Let me down on a 9 team acc.;..........................................................had you to lose away .. But then you outplayed a ten man team that sold all their best players so well done in that respect, why all Union flags and no Dragons flying tho in that 2x taxi away support? We are Welsh and be proud lads and great performance and goals,you looked class .........................;O)
I would like to add my congratulations....probably on the wrong thread but this is as near to a hurrah that the Swans will get from JH. Also saw the match on TV against Liverpool with a load of Jacks....real one-eyed they are....but they played well and had their chances......altho' they didn't see the Liverpool chances
Didn't see it but heard bits on the radio. Sounded like the Swans played very well, 10 men Valencia or not.
I watched the whole game and they were in control from the off. The goal from the freekick was absolutely superb and well worth watching if you haven't seen it yet. You can say that they were down to 10 men, not the team they once were etc. but you can only play what is put in front of you and they played them off the park from beginning to end.
Beating a club like Valencia on their home turf, let alone the manner in which they did it is certainly impressive. Didn't see the game but watched a few highlights since that suggested Swansea were a different class, no matter the implications of dropped standards at Valencia nor "only playing 10 men" on the day. Don't follow Spanish football at all (except when I watch Swansea ), so haven't been aware of Valencia struggling this season. From what I did see of them last night, I think the Swans will have a tougher game against Palace. The Valencia man marking was piss poor, and some of the last ditch tackles by their defenders were a bit limp-wristed to say the least. Nothing away from Swansea at all - great result and that's all that matters - but Holloway's lot will provide a completely seperate bunch of problems. Plenty good enough to go up there though and come back with all three points. In fact, I fear us even getting a point off Spurs on Sunday might not be enough to keep our noses in front in the Prem table.
Not to mention this is the same Valencia that only lost 3-2 at home to Barcelona So they can't be all that bad after all.
There were more Spanish players in the Swans team than what Valencia had. Made me smile that little stat. But Swansea were impressive and deserved the win, and an impressive win it was. Well Done
Was that roughly the same 11? You'll know from a few other threads I'm not afraid to give Swansea credit where it's due but that Valencia looked terrible! The match commentry said something about them changing 2 of their back 4, three times already this season (or something like that). Swansea looked certain winners before the correct sending off. 3-0 away in Spain is a great result whatever way you look at it (3-0 is a great result anywhere tbf). It was very impressive but that Valencia team is a pale impression of Rafa's Champions that built their reputation as a 'big' european side. Sparks, I'd honestly rather Swansea beat Palace on Sunday. CP are one of the 3 sides that'll make it easier for us to stay in the PL, Swansea will not be anywhere near the bottom 3 and it's highly unlikely we can finish above them given they've had a 2 year start on us.
I agree Steve, although I have a biased view, CP losing 3 points on Sunday is best for us both in the long run!
I agree about the principle of looking for three teams to lose regularly to help us retain Prem status, but it's far too early to say where any of us will finish. I had any three from Palace, Stoke, Hull, Sunderland and Norwich suffering the fate to keep us up. We need at least dozen games under our belts to see how the table is stacking up - a single win with only a handful of games gone could propel most clubs into a top 6 slot. Swansea look a class act as they did earlier last season, but without suggesting for a minute it will happen again, their form in their last dozen games was relegation stuff - anyone could succumb. I also agree that at the moment, they look top half material, and for us to finish above them would take some doing in this our first Prem season - just staying there would be enough for most of us.
Thanks for all the compliments guys (if some a bit backhanded, but can totally understand that! ) And thanks JH, a nice OP and the banter included made me laugh - good on you! Unfortunately had to settle for watching the game in the pub (very long story) and was very impressed (weak 10 man Valencia or not). Think Palace will be a harder nut to crack, they will target that game as a must win and we will have to play very well to get any result. How do you fancy your chances against Spurs? I feel that we played the wrong tactics against them; should have attacked from the start, but they look a very good team and deserved to win against us. Good luck on Sunday lads!
I agree it's early but if for example Palace, Hull and Sunderland finish above us do you think we can find 3 other teams to finish above? All I want from this season is to stay in the PL anything else is a bonus for me. If we can do that easily finishing a good few places clear then that's great but the reality is most the teams here are ahead of us in terms of squad quality. Give MM a year or 2 of adding more like Kim, Medel, Caulker etc and we can start bothering the mid table or even better. One step at a time and this year is a out consolidation. I'd slap your hand off if you offered me 17th place now, although I do believe we will finish above that this season.
Well thats something to consider but we also were not full ST either and were not the same team that had just played Liverpool, we brought in 2 new defenders (CB and LB) no Routledge, Britton, Williams, we had Shelvey on the bench. So neither team were full ST Anyhow, looking at the teams v Barca and us, they had 5 players who started both games. And 1 who was subbed on in the Barca game, started against us, so could call that 5 n half
If all three of Palace, Hull and Sunderland DO finish above us, we'll deserve to go down. We're potentially a far better outfit than the three of them, especially the two that came up with us. Sunderland are suffering the Di Canio "revolution", and although a Premier club last season, weren't very good under O'Neill anyway.
I agree with that, I'm just very conscious that there are 5 or 6 teams in the PL that it's better for us if they lose each week or draw if playing each other. West Ham went down on 45 points one year!!! The lower the bar the for 17th the better. I did say preseason the Di Canio revolution looked more like QPR than a Chelsea/Man city taking it to the next level. Had a few people shoot me down in flames and they hadn't even sold their best player at that point. He's replaced people for the sake of it rather than add the few bits of real quality that budget would have allowed. I don't think they can sack him because he's the only person who's even heard of half the players he's bought!
