger and stronger.
Ivor - its such an obvious weak point and glad you and a few others recognise it to be such a key issue Trouble is no obvious candidates jump to mind - Parker (tho still on the small side) may be going to QPR (and too pricey) Whos on your shortlist of possible contenders??
Number 10, I'll have to think hard about that. The obvious candidates would cost too much money as you say, so Buck might have to trawl the foreign leagues to unearth suitable players - another Bodde would be nice!! He succeeded with Vorm but it is a difficult ask given our salary structure. It seems, for instance, that it was Buck's decision not to sign Senna so as not to unsettle our existing players. I wonder about this. If I was one of those players, I might accept the situation if the incoming player was special. I would take the view that this player would be worth the extra money if he enabled the club to stay up, thus meaning that my own earnings would continue at Premier League level. Difficult one, really, because some might think this way and others not.
It seems BR has agreed with me at last....... (don't try and take the credit Ivor!) I quote the media beast and Oracle that is the Wales on Line! ...... .................Specifically. Rodgers revealed he is looking for extra muscle in the middle of the park – albeit still with the footballing qualities Swansea’s style dictates. Yet the Northern Irishman rebuffed suggestions the decision to bolster his squad has come after the 4-0 loss at the Etihad on the club’s Premier League debut. “We’re probably looking at a couple more defenders and a midfield player,” said the 38-year-old. “But Monday has not changed any view. “Certainly the game told me a lot of positives about the group we have and I think we showed we have the capabilities at this level. “No doubt it will be a tough ask but we’re here to fight and do that the way we know how which is by playing our way and if we can get three players in to reinforce that we will look into it. “We want to ensure we have as much coverage as we can in all areas because after the window shuts that’s it. “Midfield is a key part of our game and we have to ensure we have different types in there, ones who can control but also those who are combative and win the ball.”
What a cheek, swimaway!! I've been going on (other threads) for yonks about getting some steel in midfield and I mean yonks!!! But I'm happy for you to have the credit. The most important thing is that we do try and beef up midfield. Premier League players, for the most part, are stronger and fitter than ours, which brings me to another issue. Listening to various pundits and ex players etc in the media during the week, a number of them made mention of the fact that our levels of fitness were suspect against Man City. If this is true, it's bad news. BAD news. Swansea players have made mention of the fact that they always train with the ball, something that obviously aids our possession game. Now I'm guessing that most posters on here have played the game at some level and will surely agree that you do not get fit exclusively training with the ball. You have to put in the dog work to improve stamina and strength etc. We must be doing some fitness work but the question has to be asked, in view of the opinions expressed by experienced observers, are we doing enough? If we are not, I believe that we will have no chance of survival in this league. The argument about our style of play has always been that we keep possession and late on the opposition will tire and we get opportunities. I have never fully subscribed to that view because even in the NPC there were many games where the exact opposite was true. How often was our midfield overwhelmed in the second half and it was the other team asking the questions, putting on all the pressure, raining shots at DDV, hitting the post and getting late goals? It happened far too often for comfort and showed a disturbing trend that will see us crucified on a regular basis at this level. (As an aside, for me Norwich were a fit, strong team in the NPC witnessed by the fact that they were dangerous for every second of the 90+ minutes and their many late goals earned them an auto spot). Looking at our midfield, not only must it become far more abrasive, it must also be more urgent and incisive. Premier League players are intelligent. They use their heads to save their legs, they are extremely organised and extremely fit. Our slow, tippy-tappy build up play is tiring us out more than them. For me, we have to up the tempo of our game as a whole and make the midfield a minefield of an area for the opposition to try and play through. I don't think we have the players to do this at the moment, so a new signing(s) is urgent. Meantime, upping the fitness levels would seem to be a priority as well if some knowledgeable pundits are to be believed.
It was the first time that I'd heard pundits questioning our fitness levels too, Ivor, and I have to say it did ring true with me. The players we've got aren't as fit or strong as their counterparts across the league, and I guess the hope is that we can compensate (to a point) by making pretty patterns and playing nice football. Having said that, we can't afford to take that risk, I don't think. We need reinforcement, and the sooner the better to be honest. How physical is Lansbury? He's been linked again, but to be honest I'd always imagined him to be a bit lightweight. Is that Josh McCreachan a big boy? I've heard awesome things about him but can't say I know much more about him other than he's a central midfielder.
Two games. Man City saw 20mins of our game before we started showing fatigue, Wigan saw 50mins of some of our best before we again showed fatigue. Either we need to pace ourselves better or hope the fitness levels increase as the season goes on. Buck has mentioned he's in for another midfielder, and I'd be very surprised if it was one in the mould of Allen/Britton rather than Agustien. He's also after a pair of defenders (two fullbacks to let Monk/Tate cover the centre, or one fullback and one centreback and let Tatey cover wherever is my guess) which should be done over this next week with perhaps Bates as one and the others on loans being probable. I'd love to see someone like Insua on loan as he's not going to be playing for Liverpool and they might like to see him week in and out in the Premiership, not sure who the midfielder would be though. Still early days and we're playing some great stuff - just now need to get it going for 90mins and humble someone!
