Clinical Southampton hold firm to see off profligate Swansea
Another Premier League match down, another frustrating afternoon for Swansea City and their fans.
Swansea went into this one with as much of a first eleven as possible given injury concerns, so realistically you could say that barring the absence of Ashley Williams we essentially had a first choice XI out - sadly it wasn't enough on the day to see off a spirited Southampton side who gave very little away all match.
It didn't take that long for Saints to impose themselves on the game. Osvaldo, Lambert & Lallana all had chances early on, or should have done better when well placed, and the Swans retreated into a defensive shell which ultimately led to the first goal.
Lallana crossed into the box from the right, but his cross was only half cleared. It fell to Steven Davis, who fed Lallana (who'd continued his run well) and he in turn smashed an effort across Vorm and into the top corner. The 'keeper got a touch but he couldn't do anything about it, such was the ferocity of the strike.
There were ten minutes after the goal (which came in the 19th minute) where the Swans really struggled to retain possession, so in truth the opening half an hour was pretty poor. Between the half hour mark and half time though, the Swans pushed further and further up the field, and produced a couple of really good efforts.
First Michu was denied by Boruc, before Swansea fashioned their best chance of the match. Dyer went on a darting run in from the right hand side, beat a couple of defenders and crashed a left footed drive off the inside of Artur Boruc's near post. It would prove to be Swansea's best chance of the match.
Before the end of the half though, Artur Boruc would have to produce a really, really good stop to deny Wilfried Bony, whose header from a Rangel cross was heading to the top corner before the Polish stopper clawed it away. The Swans were firmly in the ascendancy now, and Rangel played Dyer through but Nathaniel Clyne did well at the back post to stop Routledge getting on the end of his cross.
Half time came at a bad time for the Swans as the Southampton defence was clearly rocking, and the interval gave Pochettino an opportunity to reset his team. It made a little difference, but the Swans were still on top and first Shelvey then Dyer both had opportunities after slick passing moves, but they couldn't convert.
Southampton by this point had dropped very deep, and the Swans were guilty of letting them go unpunished. Most of the good play produced from the team in white was coming down the wings, and in truth I felt we hardly got any joy out of Fonte & Lovren at the back. Bony & Michu were both fairly peripheral figures, and Saints' gameplan worked well in not allowing them space to operate in. In Wanyama & Schneiderlin they have two seriously good foils in front of the defence, and I thought they were both excellent today.
Until the 70th minute or so I was pretty confident we'd be able to get something out of this game, but once it was clear we hadn't capitalised on our earlier possession and opportunities Southampton started to gain more confidence. There was then a strange incident with about twenty minutes to go - a corner was given to Saints despite there being no touch from Nathan Dyer (who'd been adjudged to deflect the ball into touch), and Wanyama side-footed home after it had evaded everyone else. Referee Mike Dean ruled it out, however, and for what I haven't the faintest idea. Very much a case of "evening up" his previous dodgy decision, one feels.
The next real chance produced Southampton's second goal, and it was the result of some really shoddy defending. A high ball forward bounced and with Chico underneath it you'd expect the defender to clear under pressure from Jay Rodriguez. Not so. Flores tried to take a clever touch, missed the ball, and despite the retreating Jordi Amat trying to help out Rodriguez fired home past Vorm. Very poor indeed.
That killed the game as a contest, and the Swans had ten minutes to see out without making matters worse for themselves. What makes today really frustrating is that most people watching on would probably agree that we played the better football - and the statistics indicate we bossed things for the majority of the match. 58% possession and more shots in any away performance would normally result in a win, but the truth is I don't feel we threatened sufficiently throughout.
As I've said, everything good we did came down the wings, and we need to be more competitive in the middle of the park. A midfield of Canas, Shelvey & Michu just isn't cohesive enough and we can't play our way through teams with this lineup - we can retain possession but there's just not enough control in the middle of the field to allow us to build anything worthwhile. I'm really hoping Laudrup fancies giving Leon & Canas another go alongside each other as I feel with that combination anchoring the midfield we'll dictate games with a lot more balance than we've recently been playing with.
Overall, a disappointing result but not the end of the world. Some fans have been very critical of the team today on Twitter and elsewhere, but Southampton are a very good side and few teams will come away from St Mary's with points this season, and when you consider who else we've played so far this year I don't think there's cause for concern just yet. Hopefully the squad will be fully fit by the end of the international break, and we can "go again" from there.
On a final, positive note, Michu has been called up to the Spanish squad for their upcoming qualifiers against Georgia & Belarus. Fully deserved, and I think all Swansea fans will wish him all the best - hopefully he'll get some minutes and it'll provide him with another confidence boost - not that he needs it!
That killed the game as a contest, and the Swans had ten minutes to see out without making matters worse for themselves. What makes today really frustrating is that most people watching on would probably agree that we played the better football - and the statistics indicate we bossed things for the majority of the match. 58% possession and more shots in any away performance would normally result in a win, but the truth is I don't feel we threatened sufficiently throughout.
As I've said, everything good we did came down the wings, and we need to be more competitive in the middle of the park. A midfield of Canas, Shelvey & Michu just isn't cohesive enough and we can't play our way through teams with this lineup - we can retain possession but there's just not enough control in the middle of the field to allow us to build anything worthwhile. I'm really hoping Laudrup fancies giving Leon & Canas another go alongside each other as I feel with that combination anchoring the midfield we'll dictate games with a lot more balance than we've recently been playing with.
Overall, a disappointing result but not the end of the world. Some fans have been very critical of the team today on Twitter and elsewhere, but Southampton are a very good side and few teams will come away from St Mary's with points this season, and when you consider who else we've played so far this year I don't think there's cause for concern just yet. Hopefully the squad will be fully fit by the end of the international break, and we can "go again" from there.
On a final, positive note, Michu has been called up to the Spanish squad for their upcoming qualifiers against Georgia & Belarus. Fully deserved, and I think all Swansea fans will wish him all the best - hopefully he'll get some minutes and it'll provide him with another confidence boost - not that he needs it!