First half Wayne Routledge goal enough to see off our Dutch "sister-club"
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| The Swans celebrate Wayne Routledge's goal |
Swansea today played out a 1-0 win over ADO Den Haag, a club with whom we've forged a strong bond thanks, mostly, to the efforts of director John Van Zweden. The Swans again changed the team more or less completely at half time, but trusty old Gerhard Tremmel completed 90 minutes. Whether this is to be viewed as an indication he's being considered for more of a no1 role, or an appeasement for being relegated to the bench again soon you can't say.
It was hard to tell from the stream I viewed the game on, but it appeared to me that Ki finished the game playing at centre-back? If anyone who was at the game could confirm this it'd be great, as given he played there in the Carling Cup final it's possible Laudrup is thinking he can mould the languid Korean into a ball-playing centre-back. In terms of distribution, players like David Luiz would have nothing on Ki. The game was also notable for Wilfried Bony making his Swansea debut, and he looked lively from the off when he was brought on for the second half. A couple of neat twists and turns saw him twice threaten, but the Den Haag keeper was up to anything the Ivorian could produce on this occasion.
A particular highlight for me though was how confident Jazz Richards seemed. Some regular game-time at Palace last season, coupled with a few words which indicated he'd be seeing first-team action this season seem to have given him the boost he needed, and it looks like he intends to take the opportunity with both hands. At one point he was faced up against two Den Haag players right on the touch-line, and produced a couple of neat touches which saw him beat them both in succession, before being fouled by the latter defender - Jazz got up unscathed, but his assailant required medical attention. It's possible he's the hardest player in the Swans' squad, but he just doesn't know it yet.
Shelvey hoping regular game-time in SA1 will help him gain further international honours
Whenever any Swansea player of English descent starts talking about being called up for the national team, I can't help but feel sorry for them as historically SA1 has been ignored by Roy Hodgson. He has been seen here, however you can't help but feel he was here to watch the opposition as "The Swansea Way" isn't a very good fit with good old English 4-4-2...or even with the convoluted 4-5-1 they sometimes play in a strange effort to accommodate both Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard.
That being said, Shelvey is clearly someone viewed by the English powers that be as an up-and-coming prospect, and that alone could pave the way for other Swansea players, who so far have been ignored, to be in with a shout of making the national team. When questioned about the possibility of future international appearances whilst in SA1, Shelvey reacted positively:
“That’s the hope. If I do play every week I hope my performances will get recognised international-wise.
“It was an exciting time to get my debut, not just for me but for my family as well. It’s every English kid’s dream to play for England, and then to do it at Wembley as well was magnificent. The aim is to get more. I didn’t realise I could be the first Swansea player to play for England.
“If I can make a little bit of history that would be great because I do feel if I get the chance to play every week here I feel I can get myself into the England squad, but I am still in the under-21s and I have still got another two years at that level so I am biding my time.
“I just want to get playing week-in, week-out, and it didn’t come into my thinking that when I came here it might harm my chances. First and foremost it was about getting back to playing football and finding my feet at a club again.
“Later on down the line, if you are putting the performances in, I am sure Roy Hodgson will not be bothered about who you play for. Look at Ryan Shawcross at Stoke - you’d say they are not a massive club but he got his chance with England, so I don’t think it will affect me.” Jonjo Shelvey
While I do really like the fact that on paper we have just signed a full England international there is an elephant in the room; Shelvey has played once for England and it was against San Marino. Now, I don't mean to take anything away from the player as he featured in the U21 Championships this summer (a campaign always doomed from the off with Stuart Pearce in charge), however at this juncture I'd say it's so harsh on a player such as Leon Britton that Shelvey has a full international cap and the Swansea legend doesn't.
Britton excelled in the Premiership in his first season, and in any other country I'm convinced he'd have been rewarded with an international appearance by now, but that he hasn't (and Shelvey has) says more about the way international selection works in England. As mentioned above, we can only hope (for Jonjo's sake and our own) that his performances are of a calibre which demands international attention, as it will ultimately be of benefit to the team as much as to the player himself.