Lacklustre display from the Swans sees their Russian opponents claim a point with a late penalty
Did we deserve to win last night? I didn't think so. That was one of the worst performances I've seen from the Swans in a long while, and when Kuban were awarded a penalty (which turned out to essentially be the last kick of the game) I thought that, given our lack of effort and invention throughout the match, I thought that 1-1 was a fairer reflection on the game than 1-0.
We lined up with a much-changed team. Some were enforced (Davies having picked up an injury with Taylor replacing him) with others (Leon replaced by Canas) seemingly being a case of squad rotation, but from minute one the home side didn't look like they were particularly up for it and lethargically traipsed around the field without ever looking like they were going to create something.
With all due respect to our Russian opponents, we should have beaten them. They didn't show anything which made me think their run of one win in eleven (in all competitions) was a freak occurrence, and if we'd have played to the best of our ability we would have walked this. As it happened, a number of players underperformed and fans frustrations' were well founded.
Where to start? I thought Tiendalli was... poor. Last season I was raving about him and at times preferred to see him in the team ahead of Rangel (controversial, I know), but it appears he's forgotten how to play football. Hopefully he'll remember soon. Bony was poor too, but fans sniping at him is harsh - he has played better than a lot of fans have given him credit for up until now - however last night he lost the ball a number of times.
In midfield, once again I felt that we failed to control the centre of the park. The ball just doesn't stick in the middle when we're in more advanced positions and I feel this is due to a combination of Michu playing at attacking midfield and other midfielders around him not possessing the discipline to get the most out of the Swans' system. Last night Canas spent a lot of the game charging around which pulled the midfield out of shape, but he was often covering for Shelvey or Michu, so I don't think he's to blame. The problem is simply a case of the sum of the parts not adding up to a number which works for the Swans.
The opener for the Swans came midway through the second half, when a neat one two between Michu and Pozuelo resulted in the former running on to a cute flick through and getting to the ball marginally before the opposition keeper, and stabbing home. A neat bit of play, but the only other decent move I remember us putting together was Shelvey stabbing over after some good work from Bony. We simply didn't create last night and better teams would have punished us.
One positive was Jordi Amat played better last night than I've seen in previous matches, but his counterpart Chico could well be deemed at fault in the buildup to the penalty which saw Kuban equalise. It's pointless laying into the team but I do think at times this season we've flattered to deceive, with last weekend's result against Sunderland a prime example. We're relying too much on individual skill and moments of inspiration, when we should be looking to use our possession game to dominate teams and pick them apart.
So, West Ham up next and they'll definitely be a sterner test than Kuban Krasnodar. We'll have to play a lot, lot better than that if we're to get maximum points, but with a number of players expected to return to the starting line up (including, possibly, Ashley Williams) you'd imagine the team will play with a bit more fluidity than we did last night.
Look after possession, and the calibre of our players will do the rest. We're trying to force the game too much at the moment, and a bit more patience would see us create the opportunities we spend so long looking for. Trust in possession. That should be our mantra.
Having said that, Leon should be back in the team this weekend. With him in the team, we should be fine. Leeeeeeeeeeon!